Excelsior: Forged in Fire questions.

[Harlock999]

Hey, everyone. First-time poster. Long-time lurker. Used to go by TheDriver (with a Runabout avatar) and post regularly on the older official Star Trek forums in the '00s. Been a fan of Trek since '84; I was 12 and got hooked through TSFS and syndicated reruns of TOS. Favorite series are TOS and DS9. The only Trek flicks I really, truly enjoy are the First Four. I've read dozens of Trek novels, most of which were the Pocket TOS books from the '80s. Big fan of Alan Dean Foster's Logs as well; I read these before ever having seen TAS. Favorite Trek character is Kirk.

Hopefully, that's a decent-ish introduction.

Anyway, I'm intrigued with the novel Excelsior: Forged in Fire. Really like the character of Sulu. LOVE the Excelsior; became a fan as a result of the FASA rpg/combat sim and its use in the '80s DC series. And I'm really interested in a story that combines Kor, Koloth, Kang, and Dax with the promotion of Sulu to the Excelsior's captaincy.

Any thoughts on this book? I've searched these threads and come up empty.

I'd heard it not only references TSFS, TUC, GEN, and Blood Oath but dozens of other "canon" and "non-canon" sources as well. Is it possible anyone could provide a quick list?

Really, any insights and reviews of Forged in Fire would be welcome.

Nice to meet all of you.

 

[Freman]

I can't provide a list because I'm on my way to work atm.

BUT...I can tell you this book is great and you most definitely should read it. Like right now!!

 

[Reanok]

It's a really good novel for Sulu and the Klingons.It's been along time since I read the book.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Welcome to the board, @Harlock999 ! Or, well, I guess welcome to *posting* on the board!

It has also been a while for me since I read this book, but I do recall really enjoying it.

We do have a couple older threads where people gave their thoughts on the book... but if you haven't read it yet, you may want to avoid them due to potential spoilers. Also, they both seem to end up drifting off topic a bit (including the second one taking a detour into male-gaze-land).

Forged in Fire Spoilers (2007)

Forged in Fire....with some *spoilers*... (2009)

 

[Enterprise1701]

Welcome to the board, @Harlock999 ! Or, well, I guess welcome to *posting* on the board!

It has also been a while for me since I read this book, but I do recall really enjoying it.

We do have a couple older threads where people gave their thoughts on the book... but if you haven't read it yet, you may want to avoid them due to potential spoilers. Also, they both seem to end up drifting off topic a bit (including the second one taking a detour into male-gaze-land).

Forged in Fire Spoilers (2007)

Forged in Fire....with some *spoilers*... (2009)

Huh. No review thread in nearly 15 years?

 

[Harlock999]

Appreciate the links, Goth Janeway. Yet having just read through those threads, I find they don't offer much aside from (a) Styles may not be such a bad guy after all, (b) the middle really drags as, apparently, Sulu just moans a lot, and (c) Forged in Fire is, all in all, a pretty good read.

I guess I'm more interested in knowing if this is a book that just "connects the dots" or, instead, offers a distinct story with its own beats, action sequences, and moral and/or ethical dilemmas. Also, does Sulu look good in it? Again, I read a bunch about Styles in those 13-15 year-old posts, but not much about Sulu. Whose story is it anyway? Is Sulu the central figure? Does he share the role of primary protagonist with Kang, Kor, Koloth, and Curzon? Or are they the true "heroes" of the story? Does the Excelsior, herself, get a chance to shine? Or is it more about Sulu interacting with her crew? Do the Klingons share a starship (like in Blood Oath) or join Sulu and the Excelsior crew in this adventure? Is it an adventure or more of a "talky" kind of thing that centers more on negotiation/diplomacy and intelligence briefings? (I ask this because clearly we know The Albino is not actually encountered until DS9 Season 2.)

And, yeah, I'd still like to know if someone could provide a quick (please know it doesn't have to be fully comprehensive!) listing of the Trek resources Forged in Fire references beyond the usual suspects (i.e., Blood Oath, TSFS, TUC, and GEN). I consider myself an ardent Trek fan, but would be interested to know if I might want to track down any other material that I had not bothered with before... especially if it relates in a pretty big way to Forged in Fire.

Finally, while you may wish to create a *spoilers* section for some of these answers (and perhaps you're supposed to), please know I don't mind minor spoilers. I mean, the book is 15 years old and Blood Oath is almost three decades old. And having watched Blood Oath multiple times, I think I know the ending... Ha.

Thanks, everyone.

 

[Harlock999]

PS - Please replace those commas with periods/dots in the ellipsis at the end of the 3rd paragraph above. That's obviously a typo, and I haven't quite figured out how to edit my posts as of yet...

 

[Tuskin38]

PS - Please replace those commas with periods/dots in the ellipsis at the end of the 3rd paragraph above. That's obviously a typo, and I haven't quite figured out how to edit my posts as of yet...

You need a certain amount of posts before you can edit them. Once you've stopped being a 'newbie' I don't remember how many that is.

 

[Reanok]

Check out memory Alpha or beta for info about the things dealing with Star Trek books they have alot of things in their articles over on their sites.That you might be looking for there.

 

[Avro Arrow]

PS - Please replace those commas with periods/dots in the ellipsis at the end of the 3rd paragraph above. That's obviously a typo, and I haven't quite figured out how to edit my posts as of yet...

OK, I've made the edit as requested.

As @Tuskin38 mentioned, you'll gain the ability to edit posts once you graduate from "Newbie" to "Red Shirt".

 

[ryan123450]

@Harlock999, I don’t have specific answers to most of your questions, because its been a long while since I read this book, but I remember two things. It relies a bit on the events of The Captain’s Daughter, and it’s really good. I think as interested as you are in it, you should just pull the trigger and read it.

 

[Reanok]

@ Harlock999 the best thing to do is read the book to find out what the story is about to answer your questions.

 

[Therin of Andor]

It relies a bit on the events of The Captain’s Daughter, and it’s really good.

Supposedly, initial sales of "The Captain's Daughter" were disappointing and we were told not to expect more "Excelsior" - and then "Forged in Fire" popped up. And it was great. Great revelations on the Albino. (To which the "Discovery" series perhaps paid homage. Well, in my head continuity it did.)