Crossover or The Federation?
- Thread starter BruntFCA
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I very much enjoyed both, although "Federation" is definitely the better of the two.
Be warned, though, that it was written prior to First Contact, and thus presents a very different version of Zefram Cochrane, his first warp flight, and World War III. But it's still a fantastic read.
It annoys me that "Crossover" is ignored by the modern novel continuity - the first SCE story had such an awesome oppertunity to make an amusing reference to it, as Scotty strolled around the Starfleet museum's Constitution-class starship.
Be warned, though, that it was written prior to First Contact, and thus presents a very different version of Zefram Cochrane, his first warp flight, and World War III. But it's still a fantastic read.
It annoys me that "Crossover" is ignored by the modern novel continuity - the first SCE story had such an awesome oppertunity to make an amusing reference to it, as Scotty strolled around the Starfleet museum's Constitution-class starship.
I think you're referring to SCE #4, Interphase, Book One.
And as far as I know, there's nothing in Crossover that's overtly contradicted by the modern continuity.
Federation is a lot meatier, since it's a self-contained story that's pretty fleshed out and brings together the TOS and TNG crews in a great way.
Crossover is more like a prologue to Generations or an outline of a better story for that movie. It's fairly well made, but it's lacking something that could take it to that next level and make it great. In this case, it's fairly easy to say what that missing element is, because it's so overtly absent: Kirk. There's a few mentions of Kirk, but you'd expect more, maybe as a way of showing off their internal conflicts/thought processes and providing a way of tying the Scotty/McCoy/Spock plots closer together.
Crossover is more like a prologue to Generations or an outline of a better story for that movie. It's fairly well made, but it's lacking something that could take it to that next level and make it great. In this case, it's fairly easy to say what that missing element is, because it's so overtly absent: Kirk. There's a few mentions of Kirk, but you'd expect more, maybe as a way of showing off their internal conflicts/thought processes and providing a way of tying the Scotty/McCoy/Spock plots closer together.
Federation, by a long way. I enjoyed Crossover but really there's no comparison.
Federation is a fantastic read that will not disappoint you (but I'd get both).
Oops. Yeah, the first one was about the giant ship.Christopher said:
Federation by a mile. I enjoyed Federation so much that it actually upset me that First Contact essentially invalidated the whole thing. Its depiction of WWIII and the first warp flight make a lot more sense than what ended up on screen in my opinion.
i'm actually reading Federation right now. I think Federation, with a few tweaks, to fit the story post-All Good Things, would have made a much more fantastic movie than Generations would have been. It truly used both crews in a meaningful way.
Agreed. I very much enjoy Crossover, but Federation is an epic story.
Why not get both?
For that matter why does everybody here turn to everybody else here for book recommendations? All you're going to get are conflicting and subjective opinions.
Just read all of them and make your own decisions. If you listen to a bad opinion, you'll probably be missing out on something you might actually like.
Thanks for the advice I just ordered Federation and I look forward to reading it. As for why I ask for recommendations it is more about which book to get now as opposed to either or, for example I will most likely get Crossover sometime in the future. I'm new to Trek books and with several hundred to choose from I like to hear other people's opinions on which books to get, I can't very well buy all of them.
On a side note instead of opening a new thread I will just ask this here. I'm getting the Caption's Table Omnibus and I was wondering if you have to have read The New Frontier books to understand Once burned?
On a side note instead of opening a new thread I will just ask this here. I'm getting the Caption's Table Omnibus and I was wondering if you have to have read The New Frontier books to understand Once burned?
While I greatly enjoyed Crossover, Federation is far superior, IMHO. Of course, you might be that rare person who actually enjoys the former more than the later.
"Once Burned" does not require having read any of the other "New Frontier" novel, quite the opposite, it serves as an ideal means to decide if the others might be to your taste.
"Once Burned" does not require having read any of the other "New Frontier" novel, quite the opposite, it serves as an ideal means to decide if the others might be to your taste.
Other posters on the board have opinions we respect. Why not get their feedback? Counting entirely on their feedback might be suspect, but using it to some degree can't be bad.
It's certainly a very solid and standalone story but Calhoun's yet-to-be-revealed, ominous experiences on the Grissom were foreshadowed in many of the early "New Frontier" novels, so that by the time "Once Burned" came out, it was readily pounced upon. You'll get a different experience reading "Once Birned" first, but PAD was aware that this story may be some fans' first exposure to NF, and he wrote it to be enjoyed by all.
Similarly, Calhoun & Shelby's adventurous honeymoon was foreshadowed in another batch of NF novels, then eventually revealed by PAD in his contribution to the "NF: No Limits" collection.
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