Does the TNG relaunch improve after Resistance?

[Defcon]

Don't have much time right now, but my impressions of the TNG novels up to Destiny were:

Death in Winter & Resistance ---> mediocre

Q&A & Before Dishonor ---> good to very good

Greater than the Sum ---> awful

Destiny ---> good

 

[ronny]

Up until Losing the Peace my standard line about the TNG relaunch was some of my favorite authors writing books I wouldn't consider my favorites by them. Losing the Peace is way my favorite of the TNG relaunch.

The only Titan book I don't care for is The Red King. I'm not sure I was that jazzed about Synthesis but I liked the rest of them a LOT. I think my favorites are the CLB pair. His science and world building skills are just a great match for this series.

 

[Destructor]

After finishing the DS9 relaunch novels I'm actually starting my TNG relaunch journey with the 'A Time to...' series as eBooks. First one is quite good so far (some of the characterizations sometimes feel a bit 'off' to me, but the plot is unfolding nicely) but I fear it will be a long time before I catch up with you all!

 

[langdonboom]

They are ALL better than Resistance in my opinion. That one had a decent plot but the writing and characterization bordered on insulting it was so primitively written!

but I also will chime in here to say I LOVED Before Dishonor, it was mind-blowing and exciting, and had all of my favorite Star Trek characters (minus Data) interacting (Spock, Seven, TNG crew) in over-the-top adventures.

But regardless, as to your original question -- don't be spooked by Resistance - its a big anomaly - the writing quality takes a big jump up with the subsequent books.

 

[Paris]

Resistance wasn't great, but I enjoyed it just fine. It was a pretty quick read...

Q&A was excellent. It was short and it didn't have anything to do with the borg stories and KRAD knocked it out of the park. Very enjoyable.

I liked Before Dishonor, as I am a huge PAD fan. I loved the cameos (especially Calhoun and the Excalibur!), but was disappointed over the differences in the persona's of various charatcers from Resistance and Q&A.

Greater than the Sum was great. Christopher is one of the best current regular trek authors.I thought it was the best of the pre-Destiny TNG relaunch books.

...and Losing the Peace was my favorite of all the TNG post-Nemesis books. I would gladly pick up anything trek-related by Mr. Leisner in the future.

 

[Emissary of the Prophets]

I have to say, not including Greater The Sum, they were all pretty forgettable up until the Destiny Trilogy. None of the new crew 'jump from the page' the way the new members of DS9's crew did in that re-launch (though the whold Mirror Universe arc in that line was a mis-step).

 

[kkozoriz1]

Yeah, the side trip to the MU really took the wind out of the sails of what, up til then, had felt like a season long arc from the show.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I liked Resistance. I thought it was a fast-paced read and did a good job presenting a newer, more aggressive variety of Borg.

I'm rather intrigued about the evolution of "Resistance" because JM Dillard has a pretty good track record and this book was originally announced as a hardcover, which often raises expectations that it was intended tol be "extra special". Although I enjoyed it as a MMPB quite a bit, I was reading it many months after it (and the negative reviews) had come out. While the premise seemed weighty enough to have been a potential hardcover, the finished product certainly does not, and it felt way too light in word count and style to be dealing with such heavy themes as the (again) return of the Borg, only meaner.

But I'd fallen way behind when it came out, and hadn't read Dillard's ENT title either, which many had pronounced underwhelming at the time. I had thoroughly enjoyed MJF's "Death in Winter" hardcover, which had also been pronounced as underwhelming by many others, but again was perhaps too light in tone to carry that hardcover prestige. It kinda seemed like the TNG "relaunch" was in trouble before it could even kick off.

For those of us who'd followed all the Borg-heavy episodes of VOY, the supposedly resolutions of "Endgame", and the then return of more Borg themes in the first duology of the VOY Relaunch, maybe everyone was still too "Borged out" to face more Borg in TNG?

I can see where, on paper, it looks great to map a series of interesting new Enterprise-E characters, some of whom we shall begin to get quite invested in, only to have them die surprising deaths in future instalments, and others who'll manage to survive (ie Miranda Kadohata) but the cumulative effect of the whole relaunch/Borg story arc was that we ended up losing almost the new characters (adding in the complication that PAD's book earmarked two more potential regulars as needing disposal, when they were probably supposed to stay.)

It was a rocky path, but "Greater Than the Sum" and the Destiny" trilogy were worth it. Haven't got to "Losing the Peace" yet. I am actually really am looking forward to some retro TNG novels (ie. set in the time of the TV series) where Miranda can be slipped into the action as if she was really always there.

 

[Dancing Doctor]

For those of us who'd followed all the Borg-heavy episodes of VOY, the supposedly resolutions of "Endgame", and the then return of more Borg themes in the first duology of the VOY Relaunch, maybe everyone was still too "Borged out" to face more Borg in TNG?

This was part of it for me, in addition to the fact that the Federation was still trying to recover from the Dominion War. Both after watching and rewatching episodes of Deep Space 9, as well as reading the books up to this point, I remember thinking "Jeez, do we want to bring the Hur'q and the Shatnerverse Totality in as well?!"

 

[Cybersnark]

Also, after Voyager, I for one kinda needed something to wash the taste of the "Borg-of-the-week" out of my mind. If nothing else, the post-Voyager Borg stories made me remember the Collective as an actual threat.

 

[ICW]

The TNG Re-launch could have been executed so much better.

So much better...

 

[Cadet49]

I've (finally) decided to start reading the Titan series and post-NEM TNG books, before (finally) reading the Destiny trilogy, but Resistance has kind of taken the wind out of my sails. Do the TNG books get any better after this, or should I skip ahead to Destiny?

Definately don't skip "Before Dishonor". If you like the Borg, it's a great follow up to PAD's 1990 TNG Borg novel, Vendetta. Some people harp on it because there are character inconsistences between the secondary characters as established in Resistance and Q and A, but if you read it as a standalone, you may really enjoy it. I read it before I read the others, and much preferred PAD's take on the new characters.

Greater than the Sum is ok, but the pace of the story is quite slow ...

 

[roguephoenix]

All of the TNG-R books are pretty good, barring Resistance (one of the weakest) and Before Dishonor (*the* weakest, and just )

i'm 3/4 through with before dishonor and i agree. this book is getting me angry. a whole bunch of inconsequential people with no logical (especially that vulcan counselor whom i hope doesn't make it alive through this book) well-thought out reasoning making it difficult for the tng cast to do it's job. it's just overall frustrating.

 

[Janos]

I thought I'd move a topic from the DS9 Relaunch Lit to a thread that, from the best as I can tell, would be pass as a TNG Relayhc Lit thread.

Q&A is part of a post-NEM TNG narrative that begins with Resistance and continues in Q&A, Before Dishonor, and Greater Than the Sum. All of those books except Q&A deal with a multi-part Borg crisis, but Q&A introduces characters who figure into the subsequent books. Greater Than the Sum wraps up that Borg crisis, but then reveals that it was just a warmup for the big event in Destiny. GTTS was commissioned specifically to be a bridge between Before Dishonor and Destiny, to tie up the loose ends of what came before and put the pieces in position for Destiny.

BTW, everyone here has talked a great deal about disliking Before Dishonor, liking Greater than the Sum, with no commentary on Q&A and Resistance. Now, I have Q&A due to it being done by KRAD, Before Dishonor due to PAD, and today I picked up Greater than the Sum (based on recommendations here). So, what did folks think of Resistance in particular? Seems to be setting up a new status quo for TNG since Riker and Troi head over to Titan. Is Resistance a good read in its own right and as setting up the new Enterprise crew and the Borg saga that culminated in Destiny?

 

[Dancing Doctor]

Speaking personally, no.

If you'd like, here's my initial review thread

 

[Janos]

Speaking personally, no.

If you'd like, here's my initial review thread

Thx. Are there spoilers in your review?

 

[Dancing Doctor]

Speaking personally, no.

If you'd like, here's my initial review thread

Thx. Are there spoilers in your review?

Probably.

It's been a while, but I would imagine that I "spoiled" Resistance.

 

[Janos]

Speaking personally, no.

If you'd like, here's my initial review thread

Thx. Are there spoilers in your review?

Probably.

It's been a while, but I would imagine that I "spoiled" Resistance.

AH. Ok. Can you nutshell for me (w/o big spoilers) why you didn`t like Resistance?

 

[Christopher]

So, what did folks think of Resistance in particular? Seems to be setting up a new status quo for TNG since Riker and Troi head over to Titan.

Oh, that happened months before Resistance -- pretty much immediately after Death in Winter, in fact, in December 2379. Resistance takes place around four months later.

 

[Janos]

So, what did folks think of Resistance in particular? Seems to be setting up a new status quo for TNG since Riker and Troi head over to Titan.

Oh, that happened months before Resistance -- pretty much immediately after Death in Winter, in fact, in December 2379. Resistance takes place around four months later.

I have neither. I think I have enough books to read though and I imagine each book (per my TP thread) will give me a snapshot of current TNG crew, etc. as they open.