How did you get into reading Trek novels?

[Damian]

Very impressive. I rarely read books a second time, so I usually trade my paperbacks back in to my local bookstores. I do hang on to a few of them though.


I wonder how many Discovery fans are aware of the books?

You're not the only one who reads the books but gives them away. Despite the fact there a ebooks today, some prefer paperbacks. And it is a matter of space that you have at your disposal. I'd like to have a bigger apartment one day to accommodate all those books.

I've kept all mine through the years believe it or not. I have bookshelves full in my attic. I'm not sure how many I have but I have all the numbered Pocketbooks, most of the Bantam books from the 1970's (I still need a couple of the Star Trek Logs by Ballantine books) and pretty much every book released since 2005. I am missing a few from the period when the numbered novels stopped and 2005. I prefer paperback/hardcopies over E-Books, but will by E-books if it is the only version available.

 

[Damian]

This is me, too. TNG was starting when I was in 6th grade, but I liked and was familiar with TOS and the movies and already into it.

Yeah, TNG and DS9 in particular are reasons why I'm keeping an open mind about Discovery. TNG and DS9 ended up being great shows, but their respective starts weren't the best (Code of Honor anyone). I have some issues with Discovery but will give it a chance to grow. It may turn out to be a great show for me, I hope anyway.

 

[Stevil2001]

I think the evidence suggests I was born reading them.

 

[Paris]

I got into them in middle school. I was a big fan of the various series, and our school library had a handful of 1980's trek books. My teacher gave us the choice of what book we wanted to read for a book report, and had no problem with trek books being used. She just wanted us to read. I'm 37 now, and I still love them

 

[woodstock]

I started with the Titan: Taking Wing several years ago and then read Titan, TNG and DS9 novels chronologically up to the present. Recently finished watching the Voyager series on Netflix, didn't really watch it before, so maybe I'll check out some of those books now.

 

[TheAlmanac]

Were you introduced by friends?
Did you buy the novels on your own initiative?

I first encountered Star Trek novels in my local supermarket (back when they stocked many more books than they do now) and (somewhat later) my junior high school library. My first such purchase was the "Encounter at Farpoint" novelisation, but I both bought novels and (mostly) borrowed many of them from libraries starting in junior high through the beginning of my undergrad degree. I "only" purchase them now, but the regular reading continues.

(On a foreign-language note, I was saddened not to come across any of the German translations when I was in Vienna a few months ago, though I was able to buy the Czech edition of Q&A shortly thereafter in Prague.)

Considering the new upcoming Picard show: is it still possible to win new readers over for the existing novels (TNG, DS9, Voyager)? Or will new readers only be interested in books of current shows like Discovery?

I haven't had much luck convincing friends (who weren't already reading them) to pick up any novelverse titles, due to their noncanonical status. (Being pedantic about the issue with statements like "all of the stories are equally fictional" makes no difference to them, as it turns out.) They're more open to reading Discovery books/comics because those are coordinated with the show's writing staff, so they're perceived to be more official--more a part of "the definitive story as opposed to an alternate timeline," to use the phrasing from another thread here about Picard (or whatever the series ends up being called).

 

[marlboro]

^ S&S should come out with an "official season 4" line of TOS books.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

I saw Star Trek: The Motion Picture when it first came out and when I heard there was a novelization (or I saw it in the bookstore I frequented) and I wanted to read it. In those days you either had to go to the theater to see it again or wait for it to air on one of the three networks. Reading the novelization was the best option at the time to re-experience the movie. And I can't forget the Marvel Comics adaptation of the film. i read that too. Ok, now I feel really old.

 

[F. King Daniel]

My mother, to encourage me to read, pushed TV/movie Trek as "only half the story" Hundreds of books later (starting out with the YA Academy books and dreadful TOS Phoenix novels), here I am.

I think the very interconnected and serialized nature of the novelverse makes it somewhat impenetrable to new readers at this point, 15+ years in. Everyone's changed so much, it's no longer the universe the TV shows got them into.

 

[Holly Gibney]

TOS has the advantage of having many stand-alone novels. It makes it easier for readers to get into it. With the famous reset button. Alas, the sales numbers of translated TOS novels in Germany are low.
As to the other shows: it is easy to lose sight of the big picture. Borg Invasion, charaters returning from the death, new novelverse characters etc.

 

[Stevil2001]

I think the evidence suggests I was born reading them.

In all seriousness, I think the first Star Trek novel I read was a copy of The Secret of the Lizard People loaned to me by a kid on the bus. I was probably in fourth grade, because I think the first one I owned was the YA novelization of Generations. My mom bought me a couple more YA ones, but soon I had graduated to the "adult" ones.

The Cincinnati library was very well-stocked on Star Trek novels, so I used to basically read them constantly. They were much easier to come by than reruns of the show, so my introductions to the original and TNG largely came from the books.

 

[KRAD]

My entry point was the James Blish adaptations.

 

[Holly Gibney]

As fan of historical events I love all Trek things in the past of the shows: the Lost Era novels are great, I enjoyed almost every Lost Era story. Especially the ones other Trekkies disliked, like - say - Well of Souls or Deny thy Father.
My collection is incomplete: some TOS and TNG novels including movie adaptions are still missing. Voyager and DS9 is complete. I don't read books of the other shows. Money and time are limited.....

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

If I remember right, I was in 5th or 6th grade when I first began watching ST (first, the end of "A Taste of Armageddon"; then the beginning of "Space Seed"; the first episode I saw in its entirety was "The Devil in the Dark"); my first ST book was Blish's ST9. I didn't read any ST novels until after I'd read most of the Blish adaptation collections, and began with Spock Must Die.

 

[marlboro]

I think the very interconnected and serialized nature of the novelverse makes it somewhat impenetrable to new readers at this point, 15+ years in. Everyone's changed so much, it's no longer the universe the TV shows got them into.

I agree with you that the serialized nature of the current continuity could prove daunting to a new reader. However, I think the writers typically do a good job of catching readers up on what's going on. I was able to jump into the Destiny trilogy without feeling lost, for example.

I think the internet has helped change things as well. If a new reader wants to find a good jumping on point, or wants to find some background info on an unfamiliar character, they can do so with a few keystrokes.

I wonder how many first time readers are impulse buyers in a bookstore? I doubt there are many these days. Even when I make an impulse buy these days I'm able to google first.


The second point you mention about the characters having changed so much is a bigger problem, imo. A new reader probably is seeking out more of what he loved about the series when he buys a novel. There is a good chance they are going to be disappointed. Hell, I've enjoyed most of the current continuity and a part of me still misses the status quo of the series.

I think the key is that, if you're going to change the characters, it better be damn good. So good that a first time fan thinks "This is fantastic - how did we get here?" and goes to buy the previous books. The early DS9 relaunch pulled this off perfectly.

Well of Souls

I am really surprised that you liked that one. Parts were fantastic, but there were some scenes where I was totally lost. I assumed that it would be even more confusing to someone who spoke English as a second language.

Speaking of books that you like, are you the person who recommended "The Death of Princes" in an old thread? I was thinking about ordering it, but the Amazon reviews are all over the place, as they often are.

 

[Holly Gibney]

...Well of Souls....

I am really surprised that you liked that one. Parts were fantastic, but there were some scenes where I was totally lost. I assumed that it would be even more confusing to someone who spoke English as a second language.

Speaking of books that you like, are you the person who recommended "The Death of Princes" in an old thread? I was thinking about ordering it, but the Amazon reviews are all over the place, as they often are.

I prefer The Death of Princes over Tooth and Claw. There are people who love the latter, but the characters were off to me and the story not gripping. Just my opinion. I don't know if I was the person to commend the novel, though.

My opinion often differs from other views. As to Death of Princes: I liked the cover. There are two parallel stories involved, I liked both of them. If I remember correctly the main topic is about dealing with a pre warp civilization and observing it. There is a sad fate involved. Just give it a go and we can talk about if you liked it or not or which of the plots you liked more.

 

[marlboro]

I'll add it to the list.

If I like it, I'll thank you for recommending it. If I don't, I'll blame it on someone else.

 

[Jeffearley48]

I loved Star Trek, but never read the books. Then, in 1991, I was going through a bad relationship break up, and bought Vendetta, the STNG novel, to take my mind off of it. That started the book addict to start lol, and I have bought every book since

 

[Mysterion]

Well, it was the 1970's and, for awhile, it was the only new Star Trek you could get.

 

[JD]

I'd always been a reader, but for Star Trek novels, it was probably when I was given a hardback novel containing The Wrath of Khan (That book also had Close Encounters, Star Wars and ET).

Wow, that's a pretty interesting combination of movies novelizations to put in one book.

I started with the Titan: Taking Wing several years ago and then read Titan, TNG and DS9 novels chronologically up to the present. Recently finished watching the Voyager series on Netflix, didn't really watch it before, so maybe I'll check out some of those books now.

If you enjoy Voyager, I would highly recommend the second phase of the Relaunch, starting with Full Circle.

^ S&S should come out with an "official season 4" line of TOS books.

I was a little surprised that they never did something like this once all of the other relaunches started. Although if it were me I would have rather seen a series set between The Final Frontier and The Undiscovered Country.

Speaking of collections: I guess I have more than 500 Trek books. Some of them both in English and German. And my collection is definitively not the biggest here.....

I have my Trek books in two categories on Goodreads, (miscellaneous) Star Trek, and Star Trek Novelverse. I have 115 books and comics under (miscellaneous) Star Trek, and 204 books and comics under Star Trek Novelverse, for a total of 408, there is a slight chance I might have missed some, but that should be pretty close.