New to books, here's my start

[Conzilium]

Hi friends
I've now finished watching all the series on Netflix and am going to try and read a few books. I'm very overwhelmed looking at it. I understand some books are a lot better than others. But I've tried to read what advice I can see and have listed the book order I intend to start my reading with.

Can you please advise me if I've got the order right for what I've selected and whether I should make any additions to make more sense. So here is current list:

1. Articles of the Federation
2. Greater than the Sum
3. Destiny series
4. A Singular Destiny
5. Typhon Pact series

Thanks!

 

[Krupp]

What’s your favourite TV show? Greater than the sum sets up destiny which will basically give you a run in at the most up to date books, which are largely run on through the lens of TNG. Voyager is basically existing off in its own little world.

Articles of the Federation is interesting as a setup to some of the political backstory, and is basically Star Trek meets The West Wing. I don’t think you need to pick up there and it is quite different to other novels, so don’t let it put you off if it’s not your thing.

The books are pretty good at explaining their context and are pick up and play. I come in and out and have to say I find it all pretty easy to grab threads from any I missed.

Destiny series is a must read tho, and one of the best series of Trek novels I ever read. There’s also plenty of really interesting sidebar material, I particularly point you to the Department of Temporal Investigations books as one of my favourite outgrowths of an episode in a bottle from the TV shows.

 

[Jinn]

Hi friends
I've now finished watching all the series on Netflix and am going to try and read a few books. I'm very overwhelmed looking at it. I understand some books are a lot better than others. But I've tried to read what advice I can see and have listed the book order I intend to start my reading with.

Can you please advise me if I've got the order right for what I've selected and whether I should make any additions to make more sense. So here is current list:

1. Articles of the Federation
2. Greater than the Sum
3. Destiny series
4. A Singular Destiny
5. Typhon Pact series

Thanks!

That order is definitely correct, timeline-wise. I'd add Losing the Peace to your reading list, it's a TNG book, and a really, really good exploration of the immediate consequences of Destiny. I'd place it between Destiny and A Singular Destiny.

When you're reading Typhon Pact, be aware that the novels are essentially regular TNG, DS9 and Titan novels that prominently feature Typhon Pact members as the antagonist, with just some few plot threads carried over from book to book, unlike Destiny that's a single story told over three books. Particularly the third, fifth and sixth novel are very much continuations of other DS9 novels, and follow that status quo, and the fourth one is the resolution of a major DS9 novel plot thread. So, if you like DS9 you might want to also read the early DS9 relaunch, although I can also completely understand if you don't want to add another, what, twenty novels to your list. I think the Typhon Pact novels recap the important stuff, so they should definitely be understandable to non-DS9-readers. I just think, they're more enjoyable with the whole context, and the early DS9 relaunch is definitely among the best Trek books.

Also, with Typhon Pact, and I'm sorry I have so many particular notes on that series, the fourth book carries over some plot stuff from Star Trek: Vanguard. You absolutely don't have to read Vanguard to understand the novel, but I just love Vanguard, and have to recommend it to everyone. It's also co-written by David Mack, of Destiny fame.

If you like the political stuff in Destiny and Typhon Pact, I'd recommend adding The Fall after Typhon pact, it's a continuation of the political struggles presented there. If you particularly enjoy Klingon politics, you can also add the excellent Prey trilogy after The Fall. It's fun.

Sorry if that got a little bit out of hand; I swear when i started typing this post I just wanted to say that the timeline looks correct

 

[Conzilium]

Many thanks, I've now added Losing the Peace & The Fall to my list.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I've never read Articles of the Federation and managed just fine, and I'd say skip Greater Than the Sum since nothing major happens there (for that you need the ultra-divisive Before Dishonor). Destiny works just fine as a starting point, and you can work backwards if you like what you read and want the not-really-connected previous Borg-related books (Resistance, Before Dishonor, Greater Than the Sum etc).

 

[ryan123450]

Hi Conzilium! Welcome to the board!

As far as the order of what you have there goes, yes that is correct. You could add anywhere from a few, to literally hundreds of other novels to that list, depending on how much you want to read. It's been years since I read these, but as far as I'm remembering, Greater Than the Sum is kind of the third of a run of Borg related TNG stories in those early post-Nemesis days. The first two are Resistance and Before Dishonor. If you are interested in following the character storylines and not only the big events, you might want to start at Death in Winter, and also add in Q&A between Resistance and Before Dishonor. That would be all the main run of TNG books before Destiny. There is one other TNG story just after Destiny before the Typhon Pact run starts, and that is Losing the Peace.

Once you get to Typhon Pact, there will be alot of crossover with DS9 storylines, and ALOT of things happened in the DS9 series up to that point (and then alot of things were skipped over with a big time jump in the DS9 line starting with Typhon Pact). You can probably get up to speed as each novel explains what is going on, but fyi that original run of DS9 novels from Avatar to The Soul Key is really something.

As I say, you could continue to expand that list you have in alot of different directions depending on your interests and how much you're looking to read. And keep in mind that Star Trek: Picard takes none of these books into account, and will show a totally different line of events post-Star Trek Nemesis than these books do. We are hoping/expecting the novels to provide an in-universe explanation for the differences at some point.

If it helps, you can always check my website for book order related questions...www.startreklitverse.com

This might be a particularly useful page...https://startreklitverse.com/simple-post-nemesis-reading-list.php

Happy reading!

 

[Conzilium]

Hi Conzilium! Welcome to the board!

As far as the order of what you have there goes, yes that is correct. You could add anywhere from a few, to literally hundreds of other novels to that list, depending on how much you want to read. It's been years since I read these, but as far as I'm remembering, Greater Than the Sum is kind of the third of a run of Borg related TNG stories in those early post-Nemesis days. The first two are Resistance and Before Dishonor. If you are interested in following the character storylines and not only the big events, you might want to start at Death in Winter, and also add in Q&A between Resistance and Before Dishonor. That would be all the main run of TNG books before Destiny. There is one other TNG story just after Destiny before the Typhon Pact run starts, and that is Losing the Peace.

Once you get to Typhon Pact, there will be alot of crossover with DS9 storylines, and ALOT of things happened in the DS9 series up to that point (and then alot of things were skipped over with a big time jump in the DS9 line starting with Typhon Pact). You can probably get up to speed as each novel explains what is going on, but fyi that original run of DS9 novels from Avatar to The Soul Key is really something.

As I say, you could continue to expand that list you have in alot of different directions depending on your interests and how much you're looking to read. And keep in mind that Star Trek: Picard takes none of these books into account, and will show a totally different line of events post-Star Trek Nemesis than these books do. We are hoping/expecting the novels to provide an in-universe explanation for the differences at some point.

If it helps, you can always check my website for book order related questions...www.startreklitverse.com

This might be a particularly useful page...https://startreklitverse.com/simple-post-nemesis-reading-list.php

Happy reading!

Thanks, I added Resistance and Before Dishonor to list.

 

[Thrawn]

The flowchart in my signature might help!

For what it’s worth, I think you should either start at A Time To Kill or start at Destiny. Reading a couple random things before Destiny will be more confusing than helpful. If you want to do them all:

A Time To Kill (don’t worry about the six books before this)
A Time To Heal
A Time For War, A Time For Peace
(The movie Nemesis goes here)
Death In Winter
Taking Wing
The Red King
Articles of the Federation
Orion’s Hounds
Resistance
Q & A
Before Dishonor
Sword of Damocles
Greater Than the Sun
Destiny

Either everything on that list or none of it... Destiny is a good jumping on point but before it there are a few intertwining threads through all those books.

 

[ryan123450]

This thread reminds me of the early 2010s!

 

[JD]

If you are going to read Death in Winter and Articles of the Federation, I'd throw the first two Titan books in there too. That whole batch is kind of it's own little story arc that deals with Romulus and the aftermath of Nemesis.

 

[Conzilium]

Thanks for everyone's help so far. I now have a very healthy looking reading list to keep me occupied this year!

 

[Thrawn]

You’ll love them! On the list I posted, the only books people tend not to think are great are Resistance and Before Dishonor. The rest are all awesome. (Though they are part of ongoing arcs so I still recommend reading them.)

And one really cool thing about TrekLit is how the books intertwine and keep developing stories over time. Collateral Damage which just came out a couple months ago refers back to events in A Time To Kill from 2004 (which is one reason I recommend starting there). It’s amazing, the scope of this whole thing! So much fun to read. I wish you luck!

 

[JD]

Here's the reading order for the Romulan books from my last post:

1. Death in Winter
2. Titan #1: Taking Wing
3. Titan #2: The Red King (this one doesn't deal with the Romulans as much, but it resolves the cliffhanger from Taking Wing)
4. Articles of the Federation

 

[Conzilium]

Hi friends
I've now finished watching all the series on Netflix and am going to try and read a few books. I'm very overwhelmed looking at it. I understand some books are a lot better than others. But I've tried to read what advice I can see and have listed the book order I intend to start my reading with.

Can you please advise me if I've got the order right for what I've selected and whether I should make any additions to make more sense. So here is current list:

1. Articles of the Federation
2. Greater than the Sum
3. Destiny series
4. A Singular Destiny
5. Typhon Pact series

Thanks!

I've now acquired all the books advised on a new Kindle Oasis bought for the purpose! It's interesting experience so far - I feel myself less reading a book so much as envisaging what I'm reading as being on screen or movie. I guess that's probably due to being some familiarised with screen body of work first. But it's still fun, especially when I'm hearing my favourite screen characters voices in my mind's eye as I read.

 

[Conzilium]

Hi friends
I've now finished watching all the series on Netflix and am going to try and read a few books. I'm very overwhelmed looking at it. I understand some books are a lot better than others. But I've tried to read what advice I can see and have listed the book order I intend to start my reading with.

Can you please advise me if I've got the order right for what I've selected and whether I should make any additions to make more sense. So here is current list:

1. Articles of the Federation
2. Greater than the Sum
3. Destiny series
4. A Singular Destiny
5. Typhon Pact series

Thanks!

I've now completed A Time to Kill and A Time to Heal. I felt Heal was the better written book. Kill seemed more like a screenplay to me.

 

[Thrawn]

Man, I'll be delighted to read this thread if you keep posting your thoughts as you go. I haven't revisited the books pre-Destiny in a really long time. Keep us posted.

As for that pair, those were David Mack's first full-length novels (he'd written some Starfleet Corps of Engineers novellas before that). Just hold on; read Destiny and you'll see how much he grows as a writer really quickly.

 

[JD]

I've now acquired all the books advised on a new Kindle Oasis bought for the purpose! It's interesting experience so far - I feel myself less reading a book so much as envisaging what I'm reading as being on screen or movie. I guess that's probably due to being some familiarised with screen body of work first. But it's still fun, especially when I'm hearing my favourite screen characters voices in my mind's eye as I read.

I'm the same way, there are actually some scenes in the books that I pictured so vividly I actually have trouble remember if they were in a book or a show/movie.

 

[Conzilium]

The flowchart in my signature might help!

For what it’s worth, I think you should either start at A Time To Kill or start at Destiny. Reading a couple random things before Destiny will be more confusing than helpful. If you want to do them all:

A Time To Kill (don’t worry about the six books before this)
A Time To Heal
A Time For War, A Time For Peace
(The movie Nemesis goes here)
Death In Winter
Taking Wing
The Red King
Articles of the Federation
Orion’s Hounds
Resistance
Q & A
Before Dishonor
Sword of Damocles
Greater Than the Sun
Destiny

Either everything on that list or none of it... Destiny is a good jumping on point but before it there are a few intertwining threads through all those books.

Would it be better to read the Nemesis book or watch the movie?

I've now completed A Time to Kill and A Time to Heal. I felt Heal was the better written book. Kill seemed more like a screenplay to me.

I've now completed A Time for War. Mixed feelings about it. I could see the point of somethings in wrapping up a story but they didn't necessarily enthuse me. I first got worried when an early chapter was almost entirely spent on a card game. I felt that boring. Also loads of pages on Troi arguing with mother. I understand why the ship inspection might have been happening, but was it that interesting? A lot of reflecting on things that have already happened in this book at the expense of genuine story for me.

 

[ryan123450]

Wow you are flying through these.

 

[caseylee4ts]

I. Am. Riveted! Definitely going to be following this thread for a while!