So What Are you Reading?: Generations

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

  1. ryan123450

    ryan123450 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    About halfway through Kirsten's newest Voyager book, Acts of Contrition. Awesome so far.
     
  2. Captain Kathryn

    Captain Kathryn Commodore Commodore

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    That one is next on my list!!
     
  3. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    Just picked up Raging Heat, the new mystery by "Richard Castle."
     
  4. Corran Horn

    Corran Horn Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Lock In by John Scalzi
     
  5. John Clark

    John Clark Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I'm about half way through Dragon Age: Asunder by David Gaider. Thought I'd get it out of the way before Inquisition comes along.

    Next up will be the new one by David Mack:)
     
  6. dstyer

    dstyer Commander Red Shirt

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    Almost finished Total Control by David Baldacci. I never planned to read his books, but my mother-in-law knows I'm an avid reader and asked if she could pick me up any books at a recent book sale. It was the first author's name that popped into my head that I hadn't read from tip to tail. She found me this one and 5 others. It's actually not bad, I'll probably keep working through his works in between Star Trek novels.
     
  7. JD5000

    JD5000 Captain Captain

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    Almost done with 'Devil in the Sky'. Thanks Greg, for the background on the writing of the novel, knowing those things gives a lot more depth to the novel, almost like being able to imagine writing it, while reading it at the same time! Very cool!

    I love the story, the Hortas are still a lot of fun. Although predictable, I enjoyed the holosuite scene after the first Horta hatched, and the descriptions of them in 0-G really evoked a lot of imagery.

    I will say I don't really like the ways in which the main characters are portrayed, but I don't really think that's the fault of the writing, by season 2 of Deep Space Nine the main characters were barely beginning to establish themselves as individuals rather than stereotypes. i.e. Angry Kira, Immature Bashir, Meanie Cardassians... I doubt you guys really had license to develop them any further than portrayed on screen at this point. So it's easy to read beyond that. I think the story line is great and engaging, like reading a TV episode (which is definitely a compliment!), I really like Mama Odo.
     
  8. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I forgot to mention that I started rerereading the Better Days, the first chronological Serenity comic miniseries between the show and movie. I've been working on a rewatch of the show and movie and I plan on reading all of the comics too, including the post-movie series.
     
  9. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    True story: At the point we started writing the book, the show was not on the air yet. All we had for reference was the series bible and the script for the pilot.

    Over the years, readers have occasionally complained that Kira is too antagonistic toward Bashir in that book. But Kira DOES give Bashir a hard time in that first script, so we took our cue for that . . . and ran with it.

    And I remember that I had no idea what Dax's personality was supposed to be at that point. Thank goodness Betancourt had to write most of her scenes!
     
  10. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Hmm, yeah... I remember thinking that most of the early DS9 novelists wrote Dax as if she were Spock, much more formal and cool than she actually turned out to be.
     
  11. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    I swear to God, Dax did not get a discernible personality until Season Two. I had no idea what she was supposed to be like when we were writing that book.

    Another confession: We actually avoided Dax as much as possible, to the extent that our editor called us on it and made us go back and give Dax more to do . . ..
     
  12. JD5000

    JD5000 Captain Captain

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    I totally agree, Dax really didn't have much of a personality at all through most of the first two seasons. Like not even something overly arche-typical like Bashir and Kira. Writing her, especially before a single episode had been filmed, must have been a heck of a challenge. However, you guys pulled it off just fine, the way the Dax character reads, in fact all of the main characters, mirrors the way they are portrayed on screen during season two. I didn't know the book had been written pre-filming, yet another nugget of info that makes the reading more interesting!

    Kira's treatment of Bashir in this novel gets backed up through most of the TV series, although we aren't always as privy to her internal monologue, she clearly doesn't like the guy. I guess the writers of those episodes got the same book you did. I'm glad you recognized that I wasn't criticizing the writing of the characters, just noting that they weren't very well developed at this point, and now I know they were even less developed than I was aware of!

    I'm about 90% through and plan on finishing tonight so I can't really give more specific praise without spoilers (although 'spoiling' a book that's 20 years old seems silly, I'll stick to the spirit of non-spoilage) and I definitely don't regret purchasing it.
     
    Last edited: Oct 30, 2014
  13. JD5000

    JD5000 Captain Captain

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    Sorry for the double-post. Finished! Fun read! I'm moving on to the TNG novel "Nightshade" by Laurell K. Hamilton. It was a couple dollars cheaper than average and got good reviews, so I figured I'd pick it up. I'm pretty sure I'm caught up on most recently published novels and looks like I have a couple months before new ones come out so I'm catching up on some of the older episodic novels I haven't read.
     
  14. John Clark

    John Clark Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Finished Disavowed by David Mack and have started Under the Dome by Stephen King:)
     
  15. JD5000

    JD5000 Captain Captain

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    Definitely a big Stephen King fan, if I ever get off the TrekLit kick I've been on for a couple years I will definitely be catching up on his more recent novels next. I've actually cooked for the guy a couple times, he used to come into a restaurant I worked at in NH occasionally. I also helped proofread the manuscript for 'Dreamcatcher' as a favor to my girlfriend-at-the-time's mom, a freelance editor, for letting me pitch a tent in her backyard while I was homeless for a few months. We've never actually spoken though, I'm just a peon!

    I think my mom read 'Under the Dome' recently and enjoyed it.
     
  16. John Clark

    John Clark Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Off the top of my head, I think Dome will be the third I've read.

    (The only other two I definitely remember are Running Man and Colorado Kid though there might have been a couple of others).

    I've seen Dreamcatcher, but I'm pretty sure I haven't read the book.
     
  17. JD5000

    JD5000 Captain Captain

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    In that case I definitely recommend 'Insomnia' (not to be confused with the movie with the same name). It's one of my all-time favorite novels by any author.
     
  18. indianatrekker26

    indianatrekker26 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I just wrapped up DS9: Avatar. great stuff there. Instead of diving into "Abyss" I will just read all four Section 31 books. I've also been on a big star wars legends kick, reading those in publication order. I'm currently on Splinter of the Mind's Eye.
     
  19. Thrawn

    Thrawn Rear Admiral Premium Member

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    Me too! I've made it to 1996; just finished X-Wing: Rogue Squadron.
     
  20. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I finished up ST:SCE Foundations. I've actually been reading it since July, but there was a month or two in there were I didn't really do any reading at all, so it's not as bad as it sounds.