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Name the first ST novel you read

After reading Blish's adaptation, I waited for that line by Scotty every time I saw "Yesterday's Enterprise" in syndication during the '70s...

Quite a feat, considering that it was a TNG episode made in 1990. Did you mean to say "Tomorrow is Yesterday"?


A few years later, I realized Blish had added that reference when I read his enjoyable Cities in Flight series.

I've got to track those down sometime.
 
"Price of the Phoenix" was my first Trek book, in the mid-80s. My dad had that and a few of the Blish novelizations in a pile of really old books.

The first one that was actually mine, that began my Trek collecting obsession, was "Deep Domain" - also my first Pocket Trek book. Unlike "Price of the Phoenix," Deep Domain was actually a new book at the time.

I still have both of them, and several hundred more. ;)
 
DorkBoy [TM];3873163 said:
"Price of the Phoenix" was my first Trek book, in the mid-80s. My dad had that and a few of the Blish novelizations in a pile of really old books.

The first one that was actually mine, that began my Trek collecting obsession, was "Deep Domain" - also my first Pocket Trek book. Unlike "Price of the Phoenix," Deep Domain was actually a new book at the time.

I still have both of them, and several hundred more. ;)
Several hundred, how do you keep track of your collection of books?

James
 
After reading Blish's adaptation, I waited for that line by Scotty every time I saw "Yesterday's Enterprise" in syndication during the '70s...

Quite a feat, considering that it was a TNG episode made in 1990. Did you mean to say "Tomorrow is Yesterday"?


A few years later, I realized Blish had added that reference when I read his enjoyable Cities in Flight series.

I've got to track those down sometime.

<headsmack> Yes, of course you're right -- "Tomorrow Is Yesterday".

There was a paperback edition released many years ago (1971) that collected all 4 novels. I still occasionally see it in used bookstores. Amazon has it pretty cheap -- http://www.amazon.com/Cities-flight-James-Blish/dp/B0006W7A2S/ref=pd_ts_b_15?ie=UTF8&s=books

I liked the middle 2 novels best -- lots of cool space opera adventure and interesting, larger-than-life characters. The first was a lot of set-up of the premise, while the 4th got into some fairly esoteric philosophy. But all-in-all, definitely worth reading.
 
Spock Must Die, then Spock, Messiah and the rest of the Bantam novels as I found them. Later on I read the Blish episode adaptations. Then somewhere in the middle of the Pocket TOS books I got lost in the Star Trek comics. I think I'm another one of the oldsters in the TrekLit crowd.
 
Also, when I was in 6th grade, I did some sort of book report on one of the early DS9 novels. I don't remember the title right off but it had something to do with Dr. Bashir & Jadzia Dax running around on a planet protecting an alien princess.

Sounds like Warchild, although the girl they were protecting was a prophesied Bajoran savior rather than a princess.

Yes, "Warchild." And you're right, it was a prophesied Bajoran savior. Like I said, I read it back in 6th grade (and I think I may have been confusing some of the details with "The Abode of Life" or some other Star Trek novel that involves running around on a planet protecting alien royalty).

Not sure, but I think it was "The Vulcan Academy Murders."

I love that one! I'm very proud of myself because I figured out who the murderer was and why right from the beginning.

Borgified Corpse--that is really awesome that your mom let you do Trek-related book reports! Mine didn't let me show that kind of stuff in front of the class, though on a couple occasions I did get to turn in some assignments straight to the teacher.

I think my mother was just pleased that I was reading at a higher level than the Goosebumps books that most of my peers were into. It wasn't until high school that my Trek obsession really started to get on her nerves. (Then, when I started adding Star Wars & Stargate to my video collection, she groaned out, "Why does everything you're interested in start with a 'Star'?")
 
The first ST novel that I ever read was Joe Haldeman's Planet of Judgment. I remember it was a lot more rugged and bloody in its depiction than the tv show. I liked the concept of the alien war and some of the flashbacks into the characters' lives. But there is one particular line that will be permanently etched into my memory: Hevelin's body looked like a botched autopsy. Ugh. :(
 
I'm 95% sure that the first ST novel I read was the ST/TMP novelization, as that was floating around amongst my group of college friends. I remember giving it to my mom to read.

But the first original novel I bought and read on my own was Barbara Hambly's Ishmael, a somewhat improbable premise for a Trek novel that could've been purely awful in less skillful hands but which proved to be actually quite charming. I loved it and I still have my yellowed original copy. It has held up rather quite well IMO.
 
Also, when I was in 6th grade, I did some sort of book report on one of the early DS9 novels. I don't remember the title right off but it had something to do with Dr. Bashir & Jadzia Dax running around on a planet protecting an alien princess.

Sounds like Warchild, although the girl they were protecting was a prophesied Bajoran savior rather than a princess.

Yes, "Warchild." And you're right, it was a prophesied Bajoran savior. Like I said, I read it back in 6th grade (and I think I may have been confusing some of the details with "The Abode of Life" or some other Star Trek novel that involves running around on a planet protecting alien royalty).
That's probably The Covenant of the Crown.
 
"Mission to Horatius" by Mack Reynolds.

First "adult" Trek novel:"Spock Must Die" by Blish.
 
The first Trek novel I ever read was The Fearful Summons I think, that was probably about 15 years ago. I didn't get into collecting all the Trek books until I started at university in 2002.
 
^ I can see why after reading The Fearful Summons you were in no hurry to read other Trek books ...
I read The Romulan Stratagem sometime after that though, but I didn't become an avid trek fan until DS9 and the first books I bought when I got into it were all the DS9 relaunch books then I began collecting everything.
 
I'm rereading Spock Must Die I kinda wince everytime Kirk calls McCoy "Doc".

IIRC, the editor made him change that one.

Yup. In the introduction to whatever adaptation collection was printed after SMD, he blamed the whole thing on his editors. He knew Kirk always called McCoy "Bones", but for some unknown reason, they overrode him and made him change it to "Doc."

Apparently, he'd been getting letters.
 
Oh, and mine was "Spock Must Die!" along with whatever Blish and Foster adaptations the school library had, along with "The World of Star Trek", "Star Trek Lives!", and "The Making of Star Trek".

The early 70's was a good time to be a Trekkie.
 
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