So What Are you Reading?: Generations

Discussion in 'Trek Literature' started by captcalhoun, Dec 22, 2011.

  1. youngtrek

    youngtrek Commander Red Shirt

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    Oh, I read that ages ago, back when I was in school. It came out in 1981. I turned ten years old in 1982. I think I bought it at a school book fair. I also think it took me a few years after I bought it that I was actually a good enough of a reader to make it all thd way through it (but when I did I enjoyed it).

    I just found it in my storage unit again a few months ago. Check out the prices for used copies on Amazon! I just might have to try to sell this beat up copy of mine!
     
  2. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I decided to take a break from the Wonder Woman book last night, and I started the digital comic collection, Star Wars Vol. 5: Yoda's Secret War written by Jason Aaron, and Kelly Thompson, with art by Salvador Larroca, and Emilio Laiso.
     
  3. Reanok

    Reanok Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I really like the story in Shuttle Down.I got my book from a used book store a long time ago.I'm sure you'll be able to sale your copy of Shuttle down.
     
  4. youngtrek

    youngtrek Commander Red Shirt

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    (Copy of post I just made to my personal Facebook page.)

    I finally got around to reading (because it’s taken my the public library awhile to get a copy ordered for me) Star Trek: Picard: Countdown, the trade paperback collected edition reprinting issues one through three of the comic book mini-series of the same title that was published by IDW (November 2019 to January 2020 cover dates).

    Written by Kirsten Beyer and Mike Johnson (in practice, story by Beyer and Johnson, comic book script by Johnson), with art by Angel Hernandez (and colors by Joana Lafuente). Original covers (reproduced inside the trade) painted by Michael Pangrazio, Sara Pitre-Durocher. Trade paperback cover art by Jim Salvati.

    Star Trek: Picard: Countdown is one of two prequel tie-ins that came out prior to the premiere of the “Star Trek: Picard” streaming television series on what was then CBS All Access (now Paramount+) in January 2020. (The other being The Last Best Hope, a Star Trek: Picard prequel novel written by Una McCormack that I read back in February and March of that year (prior to my watching the TV series).)

    Like The Last Best Hope, Countdown takes place well prior to the events of the first episode of the tv series. Without going overly much into the basic set up for “Star Trek: Picard” again, I’ll just say that this story takes place mostly in 2385, during the period when Jean-Luc Picard is now “Admiral Picard” and has assumed command of the USS Verity and is leading the Federation’s and Starfleet’s efforts to relocate as many Romulans (and other sentient beings) living within the “blast zone” of the soon-to-go-supernova Romulan star. His first officer and partner in the effort is Lt. Commander Raffi Musiker (played by Michelle Hurd on the TV series).

    Seen briefly at the start and end of this story (for seemingly no other reason than to establish his role as the one overseeing the construction of a brand new fleet of transport ships at the Utopia Planitia shipyards orbiting Mars) is Star Trek: The Next Generation regular, Commander Geordi La Forge. (He is also featured in this same role, much more extensively, in The Last Best Hope novel.)

    The story here is a nice little one detailing Picard, Musiker, and the Verity being rerouted to evacuate a population of “just over ten thousand” Romulan refugees from a planet along the edge of the blast zone, only to discover that there is also an indigenous sentient population of another species native to the planet that the Romulans have been using as slave labor. Their numbers are four or five million, to which Picard remarks that they aren’t equipped to move that many people. The Romulans are not concerned by this as they have no intention of attempting to relocate (and rescue from the supernova) this servant population. This leads to Picard holding firm that Starfleet will not relocate just the Romulans and leave the millions of others behind to die, to which the Romulan governor orders Picard and Musiker detained and makes plans to try to hijack the USS Verity.

    Out of this story comes the origin of two Romulan characters, Laris and Zhaban, seen living with Picard as friends and servants of his at his ancestral French chalet and vineyard at the start of the tv series, which takes place fourteen years after the events of Countdown and The Last Best Hope.

    Also included in the trade paperback collection are a couple text articles in the back. First, an interview with Kirsten Beyer, co-writer of this story and also co-creator of the “Star Trek: Picard” television series and a member of its regular writing staff. The other article, “Visualizing the Verity”, goes into the design history of the USS Verity (Odyssey class, of which the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-F was also of the same design) by Cryptic Studios (the makers of the Star Trek Online massive multiplayer online game) and IDW (the publishers of the Star Trek comic books). (The design of the USS Enterprise-F was actually created by fan Adam Ihle, his design winning the “Design the Next Enterprise” contest in December 2010. The article goes into this, as well.)

    Star Trek: Picard: Countdown is an enjoyable read, especially for those wanting a bit more back story on what happened in the gap of time between the last of the Next Generation movies, Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), and the start of “Star Trek: Picard” (2020). (Why the title Countdown? Well, while Picard does refer to the clock counting down to the supernova, a narrowing window of time to try to rescue and relocate hundreds of millions of people, the other reason this mini-series was called “Countdown” is because it’s the third prequel comic book mini-series to a Star Trek movie or television show published by IDW Publications. The first was Star Trek: Countdown (2009), which was a prequel tie-in to the 2009 Star Trek film by J.J. Abrams. The second was Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness (2013), a prequel tie-in to the Star Trek Into Darkness film (2013). So, “Countdown” is merely a common sub-title that IDW likes to used to indicate that it is a prequel tie-in to a simultaneous major Star Trek television or film project.

    I gave Star Trek: Picard: Countdown four out of five stars on GoodReads.
     
  5. indianatrekker26

    indianatrekker26 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I just picked up TNG: Shadows Have Offended last night at Barnes and Noble. I'm only a chapter in.
     
  6. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I'm so sick and tired of hearing Tezwa this and Tezwa that in recent novels, I'm finally going allllllll the way back to the "A Time To..." series.

    Please tell me these are the books with Tezwa in it:lol:
     
  7. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Specifically A Time to Kill and A Time to Heal by David Mack, with followup in A Time for War, a Time for Peace by Keith R.A. DeCandido.
     
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  8. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I finished up Monstress Vol. 3: Haven written Marjorie M. Liu, with art by Sana Takenda last night, and then I went back to the Wonder Woman BTS book.
    I love Monstress, it's one of my favorite comic book series. If you are a fantasy comic fan, I highly recommend it.
     
  9. John Clark

    John Clark Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Started on The Governer by David Weber and Richard Fox.

    It's a prequel to In Fury Born, but so far, it's more politics. We'll see how it unfolds.
     
  10. Cyfa

    Cyfa Commodore Commodore

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    Trillions by Nicholas Fisk - for what seems like the trillionth time, but it never gets dull and is always enjoyable yet unnerving.
     
  11. Smiley

    Smiley Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I finished Strangers From the Sky again. It is an excellent Star Trek book in general, and it is even better for those who love Vulcans and the "Where No Man Has Gone Before"-only characters. Now, on to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan's novelization!

    Between Duane, McIntyre, Bonanno, and Dillard, the ladies were kicking butt and taking names in the 1980's with their Star Trek fiction.
     
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  12. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    And thanks to Una McCormak and Kirsten Beyer, they still are today.
    Earlier this week I finished up Wonder Woman: The Art and Making of the Movie Sharon Gosling, and once that was done I starte ST:VOY: Architect of Infinity by Kirsten Beyer.
     
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  13. Kertrats47

    Kertrats47 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Not to mention Cassandra Rose Clarke, who recently wrote a TNG novel that came out this week that I am very much enjoying at the moment! Hope she gets contracted for more in the future!
     
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  14. Kertrats47

    Kertrats47 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Latest Positively Trek Book Club is out! Bruce and I talk about another novel of The Lost Era: Well of Souls by Ilsa J. Bick, featuring the crew of the Enterprise-C under Captain Rachel Garrett. Let us know your thoughts!

    [​IMG]

    Next up is TNG: Shadows Have Offended by Cassandra Rose Clarke!
     
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  15. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Oh, I didn't realize that was out already. So yeah, we can add her to that list.
    It's a shame Heather Jarman and S.D. Perry aren't writing Trek anymore, I really liked their stuff.
     
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  16. Cyfa

    Cyfa Commodore Commodore

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    - This is my favourite TLE novel, and one of my favourite (and most read) Star Trek novels - in part because it is so different from the majority of the rest that I've read. I agree that it takes a while to get into, and the grimness of most of the characters can be rather oppressive, but I find their stories are engaging and everything comes together towards the end - and I like to imagine that things get better for the crew of the Enterprise-C from that point on. I'd love another novel with this crew, unlikely as that maybe.

    Anyway, back on topic: I've finished Shadows Have Offended, and just started A Psalm For The Wild-Built, by Becky Chambers (possibly my favourite author).
     
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  17. John Clark

    John Clark Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Started on Shadows have offended by Cassandra Rose Clarke.

    Entertaining so far.
     
  18. Daddy Todd

    Daddy Todd Commodore Commodore

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    The postman just delivered Alan Dean Foster's "The Director Should've Shot You: Memoirs of the Film Trade". It looks like an interesting read.

    ETA: And it was! Finished in less that 36 hours. Foster shares some great stories, like asking Diana Rigg out on a date. And the horrorshow of trying to novelize Alien3 into something coherent. (Spoiler: the IP owners shot his efforts down.)

    He also has chapters on novelizing Star Trek: first, the animated episodes, and decades later, the first two Kelvinverse movies.

    One of the more entertaining books I’ve read of late.
     
    Last edited: Jul 22, 2021
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  19. USS Firefly

    USS Firefly Commodore Commodore

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    Terminator Salvation: cold war
     
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  20. Reanok

    Reanok Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Star Trek TOS Foul deeds will rise by Greg Cox
     
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