Searching for guidance

[chris32482]

Hey everybody. I'd like to get some opinions on what to read next. After reading all the post-nemesis novels (TNG, TTN, and AOTF) and just finishing up with Destiny today, I'd like to go back and read some of the other trek series that I've missed before going onto the post-Destiny novels.

Like many others, I started reading star trek books after the final episode of DS9 because I loved the show too much to let it go. So I've read all the DS9 relaunch except for:

The Lives of Dax
A Stitch in Time
Rising Son (I skipped this one because you basically find out what happens at the end of Mission Gamma 4, and I was in a hurry to read Unity.)

I also haven't read the Terok Nor trilogy, and I definitely want to at some point.

Some other stuff I plan to read is:

DS9: Millennium
TNG: Slings and Arrows
TNG: A Time To...
Vanguard
Lost Era
Crucible Trilogy
Vulcan's Soul

So, what would you recommend? Is there anything that I haven't listed that you would suggest? Any opinions would be greatly appreciated, as I'm having a really hard time deciding what to read next!

Thanks

 

[Thrawn]

Vanguard. No question.

In my opinion, the three truly great novel series are DS9-R, TTN, and Vanguard, the ones Palmieri commissioned. You've hit two of them, and that leaves Vanguard.

Lost Era is also outstanding in places, but a little weak in others; maybe worth hitting if you prefer standalones to arcs, but I think the arcing series are the strongest these days. If you agree, then Vanguard is definitely the way to go.

 

[Paris]

I agree with Thrawn. Vanguard is fantastic and i've only read the first one (Harbinger); I'm currently on book 2. I enjoyed the last three books of the TNG: A Time To... books, and the Klingon books (IKS Gorkon 1-3, and a Burning House) by KRAD are awesome. No one writes Klingons better. I would also recommend the Lost Era books. I've read most of them, and like most series there are good and bad.

 

[Steve Roby]

Read the DS9 relaunch books you've skipped, including Rising Son. It's a good book. The other stuff you're looking at is worth going for, as are the Titan books. I'd add the pre-finale DS9 novel The 34th Rule, too.

You might also want to give KRAD's IKS Gorkon/Klingon Empire series a try, and SCE, too. The former has the advantage of not having nearly as many stories (start with the TNG-labeled novel Diplomatic Implausibility and then go for the ones with the series label). I sometimes find the Klingons tiresome, but KRAD goes well beyond the cliches to give a much more rounded view of Klingon life. (Hey... Paris slipped in with the same suggestion while I was writing mine.)

And, yeah, Vanguard. Definitely.

 

[Paris]

For good measure I should also recommend PAD's New Frontier (love this series...been reading it since it started in 1997), as well as MJF's Stargazer series. Both series are worth a look

 

[shanejayell]

For "A time to...." I strongly suggest the two David Mack books as well as the KRAD finale book. Great reads, and they fill in enough backstory you can 'get' them without reading the rest of the "time to" books.

I also second 'Rising Son.' Not to spoil it but it has a MAJOR plot point for post 'Unity' stories and it actually made me like Jake Sisko.

 

[LightningStorm]

Gasp!!! You skipped Rising Son? Bad, impatient reader.

But yeah, I think your priority should be as follows:

1. Vanguard (by far the best overall series of Trek books IMO)
2. Rising Son (I hated Jake in the show, this book made me like him a lot)
3. Millennium (These are, IMO, the best Trek books ever written. Better even than Vanguard, but is of a lower priority because they're mostly unimportant to the arcs and Vanguard is an ongoing series where this isn't.)

 

[Bobatiel]

Vanguard
Lost Era
Crucible Trilogy
Vulcan's Soul

I absolutely love all of these!

 

[EmperorKalan]

I also haven't read the Terok Nor trilogy, and I definitely want to at some point.

Some other stuff I plan to read is:

DS9: Millennium
TNG: Slings and Arrows
TNG: A Time To...
Vanguard
Lost Era
Crucible Trilogy
Vulcan's Soul

Thanks

If you're going to read the Vulcan's Soul trilogy, you'll probably want to read Vulcan's Forge and Vulcan's Heart first. You can read the trilogy without them, but they provide additional background (plus they're exellent on their own merits)

Plus some of the other "lost era" books that weren't part of the initial series:
Burning Dreams
The Buried Age

And I'll always plug The Final Reflection, but it's probably even more relevant now, given the post-Destiny events we already know of.

 

[Thrawn]

Plus some of the other "lost era" books that weren't part of the initial series:
Burning Dreams
The Buried Age

Both outstanding, especially Buried Age.

 

[JD]

As for what to read next I'd recommend, in this order
1. Rising Son: It's a really good book, and does play a pretty big role in the story arc.
2. Vanguard: Absoultely amazing series. I'm in the process of rereading the first three as a prep for the fourth book (warning the link contains spoilers) coming out later this year
3. The Lost Era: I'd recommend the ones I've read (The Sundered, Serpents Among the Ruins, The Art of the Impossible and The Buried Age and the Terok Nor trilogy which are sort of part of the series, but also their own thing.
4: New Frontier: Most of the books are pretty good, although there are a few mediocre books twoards the middle.
4: Either IKS Gorkon/Klingon Empire or SCE/Corps of Engineers: Of the stuff listed I have the least amount of experience with these, but what I have read I liked.

 

[chris32482]

Thanks everyone for the advice. It looks like Rising Son and Vanguard are the top two most recommended. As much as I'm looking forward to Vanguard, I think I'm gonna hold off on it for now because I don't want to start another series at the moment. I'd rather read some stand-alones and maybe some trilogies-- you know, stuff that has a nice tidy beginning, middle, and end, and doesn't leave you waiting for the next book to come out. That said, I'm gonna read Rising Son and maybe A Stitch in Time for now. Then probably Millenium, since Lightning Storm's glowing review has piqued my couriosity. That should be enough DS9 goodness to hold me over until The Soul Key comes out.

 

[JD]

If you want standalones you should check out the LE books, they're all great standalone stories.

 

[Paris]

If you want standalones you should check out the LE books, they're all great standalone stories.

Agreed. Most of the Lost Era books work great on their own, but can also enhance the enjoyment of other books. The first Lost Era book, The Sundered (which features Sulu and Chekov) introduces the Neyel, whose next appearence is in the second Titan book; while the fourth book, The Art of the Impoosible, gives us some insight into the Klingons as well as the Cardassians and plays very well with the IKS Gorkon/Klingon Empire books.

 

[Arya]

I think someone may have already said something about them, but the Vulcan's Soul books are really good!