So What Are you Reading?: Generations

Discussion in 'Trek Literature' started by captcalhoun, Dec 22, 2011.

  1. Kertrats47

    Kertrats47 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I have *finally* posted my review of Federation by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens!

    My reads over the past couple of weeks have included The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Star Trek: SCE #6: Cold Fusion by Keith R.A. DeCandido, and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. I'm currently reading the completely engrossing Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur C. Clarke.
     
  2. wahwahkits

    wahwahkits Commander Red Shirt

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    England, somewhere between Liverpool and Chester
    Just finished 'Deep Domain' by Howard Wienstein. Overall a really good book but maybe a little too heavy handed with the environmental message at times. 4.5/5

    Next up is 'Ash' by James Herbert.
     
  3. A J

    A J Ensign Red Shirt

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    Finished reading A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George. Currently reading No Mark Upon Her by Deborah Crombie.
     
  4. Cap'n Crunch

    Cap'n Crunch Captain Captain

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    Knoxville, TN
    I finished Leverage: The Con Job a few days ago and started Star Trek: Allegiance in Exile.
     
  5. indianatrekker26

    indianatrekker26 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Just started Star Trek: Devil's Bargain. Really enjoying it so far, about a third of the way through.
     
  6. Garrovick

    Garrovick Commander Red Shirt

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    Location:
    wallowing in a pool of emotion
    Currently Reading:
    Titan: Fallen Gods by Michael Martin
    Best Destiny by Diane Carey
    Contamination (TNG #16) by John Vornholt
    A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin

    Over the last week, I finished:
    Typhon Pact: Raise the Dawn by David R. George III
    New Frontier #2: Into the Void by Peter David
    A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
    Home is the Hunter (TOS #52) by Dana Kramer-Rolls
    Fortune's Light (TNG #15) by Michael Jan Friedman
     
    Last edited: Feb 25, 2013
  7. kirk55555

    kirk55555 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Finished The Black Shore. It was a decent early VOY story. The aliens were interesting. A few things were probably a bit too predictable (a starfleet officer who is given a name and some lines but was never in the TV show? I called her death after about the second time she was mentioned) but the story overall was entertaining. Right now I'm reading SW - Allegiance, then I'll go on to ST:TNG - Dragon's Honor then the Kahn book To Reign in Hell.
     
  8. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Actually, a lot of the books over the years have added new characters who weren't just there to be killed off. All of Christie Golden's VGR novels featured a recurring character named Lyssa Campbell, who wasn't killed off until Kirsten Beyer took over the series. Similarly, all the Enterprise novels by both Dave Stern and (Andy Mangels &) Mike Martin featured a recurring night-shift watch commander named Donna O'Neill, named after a Pocket Books staffer. Then there are the security guards Meyer and Boyajian who show up repeatedly throughout Peter David's Trek fiction (in two centuries!). And much earlier, J.M. Dillard's TOS novels gave us security chief Ingrit Tomson, security guard Lisa Nguyen, and other recurring characters, with Tomson even showing up in other authors' books from time to time.

    Even a lot of the one-shot novels have added supporting crewmembers just for the sake of fleshing out the crew, something that's more feasible and often more necessary in a novel-length story where you have a lot more room to go into depth.
     
  9. kirk55555

    kirk55555 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah, you're right. Two excellent TOS numbered novels (Dreadnought and Battlestations) basically starred a woman named Piper, who was created for the books and survived both of them. The Titan books that I've read have Commander Vale (who, looking on memory beta, wasn't created in the Titan books but was book created), who I thought was an interesting character. I also remember Ingrit Tomson as TOS security chief in several books, including Demons, which was very good. Thinking about it, while it wasn't really common there were a lot of books that had made up characters that had important roles, and some even made multiple appearances. That has seemed to become more common in time. Still, there have been several characters like the maquis woman in TBS, were they seem to be created just so someone the reader kind of knows can die, and not just a random red/gold shirt. Thats not a bad thing, its just something i've noticed. I guess the character in The Black Shore just stuck out to me as someone who was going to die.
     
  10. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    Well, The Black Shore is basically a vampire novel in Star Trek drag, so somebody had to go the way of Lucy Westenra . . . :)
     
  11. kirk55555

    kirk55555 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I had to look up Lucy Westenra. I guess I should read Dracula some day :lol:

    As far as Star Trek vampire novels go, it was an interesting take, although Bloodthirst will always top my list of Star Trek vampire stuff. It beats out The black shore and TOS episode The Man Trap, since actual vampires beat psionic and salt vampires any day :rommie: (It is actually a very good book, and one of the most memorable TOS books I've read).
     
  12. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    I remember enjoying Bloodthirst years ago.
     
  13. Relayer1

    Relayer1 Admiral Admiral

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    Would that be Mary Sue Piper ? :)

    I really enjoyed both Dreadnought and Battlestations - particularly Dreadnought which is probably my favourite of the early(ish) TOS novels.

    I also remember a character named Mandala Flynn of Hunters Squadron (in the Vonda N. McIntyre adaptations ?) who I liked - does anyone know if she was seen again ?
     
  14. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    I keep hearing that, but Carey's Piper novels were actually more about doing the same sort of thing TNG's "Lower Decks" did -- showing Star Trek from a fresh perspective, letting us see how our familiar heroes looked to the people who served under them. It was also a bit like the original, abortive idea for the animated series, focusing on younger counterparts to the established leads (Piper/Kirk, Sarda/Spock, Merete/McCoy, Scanner/Scotty). You could also make an analogy with the Young Justice animated series, which is sort of a "Lower Decks" version of a Justice League series.

    I guess you could say it's similar to the Mary Sue phenomenon in that there's an element of wish fulfillment in the first-person perspective -- "Imagine you were a crewperson serving under Kirk and got to learn from him and have adventures with him!" But strictly speaking, I think what makes a Mary Sue is that it's badly handled wish fulfillment that aggrandizes the author-surrogate character at the expense of the leads. Piper and her friends are several steps behind Kirk & co. throughout the books and are much more naive, needing to learn from the veterans. So I think it's ungenerous to apply the Mary Sue label.


    Mandala Flynn was introduced in McIntyre's The Entropy Effect, the first original Trek novel from Pocket books back in 1981. She was the Enterprise security chief and Sulu's love interest. Hunter was the captain of the border patrol ship Aerfen and a romantic interest for Kirk, as well as a captain Sulu admired. Flynn and Hunter were referenced but not seen in McIntyre's movie adaptations; I believe that one or both of them were serving aboard what was called a Galaxy-class ship (not to be confused with the TNG version), designed for intergalactic travel.
     
  15. Relayer1

    Relayer1 Admiral Admiral

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    Thanks Christopher !

    Yeah, maybe 'Mary Sue' wasn't best used as I did love the novels...
     
  16. USS Firefly

    USS Firefly Commodore Commodore

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    Jan 7, 2013
    Just finished James Bond: The man with the golden gun, a terrible book, Bond can't kill in cold blood?
    Ridiculous for a 00 agent.
    Next book Star trek: Dominion War
     
  17. Kertrats47

    Kertrats47 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Just published my review of Enterprise: Last Full Measure by Martin and Mangels.

    Currently reading Piercing the Darkness by Frank Peretti for a book club. His writing is quite good, but I'm having a lot of difficulty with the perspective he writes from... I feel that his agenda is very much being pushed on almost every page. That said, the prose is compelling. Ergh. I'm really torn about it.

    When I get disgusted with Piercing the Darkness, I turn on my phone and read a bit more of SCE #s 6 & 7, Invincible by David Mack and Keith R.A. DeCandido. And I also spend my time cursing the fact that Chapters here in Calgary didn't have Devil's Bargain in stock today!
     
  18. Patrick O'Brien

    Patrick O'Brien Captain Captain

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    I finally fell victim to the ads in the back of many Trek books and subscribed to the Azimovs Scifi magazine. I am enjoying the shorts story The Other Gun by Neal Asher.
     
  19. Booji

    Booji Commodore Premium Member

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    Just started "Star Trek Enterprise: To Brave the Storm". I gotta say, I've really dug the Enterprise books I've read, starting with "The Good that Men Do". The characterization is spot on and the stories very interesting, though at times maybe a bit slow. I've loved the Trip arc thus far. It seems these books are not that well thought of, and I can't really see why.
     
  20. Reanok

    Reanok Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Dec 26, 2002
    I really enjoyed reading all of the Enterprise novels.I agree with you about the Trip arc was one my favorite perts of the Romulan war book series.:techman::) I can't wait for the new Enterprise novel coming out in a few months.I want to see more Enterprise novels being published!