^ And, you've never used the word "stygian." 
Pick an author
- Thread starter Mistral
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Who knew this was the hot-button issue of the 21st century?
This is not the "hot-button" issue of the 21st century, the use of semi-colons is, as pointed out by Ted; the use of semi-colons has degraded the English language by allowing lazy authors to avoid periods(note, I am only referring to male authors, any female author that avoids a period isn't lazy-she's just smarter than the average bear and damn lucky to boot); this use of semi-colons has let so many of you construct sentences that inflict actual pain on the reader; this pain is unforgivable and should be stopped; no compassionate man could ask any less.
^ You.
Out.
Out.
Who knew this was the hot-button issue of the 21st century?
Well, one author on here who will remain anonymous emailed me a correction to his latest piece for the magazine specifically for the purpose of adding the word "Stygian" to one sentence in his text.
More worryingly, I'd already considered adding it anyway!!
P
After reading The Eye of Argon several years ago, I could never, ever again look upon "stygian" with anything approaching seriousness, which is why I try and sneak it into as much of my writing as possible because all it does is make me giggle.
I would have said essentially the same thing if you hadn't beat me to it.
I'll also add that she captures the characters of TOS better than anyone else has in print. You can almost hear the actors reading her dialogue.
My experience of Duane's work is different. Spock's World is one of my favorite Trek novels. Having said that, I find I can't read Duane's other Trek novels. She seems to go so far out of her way to show us how much the Enterprise crew love each other and how well they work together. She bludgeons the reader with this theme, to the point where it's such a distraction that I can't enjoy what I'm reading. It doesn't seem realistic and it doesn't evoke TOS for me. It's not such a problem in Spock's World because most of the novel takes place off the Enterprise and doesn't involve most of the crew to any large extent.
I never felt like I was being beaten over the head with that theme at all. As for realism...I actually found her descriptions much more realistic and believable than what we find onscreen on TOS. To me this is what TOS could've been if it had had the budget and the technological wherewithal to accomplish it.
No joy for Peter David?
I always found his books to just be breathless romps and he nails the Q/Picard relationship.
I hate to admit (especially with the actual authors onboard here) that I've not read any of KRAD's books. I would kindly (and with hope of not getting yelled at!) ask what books would be recommended of his works.
I tend to avoid authors I hadn't heard of when I first started getting into certain authors. Not to name names but there was this one TNG novel where the author became obsessed with the word 'touche'. It drove me nuts to the point where if it's not....
Peter David
Diane Carey
Diane Duane
Michael Jan Friedman
LA Graf
and so on... I just can't gamble (8 bucks for a freakin' paperback!) on guys who don't have a track record with me.
But if there's any suggestions for the guys just named or the ones who post here (gulp), um, I'd be more than willing to give them the ol' library try
I always found his books to just be breathless romps and he nails the Q/Picard relationship.
I hate to admit (especially with the actual authors onboard here) that I've not read any of KRAD's books. I would kindly (and with hope of not getting yelled at!) ask what books would be recommended of his works.
I tend to avoid authors I hadn't heard of when I first started getting into certain authors. Not to name names but there was this one TNG novel where the author became obsessed with the word 'touche'. It drove me nuts to the point where if it's not....
Peter David
Diane Carey
Diane Duane
Michael Jan Friedman
LA Graf
and so on... I just can't gamble (8 bucks for a freakin' paperback!) on guys who don't have a track record with me.
But if there's any suggestions for the guys just named or the ones who post here (gulp), um, I'd be more than willing to give them the ol' library try
Pfft. Why would anyone yell at you for that? Seriously, it's not that big a deal.
Since you asked, the book of mine I'd recommend most strongly is The Art of the Impossible, one of the Lost Era books. These were six standalone novels published in 2003 that all took place in the 70-year gap between the end of the TOS movies and the start of TNG. Mine covers 18 of those 70 years, chronicling the Betreka Nebula Incident alluded to by Bashir and Garak in DS9's "The Way of the Warrior" involving a conflict between the Cardassians and the Klingons.
Since that book is five years old, it might be harder to find, so I'll also bring up my most recent Trek pieces:
Q & A -- the ultimate Q story, this post-Nemesis tale ties together all of Q's appearances (and at least name-checks every Q story in prose), and shows why Q has had such a particular interest in Jean-Luc Picard for all these moments.
Klingon Empire: A Burning House -- this shows the greater tapestry of Klingon life, showing us not just the military and the politicians, but also the farmers, the working poor, the opera performers, the doctors, and so on. The book uses the crew of a Klingon ship, the I.K.S. Gorkon, as the basis, and I've done several other novels with that crew: Diplomatic Implausibility, The Brave and the Bold, A Good Day to Die, Honor Bound, and Enemy Territory, the latter three under the I.K.S. Gorkon banner.
A Gutted World (one of three novels in Myriad Universes: Echoes and Refractions) -- this, like the other five short novels in the two MyrU trade paperbacks, is a "what if?" story (or an "elseworlds," if you prefer DC metaphors to Marvel ones). In my case, it's what would've happened if the Cardassians didn't pull out of Bajor.
This page on Memory Alpha lists all the Trek stuff I've written...
Articles of the Federation and since you like Q and Picard Also Q&A.
You are missing out on a lot of greatness then. In addition to KRAD I'd also recommend these Star Trek greats: David Mack and Christopher L. Bennett.
As for David Mack, I'd recommend A Time to Kill, and A Time to Heal, the 7th and 8th books in the A Time to series... The story in them is fairly standalone, but it does also build off of the rest of the series. So you don't have to read the other books in the series, but it does help. I'd also recommend Harbinger, the first book in the Vanguard series. FYI he also wrote the third book, and will be writing the fifth book. The others are written by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore.
As for Christopher L. Bennett, I'd recommend The Buried Age, a TNG prequel which follows Picard during the years between his command of the Stargazer and Enterprise E, and Orion's Hounds, the third book in the Titan series. The Titan series works along the lines of the A Time to... books, which is actually how most of the series work.
As for Christopher L. Bennett, I'd recommend The Buried Age, a TNG prequel which follows Picard during the years between his command of the Stargazer and Enterprise E, and Orion's Hounds, the third book in the Titan series. The Titan series works along the lines of the A Time to... books, which is actually how most of the series work.
His books have always struck me as a parody of Trek, not the real thing. It's like someone took Trek and Monty Python and crossed them together. I'm sure that's fine to some people, but to me it just fails in the "authenticity" department.
I'm sure.
I just put down The Wounded Sky after a few chapters 'cause I couldn't take it anymore. I could understand it a little more if the book took place in post-TWOK times, but if I understand correctly, it's supposed to be during the original five-year mission, and all the lovey-dovey gently teasing stuff just isn't what I see when I watch TOS episodes. I mean there's some of that in the episodes, but there's also people snapping and barking at each other.It's not that I want everyone to be arguing all the time. I just think she went too far in the opposite direction. But I understand that everyone sees things differently. S'okay.
