Book Recommendations for Newbie?

[Rush Limborg]

Diane Carey is a terrible writer, period, never mind that she can't do credible Star Trek.

My suggestion is to get the novelized version of the movie. It was written by Alan Dean Foster, who has written lots of terrific Star Trek novelizations (the Animated Series), and he's a great science fiction/fantasy author in his own right. I haven't seen the movie myself, but plan to get the book.

Hold on there, brother. Folks can write bad books and still be dang good writers.

Peter David's dang good--but he's got some clunkers.

So does Alan Dean Foster.

So do Mike and Andy.

And so does Diane Carey.

It's just a matter of "Even the best can fail".

(Okay...I SINCERELY hope folks will hold their wisecracks about Diane Carey's views, and how it affects--or does NOT effect--her books. I myself have YET to read a book of hers in which her views are forced, but that's just me. Seriously...all that yammerin's gonna do is ruin yet another thread. Please....)

 

[Timewalker]

Diane Carey is a terrible writer, period, never mind that she can't do credible Star Trek.

My suggestion is to get the novelized version of the movie. It was written by Alan Dean Foster, who has written lots of terrific Star Trek novelizations (the Animated Series), and he's a great science fiction/fantasy author in his own right. I haven't seen the movie myself, but plan to get the book.

Hold on there, brother. Folks can write bad books and still be dang good writers.

Sister, thankyouverymuch. See the little pink icon under my avatar? It indicates that I'm female.

Peter David's dang good--but he's got some clunkers.

So does Alan Dean Foster.

So do Mike and Andy.

And so does Diane Carey.

It's just a matter of "Even the best can fail".

(Okay...I SINCERELY hope folks will hold their wisecracks about Diane Carey's views, and how it affects--or does NOT effect--her books. I myself have YET to read a book of hers in which her views are forced, but that's just me. Seriously...all that yammerin's gonna do is ruin yet another thread. Please....)

O-kay... yes, I know that Peter David and Alan Dean Foster have written some stuff that isn't up to their usual standards. But even the worst of their novels is far better than the best of some others - notably, in my opinion, Diane Carey.

I have no idea what "views" she may hold; I judge her simply on the content of the books she writes, none of which have ever met MY standards for good writing, let alone good Star Trek.

(Who are Mike and Andy? )

 

[seigezunt]

Diane Carey is a terrible writer, period, never mind that she can't do credible Star Trek.

My suggestion is to get the novelized version of the movie. It was written by Alan Dean Foster, who has written lots of terrific Star Trek novelizations (the Animated Series), and he's a great science fiction/fantasy author in his own right. I haven't seen the movie myself, but plan to get the book.

Hold on there, brother. Folks can write bad books and still be dang good writers.

Peter David's dang good--but he's got some clunkers.

So does Alan Dean Foster.

So do Mike and Andy.

And so does Diane Carey.

It's just a matter of "Even the best can fail".

(Okay...I SINCERELY hope folks will hold their wisecracks about Diane Carey's views, and how it affects--or does NOT effect--her books. I myself have YET to read a book of hers in which her views are forced, but that's just me. Seriously...all that yammerin's gonna do is ruin yet another thread. Please....)

I like the Diane Carey novels that I've read (the two Piper books and the two George Kirk books) and I find her libertarian philosophy loathesome, but it only gets in the way in once, and for only about a page, in Dreadnought. I'm able to skip that page, and enjoy her storytelling.

Don't know about her later stuff, maybe there was a drop off. But Best Destiny is one of my favorites, and its portrayal of a young punk James Kirk is interesting iin light of the new movie, if not a good fit. The book was an inspiration for the movie's writers, apparently.

re other comments, I agree Troublesome Minds is a fantastic stand-alone and worth reading.

Oh, and I was able to get Voyages of the Imagination for $2. Not $12. I think it's worth it, to help wade through some of the titles.

 

[Rush Limborg]

^Good man.

I was referring, though, to all the people who claim that she forces her philosophy into every single story....

(Who are Mike and Andy? )

Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels.

 

[snakespeare]

^ They have a cookie company based out of my hometown, I think.

 

[JD]

Diane Carey is a terrible writer, period, never mind that she can't do credible Star Trek.

My suggestion is to get the novelized version of the movie. It was written by Alan Dean Foster, who has written lots of terrific Star Trek novelizations (the Animated Series), and he's a great science fiction/fantasy author in his own right. I haven't seen the movie myself, but plan to get the book.

Hold on there, brother. Folks can write bad books and still be dang good writers.

Peter David's dang good--but he's got some clunkers.

So does Alan Dean Foster.

So do Mike and Andy.

And so does Diane Carey.

It's just a matter of "Even the best can fail".

(Okay...I SINCERELY hope folks will hold their wisecracks about Diane Carey's views, and how it affects--or does NOT effect--her books. I myself have YET to read a book of hers in which her views are forced, but that's just me. Seriously...all that yammerin's gonna do is ruin yet another thread. Please....)

Actually, I've heard alot more complaints about her obsession with sailing, than about her forcing her politics into her books. That and her making everyone obsessed with Kirk. I've never read one of her books, but I've heard enough horror stories about (most) of her books, that I'm staying far away from them.

 

[Greg Cox]

I think it's a little unreasonable to buy a $12 reference book so that you can capably buy an $8 novel.

.

Good point, but it's possible Ayers' book is at his local library. (Ours has it.)

 

[Rush Limborg]

Diane Carey is a terrible writer, period, never mind that she can't do credible Star Trek.

My suggestion is to get the novelized version of the movie. It was written by Alan Dean Foster, who has written lots of terrific Star Trek novelizations (the Animated Series), and he's a great science fiction/fantasy author in his own right. I haven't seen the movie myself, but plan to get the book.

Hold on there, brother. Folks can write bad books and still be dang good writers.

Peter David's dang good--but he's got some clunkers.

So does Alan Dean Foster.

So do Mike and Andy.

And so does Diane Carey.

It's just a matter of "Even the best can fail".

(Okay...I SINCERELY hope folks will hold their wisecracks about Diane Carey's views, and how it affects--or does NOT effect--her books. I myself have YET to read a book of hers in which her views are forced, but that's just me. Seriously...all that yammerin's gonna do is ruin yet another thread. Please....)

Actually, I've heard alot more complaints about her obsession with sailing, than about her forcing her politics into her books. That and her making everyone obsessed with Kirk. I've never read one of her books, but I've heard enough horror stories about (most) of her books, that I'm staying far away from them.

Suprisingly, I, who've read most of her Trek books, don't really recall her forcing that much "sailing" in the books.

It seemed to flow nicely enough.

As for her being Kirk-centric...well, I guess then, her books are For Kirk Fans Only. I mean, C'mon--we're talkin JAMES T. KIRK here! What's wrong with everyone treating him like a legend, when he clearly is?

 

[JD]

Yeah, but he was never mentioned that much on the new shows, so it seems kinda weird for everyone to suddenly be obsessed with him. Maybe it's been exaggerated, I don't know, but from what I've heard it just seems like she takes it too far.

 

[seigezunt]

does not compute. Can't take Kirk worship too far.

 

[David R. George III]

^ As has been noted many times before, Kirk is DA MAN!

 

[wall0645]

Thanks a ton, everyone! Wonderful advice. This is obviously a great community!

I think I'll go with Troublesome Minds, as many people seem to think it to be a good stand-alone. If she likes that, then I'll get her some of the Abramsverse ones when they come out.

 

[RandyS]

does not compute. Can't take Kirk worship too far.

Tell that to the "fans" who hate Generations.

If I haven't already recommended a book (I honestly don't remember), then I recommend Q Squared, and Dark Mirror. Probably not the best books for a newbie (unless you've seen the episodes on which they were based), but I loved them. The Better Man was also good. The Lost Era series sticks out in my memory too.

 

[Christopher]

does not compute. Can't take Kirk worship too far.

Tell that to the "fans" who hate Generations.

That doesn't follow. Generally people who complain about GEN aren't upset that Kirk is in it, but that he dies, or that he dies in an inglorious way. So hating GEN is not incompatible with Kirk worship as you suggest, but if anything would tend to arise from it.

 

[Rush Limborg]

^And as I recall, it was the fans of Kirk who screamed at the original ending, which just has Soran shooting Kirk.

the writers, then, made the death more complex, so that Jimbo dies in performing the actions necessary to truly help Picard save the day....

But hey--whether you love the ending or hate it, there's always The Return, in which Kirk comes--

Ah...whatevah.

 

[RandyS]

does not compute. Can't take Kirk worship too far.

Tell that to the "fans" who hate Generations.

That doesn't follow. Generally people who complain about GEN aren't upset that Kirk is in it, but that he dies, or that he dies in an inglorious way. So hating GEN is not incompatible with Kirk worship as you suggest, but if anything would tend to arise from it.

The fact that he dies, and that his fans didn't like it was my point.

 

[Christopher]

^But that's what I'm saying. Siegezunt said you can't take Kirk worship too far, and you said "Tell that to the 'fans' who hate Generations." That phrase implies that the fans in question think that Kirk worship can be taken too far, that they object to Kirk worship. But hatred of GEN does not suggest a rejection of Kirk worship; just the opposite.

Unless you're implying that it's the fans who hate GEN who are themselves taking Kirk worship too far. But I don't see how merely disliking a movie constitutes taking worship too far. If they started harrassing Moore and Braga with angry letters and stalking them, that would be taking it too far, but just not liking a movie doesn't fit the bill. And a lot of people disapprove of Kirk's killing for reasons other than Kirk worship. Besides, even if they were taking Kirk worship too far, then they would already agree with the sentiment that you can't take it too far, in which case it wouldn't be necessary to tell them that. "Tell that to Group X" in response to statement Y is meant to indicate that Group X disagrees with or is unaware of the premise of statement Y.

 

[seigezunt]

I'll bite. It was a crappy ending for a larger than life hero.