New Frontier series?

[captcalhoun]

well, at least he's still got two more...

 

[Cybersnark]

As others have noted, response is varied depending on how far over-the-top and wacky you're prepared to go. Personally, being a big fan of Farscape and Joss Whedon (Buffy/Angel/Firefly/Dollhouse), New Frontier is right up my alley.

Hell, even other Star Trek books that mention it tend to agree that Calhoun's crew is a bit odd; in the first Titan book, Will laments how eccentric his crew is, and Troi points out that at least it's not the Excalibur.

 

[David cgc]

Actually, I think that was one of the "Time To" books, when the Enterprise-E was still on the Fleet's shitlist and was getting every misfit and eccentric no one else wanted to deal with.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Spoiler: Treason, the latest NF book

I still can't believe how brutal Treason was. Some of the stuff in the book, including that, was just vicious.

Such is life.

 

[Csalem]

Confession: One of the main reasons I'm gonna read it is for the return of Mister Arex, one of my all-time favourite Trek characters.

Then you're not gonna like one of the books. If I remember correctly some jerk

Spoiler: spoiler

Cut's his arm off.

Spoiler: Treason, the latest NF book

I still can't believe how brutal Treason was. Some of the stuff in the book, including that, was just vicious. It kinda makes me wonder if he's getting ready to either end the series, or bring about some major changes.

Actually that is one of the more interesting things I like about PAD's writing. He can go from extreme humour to extreme seriousness in a heartbeat, which is what I like about his books.Often I can be chuckling away to parts of the books, and often I can be left having deep thoughts about some of the points made in the books.

As someone else pointed out, they are very close to TOS with many fantastical elements in them. I think part of the problem in the later books is the size of the cast that has to be accommodated.

 

[Janos]

"New Frontier" is a sometimes-comedic, science fiction soap opera. Love it!

Totally agree. It is truly escapist fun. Can't wait for Blind Man's Bluff.

BTW, Therin, thanks for introducing me to this forum. Your advice from psiphi is appreciated.

 

[Janos]

Spoiler: Treason, the latest NF book

I still can't believe how brutal Treason was. Some of the stuff in the book, including that, was just vicious.

Such is life.

Well, it certainly has been an interesting last few novels, hasn't it?.....

Spoiler: Death in NF novels

I'm just surprised about how frequently PAD kills off his main characters or disposes of them for other reasons, e.g. Si Cwan, Selar, McHenry, and some of the Trident mainstays. I doubt we'll see the first two again unless Kally channels them again. And, the netx novel doesn't seem promising for Morgan (who dies, but came back in a new way). Well, he does have a HUGE cast to the point that he spread now across the Excalibur, Trident, and Bravo Station.

 

[Janos]

Quick Qs - I imagine the answer is "no", but did any of the Lost Era books touch on Calhoun?

However, were other NF characters mentioned in any of the Lost Era books? I imagine the likelihood would be those that showed up on TV, but not those PAD created for Trek lit?

 

[Defcon]

Selar was in Catalyst of Sorrow, but I think none of the others appeared in Lost Era novels.

Tania Tobias, Soleta, McHenry and Zak Kebron were in Peter David's Young Adult novels Worf's First Adventure, Line of Fire and Survival, which were published years before New Frontier started, though.

 

[Janos]

Thanks. I have PAD YA books that featured younger versions of the NF characters. However, I haven't gotten around to reading them yet...

 

[Therin of Andor]

Quick Qs - I imagine the answer is "no", but did any of the Lost Era books touch on Calhoun?

Calhoun's early days, as a young warlord, are covered in the first four NF novels, and his early career in Starfleet is in "Captain's Table: Once Burned".

However, were other NF characters mentioned in any of the Lost Era books?

Selar, as mentioned.

Arex and M'Ress are from Filmation's TAS. They time-jumped individually into the New Frontier era, skipping over the "Lost Era" completely.

 

[captcalhoun]

Quick Qs - I imagine the answer is "no", but did any of the Lost Era books touch on Calhoun?

Calhoun's early days, as a young warlord, are covered in the first four NF novels, and his early career in Starfleet is in "Captain's Table: Burning Dreams".

However, were other NF characters mentioned in any of the Lost Era books?

Selar, as mentioned.

Arex and M'Ress are from Filmation's TAS. They time-jumped individually into the New Frontier era, skipping over the "Lost Era" completely.

therin, therin, therin.

it's Captain's Table: Once Burned.

and Calhoun's Academy days get a lot of coverage in Stone and Anvil.

 

[Thrawn]

^ Not coincidentally, either, but those are I think clearly the two best NF books.

 

[Therin of Andor]

therin, therin, therin.

Twice shy.

Pardon my late night oopsie.

 

[Trilliam]

therin, therin, therin.

Twice shy.

Pardon my late night oopsie.

Isn't it "once BITTEN, twice shy"?

 

[Therin of Andor]

Isn't it "once BITTEN, twice shy"?

I like to mix my metaphors. And other literary devices.

 

[nickyboy]

I was never a huge fan of Stone and Anvil I read the "present day"story line and then went back and read the Academy story. I thought it was good but not great.

With all the praise for it in this thread it may be time for me to revisit it.

Can't wait for Blind Man's Bluff

 

[Therin of Andor]

I read the "present day"story line and then went back and read the Academy story.

I was on a PAD listserv when some readers boasted they would read each character arc (chapters named for the characters) separately, across several post-"Restoration" NF books, and PAD got very angry. He said they were missing all the foreshadowing and nuances he was planting into each chapter, and was amazed that people chose not to read novels in ascending page order.

 

[Janos]

I read the "present day"story line and then went back and read the Academy story.

I was on a PAD listserv when some readers boasted they would read each character arc (chapters named for the characters) separately, across several post-"Restoration" NF books, and PAD got very angry. He said they were missing all the foreshadowing and nuances he was planting into each chapter, and was amazed that people chose not to read novels in ascending page order.

I don't understand why any reader wouldn't start reading with page 1, then 2, then, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, etc. I don't get reading the various named chapters as different groupings. Seems very odd. PAD is right. I have no idea if you can follow Treason any other than how you would "normally" read a book.

 

[David cgc]

I read the "present day"story line and then went back and read the Academy story.

I was on a PAD listserv when some readers boasted they would read each character arc (chapters named for the characters) separately, across several post-"Restoration" NF books, and PAD got very angry. He said they were missing all the foreshadowing and nuances he was planting into each chapter, and was amazed that people chose not to read novels in ascending page order.

I don't think I ever did that (though it's been so long since I read the Excalibur trilogy that I couldn't tell you with 100% certainty), but I did tend to skip the prologue set on the Planet of the Week and then go back and read it after I was done, and knew why the hell I should care what was going on.