Just tore through first four New Frontier books

[Danoz]

Really enjoyed these. Went ahead and ordered "Martyr" and I'm looking forward to starting it after I finish Anathem over Christmas. Captain Calhoun, I see, is really unique and Peter David does an excellent job writing Star Trek.

I can't wait to get into this series so I can discuss it with everybody else .

Also... at the risk of turning this into a casting thread, does anybody else picture Michael Clarke Duncan as the voice of Zak Kebron?

 

[RoJoHen]

I never really attempted to cast any of the characters except Calhoun, and I always saw him as Dylan McDermott.

That said, I am planning to start re-reading the NF books. I read the first ones when they came out like 12 years ago, and I don't really remember how the characters got to be where they are in the current books. It's definitely a fun ride.

 

[seigezunt]

I found a hardback of the first four, so I might give it a shot, though I've never been that impressed with the author.

 

[nickyboy]

I love the 1st four books, a perfect pilot for the series

 

[ryan123450]

You know, I read the first four books about 2 years ago, and planned to continue on. But then other books kept getting bumped to the top of the list, and now I don't even remember what happened in the first four books, or much about the characters. I'm thinking about finally starting Martyr, so can anyone give me a recap?

 

[Thrawn]

Nah, just re-read them. They're short.

 

[tenmei]

And, though I love the series as a whole, you can pretty much skip the majority of the first novel - until you get to the modern day segments with the conference on the Enterprise.

 

[David cgc]

Actually, later in New Frontier, I started to make a habit to skip the prologue on the planet-of-the-book, and then double back to read it later after I finished the book, and cared about what the hell was going on with those people. I preferred meeting the guest characters with the crew.

 

[tmclough]

I tried reading the first four books a couple of years ago, but had great difficulty with it, especially keeping some of the new characters and races straight. I ended up quitting after book 2. Later, I printed out a list I created of the main crew of the Excalibur, along with their position, race/species, gender, in a couple of instances former name, and in a couple of other instances an important tidbit of extra info. (I realized later that I should have also included their rank, but never bothered to add it.) I got this basic info from Memory Beta. I chose the main crew, instead of everybody, because I knew that they would be used throughout the books, not just here and there.

I finally got around to rereading them, with notes a little while ago. In addition to the notes, while reading books 1-3, I also read a couple of other books at the same time (first one, then the other). This, along with the notes, helped keep me from being overwhelmed reading New Frontier and all its strange (to me) characters. In fact, I just finished book 4 (alone) about a week ago.

I'm honestly thinking about giving the rest of the series a try, after I buy myself an ebook reader (and find the time to read some of the books I already own).

 

[Danoz]

Hmm I surprised at the responses because I thought there were more hardcore New Frontier fans here. I found the books exceptionally easy to read. Though, for me, in a Star Trek novel casting makes a huge difference.

Mackenzie Calhoun - Jonathan LaPaglia
Elizabeth Shelby - Elizabeth Dennehy
Burgoyne 172 - Zoe Wanamaker
Dr. Selar - Suzie Plakson
Robin Lefler - Ashley Judd
Zak Kebron - Voiced by Michael Clarke Duncan
Mark McHenry - Sean Patrick Flannery
Soleta - Michelle Forbes
Ci Cwan - The Rock

Fun times.

 

[Danoz]

I tried reading the first four books a couple of years ago, but had great difficulty with it, especially keeping some of the new characters and races straight. I ended up quitting after book 2. Later, I printed out a list I created of the main crew of the Excalibur, along with their position, race/species, gender, in a couple of instances former name, and in a couple of other instances an important tidbit of extra info. (I realized later that I should have also included their rank, but never bothered to add it.) I got this basic info from Memory Beta. I chose the main crew, instead of everybody, because I knew that they would be used throughout the books, not just here and there.

I finally got around to rereading them, with notes a little while ago. In addition to the notes, while reading books 1-3, I also read a couple of other books at the same time (first one, then the other). This, along with the notes, helped keep me from being overwhelmed reading New Frontier and all its strange (to me) characters. In fact, I just finished book 4 (alone) about a week ago.

I'm honestly thinking about giving the rest of the series a try, after I buy myself an ebook reader (and find the time to read some of the books I already own).

The characters are different for Star Trek. I'm sort of enjoying this new sub-universe though because it really stays true to the tone and feel of a new series. Characters have a fair amount of humor/charm, there is a long-term problem with several micro-stories, it's trek formula but it's done well.

 

[captcalhoun]

as one may guess, i love New Frontier and after the ragging some recent books have recieved, i'm glad to see some new fans come on here!

 

[Jbarney]

I read the first four New Frontier books when they came out and they were almost bad enough for me to not revisit the series when other books were written. I rolled the dice and was rewarded though. Some of the later New Frontier books are pretty good.

 

[Turtletrekker]

I have to admit that when I read the first four and got to...

Spoiler: New Frontier book 4

"...it's the Great Bird of the Galaxy!"

...I rolled my eyes, and after finishing, put the book down and didn't bother with New Frontier again until the Gateways crossover. I've since caught up and generally enjoyed the series for the most part. I enjoy DS9-R, VAN and TTN and others more.

 

[RoJoHen]

I have to admit that when I read the first four and got to...

Spoiler: New Frontier book 4

"...it's the Great Bird of the Galaxy!"

...I rolled my eyes, and after finishing, put the book down and didn't bother with New Frontier again until the Gateways crossover. I've since caught up and generally enjoyed trhe series for the most part. I enjoy DS9-R, VAN and TTN and others more.

See, that's exactly the kind of over-the-top stuff that I love about this series!

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I read the first four New Frontier books when they came out and they were almost bad enough for me to not revisit the series when other books were written. I rolled the dice and was rewarded though. Some of the later New Frontier books are pretty good.

I started reading the first one and it was so bad and juvenile (I felt like I was in some Boris Vallejo painting) that I couldn't finish it.

I eventually realized I could not stand Peter David's writing and I have been blissfully free of NF ever since. If there are good ones I've missed out on because of that I'll read them if I ever finish all other Treklit out there.

I passed on my NF books (I tend to buy bulk collections on Ebay so have ended up with a few) to a kid I know who loves to read Trek and he loves them, which is great.

 

[RoJoHen]

I read the first four New Frontier books when they came out and they were almost bad enough for me to not revisit the series when other books were written. I rolled the dice and was rewarded though. Some of the later New Frontier books are pretty good.

I started reading the first one and it was so bad and juvenile (I felt like I was in some Boris Vallejo painting) that I couldn't finish it.

It probably helps that I was 12 years old when the first four came out.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

And you know it was definitely one of those, "if I had read this when I was 14.." moments. The same for Imzadi.

 

[RoJoHen]

Peter David's writing has definitely lost some appeal the older I get, but by now I just love the NF characters so much that I don't mind.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Peter David's writing has definitely lost some appeal the older I get, but by now I just love the NF characters so much that I don't mind.

That's cool. I'm always wistful when I realize I would have loved something when I was a teenager because chances are I would still love it.

(Though this did not work for Podkayne of Mars which I recently tried to reread.. nor did it work for A Princess of Mars.. and I am scared to even try rereading The Martian Chronicles after this record of failed nostalgia..)