Is Gateways: Cold Wars a must?

[Manisphere]

I've got all of the NF books either on order or in my possession but Cold Wars (which isn't a numbered NF book) is eluding me as is the last Gateways book.(Actually I'm not even sure why I need the last Gateways book at all)

Are the two Gateways books essential in the NF timeline and experience or are they kind of spin offs? Does Being Human start off where CW left off or can one just go from Restoration to Being Human?

 

[JB2005]

^ They are fairly essential, if you skip them you would be able to cope, but you might be abit confused to start off with...

 

[JD]

If you want to read Cold Wars, you do need the last Gateways book. The last book was a collection of short stories, which were the conclusions to the stories begun in the series specific books. Each book ended with the captain or leader going through and Gateway, and the stories in the last one told what happened once they went throughh the GW.

 

[Thrawn]

Yeah, they're both pretty important.

 

[Manisphere]

Thanks, guys. I'll track down both. I'm telling you, Pocketbooks doesn't make it easy. They all go out of print so fast.

Do all of you end up chasing down books like this?

 

[Thrawn]

Amazon.com used. Solves all your problems.

But in my case, I just get the ebooks. That's still way more expensive, since you're getting the reader, than just ordering the few that you need used though.


ETA: And if you do go that route, be aware that at the moment, for some reason, the Gateways book 7 hardcover is available used for $4 less than the MMPB reprint.

 

[Manisphere]

Amazon.com used. Solves all your problems.

But in my case, I just get the ebooks. That's still way more expensive, since you're getting the reader, than just ordering the few that you need used though.

I'd love to leave paper books behind. I'm dying for Canada to get Kindle. I'm also dying to be able to afford Kindle.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Does Being Human start off where CW left off or can one just go from Restoration to Being Human?

"Cold Wars" is one of my favourite NF books, but then I'm also a TAS fan. (Hint.) Having said that, a lot of ST readers seemed to have a really bad reaction to "Cold Wars". It does have a very PAD-humour bit of wordplay at one point - a running gag some people detested - and a major snafu re the timeline around the date of ST II, which is a shame, but KRAD corrected the dates in a timeline he created for a later NF novel.

But I loved CW, and I hope you seek it out and enjoy it too. If you can't track down the finale to "Gateways" (ie. the short stories about all the captains), it's certainly not crucial to the next NF novel. But CW introduces a lot of new stuff.

 

[captcalhoun]

i'd say it's important, it introduces 3 new characters, starts a new sub-plot involving 2 of those characters and is the origin of a major plot involving a main cast character.

i managed to get away without reading the What Lay Beyond story for quite a while...

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Having said that, a lot of ST readers seemed to have a really bad reaction to "Cold Wars". It does have a very PAD-humour bit of wordplay at one point - a running gag some people detested

Count me among the detesters of that gag.

I'll leave aside whether or not the joke was in poor taste. Personally, I think it was. I also think it was PAD taking the piss.

The problem is that unless you "read" the character's name in the right way and "heard" it in your head the way PAD intended, the joke made no sense at all. Count me among those who "heard" the vowel in the name incorrectly. If memory serves, PAD was shocked that anyone misread the name.

 

[captcalhoun]

i misread it the first time, then realised with all the other comments around the character what the intention was. it was mildly amusing.

 

[T'Ressa Dax]

Having said that, a lot of ST readers seemed to have a really bad reaction to "Cold Wars". It does have a very PAD-humour bit of wordplay at one point - a running gag some people detested

Count me among the detesters of that gag.

I'll leave aside whether or not the joke was in poor taste. Personally, I think it was. I also think it was PAD taking the piss.

The problem is that unless you "read" the character's name in the right way and "heard" it in your head the way PAD intended, the joke made no sense at all. Count me among those who "heard" the vowel in the name incorrectly. If memory serves, PAD was shocked that anyone misread the name.

I think I misread it til I realized what he was up to. Went from rolling my eyes to thinking "enough already". Just glad he didn't continue it with the name mentioned at the end...

 

[captcalhoun]

what name?

 

[Allyn Gibson]

An alien character was named "Pheytus." Which everyone in the book pronounced as "fetus" and acted like snickering schoolchildren, rather than professionals.

When I scanned the word, I "heard" it with a long-A sound (the first syllable would rhyme with "they"), which meant the joke didn't work. Apparently, I wasn't the only one.

 

[Steve Roby]

An alien character was named "Pheytus." Which everyone in the book pronounced as "fetus" and acted like snickering schoolchildren, rather than professionals.

When I scanned the word, I "heard" it with a long-A sound (the first syllable would rhyme with "they"), which meant the joke didn't work. Apparently, I wasn't the only one.

Definitely not the only one. And even on getting that it was supposed to be pronounced the same as fetus, I didn't buy that Starfleet officers would act like such immature putzes because of it. It was an inept set-up for an unrewarding payoff.

 

[David cgc]

I don't think I've ever mentally pronounced a PAD wordplay-name correctly. I said "Briker" like "Riker" and "Gleau" like "Glew," and was quite surprised when he drew attention to the correct pronunciations.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I've always "heard" Si Cwan incorrectly; I assumed, for a long time, that the name was a tribute to longtime Superman artist Curt Swan, so that's how I "read" the name. Of course, it's also incorrect, as it's pronounced "Suh Kwan" rather than my reading of "See Swan."

I did read Gleau correctly, just because it looked French.

It's all well and good for the writer to have an intended pronunciation in mind, but there's no guarantee that your readers are going to read it that way.

 

[Steve Roby]

I did read Gleau correctly, just because it looked French.

Which made me imagine the Ninth Doctor saying, "Lots of planets have a France."

 

[JD]

I don't think I've ever mentally pronounced a PAD wordplay-name correctly. I said "Briker" like "Riker" and "Gleau" like "Glew," and was quite surprised when he drew attention to the correct pronunciations.

Huh, apparently I've always been mispronouncing those names, I've always said Bri-kar, and Gl-ow (like when you say ow after you hurt yourself).

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

I've always "heard" Si Cwan incorrectly; I assumed, for a long time, that the name was a tribute to longtime Superman artist Curt Swan, so that's how I "read" the name. Of course, it's also incorrect, as it's pronounced "Suh Kwan" rather than my reading of "See Swan."

I did read Gleau correctly, just because it looked French.

It's all well and good for the writer to have an intended pronunciation in mind, but there's no guarantee that your readers are going to read it that way.

No kidding - The 'correct' Si Cwan pronouncation is news to me, as I've always read it as 'Sai Kwan.'

However, I did catch the 'Pheytus' pun and smirked. It may have been an overly long gag, but it did elicite a few smirks from me. I didn't find it as uproariously amusing as the engineering crew, but I can understand how the 'joke' kept going - From the view of the engineering crew, it's the 'hazing the newbie' kind of thing. If Pheytus had managed to have a sense of humor about it, maybe make a few comments of his own, it's likely most of the jokes would have trailed off. Of course, the jokes are puns, so they don't translate well, but English IS the standard language on Federation ships, so there should be a good bit of familiarity to the language to at least get the jokes.

But given that the last time it comes up, it's him being paranoid about what the other crew are thinking, it seems to me to be more like he took the hazing personally - there's an altercation where Pheytus and a crew member get in a fight because of how seriously Bolians take their names, which is when the crew stops doing it consciously. However, he says that he can 'see the laughter in their eyes.' I tend to agree with Lieutenant Beth that he's being oversensitive.

I think I misread it til I realized what he was up to. Went from rolling my eyes to thinking "enough already". Just glad he didn't continue it with the name mentioned at the end...

what name?

At the end, Pheytus requests a transfer away from the 'immature putzes'. Chief Mitchell approves it and Pheytus' replacement is Ensign Nuebourne.