Errand of Vengeance / Fury series

[Timo]

Well, there was a reference to Number One consulting the records of the Ferengi Commerce Authority. Among other things, if I remember correctly.

Ah, thanks - I've now found a 2010 TrekBBS thread on it as well.

UFP knowledge of the FCA in the 23rd century isn't really contrary to what we know of the Ferengi, any more than Uhura's knowledge of Cardassian drinks in STXI is. And UPF knowledge of the FCA in the 23rd century doesn't really appear to make the novel take place in the Abramsverse...

As for Pitcairn being Chief Engineer rather than Transporter Chief, and Garrison being a Lieutenant, well, that's merely keeping with canon. It's only noncanon, backstage sources that suggest that Pitcairn had any sort of a defined position in "The Cage", or that Garrison's sleeve markings weren't supposed to be the same as Joe Tormolen's, despite the looks. Or that these guys even had names. Etc. etc.

So I wouldn't sweat the "not in line with the prime universe" thing. The average Trek novel diverges more from that norm. And, inevitably, the six Errand novels add up to a greater number of diversions and contradictions than The Children of Kings. Not that it would matter much, either. There's always room for a little bit of "WTF?" diversions in that intriguing pre-TOS era; those make Errand and Vanguard so much richer for me at least...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Patrick O'Brien]

I just started reading book 1 of the Errand of Vengeance trilogy, The Edge of the Sword. So far it is awesome, and I want to thank RonG and the rest of you for the recommendation Nice to have a series that can fill the void left by the end of the Vanguard saga.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if Kevin Ryan is planning on writing anymore Trek lit?

 

[RonG]

I just started reading book 1 of the Errand of Vengeance trilogy, The Edge of the Sword. So far it is awesome, and I want to thank RonG and the rest of you for the recommendation Nice to have a series that can fill the void left by the end of the Vanguard saga.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if Kevin Ryan is planning on writing anymore Trek lit?

My pleasure

I got into this series exactly for that reason - to "fill the void" left by Vanguard's conclusion.

Another TOS novel I liked and you might find interesting is Section 31: Cloak by S.D. Perry

as for Kevin Ryan -no idea, but I'd be first to get new Trek novels by him

 

[Patrick O'Brien]

^Thanks for the reply Ron. I'll check out Section 31: Cloak by S.D. Perry when I am done with this series

 

[zarkon]

Yeah, cloak is fun. Far and away the best S31 novel.

 

[RonG]

The thing is, other than these books (Vanguard, Errand series and Cloak), I'm not that familiar with "darker"/"sophisticated" TOS novels, and would love some more recommendations..

 

[bok2384]

The thing is, other than these books (Vanguard, Errand series and Cloak), I'm not that familiar with "darker"/"sophisticated" TOS novels, and would love some more recommendations..

I suppose it depends on what sort of thing you're looking for. Errand of Vengeance/Fury has the connections to Vanguard, and Cloak has the kind of dark overtones that you would associate with Section 31.

I take it you're after something that goes beyond the "planet-of-the-week" formula, but I don't know if you wanted to delve into politics and intrigue or have more character-driven stories.

 

[RonG]

The thing is, other than these books (Vanguard, Errand series and Cloak), I'm not that familiar with "darker"/"sophisticated" TOS novels, and would love some more recommendations..

I suppose it depends on what sort of thing you're looking for. Errand of Vengeance/Fury has the connections to Vanguard, and Cloak has the kind of dark overtones that you would associate with Section 31.

I take it you're after something that goes beyond the "planet-of-the-week" formula, but I don't know if you wanted to delve into politics and intrigue or have more character-driven stories.

Well, basically I'm looking for novels that explore the TOS era / timeframe with a darker look - something that goes beyond "just" what was shown on the series itself, and delves into more complex situations, settings and characterizations - preferably more plotically or military-themed.

I hope this explains it a bit - it's more of a feeling I got when reading Vanguard, and I was looking to experience something similar (and finding it to date only in the Errand series and Cloak)..

 

[zarkon]

The thing is, other than these books (Vanguard, Errand series and Cloak), I'm not that familiar with "darker"/"sophisticated" TOS novels, and would love some more recommendations..

The Final Reflection
The Wounded Sky
Spocks World
Doctor's Orders
Federation
First Frontier

I guess are fairly sophisticated, although that's not the easiest term to quantify. They're superb reads either way.

I guess traitor winds is a bit darker then normal while remaining lots of fun to read. Windows on a Lost World is darker, but personally speaking I found it really bad. Shadow Lord is darker, but....well it's a fun book, but I can only assume the author only had the most fleeting understanding of Star Trek, as there are rather glaring problems with the entire idea of the story, not to mention other problems.

--edit

was writing this out before your second post. given what you said, probably only The Final Reflection meets that - and bear in mind that it is not consistant with canon anymore.

 

[Christopher]

I wouldn't consider most of the books on that list to be "dark," especially not The Wounded Sky, which is one of the most idealized portrayals of the ST cast and universe you're ever likely to see.

 

[zarkon]

I wouldn't consider most of the books on that list to be "dark," especially not The Wounded Sky, which is one of the most idealized portrayals of the ST cast and universe you're ever likely to see.

All the ones in the list I consider sophisticated, not dark.

 

[RonG]

Thanks, zarkon.

I already read (and love) all the books you mentioned

To be a bit more specific, I'm looking for novels that offer a "less-idealized" view on the Federation, Starfleet, etc.

Again, it's a bit hard to explain, so it doesn't surprise me that the novels you recommended (while fantastic in their own right) are not what I'm currently looking for.
still, the effort is much appreciated

 

[bok2384]

I'll take a stab at it, although probably get it completely wrong. What we must remember though, is that the reason that Vanguard was so different to what went before was the fact that it did take us into dark and uncomfortable places, in contrast to what the crew of the Enterprise traditionally turned up.

Web of the Romulans by M.S. Murdock could be a good choice. It's been a while since I've read it, but contains a fair bit of Romulan political intrigue as well as dealing with Starfleet preparing for a war with the Romulans. Again, might not be what you're after.

You're probably familiar with the Rihannsu series of novels. I've only read the first two so far, but we have treachery, deceit, secret missions, delving into the Romulans yet again.

I've not read it yet, but the description to Dwellers in the Crucible could be quite a dark novel and offer a dark and twisted view of how the Federation keeps the peace. Have to check it out myself.

Dreadnought! by Diane Carey sees a renegade Starfleet admiral and Kirk and crews attempt to stop him and his prototype dreadnought.

The Pandora Principle by Carolyn Clewes. Good one this, bit of espionage against the Romulans after the Enterprise discovers a Bird-of-Prey adrift. Also examines Saavik's harsh beginnings on Hellguard. Dark stuff.

I think that's it, by-and-large, apart from what you've already read. Coule be bad suggestions, but I'd read them all anyway because they're good.

 

[RonG]

I'll take a stab at it, although probably get it completely wrong. What we must remember though, is that the reason that Vanguard was so different to what went before was the fact that it did take us into dark and uncomfortable places, in contrast to what the crew of the Enterprise traditionally turned up.

Web of the Romulans by M.S. Murdock could be a good choice. It's been a while since I've read it, but contains a fair bit of Romulan political intrigue as well as dealing with Starfleet preparing for a war with the Romulans. Again, might not be what you're after.

You're probably familiar with the Rihannsu series of novels. I've only read the first two so far, but we have treachery, deceit, secret missions, delving into the Romulans yet again.

I've not read it yet, but the description to Dwellers in the Crucible could be quite a dark novel and offer a dark and twisted view of how the Federation keeps the peace. Have to check it out myself.

Dreadnought! by Diane Carey sees a renegade Starfleet admiral and Kirk and crews attempt to stop him and his prototype dreadnought.

The Pandora Principle by Carolyn Clewes. Good one this, bit of espionage against the Romulans after the Enterprise discovers a Bird-of-Prey adrift. Also examines Saavik's harsh beginnings on Hellguard. Dark stuff.

I think that's it, by-and-large, apart from what you've already read. Coule be bad suggestions, but I'd read them all anyway because they're good.

thanks for the suggestions, bok2384

I've actually bought and read them all except for Web of the Romulans. I'll try and hunt down a copy.


Thanks!

 

[Patrick O'Brien]

I belive Cast No Shadow by James Swallow my fit your criteria Ron. That is if you have not read it?

 

[zarkon]

Bear in mind it's a post STVI book though, so just starting to slip out of the TOS era, though still there or there abouts.

Totally forgot about that one. Decentish book, although I think Valeris wasn't particularly well handled.

 

[Dukhat]

My memory about the first trilogy is a bit dodgy, having read it several years ago. But the one thing I do recall was that there were typos on almost every page of all three books. And really glaring typos as well. I remember thinking that I couldn't believe Pocket Books would have published these books with the amount of mistakes in them. Mind you, this is not the author's fault, but PB's editor.

Another thing I found really annoying is the use of the names of real Star Trek production personnel as characters. Okuda, Sternbach, Drexler et. al are name-dropped to the point of ridiculousness. I really wish Trek authors wouldn't do that, because in fiction one wants to imagine what those characters look like in our minds. Giving a character the name "Roddenberry" just to be cute automatically makes one think of the real article, and ruins the fictitiousness of the setting, IMHO.

 

[zarkon]

Odd, I don't remember the typos, and I would have gotten american imports from forbidden plant back then, so they should have been first editions. Sure it wasn't the Janus Gate trilogy? That was a bit of a snoozefest so I wouldn't recall one way or the other, but the covers had a very similar style.

The name drops I do kind of remember, but only a couple - guess there were more that I just didn't recognise.

 

[Stevil2001]

The thing is, other than these books (Vanguard, Errand series and Cloak), I'm not that familiar with "darker"/"sophisticated" TOS novels, and would love some more recommendations..

I suppose it depends on what sort of thing you're looking for. Errand of Vengeance/Fury has the connections to Vanguard, and Cloak has the kind of dark overtones that you would associate with Section 31.

I take it you're after something that goes beyond the "planet-of-the-week" formula, but I don't know if you wanted to delve into politics and intrigue or have more character-driven stories.

Well, basically I'm looking for novels that explore the TOS era / timeframe with a darker look - something that goes beyond "just" what was shown on the series itself, and delves into more complex situations, settings and characterizations - preferably more plotically or military-themed.

I hope this explains it a bit - it's more of a feeling I got when reading Vanguard, and I was looking to experience something similar (and finding it to date only in the Errand series and Cloak)..

Barbara Hambly's Crossroad is dark in terms of tone, kind of spooky, and features a warped future Federation. Probably my favorite numbered TOS novel.

 

[Patrick O'Brien]

I have noticed the typos I just thought it was the conversion to an ebook that caused this?