Remember when is the lowest form of conversation

[JD]

I have a horrible memory, I tend to read other things between Trek books, and I have skipped a few of the books before Destiny, so I tend to need the recaps more often then not.

 

[The Wormhole]

The only time this sort of thing really bothers me is when I'm reading a duology or trilogy and the narrative spends too much time going over events of the previous book. I'd say there's a 90% probability everyone reading the book read the previous one so there's not too much of a need for an in-depth recap.

 

[tomswift2002]

The only time this sort of thing really bothers me is when I'm reading a duology or trilogy and the narrative spends too much time going over events of the previous book. I'd say there's a 90% probability everyone reading the book read the previous one so there's not too much of a need for an in-depth recap.

With trilogies I think a lot of people read books 1 and 3, but then don't bother with book 2.

 

[Greg Cox]

I recently picked up a horror novel at a yard sale only to discover that it was the third book in a series. I was utterly lost, had no idea why I was supposed to care about these particular people, and stopped reading--despite a seemingly endless introduction recapping the previous two books.

I confess,I'm not entirely sure what this proves!

Regarding trilogies, I do think it matters how much time passes between publication of the various volumes. If the books are released one after another, over a period of months, you probably need less recapping than if the previous book came out two years ago!

You can't the assume that the reader is going to have perfect recall of a book they read a year or more ago--or that they have time to reread Book One before tackling Book Two.

(P.S. For example, there was a five-year gap between Ann Crispin's "Yesterday" novels. I'm sure readers appreciated some recapping at the time.)

 

[bbailey861]

People shouldn't forget that this this type of thing is a normal occurrence in 'real life' as well. Perhaps because age is catching up with me, but I often find myself saying 'remember when so-and-so did this and that'. It happens a lot with Army buddies. Also, even alone when I am hearing or doing something, my brain will take me back somewhere else. Overall, it's just a natural occurrence that is relevant - even in the novels.

 

[Avro Arrow]

I certainly don't mind the recapping of previous novels. My memory is certainly shaky enough that a reminder is usually necessary. (Unless the book being recapped was the one from last month... then it's probably recent enough that I remember most of what happened! )

However, I've usually seen the TOS episodes enough times that I'm a little more impatient when those are recapped a lot. But I try not to let it bother me too much, since I know that not everyone has seen them all as much as I have...

 

[Relayer1]

I've seen every episode once, but not that many more than once, so reminders of events in the series are often appreciated.

 

[RandyS]

I have a horrible memory, I tend to read other things between Trek books, and I have skipped a few of the books before Destiny, so I tend to need the recaps more often then not.

You sound like me, I'm the exact same way. Except for the "skipping novels" part. I've never yet encountered a Star Trek novel I didn't want to read and own, but, because I also read (alot) of other stuff, it may be upwards of a year or so before I get to the new Star Trek ones, so the recapping helps with my horrible memory too.