Mirror universe-anthologies, Destiny, and recs

[Claudia]

Right now I'm compiling a wishlist of ST-books for the various approaching holidays. I'm very fond of Mirror or AU-stories, so I'm interested in the Mirror universe-anthologies "Glass Empires" and "Obsidian Alliances" which were released in 2007.

I also found another Mirror universe-book called "Shards and Shadows" which is due in January 09... so, is this another collection of short stories or does it contain the previously mentioned 2 books?

And just to be sure: I'm awfully behind on the DS9-relaunch (stopped somewhere in the middle of Mission Gamma), TNG-post Nemesis books (actually, I never read a single book of those), and just couldn't get over book 4 of Titan... but now my interest in ST has reawakened and I'd like to purchase the "Destiny"-trilogy. So, the obvious question is whether it makes any sense to jump right into the action of "Destiny" without that prior knowledge.

Last but not least, I'm looking for recs for TOS books. As previously indicated I'm very fond of Spock and the interaction of the 3 main characters. So, I'd appreciate any pointers, especially to lesser known books as I've worked my way through quite a few TOS novels already (Yesterday-saga, Sarek, Vulcan's X-series, Pandora Principle, novelizations of ST II-IV, Ex machina, Ishmael, Entropy Effect, Strangers in the Sky etc). Hopefully, there are still quite a few gems out there.

Thank you.

 

[KRAD]

I also found another Mirror universe-book called "Shards and Shadows" which is due in January 09... so, is this another collection of short stories or does it contain the previously mentioned 2 books?

It's a short story anthology with a dozen new stories by a variety of authors, including several contributors to the first two volumes (Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore, David Mack, Peter David, and myself), covering MU history from the Enterprise era all the way through to the "contemporary" 24th-century.

And just to be sure: I'm awfully behind on the DS9-relaunch (stopped somewhere in the middle of Mission Gamma), TNG-post Nemesis books (actually, I never read a single book of those), and just couldn't get over book 4 of Titan... but now my interest in ST has reawakened and I'd like to purchase the "Destiny"-trilogy. So, the obvious question is whether it makes any sense to jump right into the action of "Destiny" without that prior knowledge.

You'll be fine jumping into Destiny, though I'd recommend at least some of the TNG books that lead into it (mostly by virtue of my writing one of them ), but prior knowledge of the DS9 fiction isn't necessary, and you've read all the Titan books there are....

Last but not least, I'm looking for recs for TOS books. As previously indicated I'm very fond of Spock and the interaction of the 3 main characters. So, I'd appreciate any pointers, especially to lesser known books as I've worked my way through quite a few TOS novels already (Yesterday-saga, Sarek, Vulcan's X-series, Pandora Principle, novelizations of ST II-IV, Ex machina, Ishmael, Entropy Effect, Strangers in the Sky etc). Hopefully, there are still quite a few gems out there.

An obvious recommendation is the Crucible trilogy by David R. George III. Each book focuses on one of the "big three." Also the Constellations anthology, which contains some excellent short stories that all take place during the five-year mission.

 

[Claudia]

My mistake for not mentioning the Crucible-trilogy - especially since the McCoy part is one of my favourite ST-books of all... strange, but I just didn't think of them... *g*