Your Favorite TOS Movie Era reads?

[seigezunt]

What books after the original 5YM do you like? I'm poised to read The Sundered, the Captain's Daughter, and/or the Excelsior book whose name escapes me (the one with the burning Sulu on the cover).

By my knowledge, the movie (and post-movie) era of TOS wasn't explored nearly as much as the 5YM. I'm trying to think of the better books.

I'm aware of the Lost Era books, and I've read the Lost Years ( a long time ago), and have heard the other Lost Years books kind of drop off.

Loved Ex Machina, as a truly 2nd 5YM book (as opposed to the much-loved books by Diane Duane, which continue to bedevil me as to when they take place. Great books, but that always gives me a headache).

Liked Vulan's Forge, but didn't like Vulcan's Heart. Need to read Vulcan's Soul. Still waiting for Vulcan's Spleen and Vulcan's Spastic Colon.

Did not like Shadows on the Sun. Soured me on that author.

Need to read Pandora Principle, hear that's pretty good.

What other TOS movie-era books am I missing?

 

[Mysterion]

I like Peter Morwood's Rules on Engagement a lot. It seems to be a somehat over-looked and under-rated book, but I like the sort of Tom Clancy-ish feel to the story. It's almost a Star Trek version of The Hunt for Red October in a way, IMO.

 

[EliyahuQeoni]

Ex Machina, no contest. It feels like a real follow up to TMP.

Captain's Daughter is entertaining enough, though bogged down by Peter David feeling the need to "explain" Demora Sulu's birth. The origins he assigns her undermine the point made in Generations that Sulu found time to have a family. He apparently assumed that because we never saw Sulu's wife that he must not have one. Lame.

 

[T'Ressa Dax]

I liked The Captain's Daughter, and if I was listing only Peter David's books that one would be near the top of the list. Otherwise it's somewhere behind The Pandora Principle, which is one of my favorite TOS books.

Forged in Fire, which you're trtying to remember, is very good.

Shell Game, mostly because it was one of the first and I ended up liking it more than I thought I would.

Time for Yesterday is good if you like time travel. It's the sequel to Yesterday's Son.

Ice Trap has what I consider to be a particularly funny scene in it, and I'm partial to Firestorm just for Uhura having a lot to do that doens't have to do with singing or communications frequencies.
Yes L.A. Graf is (are?) among my favorite TOS authors.

 

[Good]

... as opposed to the much-loved books by Diane Duane, which continue to bedevil me as to when they take place. Great books, but that always gives me a headache.

Thank the Great Bird! Someone else agrees with me on this. Thw Wounded Sky is one of my all time favorites, but I swear I don't think she even knew what era she wanted to set them in. It always seemed lime the uniforms and ranks were pure third season TOS, but the ship always sounded like the refit. GreAt books though.

 

[seigezunt]

... as opposed to the much-loved books by Diane Duane, which continue to bedevil me as to when they take place. Great books, but that always gives me a headache.

Thank the Great Bird! Someone else agrees with me on this. Thw Wounded Sky is one of my all time favorites, but I swear I don't think she even knew what era she wanted to set them in. It always seemed lime the uniforms and ranks were pure third season TOS, but the ship always sounded like the refit. GreAt books though.

Therin has a great answer to this, which I always forget.

 

[Joel_Kirk]

Nobody has mentioned 'Yesterday's Son,' yet...

There's been some good ones already mentioned, though...

 

[Christopher]

Thw Wounded Sky is one of my all time favorites, but I swear I don't think she even knew what era she wanted to set them in. It always seemed lime the uniforms and ranks were pure third season TOS, but the ship always sounded like the refit.

At the time, Trek chronology was much less pinned down. There were some who believed that the in-universe interval between TOS and TMP was similar to the real-life one, that there was a second 5-year mission between them. (Even though that was pretty much contradicted by Kirk's reference in TMP to his "five years out there" dealing with the unknown.) The early Duane novels were apparently set in such a hypothetical intermediate era, showing a ship that was evolving toward its movie-era version but not quite there yet.

 

[Brikar99]

Thw Wounded Sky is one of my all time favorites, but I swear I don't think she even knew what era she wanted to set them in. It always seemed lime the uniforms and ranks were pure third season TOS, but the ship always sounded like the refit.

At the time, Trek chronology was much less pinned down. There were some who believed that the in-universe interval between TOS and TMP was similar to the real-life one, that there was a second 5-year mission between them. (Even though that was pretty much contradicted by Kirk's reference in TMP to his "five years out there" dealing with the unknown.) The early Duane novels were apparently set in such a hypothetical intermediate era, showing a ship that was evolving toward its movie-era version but not quite there yet.

Sometimes I like that. Back then, it was obviously an attempt at fleshing out the universe, but now you can sorta look at it with a 'what if' sort of eye, and that's pretty cool. I like seeing the different castles people can make out of the same sand.

 

[Valin]

I like Peter Morwood's Rules on Engagement a lot. It seems to be a somehat over-looked and under-rated book, but I like the sort of Tom Clancy-ish feel to the story. It's almost a Star Trek version of The Hunt for Red October in a way, IMO.

I liked the book, too. Clancy has so many Trek references in his books, I've always wondered what he thought of "Engagement" (if he read it, that is).

"The Wounded Sky" is my favorite of that era.

 

[JD]

Thw Wounded Sky is one of my all time favorites, but I swear I don't think she even knew what era she wanted to set them in. It always seemed lime the uniforms and ranks were pure third season TOS, but the ship always sounded like the refit.

At the time, Trek chronology was much less pinned down. There were some who believed that the in-universe interval between TOS and TMP was similar to the real-life one, that there was a second 5-year mission between them. (Even though that was pretty much contradicted by Kirk's reference in TMP to his "five years out there" dealing with the unknown.) The early Duane novels were apparently set in such a hypothetical intermediate era, showing a ship that was evolving toward its movie-era version but not quite there yet.

Didn't they change the books to fit into one of the two periods better when they released them in the omnibus, Rihannsu: The Bloodwing Voyages?

 

[Christopher]

Didn't they change the books to fit into one of the two periods better when they released them in the omnibus, Rihannsu: The Bloodwing Voyages?

A bit more complicated than that, actually. Initially, when Duane wrote Swordhunt for editor John Ordover, they decided to retcon the Rihannsu books to take place in the TV era, and the book (published in two volumes at the time) contained references to that effect. But the conclusion, The Empty Throne, was delayed a few years, and by the time it got finished with Marco Palmieri editing, the decision was reversed and all the Rihannsu books were tweaked to put them in the post-TMP era. Although The Wounded Sky and Spock's World have never been revised and still reflect Duane's original chronological assumptions, which is slightly awkward since Spock's World comes between My Enemy, My Ally and The Romulan Way.

 

[JD]

So those two are in-continuity with the Rihannsu books, then?

 

[John Clark]

I like Peter Morwood's Rules on Engagement a lot. It seems to be a somehat over-looked and under-rated book, but I like the sort of Tom Clancy-ish feel to the story. It's almost a Star Trek version of The Hunt for Red October in a way, IMO.

Another fan here

I'd also count Shell Game, Pandora Principle, My Enemy, My Ally, The Patrian Transgression and The Disinherited were also on my list of favourites.

None TOS crew, but TOS time period would have to include the Vanguard series

 

[Christopher]

So those two are in-continuity with the Rihannsu books, then?

Yes. The complete "Duaneverse" sequence is The Wounded Sky; My Enemy, My Ally; Spock's World; The Romulan Way; Swordhunt (originally published in two volumes as Swordhunt/Honor Blade); The Empty Chair (I mistakenly called it The Empty Throne above). ME,MA contains references to events that happened in The Wounded Sky (roughly a month before), and a character who appears in TWS and Spock's World (K's't'lk the Hamalki physicist) is a player in the later Rihannsu books.

A couple of human "Duaneverse" characters (Janice Kerasus and Lia Burke) also appear in Doctor's Orders, though that was published in the restrictive Richard Arnold era and is missing the exotic alien crewmembers and other distinctive attributes of her take on the Enterprise and Starfleet (although the book does feature a number of non-Starfleet aliens introduced in her computer game The Kobayashi Alternative). A number of her novel characters (such as Naraht, Harb Tanzer, Kerasus, and Burke) also appear in her stories for DC's TOS comic, "Double Blind" and "The Last Word," though it's hard to tell whether those are really consistent with the Duane novels since they're set in the post-ST III era, and one would've expected those characters to advance more in rank in that time.

 

[ClayinCA]

Nobody has mentioned 'Yesterday's Son,' yet...

There's been some good ones already mentioned, though...

I always thought Yesterday's Son was set towards the end of the original 5YM. No?

For post-TMP books I like:
Ex Machina
The Covenant of the Crown
Deep Domain
Strangers from the Sky (to the extent that this counts as post-TMP)
Time for Yesterday
The Pandora Principle
The Rift
The Captain's Daughter (though I agree totally with EliyahuQeoni about the justification for Demora's birth)
Forged in Fire
The Sundered
In the Name of Honor

 

[Christopher]

I always thought Yesterday's Son was set towards the end of the original 5YM. No?

That's correct. It's said to be two years after "All Our Yesterdays," which would be the last year of the 5YM if it's assumed to have begun with the first season. (Although that's a bit iffy these days, since VGR: "Q2" put the end of the 5YM in 2270 and "All Our Yesterdays" is generally assumed to be in 2269.)

The sequel, Time for Yesterday, is very much in the movie era, taking place shortly before TWOK.

 

[Good]

Deep Domain

Ditto on this one. It's a lot of good plot crammed into a fairly small book.

 

[JD]

. A number of her novel characters (such as Naraht, Harb Tanzer, Kerasus, and Burke) also appear in her stories for DC's TOS comic, "Double Blind" and "The Last Word," though it's hard to tell whether those are really consistent with the Duane novels since they're set in the post-ST III era, and one would've expected those characters to advance more in rank in that time.

Cool. I've been working my way through the DC TOS series for a while now, so hopefully I should get a chance to read those soon. I've been curious to try out some of her stuff, so I'm looking forward to those.

 

[Nerdius Maximus]

What books after the original 5YM do you like? I'm poised to read The Sundered, the Captain's Daughter, and/or the Excelsior book whose name escapes me (the one with the burning Sulu on the cover).

By my knowledge, the movie (and post-movie) era of TOS wasn't explored nearly as much as the 5YM. I'm trying to think of the better books.

I'm aware of the Lost Era books, and I've read the Lost Years ( a long time ago), and have heard the other Lost Years books kind of drop off.

Loved Ex Machina, as a truly 2nd 5YM book (as opposed to the much-loved books by Diane Duane, which continue to bedevil me as to when they take place. Great books, but that always gives me a headache).

Liked Vulan's Forge, but didn't like Vulcan's Heart. Need to read Vulcan's Soul. Still waiting for Vulcan's Spleen and Vulcan's Spastic Colon.

Did not like Shadows on the Sun. Soured me on that author.

Need to read Pandora Principle, hear that's pretty good.

What other TOS movie-era books am I missing?

I haven't read the Pandora Principle in years, but I read it several times in HS, and I loved it.