Better to read current books mid-series or start at the beginning?

[Elemental]

I'm little conflicted on this. Obviously, I'd love to be completely up to date on all the Trek lit series, but that will not be the case for quite some time. I'm 30 pages away from finishing A Stitch in Time and the only other DS9 post-series novels I've read have been The Lives of Dax and the two Avatar books. I own all the rest of the novels. It's a similar story for Titan although there are obviously fewer books to that series. I've finished book 1 and am about 1/4 into book 2. For TNG and Voyager I'm in the middle of reading the latest entries so am basicly up to date. I've also read the Destiny trilogy and A Singular Destiny. I'm way behind on Klingon Empire/IKS Gorkon and New Frontier. It doesn't really matter for this thread, but I'm also up to date on ENT post-series and Vanguard. Stargazer and Corps of Engineers has been on the backburner.

The reason I ask this now is that Destiny has obviously been good at bringing all the series together and with DS9 also being brought into the fold, it seems like all the 24th century lit will all be in about the same timeline (which I think is a great idea, FWIW). With series like The Typhon Pact coming, I would love to be able to read each of them sequentially, but this will obviously mean reading DS9 and possibly Titan ahead of where I'm at. So, even if I didn't read the most current DS9 and Titan books, it's very likely I will still be spoiled somewhat on the goings on by reading the series I am up to date on. If I were to decide just to read the most current books for now, the only catch up work I'd have to do is read Titan's Over a Torrent Sea.

So, posed with this problem, I ask you who are up to date, if it were you, would you just read the most current books as they come out and catch up as time permits (this would be a slow process), or just truck on from the start and be very behind with some series?

 

[Christopher]

Given that The Typhon Pact doesn't begin coming out for another 15 months, and that only two new 24th-century novels (VGR: Unworthy and TTN: Synthesis) are coming out in that time, I'd say you have plenty of time to get caught up without needing to skip ahead. It sounds like you only have a couple of dozen books you'd need to read to get current, which comes out to about one book every 2.7 weeks.

 

[Thrawn]

If you've already read Destiny, you have nothing to lose by reading Torrent Sea and heading onward with Titan.

For DS9, I would *highly* recommend reading them all in order. It's a really organic, over-arching kind of story, much less standalone than Titan. You'll have plenty of time, until late fall of next year, and I think you can do it

It sounds like you aren't having any issues with the rest though, right?

Edit: oh, right, New Frontier and Gorkon. Take your time with those, they don't have much to do with the rest. They're fun, but no hurry. Read them both in order. Haven't read Stargazer or SCE myself.

 

[Elemental]

Given that The Typhon Pact doesn't begin coming out for another 15 months, and that only two new 24th-century novels (VGR: Unworthy and TTN: Synthesis) are coming out in that time, I'd say you have plenty of time to get caught up without needing to skip ahead. It sounds like you only have a couple of dozen books you'd need to read to get current, which comes out to about one book every 2.7 weeks.

Haha, thanks for doing the calculation for me. I guess I just don't spend near enough time reading because lately it's been taking me longer than that to complete a book. It of course varies based on the size of the book and how drawn in to it I am at any particular time. I have, however, had many novels on the go at one time (one for each Trek series right now). I guess I'll just have to hunker down and focus on these certain series.

I just counted the books on my shelf and yeah, it works out to being 18 completely unread novels currently released (plus 1 short story for DS9), plus the upcoming (I think) 2 new DS9 novels, 1 new Titan, and 1 new Voyager, plus the newest TNG, TTN book 2, and VOY book 5 all of which I'm partway into. So around two-dozen...

If you've already read Destiny, you have nothing to lose by reading Torrent Sea and heading onward with Titan.

For DS9, I would *highly* recommend reading them all in order. It's a really organic, over-arching kind of story, much less standalone than Titan. You'll have plenty of time, until late fall of next year, and I think you can do it

I'll do my best!
Anyway, time to finish off ASiT.

 

[Paris]

You can jump into Titan post-Destiny without a problem. Leaving New Frontier for now isn't a bad idea either. I love the series, but since it's pretty much on it's own and not not caught up to the rest of the 24th century books yet anyways, you can leave it on the back burner until you're through with the DS9-R. The Gorkon books are pretty much their own thing as well, and with only four books (all of which are awesome) and with no new ones coming to us in 2010, waiting on it is not a bad call.

 

[Karnbeln]

I'll add that it probably depends on how many hoops you're willing to jump through to get hold of older books. I've been meaning to get caught up, too, but have not read much so far due to not taking the trouble to find the older books. At this point, I should just settle for reading the new releases and catching up later, but I'm just as stubborn as I am lazy.

 

[Thrawn]

^ This was the primary reason I bought a Kindle.

 

[JD]

The only real arcs in Titan are more character based, and Destiny seemed to do a pretty good job of explaining what was going on with the characters, so as long as you could follow Destiny you should be ok with the OATS, and (probably) Synthesis. As for DS9, it really does follow the arc style of the show, so all of the books are pretty closely connected. But on the other hand, like the authors always say, they do make a point of making all of the books accessible, so you probably could jump into the current books. Although I would reccomend reading at least the last WODS9 book, Warpath and Fearful Symmetry before The Soul Key. Each one of these books continues right on from the last begginnging with the Domion novella in WODS9v.3. If you do this, just keep in mind that it is an ongoing story that has been running for 17 (22 if you count side stories and comics [damn, has it really been that many]) books.

 

[Technobuilder]

Just read at your own pace, who cares if you're behind or not.

 

[seigezunt]

Just read at your own pace, who cares if you're behind or not.

You can always catch up by reading in the crapper.

 

[Paris]

The Crapper: Where 95% of Americans do 100% of their reading

 

[Elemental]

Just read at your own pace, who cares if you're behind or not.

Because some series I'm more behind on than others and when I read the ones I am caught up with, they sometimes spoil other stories for series I'm not caught up with. Also when there are miniseries, I either have to leave some stories behind or read entries for series out of order.

In any case, I decided I was going to try to catch up and am pushing myself a little harder to get through.

 

[Geoff Thorne]

I would suggest reading VANGUARD, TITAN and DS9r from the beginning. Even though TITAN, for instance, is designed to have a more stand-alone feel from book to book, characters do leave and/or die and, if you come in after the fact, those losses/changes will have less impact when you get to them.