Am I doing Ward wrong?

[Paris]

I'm sad to say that I've also had a hell of a time with some of Dayton Ward's trek offerings . I had to put down Paths of Disharmony due to boredom; Wardilmore's A Time To... duology fared the same fate. Peaceable Kingdoms was OK, but far from my favourite of the Fall books. I will say that I really enjoyed all the Vanguard books, but Mr. Mack's were my favourite.

Mike Martin is still my least favourite of the current batch of authors

 

[JD]

I don't think I've come across a single Trek author who's worked I've disliked consistantly. But there are several who've had one book I didn't like. I've read only one John Vornholt novel, A Time To Be Born, which I couldn't stand it, but I haven't read any of his other stuff so I don't really want to judge his writing overall.
Dayton Ward (& Kevin Dilmore): I really enjoyed his (their) Vanguard books, and I liked Paths of Disharmony and their first few SCE stories, but A Time to Sow/Reap just OK.
Peter David: I love the first 10 or so NF novels, and I loved Imzadi and Q Squared, but I only made it a couple chapters into Before Dishonor before I gave up.
Michael A. Martin (& Andy Mangels): I really liked most of the Martin/Magels stuff I've read, but I gave up on the only Martin solo book I tried, Seize the Fire, after just a couple chapters.
Most of the other writers have been pretty consistently good.

 

[Stevil2001]

Ward and Dilmore's duology in the Ecclesiastes maxiseries is probably my favorite one, in retrospect. It's the one that feels the most like a piece of The Next Generation, for what it's worth. I felt like some of the other authors were trying to bend tNG into something it wasn't.

 

[Kertrats47]

I haven't read all of Dayton Ward's books, but I have to add my voice to those who are saying that they really enjoy his work. Other than a few weak points in Peaceable Kingdoms, I've consistently enjoyed every book of his that I've read. From History's Shadow was very nearly my vote for best book of 2013 (until Crimson Shadow and Poisoned Chalice came along). And even though Peaceable Kingdoms let me down a little bit, it was still a well-written and enjoyable entry.

His Vanguard books were consistently excellent, and I also enjoyed In the Name of Honor. I find Ward's books enjoyable whether they're written solo or with writing partner Kevin Dilmore.

 

[8of5]

I don't recall enjoy much of the A Time to... series, so with the possible exception of the books there, I can't recall ever not enjoying a Ward book. Indeed From History's Shadow is one of my all time favourite Trek novels, and I'd rate Paths of Disharmony pretty highly too.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

The only Ward books I haven't enjoyed were Paths of Disharmony and the A Time To duology. I haven't read That Which Divides and Peaceable Kingdoms yet so I don't know if I'd like them or not.

Michael A. Martin is just awful. When he cowrote with Andy Mangels I enjoyed it but on his own...ugh. His novels are take long getting anywhere and the characterization is awful.

 

[BritishSeaPower]

I enjoyed Paths of Disharmony but it might be getting the halo effect of having just read Seize the Fire. I think, from what I've read, Ward(/Dilmore) are much better at TOS. They have the right feel for the era and characterizations relevant to that time frame.

 

[Reanok]

I liked several of the Dayton Ward/Kevin Kilmore novels. I really liked Ward's From History's Shadow. Someone mentioned John Vornholt's A Time to series novels being hard to get through. I agree I didn't like those books either. I do like Rogue Saucer it's a much better novel.When it comes to Peter David's New Frontier series I read the first 5 books and never cared for this series.I do like Q-squared and Imzadi and Q IN LAW Q versus Lwxana Troi priceless there's some great scenes in that book.When it comes to David George I like some of his Ds9 novels. But Don't like Rough beasts of the empire. Alligence in Exile is okay. I really like Plague of night and Raise the dawn.

 

[JWolf]

Mmh, guess I'm on the other side of the argument here.

I'm always happy to see a Ward(/Dilmore) book on the schedule, as I know I'll get a good novel.

Other regulars like DRG III,Christopher and especially Martin are a whole lot more hit and miss for me personally.

Martin was good when he was with Mangles. On his own, not good.

I like DRGIII & Christopher. Martin (on his own) is the one multi-book author where I've not really liked any of them. The best I can say is so-so to just plain bad.

There has never been a Star Trek novel I've put down and not finished. There have been some that have taken longer to read as I put them down and eventually get back to them. The Terok Nor trilogy comes to mind. I found parts of it to be dull enough to put it down. I did eventually finish it.

 

[JWolf]

I like Ward and always enjoyed his books.

The author I try to avoid (unless impossible, if a book is a part of a bigger arch) is Michael Jan Friedman. I admit I enjoyed one of his books, but suffered through everything else by him I touched, so now I try to spare myself the "pleasure".

I figured out what I dont like about Friedman. He doesnt focus on the core STar Trek characters, most of his books focus on characters of his own creation. Stargazer for example

I think you'd be best staying away from the upcoming Seekers series as it will focus on new characters and not any of the ones seen on TV.

 

[Corran Horn]

I've enjoyed the Ward & Ward/Dilmore books. "In History's Shadow" I probably have to read again - I was confused as Hell at the ending so I must have been distracted or too dumb to know what was going on.

 

[Turtletrekker]

I'm a HUGE fan of Dayton Ward's work.

 

[Starbreaker]

The only one I've read is Paths of Disharmony, and I didn't really care for it, but I didn't care for most of the Typhon Pact as a whole, so it's not a fair sample.

 

[Cap'n Crunch]

The only Dayton Ward novel I didn't care for was That Which Divides, which I just found kind of boring. From History's Shadow was one of my favorite novels of last year, and I've enjoyed everything else I've read by Ward (and Dilmore).

 

[ronny]

I agree the final Fall book wasn't the best in the series but those middle 3 are a pretty high bar to compare against. On the other hand I like Dayton Ward books just fine. Nothing wrong with his Vanguard books at all, other than we're comparing them against David Mack which again is a high bar. I thought From History's Shadow was a really fun read. I've never been one of the "you only need to read the last three books in A Time To..." mainly because I thought their set of books was pretty good.

So the main point is I like Dayton Ward books just fine with our without Kevin Dilmore.