I just looked at the upcoming schedule for the rest of 2008, and I've gotta say, I'm pretty stoked. I've been a couple years behind for a while now, but every year, about once a year, I binge on Trek books for about two months, and slowly catch up. I'm pretty sure my current binge will get me right back up to date now. I don't know why, but I didn't think much was coming that was going to interest me until Fearful Symmetry and the Destiny series came out. Then I looked at voyagesoftheimagination.com and checked out the whole years worth of tentative schedule.
Jan- I wasn't so interested in Forged in Fire, but my most recent binge included The Red King, and I've remembered how much I love Martin and Mangels, and I've read such good things on the board about this one, so I know I'm going to check it out now.
Feb- Burning House was already on my reading list. I'm especially looking forward to this because of following along with KRAD's livejournal while he was writing it.
March- I've never gotten into the e-books, so this will be a break month for me... It'll give me a chance to fully catch up on things if I haven't already. Although Pitch and Moment looks like it'd be a fun read. Hopefully there'll be a paper edition at some point.
April- Shards and Sorrows. I still have to catch up on reading the Mirror Universe stories. Those'll be next, I think, depending on what gets into the library first.
- Terek Nor: More DS9 stuff! Awesome! These books cover a time period I'm very interested in.
May- Terek Nor by S.D Perry. Even more awesome! I loved her stuff in the DS9 relaunch.
June- More Terok Nor. Plus a DS9-R omnibus. Any word on whether there will be a new introduction like with the first one?
July- Myriad Universes and Fearful Symmetry - WOO HOO! FINALLY! The DS9 Relaunch continues! I hope... Could there still be more delays? Also, that Myriad Universes anthology looks like it will be quite fun.
August- More Myriad Universes and Bennett's TNG book.
Bennett's book is what I'm really looking forward to here... Probably my second most anticipated, following Fearful Symmetry. This is a new development. See, I'm almost finished Ex Machina, and I'm absolutely *loving* it. I can't wait to see what Bennett does with the TNG crew (which I know better than the TOS crowd, even though Ex Machina has made them grow much closer to my heart. Thanks for that, Chris. Between this and Vanguard, I really wanna go watch some original series. I haven't seen all that many episodes.) Now, this is just from one book so far, so we'll see how I feel after reading some of his other stuff, but I *love* Bennett's style, and not just his style, but what he chooses to write about. I love when Star Trek truly makes me think about the choices I make and how I view the world, and Ex Machina is striking home hard perfectly for me.
Oh man! Chris, if you're reading this, depending on the timing when your new book comes out, it could be part of my reading material when I'm doing my peacemaker training! (Assuming I'll have time to read for pleasure...) I know Star Trek at it's core is about diversity, and looking at different points of view and exploring contemporary social issues from a futuristic point of view, but I've especially enjoyed how Ex Machina navigates these waters, and it does make me happy thinking that I'll be reading a new book of yours while learning about similar things in the real world.
September - Kobayashi Maru - The continuing of the series that -in all honesty- introduced me to Enterprise. I never really watched the show, but I loved the first book of the relaunch, enjoyed getting to know what were to me new characters. Heh. This could be the book I read while on the plane to my first peacemaking assignment. I'm not sure if that book being Kobayashi Maru is necessarily a good omen, eh?
October to December - Destiny trilogy.
David Mack did the first Vanguard book, right? Now THAT was a book! Whew! Definitely looking forward to an epic Star Trekverse encompassing trilogy by the same guy.... though I might have to wait till the end of December to read it.
That's a very cool year for Star Trek books. I was feeling sad about the lack of Vanguard, but I've still got two of them that are out that I haven't read, as well as two Titan books... so I'm in good shape, methinks.
I know the schedule can fluctuate a lot. Have there been any changes since it was posted on voyagesofimagination.com?
I also want to give a big thank you to all the writers of the books I've currently binged on. I don't know if all of you frequent these boards, but here we go.
J.M Dillard: Thanks for Resistance. It's not my normal cup of tea for Trek, but I found it suspenseful, and fun.
David Mack: Thank you, thank you, thank you for Vanguard. And anyone else involved with the creation of this new series. I've been drawn into the mystery of the region, the flawed but likeable characters, the action that really had me on the edge of my seat, and authentic emotional beats that gave me time to reflect. I felt this was a very well crafted story, especially in how the waves of intensity were handled. At one point, I felt taken aback by the sheer intensity of the story, and was thinking... I want a break. I just want to be able to laugh a little, and voila, the next couple incidents were incredibly funny and had me laughing out loud on the subway. (It was the scene with the return of the Klingon's dagger)
KRAD: Thanks for Q&A. Another delightful read which had the wonderful side effect of reminding me of watching Next Generation. I read the books much more then I watch the show now, and sometimes I can forget how much I enjoyed the shows themselves. Q&A did a great job of bringing that back.
Peter David: Thanks for Vendetta and Before Dishonor. I reread Vendetta, having heard that Before Dishonor used some plot points from Vendetta, and the last time I read Vendetta was when I was 12, I think. It's been quite a long while, and it was neat rediscovering the book, as well as getting nostalgic flashbacks to reading it while visiting my (now dead) grandfather.
Martin and Mangels: Thanks for the Red King. I read this one on three copies, because my first library copy got stolen from my work locker, so I continued it at Toronto's Sci-Fi reference library, and finished it at another local branch. I hope whoever stole it got some enjoyment out of it. (Who steals library books?!?)
Christopher Bennett: Thanks for Ex Machina. I... don't want to get too personal on these boards about where I am in my life and what I'm doing for the next couple of years, but I'll say this: This book was incredibly relevant to me, and I'm glad that I'm reading it now. I've found it to be encouraging as well as stimulating. Thank you for writing it, and I'm very glad that you've got more books published for me to read.
I *think* that's all I've read in the binge so far... it feels like there's been a lot more...
Due to budget restraints, I don't buy Star Trek books. I read them from the library... I feel... not necessarily guilty about this, but since you don't get any money from my reading them, I want you all to know that you most definitely have my thanks, and also to have the knowledge that some of your works have made quite the impact on me.
Up next: The Sundering, the first book in the Crucible trilogy, and I'm going to start checking out some anthologies.
Jan- I wasn't so interested in Forged in Fire, but my most recent binge included The Red King, and I've remembered how much I love Martin and Mangels, and I've read such good things on the board about this one, so I know I'm going to check it out now.
Feb- Burning House was already on my reading list. I'm especially looking forward to this because of following along with KRAD's livejournal while he was writing it.
March- I've never gotten into the e-books, so this will be a break month for me... It'll give me a chance to fully catch up on things if I haven't already. Although Pitch and Moment looks like it'd be a fun read. Hopefully there'll be a paper edition at some point.
April- Shards and Sorrows. I still have to catch up on reading the Mirror Universe stories. Those'll be next, I think, depending on what gets into the library first.
- Terek Nor: More DS9 stuff! Awesome! These books cover a time period I'm very interested in.
May- Terek Nor by S.D Perry. Even more awesome! I loved her stuff in the DS9 relaunch.
June- More Terok Nor. Plus a DS9-R omnibus. Any word on whether there will be a new introduction like with the first one?
July- Myriad Universes and Fearful Symmetry - WOO HOO! FINALLY! The DS9 Relaunch continues! I hope... Could there still be more delays? Also, that Myriad Universes anthology looks like it will be quite fun.
August- More Myriad Universes and Bennett's TNG book.
Bennett's book is what I'm really looking forward to here... Probably my second most anticipated, following Fearful Symmetry. This is a new development. See, I'm almost finished Ex Machina, and I'm absolutely *loving* it. I can't wait to see what Bennett does with the TNG crew (which I know better than the TOS crowd, even though Ex Machina has made them grow much closer to my heart. Thanks for that, Chris. Between this and Vanguard, I really wanna go watch some original series. I haven't seen all that many episodes.) Now, this is just from one book so far, so we'll see how I feel after reading some of his other stuff, but I *love* Bennett's style, and not just his style, but what he chooses to write about. I love when Star Trek truly makes me think about the choices I make and how I view the world, and Ex Machina is striking home hard perfectly for me.
Oh man! Chris, if you're reading this, depending on the timing when your new book comes out, it could be part of my reading material when I'm doing my peacemaker training! (Assuming I'll have time to read for pleasure...) I know Star Trek at it's core is about diversity, and looking at different points of view and exploring contemporary social issues from a futuristic point of view, but I've especially enjoyed how Ex Machina navigates these waters, and it does make me happy thinking that I'll be reading a new book of yours while learning about similar things in the real world.
September - Kobayashi Maru - The continuing of the series that -in all honesty- introduced me to Enterprise. I never really watched the show, but I loved the first book of the relaunch, enjoyed getting to know what were to me new characters. Heh. This could be the book I read while on the plane to my first peacemaking assignment. I'm not sure if that book being Kobayashi Maru is necessarily a good omen, eh?
October to December - Destiny trilogy.
David Mack did the first Vanguard book, right? Now THAT was a book! Whew! Definitely looking forward to an epic Star Trekverse encompassing trilogy by the same guy.... though I might have to wait till the end of December to read it.
That's a very cool year for Star Trek books. I was feeling sad about the lack of Vanguard, but I've still got two of them that are out that I haven't read, as well as two Titan books... so I'm in good shape, methinks.
I know the schedule can fluctuate a lot. Have there been any changes since it was posted on voyagesofimagination.com?
I also want to give a big thank you to all the writers of the books I've currently binged on. I don't know if all of you frequent these boards, but here we go.
J.M Dillard: Thanks for Resistance. It's not my normal cup of tea for Trek, but I found it suspenseful, and fun.
David Mack: Thank you, thank you, thank you for Vanguard. And anyone else involved with the creation of this new series. I've been drawn into the mystery of the region, the flawed but likeable characters, the action that really had me on the edge of my seat, and authentic emotional beats that gave me time to reflect. I felt this was a very well crafted story, especially in how the waves of intensity were handled. At one point, I felt taken aback by the sheer intensity of the story, and was thinking... I want a break. I just want to be able to laugh a little, and voila, the next couple incidents were incredibly funny and had me laughing out loud on the subway. (It was the scene with the return of the Klingon's dagger)
KRAD: Thanks for Q&A. Another delightful read which had the wonderful side effect of reminding me of watching Next Generation. I read the books much more then I watch the show now, and sometimes I can forget how much I enjoyed the shows themselves. Q&A did a great job of bringing that back.
Peter David: Thanks for Vendetta and Before Dishonor. I reread Vendetta, having heard that Before Dishonor used some plot points from Vendetta, and the last time I read Vendetta was when I was 12, I think. It's been quite a long while, and it was neat rediscovering the book, as well as getting nostalgic flashbacks to reading it while visiting my (now dead) grandfather.
Martin and Mangels: Thanks for the Red King. I read this one on three copies, because my first library copy got stolen from my work locker, so I continued it at Toronto's Sci-Fi reference library, and finished it at another local branch. I hope whoever stole it got some enjoyment out of it. (Who steals library books?!?)
Christopher Bennett: Thanks for Ex Machina. I... don't want to get too personal on these boards about where I am in my life and what I'm doing for the next couple of years, but I'll say this: This book was incredibly relevant to me, and I'm glad that I'm reading it now. I've found it to be encouraging as well as stimulating. Thank you for writing it, and I'm very glad that you've got more books published for me to read.
I *think* that's all I've read in the binge so far... it feels like there's been a lot more...
Due to budget restraints, I don't buy Star Trek books. I read them from the library... I feel... not necessarily guilty about this, but since you don't get any money from my reading them, I want you all to know that you most definitely have my thanks, and also to have the knowledge that some of your works have made quite the impact on me.
Up next: The Sundering, the first book in the Crucible trilogy, and I'm going to start checking out some anthologies.
:thumbsup:
