Michael Jan Friedman novels

[RonG]

Hi all,

I haven't read much of MJF's Trek novels save for Reunion, Death in Winter, Shadows on the Sun and Kahless. AFAIK, MJF is considered one of the reliable, generally well-received, "old guard" of Trek novelists, but I mostly know of his work on DC's TNG series.

I remember quite liking his novels (except DiW, which left me rather cold) and I want to read his other work - I wanted your opinions and recommendations for his other Trek novels, preferably his best .

Also, what in your opinion, is the absolute best MJF novel?

 

[Smellincoffee]

MJF was my first "favorite" Trek author. My favorite works by him are Starfleet: Year One and the first two Stargazer novels, Gauntlet and Progenitor. Mind, I've not read Kahless and Shadows on the Sun. I recently read Reunion and enjoyed it, and I'll probably read Double, Double next week.

Starfleet: Year One has been rendered uncanon by Enterprise, but I like it better. The people, governments, and tech in that book seem more like TOS predecessors than Enterprise, and the Daedalus is the star.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I've always considered MJF's books solid, enjoyable but a little unspectacular. That said, most of his stuff was written before writers were allowed to smite 60 million people at a time.

I enjoyed Reunion, Valiant, Crossover and many more I can't remember right now. I found Starfleet: Year One rather dull, as well as his Kirk/Mitchell My Brother's Keeper trilogy.

 

[DS9forever]

I liked Saratoga, although I know some people felt it was too like Reunion. I would have liked to have seen Aidan Thorn and Graal again.

 

[indianatrekker26]

i like most of his books. for me, they played out like good TV episodes. TNG books "A Call to Darkness", "Fortune's Light" "Requiem" "Crossover" and "Reunion" were all great.

 

[toughlittleship]

I liked Saratoga, although I know some people felt it was too like Reunion. I would have liked to have seen Aidan Thorn and Graal again.

I liked that novel too, especialy the revelation about Barnes' actions during the Borg attack on the Saratoga.

 

[William Leisner]

I remember quite liking his novels (except [Death in Winter], which left me rather cold)

I see what you did there.

 

[ATimson]

Starfleet: Year One has been rendered uncanon by Enterprise, but I like it better. The people, governments, and tech in that book seem more like TOS predecessors than Enterprise, and the Daedalus is the star.

Maybe Starfleet: Year One is how things unfolded before First Contact changed the timeline.

 

[RonG]

I remember quite liking his novels (except [Death in Winter], which left me rather cold)

I see what you did there.

It seems a bit odd, at least to me, that despite being such a prolific writer, with so many Trek stories to his name, MJF doesn't seem to have novels that are widely acknowledged as "classic".

I remember many Favorite Writer/Novel threads on this board, and I don't recall MJF (or his novels) being one of the main picks. Personally, I'd place Shadows on the Sun and Reunion on my Top 30 Trek novel list.

Perhaps his greatest Trek novel is still forthcoming...

 

[Starbreaker]

Reunion is his best. He's never written a "great" one though.

 

[Thrawn]

Reunion is his best. He's never written a "great" one though.

I'd agree with this. Reunion was solid, but not really top-tier compared to the best of the last decade certainly, and everything else of his I've read hasn't been as good.

His stuff is all very readable, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't ever... push the boundaries. It's all very comfortable. I like it when novels take more chances.

 

[T'Ressa Dax]

So, am I the only one who thought of TOS Legacy first? I remember liking it, and Relics, which was a novelization of one of my favorite episodes. Though I did enjoy Reunion, Crossover and the Stargazer series as well. Stargazer was also good. I agree it may be a little like Reunion, but different enough not to be a problem. Of course I read them years apart too.

 

[William Leisner]

It seems a bit odd, at least to me, that despite being such a prolific writer, with so many Trek stories to his name, MJF doesn't seem to have novels that are widely acknowledged as "classic".

I dunno, I think Reunion would qualify as a capital-C Classic Trek novel. It's certainly been accepted by the TrekLit community as the definitive take on the death of Jack Crusher.

 

[RonG]

Reunion is his best. He's never written a "great" one though.

I'd agree with this. Reunion was solid, but not really top-tier compared to the best of the last decade certainly, and everything else of his I've read hasn't been as good.

His stuff is all very readable, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't ever... push the boundaries. It's all very comfortable. I like it when novels take more chances.

Reunion was quite good, but I liked Shadows on the Sun even more.
It seems I've already read MJF's best - was kinda hoping to read a new MJF novel - one that would be "great", and push the boundaries, as Thrawn so accurately put it

 

[Claudia]

I also liked "Reunion" and "Shadows on the Sun", especially the first one - I think they're classic Trek stories, and given that at the time the authors didn't have the liberties to rearrange the Trek-Universe they have now, they're both quite epic stories. I remember that back in the 1990s I was most eagerly anticipating his books along with Peter David's...

 

[JD]

I just looked up Shadows on the Sun, and it sounds like one I might have to check out. Where did the concept of McCoy joining Starfleet to get away from his ex-wife come from? I thought it was something new they came with for the last movie, but obviously it's older if it was used here to.

 

[Christopher]

I just looked up Shadows on the Sun, and it sounds like one I might have to check out. Where did the concept of McCoy joining Starfleet to get away from his ex-wife come from? I thought it was something new they came with for the last movie, but obviously it's older if it was used here to.

Oh, it's much, much older. As D. C. Fontana explains in her introduction to Star Trek 365, it's something that DeForest Kelley came up with as part of his backstory for the character. After the first season, Fontana asked the actors for their insights into the characters, Kelley made the suggestion that he had a daughter and a broken marriage, and Fontana added that to the April 1967 revision of the writers' bible. The relevant section is quoted in spread 23 of Star Trek 365. "We will suspect that it was the bitterness of this marriage and divorce which turned McCoy to the Space Service."

McCoy's bitter divorce (along with the existence of his daughter Joanna) is one of those things that's been "known" in fandom forever even though it was never onscreen, because it was mentioned in the writers' bible and The Making of Star Trek. The TMoST version (p. 240) reads:

...McCoy's unhappy marriage and subsequent divorce made him long for an escape from familiar and painful surroundings. He therefore plunged into intensive courses in Space Medicine and then volunteered for Star Fleet. Dr. McCoy, like many a man before him, has taken up wandering in order to get away from painful memories.

The earliest prose work to address McCoy's divorce and subsequent choice to join Starfleet was Joe Haldeman's Planet of Judgment for Bantam. There were also a couple of Gold Key comics dealing with McCoy's daughter (there called Barbara) which probably came out earlier, but I don't recall if they addressed his divorce.

 

[The Grinch Doctor]

I think Reunion remains my favorite MJF novel, not just for the riveting story, but also for the introduction of Pug Joseph and Carter Greyhorse who I've longed to see more of. They were just about the only thing I really enjoyed about Death in Winter.

On the topic of McCoy's back history, has the character of Joanna been explored at all in recent years?

 

[Christopher]

The most recent Joanna McCoy story I'm aware of is a Marvel Untold Voyages issue from 1998:

http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/Past_Imperfect_(UV)

 

[JD]

Your link didn't work right.
http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/Past_Imperfect_%28UV%29