You're least favorite Trek book

[Christopher]

Writing a novel about characters that later pop up on TV ... that's really got to be a tough overlap for a writer.

No kidding. At least the novelizations of the pilot had a script to hew to, instead of having to try to characterize rather ephemeral characters.

It also didn't help that the writing staff went through constant changes from very early on in the first season, so that ideas for the characters in the original series bible (which was Carey's only reference for Ghost Ship aside from the pilot script) ended up falling by the wayside as the replacement staffers (or Roddenberry and his lawyer) took the characters in different directions. The original bible did say, for instance, that "Bill" Riker would have an ongoing difficulty adjusting to Data's inorganic nature, and it's not Carey's fault that the show itself abandoned that after the pilot.

 

[KRAD]

^ And then there was the notion that Data was created by aliens -- a bit that felt like it was straight out of The Questor Tapes, and which Roddenberry himself abandoned and rethought in "Datalore."

 

[Csalem]

'Red Sector' or 'Dyson Sphere' for me

 

[CaptainDonovin]

I had a difficult time getting into the two Challenger books from I think the late-90's. There are one or two others but I've thankfully forgotten them.

 

[Reanok]

I tried reading the New Earth series too. I didn't care for the Challenger books either.I tried reading the entire series but quit after reading the third book .

 

[Dancing Doctor]

Resistance
Before Dishonor
Red Sector
Cathedral

These are all that I can remember. The first two are my least favorite and least enjoyable. The latter two are just not my favorite reads.

 

[bennyrex]

^^ Cathedral? Mind if I ask why? I really liked that one.

 

[Dancing Doctor]

It was the pace for me, mostly. And it felt like a huge reset button at the end. *shrug*

 

[JNG]

Triangle & The Prometheus Design by Marshak & Culbreath

Totally with Defcon on this: slashy low-grade fanfic that just didn't feel like Trek. I did, however, like How Much for Just the Planet rather a lot; it showed me that the appeal of the execution was more important to me than the appeal of the concept.

Favorites? Crossroad and First Frontier

 

[elaithin]

Saratoga bothered me because it seemed so very much like Reunion.

Warped, I read when it first came out and I hated it, but rereading it now, I quite enjoyed it. .

The Mist annoyed the hell out of me, and I couldn't even finish Hard Rain.

Still, with all the Trek books I've read, that's not a bad average.

 

[Dancing Doctor]

Other books that I would consider my "least-favorite":

Perchance to Dream-The paperback, not the awesome comic. It was just "meh"

There's this one Enterprise novel with Hoshi on the front. That one I didn't enjoy very much and haven't read since.

Really, there aren't very many Trek books that I don't like. It's usually characters or certain parts, but not whole books.

 

[ATimson]

There's this one Enterprise novel with Hoshi on the front. That one I didn't enjoy very much and haven't read since.

Rosetta. I believe by Dave Stern.

 

[Dancing Doctor]

That's the one.

Thanks

 

[Dayton3]

Can't believe I missed this thread.

"Dwellers In The Crucible".

The basic premise is "the Kirk and Spock relationship if the two were women"

Not only is it the worst Trek novel ever, with bad science, horrendously out of synch technologically with the Trek universe, poorly written parts for the original series characters (when have we gotten any indication that Sulu was some kind of swashbuckling intergalactic man of mystery?).

But the fallout from this book is what turned "Music of the Spheres" into "Probe".

 

[Dayton Ward]

But the fallout from this book is what turned "Music of the Spheres" into "Probe".

Well, that's an interesting theory, and I admit it's one I've not heard before. Please elaborate.

 

[Anthony Sabre]

Easy. DS9 Warped. The book creeped me out and was way out of character for Jake.

 

[KRAD]

But the fallout from this book is what turned "Music of the Spheres" into "Probe".

I'm with (the other) Dayton -- this interpretation of the facts doesn't jibe with any other account of the Probe debacle I've heard, and I've heard plenty....

 

[Dayton3]

But the fallout from this book is what turned "Music of the Spheres" into "Probe".

Well, that's an interesting theory, and I admit it's one I've not heard before. Please elaborate.

It is clear from Margaret Wander Bonano's website regarding the "Probe fiasco" that including the two main characters from "Dwellers In The Crucible" in "Music of the Spheres" was the trigger that caused the entire mess.

It apparently inspired Richard Arnolds hatred of the book and set off Pocket Book editor David Stern as well. Which prompted him to bring in J.M. Dillard to begin the massive rewrites.

 

[Dancing Doctor]

It wasn't just that. That was one part of the whole thing.

 

[Newspaper Taxi]

I was at my public library today and they have a copy of Star TrekS9 Warped. I think I might give it a read after seeing how many votes that particular book is getting in this thread.