I've tried looking up on the lists all the Borg Invasion books, but publishing order doesn't seem to tell me what order they should be READ in outside Destiny 1-3. Could someone give me a hand with how all the tie ins fit into/around those three books? (Obviously "Losing the Peace" comes after, I know that much...)
Basically all of the TNG-branded post-Nemesis books after Death in Winter. Resistance, (Q&A is a standalone but a good read), Before Dishonor, Great Than the Sum, and then Destiny. The Enterprise book The Romulan War: Beneath the Raptor's Wing has the Columbia's last mission before Destiny picks up the thread, and Titan series is standalone but Titan itself is involved in Destiny, so there's extra background there, but it is not necessary to read them all beforehand.
Published order is the order they should be read in. This is always the case unless something occurs during the publishing process that causes things to not go as planned. But since that didn't happen with the Destiny books nor with the pre- or post-Destiny books, publish order is the order to read them in. What it sounds like you're asking for is chronological order, which poses some problems because books like Full Circle (if read in chronological order) would need to be read in parts with whole other books taking place in the middle of it, and even Destiny itself would have parts where you'd stop to go back to Full Circle then go back to Destiny again. Even with Losing the Peace you couldn't read the epilogue until after another book or two.
Ok, I get that but it's not quite what I'm asking....Destiny has the "meat" of the Borg invasion as I understand it, but which of the prequels directly affect it. Is it one continuing "through story" that crosses all those books, one picking up where the other leaves off or can I start with Destiny 1 and understand what's going on without the earlier books?
The stock answer to that is that you can pick up any book or book series without having read prior ones. But my opinion would be the following: TNG: Resistance TNG: Before Dishonor TNG: Greater Than the Sum Destiny A Singular Destiny VOY: Full Circle TNG: Losing the Peace
How many of the first three would you consider "essential"? I'm on a budget and have to really pick and choose here. Can I get by with just the trilogy itself?
You most certainly can get by on just Destiny. Although some big stuff does happen in the terrible Before Dishonor. This is one where I think important things happened, but he book is terrible so I'm torn on recommending it vs not.
Here, I'll break it down by book: Spoiler: Resistance Picard detects a Borg threat, Admiral Janeway dismisses his concerns. Picard investigates and is proven right, and the Borg ship is left "dead." We also learn just what a Borg Queen is/does, and we see a new crew that fails to gel. Spoiler: Before Dishonor Janeway investigates the dead Borg Cube and gets assimilated (along with the starship Einstein). The cube mutates/evolves/activates a never-before-seen backup system and goes on a rampage. Pluto is assimilated, Admiral Jellico makes the funniest quip of his career, and the "Supercube" is destroyed (and Janeway killed). The assimilated former Einstein escapes. Spoiler: Greater Than The Sum The Enterprise locates the Einstein and makes First Contact with an unknown hive-mind entity that lives in the area (not the Borg, but a new species). We also run into Hugh's ex-Borg clan. Enterprise, the entity, and Hugh's Liberator defeat the Einstein Frankenstein, thanks to Hugh sacrificing himself. Picard finally manages to assemble a new crew that actually works, and Beverly becomes pregnant (the two points are not related).
On a budget, Great than the Sum is a fun read but not essential right now. Save it for later. Losing the Peace is good, but save it for later. Read these two before Paths of Disharmony, the TNG Typhon Pact book comes out in February. Before then you won't miss anything. Pick up Destiny and A Singular Destiny. Both are also the lead-in stories for the Aventine-based Seize the Fire which comes out next month. Beneath the Raptor's Wing is good but save it for last.
FYI, next month's Aventine-featuring Star Trek novel is Typhon Pact: Zero Sum Game. Seize the Fire is a Titan-focused novel.
Destiny is the Borg Invasion. Period. Greater Than the Sum is the TNG novel that takes place immediately before the Borg Invasion. It features the Enterprise-E crew on a mission to destroy an assimilated starship left over from Before Dishonor before its drones can re-connect themselves to the main Collective and send it advanced technology. The Invasion does not feature in it -- this was a different set of Borg who weren't connected to the main hive. However, the finale of Greater Than the Sum dramatizes the very first attack in the Borg Invasion, leaving it to Destiny to tell the actual story. Before Dishonor is the TNG novel that immediately precedes Greater Than the Sum. It features an attack on the Sol system from a Borg cube that has been disconnected from the Collective and denuded of its drones. Resistance is the novel that precedes Before Dishonor (with the novel Q & A as a standalone in between them). The cube that attacked Earth in Before Dishonor was from this novel, but you don't need to read it. I never did.
Me neither, and I only read the first couple chapters of BD. So really you can just do GTTS and go on to Destiny. I also read Q & A, but other than introducing some characters who continue into the next few books, it doesn't really have any effect on Destiny.