Any recommendations never read a ST book before?

[StardustSteph]

I would love to start reading some Star Trek books any recommendations on where to start? My favorite series is DS9 and I love those characters, but I'm not picky if you all think I should start elsewhere ( I also love TNG & VOY). There seem to be a ton of books..and frankly the lists and stuff just confuse me, so some help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Thrawn]

For DS9, just read these:

http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/DS9_relaunch

Avatar, books 1 and 2, are kind of a "season 8" pilot for Deep Space Nine, and the books continue from there. The link also lists several related books and comics. The comics aren't important.

Some of these books are kind of hard to come by, though. (In the chart, you can see some of them are reprinted... but not all.)

My advice - A Stitch In Time (a standalone book about Garak's past) is incredible, but expensive used, so skip that unless you have an overabundance of money or an ebook reader. Start with the reprint Twist Of Faith, which begins with Avatar and takes you through the next few stories.

I guarantee you'll be hooked. These books are *awesome*.

If you feel like adventuring elsewhere, my personal recommendation would be the Destiny trilogy (just search amazon for Star Trek Destiny), which is a big crossover thing that takes place 2 years after Nemesis, and will give you a good taste of all the ongoing stories that've started to weave together in the 24th century books. (The whole DS9 relaunch, in the link above, takes place before Nemesis, and Destiny only reveals tiny, tiny amounts of the DS9 relaunch story. It was designed so there's no need to read one before the other.) The story of Destiny begins with a full-scale Borg invasion, orders of magnitude beyond anything that was shown on the series, and that's not even the most interesting story in the trilogy. It's complicated, surprising, and really fantastic.

And finally, Vanguard is an original series set aboard a space station in the TOS era that is FREAKING AWESOME. The five books in the series so far are listed here:

http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Trek:_Vanguard

Vanguard is, for my money, the best Trek Literature being written, and even if TOS isn't your thing you might want to check it out.

So there you go - DS9 relaunch, Destiny, Vanguard. Three really solid starting points; take your pick.

The advantage to DS9 is that there is a lot of it and it all goes in one order, so it's not hard to follow, and if you liked the DS9 show you're guaranteed to like the relaunch. On the other hand, some of it is hard to find cheap. (You can buy them all easily from amazon used, but some of them run $10-$20 for a mass market paperback.)

The advantage to Destiny is it opens up all of the ongoing post-Nemesis continuity, which is pretty sweet. Destiny brings together a lot of series (with no prior knowledge necessary), then afterwards they all spring off again - TNG, Voyager, Riker's ship Titan, and some other ships/people that show up every so often. And DS9 will jump forward to join it with a book late next year. And it's *all* worth reading; you'll be amazed. If you do go this route, and you like Destiny, anyone here will help you untangle all of the ongoing continuity, so don't worry about that until after you read the trilogy. It can all be a little overwhelming though, so that's the disadvantage here.

The advantage to Vanguard is that it is only 5 books and exists completely by itself. And it's awesome. And still in print. And I don't really see a disadvantage, unless you're allergic to the TOS era

(Edited to be more comprehensive. I know it's hard to figure out where to start, so I decided to be detailed.)

 

[David R. George III]

As someone who appreciates Deep Space Nine myself, I'd also recommend those works that continue the DSN storyline forward from the finale of the television series. Yes, I happened to pen a couple of the entries, but I'm a genuine fan of the ongoing saga. I've kept up since Danielle Perry's Avatar, all the way through Olivia Woods' The Soul Key. And believe it or not, I'm anxious to discover what happens next!

 

[Rosalind]

^ aren't you the one writing the next book?

 

[Penhall99]

I'd recommend reading Shatner's series of Trek books. He's got characters from all the shows present, so they're pretty cool.

 

[David R. George III]

...aren't you the one writing the next book?

So...what's your point?

 

[captcalhoun]

Q&A

THE Q novel. assuming you don't hate Q.

 

[Paris]

My recommendation for any Voyager fans are to read the Voyager-Relaunch novels to get the post-tv series story. There have only been 6 books total, so getting into it won't be all that hard or expensive. The books in the relaunch in order of publication as well as in reading order are as follows:
1-Homecoming
2-The Farther Shore
3-Spirit Walk #1: Old Wounds
4-Spirit Walk #2: Enemy of My Enemy
5-Full Circle
6-Unworthy

If read in this order, you will get the full story of the Voyager crew from the last scene of season 7's Endgame (2378) all the way upto mid-2381. The first four books are by Christie Golden, and are OK. Just OK. But the last two books, Full Circle & Unworthy are by Kirsten Beyer, and are both fantastic. In fact...If you can't find the first four books you can just start with Full Circle. It will fill you in on all the pertinent details, and you can just get the rest from Memory Beta or something. Enjoy

 

[langdonboom]

I love all of the DS9 relaunch books, the A Time To... series, and everything TNG and Voyager post-Nemesis, as well as Titan, so I can easily concur with the above sentiments and recommend these all to you starting basically with A Time To and going through the Destiny Series (which was incredible, but I would say, don't read Destiny before you've read at least Resistance [note: not as strong as the books around it but still worthy reading, if just to keep up with the 'current events'], Before Dishonor, and Greater than the Sum). Also agree Q&A was epic and great.

And if you're a Voyager fan, definitely check out the String Theory trilogy, set during the series - it does what a lot of my favorite Trek books do, namely depicting more vibrantly strange and unique alien races and worlds (also see the great Titan novels Orion's Hounds and Over a Torrent Sea for more of this, as well as the DS9 Mission:Gamma books in the relaunch series), something which I have to think the TV shows and even films didn't have as much freedom to pursue due to budgetary/technological/commercial reasons.

But some of my older favorite stand-alone (ie not necessary to read in any specific order, mostly set during the TV show's run) Trek books are:

Imzadi, Immortal Coil, and though its no longer really in-line with movie canon post-First Contact, the TOS/TNG crossover novel Federation, which is just about the best-written Trek story I've ever read. If you aren't thrown by this alternate take on the history of Earth and Zefram Cocrane post-ENT and post-FC, you will be thrilled. Also, the Peter David novel Vendetta is an interesting Borg novel that ties in nicely with Before Dishonor.

You can't really go wrong with any of these, in my opinion!

 

[Thrawn]

^ All good suggestions, but across the boards I've seen a TON of people (myself included) that didn't like the A Time To... books or the TNG books you mention at all. And I disagree that you should read them before reading Destiny; I think the first few chapters of Destiny do a great job bringing you up to speed, and people on here that started with Destiny have said so. I wanted to recommend books that I felt just about everyone loved instantly, and sure there are a few people that don't like Destiny or Vanguard, but it seems to be a very small number in comparison. Just look at the amazon reviews of the TNG-R books vs. the Destiny books. I think Destiny is a much better starting place, just because the story is better.

That is a good list of standalones, though, and as long as you mention Imzadi and Vendetta, let's round the list off with Q-Squared, Peter David's other TNG epic. Those three books are all just awesome.

 

[langdonboom]

^ All good suggestions, but across the boards I've seen a TON of people (myself included) that didn't like the A Time To... books or the TNG books you mention at all.

Yep, I've read of some pretty strong dislike of these books, and I kind of understand, too. I'm something of an obsessive completest though and I found that aspect of reading the A Time To... books rewarding, so just in case the op is such a person too, I thought I'd chime in!

Though I did also feel that a few of the A Time To... books were a struggle to get through even for me... specifically the middle books. I can more strongly recommend the first two books with the Rashanar/Wesley/Traveler story lines (creepy, weird, and lots of floating-in-dark space stuff!), and the last few with the Tezwa story lines (especially for their effects on Picard/Riker going forward into Nemesis/Titan/Post-Nemesis.) The middle few about the Dokaalan and Delta Sigma IV.... less so, but again, a bad Trek book is still better than a good day at work, right? (etc.)

I for one though loved the whole Borg renaissance that started in Resistance (which is not great, but I was glad I read it just for the story of the 'new' Borg - plus its written so simply that it reads fast) and culminated in Destiny -- but I also was definitely much more engrossed by the three Destiny books than those leading up to it. Except for (and I'm sure I'm gonna hear it for this) Before Dishonor - I absolutely loved it: Spock/Planet Killer/Janeway/Jellico/Picard/Seven/Pluto -- just loved its high-concept insanity and meshing of worlds. Call me what you will, but it was so appealing to me.

But I agree, if you don't care about going in 'order' or anything obsessive like that, you can't get much better than Destiny. Still buzzing from that whole storyline.

 

[Thrawn]

Actually, I agree, I loved Before Dishonor. But as you say, I can see how someone wouldn't. Destiny is much harder to disagree with

 

[Cybersnark]

If you're a DS9 fan, I'd recommend the SCE/Corps of Engineers series (they rebranded midway through, but it's all one series).

It's set on a starship, but it has the same kind of character-based episodic storytelling that made DS9 so engrossing. It's like a balance of DS9's character-drama and the TOS-type of science and exploration that TNG/Voyager intended to do but never got around to.

 

[Rosalind]

...aren't you the one writing the next book?

So...what's your point?

oh nothing, carry on...

 

[Reanok]

The Terok Nor prequeal book miniseries set before the Ds9 tv series is really an excellent book series that came out last year. Some of the best ds9 books I've read in along time. and this year The never ending Sacrifice by Una McCormack and The Soul Key are both really good novels too.

 

[Judith Sisko]

Since you mentioned DS9 specifically, I concur with the suggestion of the "Season 8" post series books: Avatar through Unity.

I also agree with those who suggested SCE/CoE and Vanguard. Excellent stuff!

My two favorite standalones from the current stable of authors are probably Dayton Ward's In the Name of Honor and KRAD's Articles of the Federation. Some people might not consider Articles to be a standalone, but I read only two of the A Time to... books all the way through, and I could follow along just fine when I read Articles.

 

[StardustSteph]

Thank you all so much for the recommendations!

I'm probably going to start with DS9 relaunch starting with Avatar (I think I will read the Garak book as well since I loved his character). Then I'll probably move on to the Destiny trilogy. After that we'll see . I found they have all these books in my library so that will save on expenses!

Keep the suggestions coming though if there is anything else you think I should read.

 

[Thrawn]

^ Awesome! Having those in the library is going to be REALLY helpful. There's a thread on here every other week with someone complaining about how much the DS9 books cost.

Really, with TrekLit, just about anything is good enough that someone loved it, especially if it's been published after 2000 or so. Those are starting points; after that, just start looking for stuff that looks interesting, and it probably will be.

Have fun!

 

[The Evil Dead]

I rarely read Star Trek fiction...I would love to read more, but I'm the sort that reads half a dozen books a year at a snail's pace. But in 2008 I made sure 3 of the books I read were Star Trek. I read the Destiny series and absolutely loved them, it was epic Trek, with exploration, action and great characterization of the highest level. Highly recommended, and very easy to pick up and read without feeling like I was out of the loop as was my concern since I know I've missed dozens of the preceding books. It's been a year since I read the books and I still think about bits of dialogue, the action, the situations and some of the concepts. And even after all this time, I even get a chill up my spine when I think of a tragic storyline from the 3rd and final book...

 

[seigezunt]

I would love to start reading some Star Trek books any recommendations on where to start? My favorite series is DS9 and I love those characters, but I'm not picky if you all think I should start elsewhere ( I also love TNG & VOY). There seem to be a ton of books..and frankly the lists and stuff just confuse me, so some help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Don't. Just don't. You will end up addicted, skulking through Amazon and Ebay looking for out of print paperbacks, your house increasingly cluttered with TV tie-in books. Pathetic.

Well, that's at least what my wife says.

Seriously though, as others have said, check out the DS9 relaunch. I'm about to start them, and people seem to be rabid about them.

I've long been a fan of TOS, and have read a number of them. I'm starting the others, because of devilish references to other series in a TOS novel that shall go nameless. I'm also overwhelmed by the sheer volume, so I'm limiting myself for the most part to the un-numbered ones. Judging by other people's reviews, they tend to be better liked.