Anyone else disappointed where the books have gone?

[Csalem]

For me the recapping has become an issue in the TNG and DS9 novels. It seems everytime something happens in the story we have to stop and wait for a few pages while the character recaps what had happened previously and it completely pulls you out of the story. There were a few of those novels where I just wanted to stop reading them because large chunks of recapping popped up and the story didn't seem to advance at all.
On the other hand, the recapping in the VGR novels are handled really well and help to maintain the flow of the story.

 

[CaffeineAddict]

For me the recapping has become an issue in the TNG and DS9 novels. It seems everytime something happens in the story we have to stop and wait for a few pages while the character recaps what had happened previously and it completely pulls you out of the story. There were a few of those novels where I just wanted to stop reading them because large chunks of recapping popped up and the story didn't seem to advance at all.
On the other hand, the recapping in the VGR novels are handled really well and help to maintain the flow of the story.

I agree - I dont mind some recapping of previous books or episodes with necessary backstory, thats fine, but constant recapping of events in the same book gets really tedious, and makes the story feel like its moving as fast as a tortoise stampeding through treacle. There are a couple of authors I think are particularly guilty of this: DRG and Dayton Ward.

 

[Tribbles and Bits]

In some cases I have been disappointed, but overall I think I've just hit a personal franchise fatigue barrier. I have been checked out of Trek lit for most of the last year at least. The Typhon Pact and The Fall were disappointing to me, but there has still been a lot to like. The Voyager, Titan, Rise of the Federation, and the Seekers all appeal to me a lot, but I'm just not ready to dive back in just yet. I started the third Seekers book last week and decided I need more time away.

 

[Trek Survivor]

Definitely am disappointed! I gave up years ago; I think the last "Post-Nemesis" book I read was "Losing the Peace".

I would really welcome some more "during the series" TNG fiction these days...the stuff set afterward is just not doing it for me!

 

[JWolf]

I'm disappointed where the books have gone. Sometimes they no longer take up even one shelf in a bookstore.

 

[RandyS]

Definitely am disappointed! I gave up years ago; I think the last "Post-Nemesis" book I read was "Losing the Peace".

I would really welcome some more "during the series" TNG fiction these days...the stuff set afterward is just not doing it for me!

I'm with you, but we seem to be in the minority, so I wouldn't expect it anytime soon.

 

[Jinn]

I would really welcome some more "during the series" TNG fiction these days...the stuff set afterward is just not doing it for me!

You can't cram an infinite number of missions in a seven year period though. That only works with five year periods...

 

[RandyS]

You can't cram an infinite number of missions in a seven year period though. That only works with five year periods...

Sure you can. Just tell stories set in the series and don't mention the passage of time at all. It works for the TOS line, there's no reason it can't work for the others.

 

[GaryH]

I thought the last Titan book was a highlight of last year that was a standalone book with ongoing developments.

 

[Idran]

Sure you can. Just tell stories set in the series and don't mention the passage of time at all. It works for the TOS line, there's no reason it can't work for the others.

I'm pretty sure Jinn was joking; thus the second sentence.

 

[Avro Arrow]

You can't cram an infinite number of missions in a seven year period though. That only works with five year periods...

But... wait... you can fit a five-year period *within* a seven-year period, so you should be able to put an infinite number of missions in the five years... but since it's seven years in total, you can't put an infinite number of missions there... but seven is just five plus two... so you should be able to put an infinite number of missions... Norman, co-ordinate!

 

[Jinn]

But... wait... you can fit a five-year period *within* a seven-year period

Maybe you can put a seven-year period in a five year period in a seven-year period. But what would you do with the two-year periods?

 

[Mage]

Sure you can. Just tell stories set in the series and don't mention the passage of time at all. It works for the TOS line, there's no reason it can't work for the others.

Actually, the fact that almost all the novels involving the TOS crew are set during the 5YM is a turn off for me. You know that at the end, just about everything needs to be status quo again. And the amount of events happening within those 5 years is becoming unbelievable to me.

I'd love more TOS-era, but how about more Pike? Sure, we had one just now, but there's room for more. Or more TOS- crew during the movie era.

 

[RandyS]

Actually, the fact that almost all the novels involving the TOS crew are set during the 5YM is a turn off for me. You know that at the end, just about everything needs to be status quo again. And the amount of events happening within those 5 years is becoming unbelievable to me.

I'd love more TOS-era, but how about more Pike? Sure, we had one just now, but there's room for more. Or more TOS- crew during the movie era.

I too would welcome more Pike era stories, or movie era ones. As long as those novels begin and end with the status quo intact. That's what appeals to me more than anything, and the sole reason why I lost interest in the 24th century era books.

 

[Jinn]

I too would welcome more Pike era stories, or movie era ones. As long as those novels begin and end with the status quo intact. That's what appeals to me more than anything, and the sole reason why I lost interest in the 24th century era books.

I don't think that you have to fundamentally change the status quo after every book, but after a reasonable amount of time I am totally okay with killing off characters or similar things. Or they should just never kill any important character for years and then let David Mack do the job in a trilogy every few years.

 

[Greg Cox]

. And the amount of events happening within those 5 years is becoming unbelievable to me.

Honestly, that's doesn't bother me. As I've commented before, how long has Archie been in high school and how many dates with Betty and/or Veronica can he actually cram into three years? How many mysteries can Nancy Drew reasonably solve before she graduates? How many innocent people accused of murder can Perry Mason actually defend in his career? How many "perfect murders" get committed in Columbo's jurisdiction anyway? Why does Carl Kolchak keep running into monsters everywhere he goes? How did Doc Savage manage to have over 181 fantastic adventures back in the thirties?

It's a suspension of disbelief thing, which applies to most any long-running series or character.

 

[BillJ]

It's a suspension of disbelief thing, which applies to most any long-running series or character.

This.

Plus, every reader isn't going to read every single novel.

 

[Mage]

Honestly, that's doesn't bother me. As I've commented before, how long has Archie been in high school and how many dates with Betty and/or Veronica can he actually cram into three years? How many mysteries can Nancy Drew reasonably solve before she graduates? How many innocent people accused of murder can Perry Mason actually defend in his career? How many "perfect murders" get committed in Columbo's jurisdiction anyway? Why does Carl Kolchak keep running into monsters everywhere he goes? How did Doc Savage manage to have over 181 fantastic adventures back in the thirties?

It's a suspension of disbelief thing, which applies to most any long-running series or character.

YMMV, I suppose. This does not apply to just TOS for me. The same thing would go for TNG or DS9 or Babylon5, or BSG or what you may.
I like to know what happens to characters afterwards, not in between. This is why I love the post-Nemesis settings of the current 24th century novels. I also don't mind the change in characters, where Picard is no longer the grumpy man he was in Encounter At Farpoint. He changed over the course of TNG, as it is. So personally, I don't like reading stories with him set in season 2 for example, since this is the Picard I knew, not the Picard I know.

And this is what is fantastic about TrekLit as it is right now!! Fans who want 5YM novels are getting them. Fans who want to read about the post-Nemesis 24th century can. But sure, if there are people who'd love to have a TNG novel set during season 2 of that show, and the demand is big enough, I don't see why Pocket Books couldn't see fit to sponsor someone writing that. It's simply not what I personally would like to read.

 

[Greg Cox]

And this is what is fantastic about TrekLit as it is right now!! Fans who want 5YM novels are getting them. Fans who want to read about the post-Nemesis 24th century can. But sure, if there are people who'd love to have a TNG novel set during season 2 of that show, and the demand is big enough, I don't see why Pocket Books couldn't see fit to sponsor someone writing that. It's simply not what I personally would like to read.

Yep. And ebooks and anthologies also give us a chance to vary the mix.

 

[JTShanks]

Just because a story references another story, that doesn't mean you're required to read that other story.

I love this quote, it's a really nice quote and it is something I hope the next series will follow.

Potential Derailing aside, I am a relative newbie to Trek Novels and I only recently got into reading them about a year ago. so I may be the not best person to quote on this but I personally feel the newer Trek Novels aren't half bad and I rather enjoy them to be honest.