Lost in new Trek Lit - help please!

[MaquisTrap]

I've been buying Trek books for... damn almost 18 years now. I come from the group of fans that cried when the numbering system went away (that's how I remembered what I didn't have and what I HAD... so I could avoid buying duplicates). Anyways... I spent like 2004-2008 buying new books as I saw them (luckily I work at a chain bookstore and get to carve out a giant statement for each new Trek novel that comes out)... but now have kind of lost count. I have duplicates of some of the 'A Time To....' books as well as the Lost Era. Too much Trek (in variety) has me confused. I need some professional Star Trek Novel help from the experts.

-I've purchased all the original numbered TOS books up through #97 but am ashamed to say I haven't actually read anything above #61 Sanctuary (John Vornholt kicks ass) and J.M. Dillard's Recovery #73. Besides In the Name of Honor, is there any novels (numbered above 60) that any of you prefer or strongly like more than others? I'm looking to choose a really good TOS story since I always hated the TV show but always LOVED the novels for some reason.

-There have been random series by some of my favorite authors (Michael Jan Friedman during Stargazer stuff, etc...). For anything like this, especially when its just one author doing what LOOKS like a series, is there only whats out or is there more coming possibly? (Stargazer is the only thing that pops into my head right now...)

-Did Kevin Ryan write Requiem for TNG (#31 or #32 i think)? I have the Errand of Vengeance books <2 or 3 parter?> and then I quickly snapped up Errand of Fury book 3 when it came up as a pre-order on our website. Is Errand of Fury connected to Errand of Vengeance by any chance... or did I miss 2 earlier books (and if thats true... Kevin Ryan rocks, and they are probably about Klingons which means an automatic buy. Damn you Ryan!!! :>)

-I know from years of lurking here (it took me awhile to figure out how to create an account and I missed the AOL Star Trek boards :>) that you don't HAVE to read book X to enjoy book Y. But whomever created the Lost Era books has confused the hell outta me. For starters, do you read only half of KRAD's the Art of the Impossible and THEN jump to Well of Lost Souls... and then back to KRAD's book? The year labeling doesn't make it clear. For the Lost Era books in general, do they tell an overall story arc over ALL of the books... so it makes it MUCH more enjoyable to read them all... or can you stick with select books if I'm picky about characters?

-Part 2 of the Lost Era. Is Christopher Bennett's The Buried Age the only other non-year (THANK YOU GOD!) labeled book and hopefully a good read (whether you have read the Lost Era books or not)? The cover art for this book has me interested... I just don't want to jump into something all confused.

-Same thing with the A Time To Books... is it worth it to go "all in" and buy them all to enjoy the WHOLE giant story or can just a few be chosen/read without losing anything?

-I'm sitting on about 20-25 of the numbered TNG books that I haven't read (don't ask me why but Dafydd ab Hugh got me to LOVE #33 Balance of Power)... and that was the last TNG book I've read. Any favorites of the numbered TNG books out there?

-The Titan books have me confused as well. I picked up the newest one and read the blurb and got hooked on the 'after the events of Destiny' angle. If someone has read the Destiny trilogy (not me yet but soon), LOVED it... but haven't touched any other Titan book, is it a mistake to buy this one? Should I start from the beginning?

I realize this is a LOT to post/ask about but I'm hoping a certain Worf2DS9 might jump out from behind a holodeck to help me here (and anyone else... you guys seem so nice!). Sorry if I repeated myself here... I'm the guy that chooses to make a post about Trek lit @ 4am on the East Coast.

Thanks!
~MaquisTrap

 

[Rosalind]

Hi MaquisTrap, welcome to TrekLit!

I'll answer a couple of the questions:

-I know from years of lurking here (it took me awhile to figure out how to create an account and I missed the AOL Star Trek boards :>) that you don't HAVE to read book X to enjoy book Y. But whomever created the Lost Era books has confused the hell outta me. For starters, do you read only half of KRAD's the Art of the Impossible and THEN jump to Well of Lost Souls... and then back to KRAD's book? The year labeling doesn't make it clear. For the Lost Era books in general, do they tell an overall story arc over ALL of the books... so it makes it MUCH more enjoyable to read them all... or can you stick with select books if I'm picky about characters?

Don't jump around the Lost Era books, each book is a standalone, you'll definitely get more confused trying to read them in chronological order. In fact, the only common thread between the books is that they all happened between end of Kirk era and beginning of Picard era, (and Elias Vaughn, he's everywhere! j/k). As far as I remember, there are no crossover elements between the books.

-Part 2 of the Lost Era. Is Christopher Bennett's The Buried Age the only other non-year (THANK YOU GOD!) labeled book and hopefully a good read (whether you have read the Lost Era books or not)? The cover art for this book has me interested... I just don't want to jump into something all confused.

if you've watched TNG, then you will be able to read this. it has no connection with the other Lost Era books, at least I didn't catch any references. So jump straight in, you'll have no problem whatsoever.

I'll let others answer the other questions, since I haven't read some of the books either.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I've been buying Trek books for... damn almost 18 years now. I come from the group of fans that cried when the numbering system went away (that's how I remembered what I didn't have and what I HAD... so I could avoid buying duplicates).... I have duplicates of some of the 'A Time To....' books...

Which were numbered!

I'm looking to choose a really good TOS story

#75 "First Frontier"

#76 "The Captain's Daughter" (although it didn't sell well)

#85-87 "My Brother's Keeper" trilogy, but not numbered on covers.

Did Kevin Ryan write Requiem for TNG (#31 or #32 i think)?

With Michael Jan Friedman, yes. #32. (But Peter David also used the title in his "New Frontier" series.)

did I miss 2 earlier books (and if thats true... Kevin Ryan rocks, and they are probably about Klingons which means an automatic buy.

Errand of Vengeance was a trilogy by Kevin Ryan, yes. "The Edge of the Sword", "Killing Blow" and "River of Blood". Takes place after the episode "Balance of Terror", during and after "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" and up till "Dagger of the Mind".

The first two instalments of Ryan's sequel trilogy, "Errand of Fury", were "Seeds of Rage" and "Demands of Honor". They take place between the episodes "The Devil in the Dark" and "Errand of Mercy".

Dafydd ab Hugh got me to LOVE #33 Balance of Power)... and that was the last TNG book I've read. Any favorites of the numbered TNG books out there?

#61 "Diplomatic Implausibility"

"Immortal Coil" was supposedly unnumbered, although "64" appears concealed as part of the cover art.

 

[LightningStorm]

-Same thing with the A Time To Books... is it worth it to go "all in" and buy them all to enjoy the WHOLE giant story or can just a few be chosen/read without losing anything?

Yes and no. Those nine books are 4 duologies and a final novel. Each duology tell a complete story in itself, so I'd say if you read Born then you should read Die, and if you read Sow then you should read Harvest, etc. But technically you don't need to read all of them to enjoy any given duology. Also, these books do actually have numbers on them from 1 to 9 on the spine at the bottom, so that'll tell you what order they go in, and to discern which sets of two go together can be denoted by the author on the cover.

As for quality and enhanced reading experience, I personally would recommend reading them all in order. The quality varies from author to author, but I think in general they are all pretty good.

-The Titan books have me confused as well. I picked up the newest one and read the blurb and got hooked on the 'after the events of Destiny' angle. If someone has read the Destiny trilogy (not me yet but soon), LOVED it... but haven't touched any other Titan book, is it a mistake to buy this one? Should I start from the beginning?

The Titan books are mostly all standalone. The character arcs continue from book to book. Like the A Time To books though I'd say for an enhanced reading experience start at the 1st one and go from there and after the 4th one go to Destiny. The order of these is: Taking Wing, The Red King, Orion's Hounds, Sword of Damocles, Destiny Trilogy, Over a Torrent Sea.


And yes, welcome to Trek Lit, hope you enjoy your stay.

 

[Astraea]

Again, just answering one question (other numbered TNG novels I enjoyed):

(Below #33 - I'm not sure if you've read all these):
#4 Survivors Jean Lorrah
#7 Masks John Vornholt
#18 Q-in-Law Peter David
#20 Spartacus T.L. Mancour
#23 War Drums John Vornholt
#26 The Romulan Prize Simon Hawke
#27 Guises of the Mind Rebecca Neason

Above #33 (why does my list drop off so precipitously?)
#43 A Fury Scorned Sargent/Zebrowski
#44 The Death of Princes John Peel
#61 Diplomatic Implausibility KRAD

I liked Balance of Power a lot, too. It was one of the very few times I didn't hate Wesley Crusher, and it also gave a pretty good explanation for why latinum was used as currency.

Also, I don't think there's any more Stargazer stuff currently planned/on any release calendars for the next year.

 

[JD]

-There have been random series by some of my favorite authors (Michael Jan Friedman during Stargazer stuff, etc...). For anything like this, especially when its just one author doing what LOOKS like a series, is there only whats out or is there more coming possibly? (Stargazer is the only thing that pops into my head right now...)

Well that depends on what you mean by looks like a series, so just to be thorough, I'l go through each solo author series.
We have New Frontier: New book coming out this year
Stargazer: While the main series hasn't had a new book since '04, there have been 2 short stories, and a couple books slightly connected to the series. We had Darkness in Tales of the Captain's Table, which takes place fairly soon after the Stargazer's distruction, and a MU Stargazer story in this year's Shards and Shadows. Then there was also Death in Winter, which does have several Stargazer characters in the post-Nem time frame.
Challenger: Only lasted one book, and one short story concluding it's story.
IKS Gorkon: Last book came out last year, and nothing has been said about anything else yet. But I looked the yesterday, and there were three years between it and the previous book, so I guess it might not be over yet. KRAD could probably tell us if he shows up here.
Voyager Post Return: New author is taking over, and there will be two books this year.

-I know from years of lurking here (it took me awhile to figure out how to create an account and I missed the AOL Star Trek boards :>) that you don't HAVE to read book X to enjoy book Y. But whomever created the Lost Era books has confused the hell outta me. For starters, do you read only half of KRAD's the Art of the Impossible and THEN jump to Well of Lost Souls... and then back to KRAD's book? The year labeling doesn't make it clear. For the Lost Era books in general, do they tell an overall story arc over ALL of the books... so it makes it MUCH more enjoyable to read them all... or can you stick with select books if I'm picky about character

The LE books do all tell seperate standalone stories, but they do also follow each other in one consistant timeline. For instance, if I remember correctly we see one character taking over as the Klingon Chancellor in Serpents Among the Ruins, and then in the next book, The Art of The Impossible they are still in that position.

-Part 2 of the Lost Era. Is Christopher Bennett's The Buried Age the only other non-year (THANK YOU GOD!) labeled book and hopefully a good read (whether you have read the Lost Era books or not)? The cover art for this book has me interested... I just don't want to jump into something all confused.

You really should read TBA, it's a great book, and it does some really does add alot more TNG when you go back and watch it again.

-The Titan books have me confused as well. I picked up the newest one and read the blurb and got hooked on the 'after the events of Destiny' angle. If someone has read the Destiny trilogy (not me yet but soon), LOVED it... but haven't touched any other Titan book, is it a mistake to buy this one? Should I start from the beginning?

While I love the Titan series, and would definitely recommend checking it out, I have feeling that if you awere able to follow Destiny you will probably be ok with Over A Torrent Sea.

 

[BryanSorensen]

with a note about the Destiny series....if you were confused about what was going on when Columbia entered the story in Gods of Night..you may want to read the Enterprise book Kobayashi Maru to get what was going on and such...

Your The Buried Age question i can say i thought of too before reading it. Having read and re read the Lost Era books, i can tell you there's no confusion in reading this amid reading the others. If you payed attention to TNG and the episode in question with the appearance of the Stargazer, you'd actually get answers from it that you probably wanted.

 

[captcalhoun]

buy Voyages of Imagination.

 

[DimesDan]

buy Voyages of Imagination.

I second that, it's a great big beefy book just about all the Trek Novels up until 2 and a bit years ago.

 

[21Spike65]

-Part 2 of the Lost Era. Is Christopher Bennett's The Buried Age the only other non-year (THANK YOU GOD!) labeled book and hopefully a good read (whether you have read the Lost Era books or not)? The cover art for this book has me interested... I just don't want to jump into something all confused.

In addition to The Buried Age, there is also a trilogy Star Trek: Terok Nor that calls itself "A Saga of The Lost Era" that deals with the Cardassian occupation of Bajor up until Emissary.

As for The Buried Age, the only thing thing that connects it to the other Lost Era books is the timeframe it takes place in. Storywise, it doesn't connect to the original six books. It is also a great read, probably my favorite by Christopher.