Crucible reading order

[Sky]

I received the rest of the books early this week and decided to start with Provenance of Shadows, as originally advised.

But nobody told me that I wouldn't be able to put the book down after starting to read it. Or that I'd be moved to tears by the end of the story.

What a great book. One of the best Trek books I've ever read. (Probably the best. But I have to think about it for a while; I'm still a bit overwhelmed. And that happens pretty rarely nowadays.)

 

[Therin of Andor]

But nobody told me that I wouldn't be able to put the book down after starting to read it. Or that I'd be moved to tears by the end of the story.

You've been missing staff meetings.

I took "McCoy" on a vacation with friends interstate, when it first came out, and spent most of the time with my head in the book, much to everyone's bemusement and curiosity.

 

[David R. George III]

Thanks, all, for your very generous comments. I am always thrilled to learn that I've connected with a reader.

 

[Rosalind]

Or that I'd be moved to tears by the end of the story.

oh yeah, I read the final third of that book in a hotel lobby and was trying very very hard to not cry, but failing miserably. Luckily no one else was around that afternoon.

 

[David R. George III]

^ My work is done here....

 

[Hoshi_Mayweather]

I reread the Mcoy book quite a bit. One of my favorite trek books of all time.

I've only read the McCoy one myself, and found it very moving...

I've heard mixed reviews on the Spock entry, and I've heard the Kirk entry is more action-oriented than the other two.

I still want to read them all for myself, though...

 

[David R. George III]

^ I believe that the novels receive different receptions because...well, the three main characters are different, one from another, and thus, so are the books. Provenance of Shadows essentially tells a McCoy tale, and consequently carries great emotion. The Fire and the Rose follows Spock along his personal journey, one necessarily intellectual; I also took pains to depict Spock as a Vulcan, as an alien, and not as simply more-or-less human. The Star to Every Wandering relates a Kirk adventure, and thus unfolds as a more action-oriented story. Choosing to construct a trilogy from three such divergent components might have demanded a lot of readers, and at the very least, might have made it difficult for some to enjoy all of them.

 

[Lindley]

McCoy was by far the best of the three. It was a fantastic book, really.

I didn't get much from the Spock book; I'm a fairly logical person myself, but that may have actually played against me here because I couldn't stop noticing all the differences from the "usual" continuity. (I know these books were trying to do their own thing.) Plus I think there was too much of the original "City" in it; I already know that story, writing it again is just a page-padder.

I can't really recall the details of the Kirk book, except that I remember at the time thinking that it would have worked better as a short story or novella. It felt like there wasn't enough there to warrant a full book.

All in all, three very interesting story ideas which were, IMO, somewhat diminished by a somewhat awkward attempt to tie them together. I kept getting bored in the second and third books when reading events I'd already seen. They would have been better off in isolation from each other.

 

[seigezunt]

In DG3's defense, Spock can be a pretty diifficult character to write, and readers have a lot of different agendas about him.

 

[Claudia]

The Spock book had some wonderful moments - I simply loved Sarek and Amanda, and Spock's struggle to finally become his own person... I could definitely relate to that. And I actually had tears in my eyes when he realized an important part of him was missing when he simply couldn't grieve and turned up at McCoy's house.

But while I thoroughly enjoyed Spock's novel, McCoy's still has a very special place in my heart. At first I found the jumping of timelines a bit confusing, but by the end of the book I was moved on so many levels that I still can't really put it into words... there's been no other ST-book yet (and very rarely a non-Trek-book) that managed to do that.

I couldn't relate to the Kirk-part as well as to the others. Might be because I never could relate to Kirk as well as to the 2 others, though... *g*

 

[Joel_Kirk]

I've been looking for a Trek book that is highly emotional, that takes Trek to a whole 'nother level; and McCoy: Crucible seems to be it.

I have added that book to my 'to read' list...

 

[Paris]

Hey everyone. I'm currently reading Provenance of Shadows, and really enjoying it , and I was wondering if I can read the Kirk installment next before I read the Spock one? Will I be lost?

 

[Christopher]

^You won't be lost, since each book tells an independent story. But there are some minor things set up in the first two books that go unresolved until the third, so there's some small advantage to saving Kirk for last.

 

[David R. George III]

I'm currently reading Provenance of Shadows, and really enjoying it , and I was wondering if I can read the Kirk installment next before I read the Spock one? Will I be lost?

Glad to hear you're enjoying Provenance. You can indeed read The Star to Every Wandering next; it's the shortest and most action-oriented of the three novels. A couple of plot threads set up in Provenance and The Fire and the Rose are resolved in The Kirk volume, but I'm not sure whether that would impact your enjoyment of the books.

 

[Paris]

^Excellent. Thanks for the response. I just feel like reading a Kirk-centric tale, and now it seems as though The Star to Every Wandering will be the one .

 

[seigezunt]

^Excellent. Thanks for the response. I just feel like reading a Kirk-centric tale, and now it seems as though The Star to Every Wandering will be the one .

You won't be disappointed. It's quite Kirk-centric, and in a nice (i.e., not Shatnerverse-like) way.