How did you get into reading Trek novels?
- Thread starter Kilana2
- Start date
Same here, it just happened that the shows I like are..TNG, VOY, and DS9 and wanted to know EVERYTHING that happened after each series ended, lol. Little did I know that I'd eventually give ENT a try as an adult and ended up loving it in its own special way. More books, lol. And now the DSC books!
For my no Enterprise, no Abramsverse and no Discovery. I've read Enterprise short stories and they were fine. But that's it. TOS, TNG, VOY, DS9, Lost Era etc. It took me years to read and collect the novels I own. And there are still several books on a pile of unread novels. 
M
marlboro
Guest
My New Year's resolution was to spend less time working, sleeping, and being with my friends and family. It's the only way I am ever going to catch up. It's tough, but it's got to be done.
The first books I bought (which I still have) were books 01 and 03 of the Dominion War novels. I was generally just interested in reading stories about what the TNG crew were doing during the Dominion War.
My mom is at fault for both my love of reading, and my love of Star Trek.
First, Star Trek: I was born in 1970 when the first wave of reruns were on and my mom had them on every evening. She said it got to the point that whenever Spock was onscreen I would turn and stare at him. Eventually, I did this with the entire show. Been a fan ever since.
And Reading: My mom read to me alot as a baby and small kid, and being disabled, I was (still can't) unable to do sports stuff with the other kids (although the neighborhood kids invited me for other activities) so I spent alot of time reading alone. This was when the Star Trek logs and the number series were first out, and the Bantam line was going. I was nine years old when the Pocket line started, and I've been collecting them ever since.
First, Star Trek: I was born in 1970 when the first wave of reruns were on and my mom had them on every evening. She said it got to the point that whenever Spock was onscreen I would turn and stare at him. Eventually, I did this with the entire show. Been a fan ever since.
And Reading: My mom read to me alot as a baby and small kid, and being disabled, I was (still can't) unable to do sports stuff with the other kids (although the neighborhood kids invited me for other activities) so I spent alot of time reading alone. This was when the Star Trek logs and the number series were first out, and the Bantam line was going. I was nine years old when the Pocket line started, and I've been collecting them ever since.
Oddly enough, the novels were what got me into Trek.
I’d seen bits and pieces of the shows (mainly TOS and TNG) on late night TV, but it was only when I started reading the novels that I really became engrossed in the setting. I mispronounced “Guinan” for a few years because I’d read the name but never seen her in an episode.
Q-Squared had the biggest impact - I borrowed that again and again from my library, picking up more references each time that I read it as I watched more episodes.
In the mid-‘90s Trek books were everywhere; I wound up with over 100, including the first 15 Voyager and first 20-odd DS9 ones.
I stopped buying them in the early 2000s aside from New Frontier; the Millennium series really out me off and I felt they declined further after that. I borrowed some for a while but found few which I liked (the Enterprise relaunch started well, but tailed off badly) and now I hardly read any new ones.
I’d seen bits and pieces of the shows (mainly TOS and TNG) on late night TV, but it was only when I started reading the novels that I really became engrossed in the setting. I mispronounced “Guinan” for a few years because I’d read the name but never seen her in an episode.
Q-Squared had the biggest impact - I borrowed that again and again from my library, picking up more references each time that I read it as I watched more episodes.
In the mid-‘90s Trek books were everywhere; I wound up with over 100, including the first 15 Voyager and first 20-odd DS9 ones.
I stopped buying them in the early 2000s aside from New Frontier; the Millennium series really out me off and I felt they declined further after that. I borrowed some for a while but found few which I liked (the Enterprise relaunch started well, but tailed off badly) and now I hardly read any new ones.
Well, not all of the series, Enterprise hadn't started yet, so there are no characters from the 20th/21st century Enterprise episodes. Obviously
Vanguard is AMAZING. Discovery actually reminds of it a little bit, both are slightly darker, more complex, adult, arc heavy stories set during the TOS era.
The Lost Era: Serpents Among the Ruins and The Art of the Impossible are also amazing.
I mispronounced Weyoun for I while. I just read about him without having seen a single episode with him.....
That's like listening to the german audiobooks of Game of Thrones before watching the TV show.
Suddenly you hear names like Arüüüüa (Arya), Kersai and Da-enerüs
Or think about some translations in the german version of TOS.
Spocks Mother was called Emily (instead of Amanda), Gary Seven became "Felix Sevenrock", first names like Ronald or Miranda became Roland and Marion...
That's like listening to the german audiobooks of Game of Thrones before watching the TV show.
Suddenly you hear names like Arüüüüa (Arya), Kersai and Da-enerüs
Or think about some translations in the german version of TOS.
Spocks Mother was called Emily (instead of Amanda), Gary Seven became "Felix Sevenrock", first names like Ronald or Miranda became Roland and Marion...
Gahron instead of Gowron.
Borak instead of Vorik.
Dumar instead of Damar.
Wunn instead of Winn.
Definitely no Winn-Winn situation....
I was around 9 or 10 and picked up the James Blish 25th Anniversary Classic Episode Books, I–III (the purple, blue and red ones). I was familiar with who the characters were (probably from seeing Star Trek V in the theater), but had never actually seen a TOS episode. So I was piecing together an image in my mind of the bridge and the ship interiors from the descriptions in those books. I was hooked — reading those episodes over and over.
Mildly depressing to look for Trek books in a bookstore (if you can find one still) after remembering the late 80s/early 90s timeframe. Used to be an entire bookcase (or more) loaded with almost every published Trek book. Was there yesterday, and they had like the last 3-4 books, couple Discovery books, and that was it. Like 1/2 of one shelf in a bookcase. I get that it's changed since back then, but sad when I think about scouring for a random numbered book I hadn't collected. NO Trek books from the 'old' days are there, almost none of the current ones. If you weren't already caught up, it's ebay or Amazon if you want to try and find anything now...
I’ve seen the whole cycle for Stat Trek books, starting with plucking one of the Blish volumes off the paperback rack at Safeway when I was 12, and the book was new (Star Trek 6, as I recall) and trying to pry 75 cents out of my dad to buy it. That would’ve been 1972, IIRC. Dad wasn’t going for it “You’ve already seen all those episodes a million times.” Which was probably not yet true, but would be soon.
Within a year or so, I had my own money (paper route) and started buying whatever I wanted that I could afford. Books were on that list, but I mostly bought them from the used paperback bookstores that popped up around town. The 25 cent price tag on used titles let me by three times as many!
It was all adaptations all the time (not counting nonfiction titles and Spock Must Die!) until 1976, when “The New Voyages” appeared. I knew about fanzines (I’d already done 12 issues of my own Perry Rhodan fanzine, running off a few dozen copies of each issue on the ditto machine at church).
Anyway, I’d read Star Trek Lives! and couldn’t wait to read some of that amazing fan fiction they raved about. Well, it was a nice dream, until I cracked the cover.
I was not thrilled with the stories in NV, but it was Star Trek, sort of. Later that year, a new novel appeared, Spock Messiah! It didn’t make much sense to 16-year-old me (and not a lot more sense to 59-year-old me, to tell the truth). But there it was. Star Trek novels have been a significant component of my reading for close on 50 years.
Within a year or so, I had my own money (paper route) and started buying whatever I wanted that I could afford. Books were on that list, but I mostly bought them from the used paperback bookstores that popped up around town. The 25 cent price tag on used titles let me by three times as many!
It was all adaptations all the time (not counting nonfiction titles and Spock Must Die!) until 1976, when “The New Voyages” appeared. I knew about fanzines (I’d already done 12 issues of my own Perry Rhodan fanzine, running off a few dozen copies of each issue on the ditto machine at church).
Anyway, I’d read Star Trek Lives! and couldn’t wait to read some of that amazing fan fiction they raved about. Well, it was a nice dream, until I cracked the cover.
I was not thrilled with the stories in NV, but it was Star Trek, sort of. Later that year, a new novel appeared, Spock Messiah! It didn’t make much sense to 16-year-old me (and not a lot more sense to 59-year-old me, to tell the truth). But there it was. Star Trek novels have been a significant component of my reading for close on 50 years.
Star Trek books got me into Star Trek. I grew up in the 70s and 80s and didn't care much for TOS. I saw each movie in the theaters and started to casually watch TNG. Towards the end of the 80s, a college friend and I would watch TOS together, and I had a philosophy class that spent a session on TMP. So I started to slowly get more interested in Star Trek.
I graduated college after the third season of TNG. You know, "The Best of Both Worlds" cliffhanger. I was now living at my parents' house and had a lot of time on my hands until I found a job. I remember walking by a Waldenbooks in the mall and seeing the new hardcover of "Star Trek: The Lost Years" on display. I really was interested in reading it, but I had a history of never finishing novels, and years earlier, I bought "Star Trek: Enterprise: The First Adventure" which I had only read the first couple of chapters.
Since I had a lot of free time, I challenged myself to finish "The First Adventure" and then read "The Lost Years." It made sense to read the beginning of the five-year mission and then the end of it.
I loved reading the books and went back to the store to look through the multiple shelves of Star Trek books. I started devouring them which lead me to watch all of TOS, TAS, and every premiere of TNG, DS9, VGR, ENT, DSC and all of the movies on their release dates. So I owe it to the books for making me the Star Trek fan I am today. And now I co-host the Literary Treks podcast with Dan Gunther where we discuss the books with each other and the authors. Too cool!
I graduated college after the third season of TNG. You know, "The Best of Both Worlds" cliffhanger. I was now living at my parents' house and had a lot of time on my hands until I found a job. I remember walking by a Waldenbooks in the mall and seeing the new hardcover of "Star Trek: The Lost Years" on display. I really was interested in reading it, but I had a history of never finishing novels, and years earlier, I bought "Star Trek: Enterprise: The First Adventure" which I had only read the first couple of chapters.
Since I had a lot of free time, I challenged myself to finish "The First Adventure" and then read "The Lost Years." It made sense to read the beginning of the five-year mission and then the end of it.
I loved reading the books and went back to the store to look through the multiple shelves of Star Trek books. I started devouring them which lead me to watch all of TOS, TAS, and every premiere of TNG, DS9, VGR, ENT, DSC and all of the movies on their release dates. So I owe it to the books for making me the Star Trek fan I am today. And now I co-host the Literary Treks podcast with Dan Gunther where we discuss the books with each other and the authors. Too cool!
I was already a big Trekkie when I started reading the books, but I don't think I'd still be as big of a Trekkie as I am today if not for the books.
Almost all of the Pocket books, going all the way back to the TMP novelization are available as e-books now. For some reason the first three Shatnerverse books have never been released as e-books, and I think I have come across one or two others that aren't, but that's it.
I saw a New Frontier book at a shop, and after a couple of those books I found more Trek books
It’s not about me looking for one, I may literally own them all. Just contrasting what it was like when I started reading them compared to today. And it’s not that everyone moved to ebooks, because the bookstore was filling the shelves with books, they just aren’t Star Trek anymore. Kinda sad
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