Nemesis : The Novel

[label]

So, I've just finished up the "A Time to " series which overall I quite enjoyed. My plan had been to watch the movie and once I'm ready for more Trek, continue on with the novels. It occurred to me,however, that perhaps I'd be better off reading Nemesis rather than watching it.

So, the question is, is the novel significantly better than the movie?

I thought the movie was ok overall. Mediocre and predictable in places, mis-characterizations in other places. Predictable plot and an ending that didn't tug at any of my heartstrings because it was so predictable and so pointless.

So,Is the book better?

 

[Admiral_Young]

I barely remember the novelization, but do remember enjoying it better than the film. I believe it contains all the deleted scenes.

 

[Therin of Andor]

So, I've just finished up the "A Time to " series which overall I quite enjoyed. My plan had been to watch the movie and once I'm ready for more Trek, continue on with the novels. It occurred to me,however, that perhaps I'd be better off reading Nemesis rather than watching it.

I hadn't gotten around to reading the novelization, but finally caught up with it after finishing "A Time..."

It's an okay read, although later novels do ignore the Wesley-joins-Titan line and the scene with Picard's new exec officer.

 

[RandyS]

It's been a decade, but personally, I think the book is always better.

 

[ryan123450]

Just ignore the Wesley-to-Titan, and Commander Madden parts.

 

[Admiral_Young]

It amuses me why people so hate those scenes lol.

 

[label]

It's been a decade, but personally, I think the book is always better.

Well, that was my assumption as well. But, having never read a Star Trek novelization before I wasn't sure what the quality would be like.

 

[Janos]

I barely remember the novelization, but do remember enjoying it better than the film. I believe it contains all the deleted scenes.

I think you're right. The book flows better and seems more complete than the movie.

 

[Therin of Andor]

It amuses me why people so hate those scenes lol.

Who said we hated them?

Wesley joining the Titan would have been an acceptable pathway and he would have fitted right in with the current Titan crew. The Madden scene was a bit of an anti-climax and rather unfunny (and the old seatbelt joke was answered more effectively by those thigh clips in TMP in 1979.)

The ongoing Treklit simply chose another path, which it had a perfect right to do since the bonus scenes in the DVD aren't canonical.

Well, that was my assumption as well. But, having never read a Star Trek novelization before I wasn't sure what the quality would be like.

The most amazing novelizations are ST II and ST III. I also have a nostalgic spot for the novelization of ST:TMP, too, because it made me a ST fan. All three have so many extra layers and asides to the as-screened narrative.

 

[Christopher]

Except that Wesley becoming a Starfleet officer again would be a complete reversal of his arc at the end of the series and in the novels. It's placing nostalgia above character growth and continuity. I don't think it would've been a good idea at all.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Except that Wesley becoming a Starfleet officer again would be a complete reversal of his arc at the end of the series and in the novels. It's placing nostalgia above character growth and continuity. I don't think it would've been a good idea at all.

A Traveler deciding to choose family and comradeship after all, after several years of being so incredibly powerful, doesn't necessarily need to be an end of character growth, though. Just a very different direction.

It would have given us the return of Wes as a continuing character. As it is, he's relegated to rare guest spots.

 

[Christopher]

A Traveler deciding to choose family and comradeship after all, after several years of being so incredibly powerful, doesn't necessarily need to be an end of character growth, though. Just a very different direction.

Maybe. And KRAD managed to pull that off with Worf. But having Wesley make the equivalent choice as well would've been repetitive within the context of the books.

Besides, it's not a very Trekkish message, that it's better to retreat to home and hearth and the familiar than it is to quest outward and seek to expand your horizons. We already went that road with "Fury," and to some extent with the whole premise of Voyager.

 

[Rush Limborg]

So, I've just finished up the "A Time to " series which overall I quite enjoyed. My plan had been to watch the movie and once I'm ready for more Trek, continue on with the novels. It occurred to me,however, that perhaps I'd be better off reading Nemesis rather than watching it.

So, the question is, is the novel significantly better than the movie?

I thought the movie was ok overall. Mediocre and predictable in places, mis-characterizations in other places. Predictable plot and an ending that didn't tug at any of my heartstrings because it was so predictable and so pointless.

So,Is the book better?

The book is excellent.

Spoiler: the book.

We get info on Donatra's life, which makes her even more admirable in our eyes, and likeable from the beginning.

And of course...the unforgettable sequence when Donatra's CMO saves Worf's life. Worf, shocked, finds his hard heart changing at last...and he puts his prejudice aside, once and for all...and thanks the elderly doctor....

There's even a nice moment where Shinzon does the Picard Maneuver.

Still...one could say it put in too much of the deleted things. The scene at the very end, where Picard meets his new first officer, contradicts the TNG "Relaunch".

 

[Therin of Andor]

The scene at the very end, where Picard meets his new first officer, contradicts the TNG "Relaunch".

No, the relaunch novels chose to contradict the non canonical sections of the novelization.