Old TOS Miniseries That Stand the Test of Time?

[historypeats]

I'm way behind on my TOS reading, and started thinking about taking on some of the multi-book miniseries that started popping up during the Ordover and Palmeiri eras. As it turns out, there are a lot to choose from, and I confess I don't have any idea whether they were warmly received at the time/still liked today:

1) My Brother's Keeper (Republic, Constitution, Enterprise)
2) New Earth (Wagon Train to the Stars/Belle Terre/Rough Trails/The Flaming Arrow/Thin Air/Challenger)
3) The Janus Gate (Present Tense/Future Imperfect/Past Prologue)
4) Errand of Vengeance (The Edge of the Sword/Killing Blow/River of Blood)
5) Vulcan's Soul (Exodus/Exiles/Epiphany)
6) Errand of Fury (Seeds of Rage/Demands of Honor/Sacrifices of War)

Do any of these still hold up well all these years later? Or should I skip them and burrow into some other corner of TrekLit?

 

[Daddy Todd]

1) I can’t remember a thing about these.
2) the same story over & over again for five books, then libertarian polemic in #6. Hard pass for me.
3) could never get into these. Got maybe halfway through the first one before I bounced off it, which was strange, as I’d enjoyed several other books by the Graf Collective.
4) Yes, I like these quite a lot.
5) these aren’t TOS - they just have a few improbably long-lived TOS characters in TNG era stories. They’re not bad, but rather long-winded. They could each be edited by a third.
6) sequel to #4. Not quite as good, but still fine.

At some point I’ll reread #4 & #6. I won’t reread any of the rest.

 

[Jinn]

1) Liked this one more than I thought I would
2-3) Haven't read them
4 & 6) I thought these were really good. Also some elements work nicely with Discovery, IMO
5) I thought they were interesting.

The Errand trilogies definitely stand out.

 

[Thrawn]

1) I can’t remember a thing about these.
2) the same story over & over again for five books, then libertarian polemic in #6. Hard pass for me.
3) could never get into these. Got maybe halfway through the first one before I bounced off it, which was strange, as I’d enjoyed several other books by the Graf Collective.
4) Yes, I like these quite a lot.
5) these aren’t TOS - they just have a few improbably long-lived TOS characters in TNG era stories. They’re not bad, but rather long-winded. They could each be edited by a third.
6) sequel to #4. Not quite as good, but still fine.

At some point I’ll reread #4 & #6. I won’t reread any of the rest.

I haven't read Janus Gate, but otherwise I completely agree.

 

[seigezunt]

1) My Brother's Keeper (Republic, Constitution, Enterprise)

I was disappointed by this series, but my expectations were probably too high. Some of the story felt generic, and I tend to find this author too heavy on the fan service / small universe stuff.​

2) New Earth (Wagon Train to the Stars/Belle Terre/Rough Trails/The Flaming Arrow/Thin Air/Challenger)

Never read these. Seemed like more of a commitment than what the blurb made it seem worth.​

3) The Janus Gate (Present Tense/Future Imperfect/Past Prologue)

I thought this one was great. I thought it was an interesting framing concept in which to visit significant parts of the characters' lives. I had a little trouble visualizing the setting, but I found it overall a good read.​

4) Errand of Vengeance (The Edge of the Sword/Killing Blow/River of Blood)

This was good, but not very memorable. It felt like episodes of the show. And Klingon spies are all the rage now!​

5) Vulcan's Soul (Exodus/Exiles/Epiphany)

I liked these a lot, despite having elements that bugged me. The idea of Uhura and Chekov still being alive in the 24th century seemed a little bit of a stretch. And the bit about Spock and Saavik being married kind of feels icky to me.​

It's an alternate account of the Sundering, the Vulcans who left and became Romulans. It doesn't quite fit with the excellent Rihannsu novels, but you can pretend historical accounts differ. There's some interesting retconning to explain some TNG era stuff, especially the Remans. But I liked the epic scope and the story of these weird mask-wearing aliens.​

As I recall, it helps a bit to have read the authors' books previous to this, which get into Vulcan and Romulan business, Vulcan's Forge and Vulcan's Heart. Not essential, but there are some characters that start in those books as I recall.

Oh, and the Vulcan's Soul trilogy is, unusually, available as an unabridged audio from Recorded Books. That's how I read it, from my local library.​

6) Errand of Fury (Seeds of Rage/Demands of Honor/Sacrifices of War)

I barely remember this series, other than it continues Errand of Vengeance, and that it did something with the Organians that I did not like.​

 

[tomswift2002]

1) My Brother's Keeper (Republic, Constitution, Enterprise)

I remember reading this trilogy about 15 years ago. I got through the first 2 books, nad then wanted a little break before starting the 3rd book, so I read another book, and never returned to book 3.

2) New Earth (Wagon Train to the Stars/Belle Terre/Rough Trails/The Flaming Arrow/Thin Air/Challenger)

I've read the Gateway's epilogue to this mini-series, and really I found it boring and put it down.

3) The Janus Gate (Present Tense/Future Imperfect/Past Prologue)

Never read it.

4) Errand of Vengeance (The Edge of the Sword/Killing Blow/River of Blood)

Never read it.

5) Vulcan's Soul (Exodus/Exiles/Epiphany)

Never read it.
6) Errand of Fury (Seeds of Rage/Demands of Honor/Sacrifices of War)

Never read it.

 

[Reanok]

I've read Brother's keeper and I like them.2 New Earth I read them and thought it was a very boring Western story that takes places in outer space .I felt like I wasted m time reading this series It took me forever to finish reading it..3 I recently re-read The Janus gate trilogy and like it. I thought the story arcs for the characters was good.4 I've read the Vulcan's soul books I liked that tirlogy of books were about the Vulcans ancient history. I alxo lked the Errand of Vengence books.

 

[RonG]

of all the mini series mentioned, the two Errand trilogies not only stand out, but IMO still work, and quite well.

Personally, these two trilogies complement the now-classic Vanguard series the most, as they are set in the same period and have some similar events / themes. Very recommended !

 

[Leto_II]

of all the mini series mentioned, the two Errand trilogies not only stand out, but IMO still work, and quite well.

Personally, these two trilogies complement the now-classic Vanguard series the most, as they are set in the same period and have some similar events / themes. Very recommended !

Yup, several of this series' events are referenced in the Vanguard novels, including the Battle of Starbase 42.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

I liked the My Brother's Keeper trilogy. I started the first Errand of Vengeance book, but I don't think I ever finished it.

 

[Damian]

I just read some of these in the last few years. I just got done My Brother's Keeper last year. Pretty good narrative on Kirk's earlier career up to his first year as Captain of the Enterprise. It also shows some of McCoy's first mission to Capella.

New Earth was a bit long winded at times. A western in space describes it pretty well and I'm not much into westerns. My favorite books were Rough Trails and Challenger (Commander Nick Keller reminded me a little bit of Captain Calhoun from New Frontier). The other books were hit or miss and I found myself getting annoyed at the colonists at times due to their stubbornness and obstinacy. Originally taking place early in the 2270's the novels have been revised to a few years later, late 2270s because they are closer to TWOK in timeframe then TMP.

I don't believe I've read the Janus Gate (or I don't remember them) so no comment

Errand of Vengeance and Errand of Fury were pretty good. I'd recommend reading them together as a 6 book series. It's not totally necessary but the narrative does flow pretty well together.

I really liked the Vulcan's Soul novels (other than the inexplicable long lived original series characters). As others have noted it takes place in TNG era, between Insurrection and Nemesis if I'm not mistaken (before the A Time To... Books I believe) with narrative portions that take place in the distant past during the Sundering. It takes Diane Duane's basic Romulan history from her Rihannsu novels and adds more details to it, and I thought it was pretty interesting. Sort of like taking Duane's narrative history and making changes to make it fit in with existing canon up to that point. The Watraii were an interesting villain, as they are a villain to the Romulans and not really so much to the Federation. It also explores a possible past for the Remans and their link to Romulans.

 

[Christopher]

New Earth... Originally taking place early in the 2270's the novels have been revised to a few years later, late 2270s because they are closer to TWOK in timeframe then TMP.

It seems to me that the books were always meant to take place closer to TWOK (since Chekov is about to leave for Reliant and Spock is a captain), but for some reason they had historians' notes stuck on claiming they were shortly after TMP, even though they obviously weren't. It seemed to be Pocket's habit in the '90s and '00s to claim that any post-TMP novel was shortly after TMP.

 

[Damian]

It seems to me that the books were always meant to take place closer to TWOK (since Chekov is about to leave for Reliant and Spock is a captain), but for some reason they had historians' notes stuck on claiming they were shortly after TMP, even though they obviously weren't. It seemed to be Pocket's habit in the '90s and '00s to claim that any post-TMP novel was shortly after TMP.

That was my sense as well. New Earth is one of the series I just read about a year ago so I had already seen that the timeframe had been updated to later in the 2370's which makes sense.

I wonder why they said shortly after TMP to begin with. I mean, by the time this book series was written it was already pretty much established that TWOK was about 10 years post TMP and as you noted it's pretty clear it's closer to TWOK.