What was the 1st Trek novel you ever read?
- Thread starter Procutus
- Start date
I can't remember which one I read first, but it was either
Star Trek: The Next Generation - #28 - Here There Be Dragons by John Peel
or
Star Trek: The Next Generation - #25 - Grounded by David Bischoff
Star Trek: The Next Generation - #28 - Here There Be Dragons by John Peel
or
Star Trek: The Next Generation - #25 - Grounded by David Bischoff
Q-Space!
Mine was Secret of the Lizard People by Michael Jan Friedman, which I read when I was 7 or 8 years old. It bored me rigid because, apart from Data, there weren't any characters I recognised. A few months later, I picked up a dog-eared copy of The Entropy Effect in the library van at school, read it, and enjoyed it.
The first Trek novel that I read was The Lost Years by JM Dillard. It was about a year after book came out, so around 1990, and I was 7 years old. I've reread it at least three times since, and it's still one of my favorites. Shortly after that I read Diane Carey's Final Frontier, which I've reread at least once every couple years since, and remains my favorite Trek novel by far.
Don't remember which ones came next, but around the time Imzadi came out (I was ten), my mom and I were reading them out loud to each other. Reading the more...er, adult...moments in Imzadi that way was rather...awkward.
Don't remember which ones came next, but around the time Imzadi came out (I was ten), my mom and I were reading them out loud to each other. Reading the more...er, adult...moments in Imzadi that way was rather...awkward.
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Finally finished re-reading Spock, Messiah! and felt compelled to add a few more comments, as it's one of the two novels that got me thinking about doing this thread in the first place.
My initial impression, reading it again after the passage of over 30 years, is that this story is very much a product of it's time. The story felt very TOS on some levels, but then there were times when I felt that some of the characters were, well, just a bit out of character. Perhaps what I was noticing was where one of the author's penned a section versus the other (assuming that's the way this particular novel was written).
I think my biggest gripe is at the end, there were no repercussions against Ensign George for her actions, which caused the whole debacle in the first place. Realistically, Kirk should've court-martialed her cute ass right off the ship.
OTOH, she was a fairly interesting character, and it's a shame that the early Bantam novels weren't as connected as the current raft of books. It would've been interesting if when Joe Haldeman wrote Planet of Judgement (my favorite Bantam Trek novel) if he could've included Sara along with his new, original characters. Or, if Cogswell and Spano had written a follow-up novel set during the second 5YM, with Lt. Sara George leading a team back to Kyros to check on that planet's developement.
All in all, it was an enjoyable read, and certainly the first attempt to make Trek seem a bit more 'adult' with the continual references to sexuality, particularly that of the curvaceous Ensign George. I also appreciated the more realistic approach to the survey of a primitive planet, with the crew actually going to lengths to blend in and be unnoticed... No beaming down in their Starfleet uniforms.
Okay, now on to The Prometheus Design.
My initial impression, reading it again after the passage of over 30 years, is that this story is very much a product of it's time. The story felt very TOS on some levels, but then there were times when I felt that some of the characters were, well, just a bit out of character. Perhaps what I was noticing was where one of the author's penned a section versus the other (assuming that's the way this particular novel was written).
I think my biggest gripe is at the end, there were no repercussions against Ensign George for her actions, which caused the whole debacle in the first place. Realistically, Kirk should've court-martialed her cute ass right off the ship.
OTOH, she was a fairly interesting character, and it's a shame that the early Bantam novels weren't as connected as the current raft of books. It would've been interesting if when Joe Haldeman wrote Planet of Judgement (my favorite Bantam Trek novel) if he could've included Sara along with his new, original characters. Or, if Cogswell and Spano had written a follow-up novel set during the second 5YM, with Lt. Sara George leading a team back to Kyros to check on that planet's developement.
All in all, it was an enjoyable read, and certainly the first attempt to make Trek seem a bit more 'adult' with the continual references to sexuality, particularly that of the curvaceous Ensign George. I also appreciated the more realistic approach to the survey of a primitive planet, with the crew actually going to lengths to blend in and be unnoticed... No beaming down in their Starfleet uniforms.
Okay, now on to The Prometheus Design.
I wouldn't characterize Spock: Messiah's treatment of sexuality as particularly adult. "Sophomoric" would be a better term.
And TOS itself was very adult in its treatment of sexuality, compared to other '60s media. It was the NYPD Blue of its day, pushing the envelope in terms of skin and sexual themes. I mean, it had one episode where a main character was driven by an overpowering compulsion to mate, another episode touching on the concept of male infertility, another dealing with overpopulation and mentioning contraception as a remedy. The pilot episode itself involved aliens trying to capture a breeding pair of humans. And this was at a time when most married couples on TV weren't even allowed to sleep in the same bed.
My first trek novel was the Shatnerverse novel Spectre. I have to admit to being totally confused at seeing Kirk alive and kicking in the 24th century. Through me for quite a loop.
Well, my first Star Trek novel was Spock Must Die!, even though there were several other Bantam books out there (this was around 1978 or early '79, so it was before the first movie came out). My first Star Trek books were Star Trek: Log One (the Alan Dean Foster one), the photonovel for A Piece of the Action, and Blish's Star Trek 10. Those were the very first Star Trek books I ever owned - I think I still have them, somewhere...
You were 6 or 7 while TNG was on the air??
Oh, Thrawn, I feel so old...
Ok, guys, the question was "What was the 1st Trek novel you ever read?" Are you telling me that, as published authors, you don't differentiate between novels and short story collections?
Well, I'm not an author (nor do I play one on TV), but when I was a kid, first getting into Trek and reading the books, I didn't differentiate at all -- they were all Star Trek, and all welcome to me. The fact that some of the books weren't very good (hi there Spock - Messiah!) barely mattered to me at that time.
And then, of course, there's that.
Good points. Perhaps I should said that the novel was more blatant about it than the show was.
According to the premier date on Memory Alpha, I was only 2 weeks old when TNG premiered.
I was lucky - started with a great one, Q Squared
I was a little kid; the Winnie the Pooh thing blew my mind, lol.
I was a little kid; the Winnie the Pooh thing blew my mind, lol.
Refresh my memory, it's been years since I read Q-Squared; what was the Winnie the Pooh thing?
The first Trek novel i read was 'The Prometheus Design'. All i can remember of the experience was reading each chapter twice and still not understanding what was actually going on. I still cant really sum up the story for that book.
Whats worse is the second book i read was 'The Fearful Summons'. I blame this misfortune on the fact my parents bought both books from a discount book store. It didnt occur to them that there was a reason why they were being sold for 50p rather than the RRP.
Whats worse is the second book i read was 'The Fearful Summons'. I blame this misfortune on the fact my parents bought both books from a discount book store. It didnt occur to them that there was a reason why they were being sold for 50p rather than the RRP.
Refresh my memory, it's been years since I read Q-Squared; what was the Winnie the Pooh thing?
Relying on memory here but I think Q-Squared linked up TOS and TNG. Q was almost killed by Tremaine (Squire of Gothos) and managed to survive at the edge of the galaxy. Along comes Kirk (Where No One Has Gone Before) and the force that enabled Gary Mitchell to have ESP was due to Q who manged to leave Gary with the intervention of Kirk and Elizabeth. Neither knew about Q, he didn't communicate with them.
I forgot how but Q found Picard later and with his help, defeated Tremaine. Q was able to return to his own form and Tremaine was reduced to the infant stage in the afterrmath of the struggle.
I might have misremembered, the above was probably some other book about Q.
Refresh my memory, it's been years since I read Q-Squared; what was the Winnie the Pooh thing?
Relying on memory here but I think Q-Squared linked up TOS and TNG. Q was almost killed by Tremaine (Squire of Gothos) and managed to survive at the edge of the galaxy. Along comes Kirk (Where No One Has Gone Before) and the force that enabled Gary Mitchell to have ESP was due to Q who manged to leave Gary with the intervention of Kirk and Elizabeth. Neither knew about Q, he didn't communicate with them.
I forgot how but Q found Picard later and with his help, defeated Tremaine. Q was able to return to his own form and Tremaine was reduced to the infant stage in the afterrmath of the struggle.
I might have misremembered, the above was probably some other book about Q.
Don't remember the exact details, but basically Q, and Trelane from TOS (who is portrayed as another Q) have a massive cosmic Q-battle which ruptures the fabric of time and reality. At one point an engineer or someone reports that Winnie the Pooh has appeared in engineering... even fiction is collapsing into reality.
Silly, I know, but the way it was done seemed awesome to me as a kid reading my first Trek book - they can do that?!
I never realized just how many characters from other franchises had been secretly put in Trek books, we have Ishmael (I've never read it but I know it's a crossover with another series, and has cameos by characters from The Doctor (from Doctor Who) and some other characters I think), Taran'atar fighting an Exomorph, and of course Huilan from Titan.
That used to confuse the heck out of me, too.
It didn't help that The Entropy Effect was the first one out of the gate after TMP, either!
My goodness, how I love The Covenant of the Crown...and my goodness, how much I hated Triangle...!
Oh, hell, that's right. I've tried to repress any memories of that...book.
I'm honestly surprised that over the years, there haven't been more post-TMP novels to fill up that second, 5YM. Any chance that we'll get another one from you in the future? (hint, hint).
Your mouth to God's ears, Procutus! Ex Machina is one of my favourite Star Trek books, not just because of its placement in the Trek continuity, but because of what excellent usage Christopher makes of that setting and its effects on the characters. I'm really looking forward to the collection of Mere Anarchy for another look at Christopher's writing during this era.
You know, there are times when I wonder about my own tastes versus what are evidently those of the larger book-buying public. Because there also was apparently too little audience interest for a follow-up to Articles of the Federation, my other big favourite of recent years... I just wish Howard would write another full-length TOS novel....
Hey, I bought that one! I re-read it just last year...I love that book.
...wuh...?
Pardon me, I'm just going to go kill myself....
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