So What Are you Reading?: Generations
- Thread starter captcalhoun
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I've been reading the novelization for The Motion Picture, and in a moment of unplanned synergy (if that's the right word) the Eaglemoss rendering of V'Ger arrived in the mail. My progress through the novelization has been better than average, and I thought the V'Ger ship wasn't going to be sent out for another week or so; but I thought it would be a fun coincidence if the timing aligned. Jerry Goldsmith's soundtrack has been stuck in my mind for several days now.
Started Superman: Dawnbreaker by Matt De La Pena this morning.
The latest Literary Treks podcast is up: Literary Treks 261: A Gem of a Novel, in which Bruce and I discuss Vulcan's Glory by D.C. Fontana.
Currently getting back to New Earth, Book 3: Rough Trails by L.A. Graf. I'm finding this one a really tough slog. Taking me much longer to read than most books because I'm just not motivated to pick it up, sadly.
Currently getting back to New Earth, Book 3: Rough Trails by L.A. Graf. I'm finding this one a really tough slog. Taking me much longer to read than most books because I'm just not motivated to pick it up, sadly.
Numbers.
And I'm not talking about a treatise on arithmetic.
And I'm not talking about a treatise on arithmetic.
I am trying to read Dreadnought! by Diane Cary but the sheer high levels of blatent Mary-Sueism is rapidly turning me off. Why doesn't Lieut. Piper bog off to the U.S.S. Sparklypoo and leave us to enjoy the characters we actually want to read about?
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If you hate this book I'm not sure you would like Diane Carey's Double Helix Red Sector character Eric Stiles (Gary Stuish and unlikeable).
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Time to trot out my obligatory argument that Dreadnought! is not a Mary Sue novel, it's a Lower Decks novel (or maybe a Lieutenant Hornblower novel) -- the first attempt to do a Trek novel from the perspective of book-original characters and to invert the usual storytelling formula by focusing on a team of junior crewmembers on the Enterprise rather than the senior staff, and also the first Trek novel written in first person. It was ambitious and experimental in a way far beyond any "Mary Sue" narrative. Although I grant it did get a bit Mary Sue-ish in Battlestations! given how rapidly Piper became part of Kirk's inner clique.
I was wondering when you'd speak up about that. Didn't somebody else bring up both Diane Carey and Mary-Sue within a single post, less than a month ago, without getting a reaction out of you?
Personally, I've always felt that the Piper novels (at least when they're not serving as a mouthpiece for Carey's hard-libertarian politics) are endearing because they subvert the Mary-Sue trope.
Personally, I've always felt that the Piper novels (at least when they're not serving as a mouthpiece for Carey's hard-libertarian politics) are endearing because they subvert the Mary-Sue trope.
I still say that's missing the point. "Mary Sue" is something that presents itself as a conventional Trek story but brings in a single guest star who dominates the narrative without deserving to. The Piper novels are not conventional Trek stories. They were the first attempt at the sort of thing later done with New Frontier, S.C.E., Vanguard, etc. -- Trek stories that didn't center on the TV casts, that were told from a different perspective altogether. That's a very different thing from just inserting a dominant guest character into a TOS story. Piper wasn't a guest character who took over, she was unambiguously the lead character of a pair of novels starring her, Sarda, Scanner, and Merete as the central cast, with Kirk and the Enterprise command crew as supporting characters. If anything, Kirk was the Mary Sue in Piper's story, because he was idealized and completely outshone the story's central cast.
Besides, it's wrong to say that any case of a guest star-centric story is a Mary Sue story. That's completely misunderstanding what it means. In '60s and '70s TV, centering a story on a guest star was normal. Since lead characters had to remain unchanging, only guest stars could have real growth and closure, so plenty of shows told stories that centered on the guests with the leads there mainly to support the guests' narratives. That's not a bad thing. It's not Mary Sue. What makes a Mary Sue story is when a guest-centric story is done badly, as an ineptly written exercise in wish fulfillment where the guest character dominates without deserving to, because the main characters are forced out of character to permit it.
Just posted a review of I.K.S. Gorkon, Book 2: Honor Bound by Keith R.A. DeCandido.
Starting on Voyager: Spirit Walk, Book 2: Enemy of My Enemy by Christie Golden.
Starting on Voyager: Spirit Walk, Book 2: Enemy of My Enemy by Christie Golden.
The first two Gorkon novels were epic and great. I'm currently busy with book 3....
@Christopher I see what you're saying, but I take issue with a character who is introduced nearly beating the no-win scenario, gets transferred to the Enterprise (cheerfully dumping her boyfriend in the process), coincidentally finds she's sharing quarters with her old Vulcan love interest, is instantly a key player in the recovery of a stolen starship and no doubt ends up solving the crime, saving the ship, getting the guy and at the end probably gets a promotion, medals and her own fan club.
And you say the second book is worse? Pardon me for not showing much enthusiasm here. I'm quite happy with below decks characters being introduced, David Gerrold does it very well in "The Galactic Whirlwind" for example, and the Vanguard/Seeker books were ok (though not my favourite Trek books) but Dreadnought? No. If this was an attempt to develop a believable below decks character then it's an abject failure.
As for this "Double Helix Red Sector" novel, never heard of it and, thanks to the above comments, will now not be touching it with a 10-foot lirpa.
And you say the second book is worse? Pardon me for not showing much enthusiasm here. I'm quite happy with below decks characters being introduced, David Gerrold does it very well in "The Galactic Whirlwind" for example, and the Vanguard/Seeker books were ok (though not my favourite Trek books) but Dreadnought? No. If this was an attempt to develop a believable below decks character then it's an abject failure.
As for this "Double Helix Red Sector" novel, never heard of it and, thanks to the above comments, will now not be touching it with a 10-foot lirpa.
There are so many Trek books which are more to your taste, I'm sure.
That there are. So, so many. Shouldn't be surprised that I don't get on with some of them.
Okay, that's a fair point. Still, the problem with sticking labels on things is that it glosses over the differences between them. Even if the Piper books have certain excesses in common with the Mary Sue trope, it's misunderstanding the books to assume they're exactly the same as your usual "Mary Sue" story. They were trying to do something brand new and ambitious, something that had never been done before in Trek Lit -- to center a book on characters other than the TV leads, to re-examine Trek from a new perspective, to tell a Trek story in first person -- and I think they deserve recognition for that new approach, even if the execution was too unsubtle for modern tastes.
I mean, really, forget about main cast and guest cast for a moment. Imagine we're talking about an entirely original book, rather than one based on a pre-existing TV series. Can you really say you've never read an original book where the main character was really gifted and accomplished, where they got swiftly caught up in affairs of galactic importance, and where they happened to be thrust into proximity with an old love interest? Those are all pretty standard fictional tropes, I think. Main characters are usually the main characters because they're exceptionally good at what they do and/or get thrust into exceptionally important events.
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