Vanguard Declassified essential?

[Wadjda]

I am constrained by time so i am not sure i can read it. Can i finish the books without reading that one and not miss out on mutch?

 

[Christopher]

No, you can't skip Declassified. It's very much an integral part of the narrative. Maybe the first two novellas could be saved for later, since they're more about fleshing out character background, but the last two are part of the ongoing arc.

 

[Paris]

Agreed. Skipping Declassified would not be prudent

 

[BritishSeaPower]

I will admit, the very first story in the collection tried my patience. It's not that it's not well written, but it's essentially the third time we get a "This how it started" tale from Vanguard. (The first book, the SCE story and this one.) While it is different enough and there is some good character work, I was a little miffed by it. I recall stalling out on the second story because of life and never getting back to it.

 

[Wadjda]

Thanks.

 

[JD]

Really, the only Vanguard stories you can get away with not reading are the SCE and Mirror Universe stories. I haven't read the SCE novella, and was OK, but there are some things that it did introduce that play a role in some of the books. The Mirror Universe story is totally seperate, but it's really good so I would still recommend it.

 

[Christopher]

^What about the e-book epilogue, In Tempest's Wake?

 

[ATimson]

^What about the e-book epilogue, In Tempest's Wake?

That was more of a TOS story than a Vanguard one. It's an interesting coda to the series, but not essential by any means.

 

[Chareth]

On a similar note, do the Typhon Pact and The Fall draw on Vanguard? I'm about to start Zero Sum Game and Reap the Whirlwind but would like to catch up on the 24th century books ASAP and hold off on Vanguard until then if I can.

However, I recall that when I glanced at some future blurbs as they came out, I saw references to the events and secrets of the Taurus Reach or something similar in the context of the Tholians, which could mean Vanguard spoilers. I don't want to read all the blurbs properly to check and thus get future books spoiled, so should I finish Vanguard before proceeding with Typhon Pact?

 

[Skywalker]

A pretty major storyline in The Fall is based directly on events that occurred in Vanguard, yes. There were also various other minor references to the series.

 

[Chareth]

A pretty major storyline in The Fall is based directly on events that occurred in Vanguard, yes. There were also various other minor references to the series.

So if I catch up with the 24th century, I'll have the secrets of the Taurus Reach (which I gather are revealed in Reap the Whirlwind) and the end of Vanguard spoiled? Damn.

I love how interconnected the novels are, but if that's the case, then that seems like too much required reading. It's an original TOS book series, although I can understand the desire to follow up on the Tholian material somewhere. I'm sure the connections will be rewarding while reading at least.

 

[Thrawn]

You want to read Reap The Whirlwind. Nothing after that is spoiled, really; I haven't read the last couple Vanguards yet, and I really don't feel like I know anything that's coming that I didn't already know.

 

[Chareth]

You want to read Reap The Whirlwind. Nothing after that is spoiled, really; I haven't read the last couple Vanguards yet, and I really don't feel like I know anything that's coming that I didn't already know.

Oh good, that's much more manageable - thanks.

 

[ATimson]

I love how interconnected the novels are, but if that's the case, then that seems like too much required reading.

I wouldn't call it required reading. Events in The Fall may have sprung from that material, in part; but The Fall is self-contained and tells you everything you need to know about the 23rd century events.

 

[Chareth]

I love how interconnected the novels are, but if that's the case, then that seems like too much required reading.

I wouldn't call it required reading. Events in The Fall may have sprung from that material, in part; but The Fall is self-contained and tells you everything you need to know about the 23rd century events.

True, that was the wrong expression - the novels always do a good job of filling in any backstory from earlier books. 'Required' more in the sense of needing to read certain books first so they don't get ruined for you later on. Perfectly reasonable in a chronological sequence like the 24th century novels, of course, but when an unrelated series is pulled in, it seems like more of a stretch when you're slogging away to catch up.

The early Vanguard installments are years old at this point, of course, so I can't reasonably expect a blissful, spoiler-free reading experience in an interconnected litverse when I'm way behind, but this case surprised me. Fortunately, it sounds like only the first three Vanguard books are truly affected.

 

[Thrawn]

Yeah. There's a tiny bit of info about the end given, but it's of the "interesting teaser" variety, not the "plot spoiler" variety. I actually think that if you hadn't heard of Vanguard, and read the Typhon Pact books that reference it, you would suddenly be incredibly intrigued to read Vanguard and find out what that was all about. (As opposed to feeling like it'd been summarized and there was no need.)

 

[JD]

With the way the material is presented in the 24th Century books, if you weren't familiar with Vanguard you probably wouldn't even realize the stuff came from previous books.

 

[Chareth]

Cool, OK. I should have expected that any information about the ending would be tantalising rather than a comprehensive spoiler, but in an interconnected universe authors can't reasonably be expected to protect every development in other books. I'm glad to know Vanguard's have been though.

Thanks all.