I’ve read a lot of Trek books over the years, Vanguard, the post-nemesis books up to Destiny and a lot of the current releases. I remember the first novel I read was Rogue Saucer by John Vornholt in the late nineties after finding it in my school library.
When I read that a novel-only series was being developed back in ’97 I was excited to see where they took it. I read the first five books but didn’t manage to keep up.
I’d occasionally see the series in bookshops and had a vague idea that the series went in a different direction with new ships being added and the crew moving around, and also that the plot was more in keeping with TOS than the later series. Frankly, I was put off by how ridiculous it all sounded but I was always curious to see for myself how it turned out.
Needing a new series to read I’ve started reading New Frontier from the beginning.
New Frontier 1 – 4
As a twelve-year-old, I immediately skipped to the present-day scenes, missing the entire point of Calhounes backstory. It offers a unique take on Starfleet Captain. I like Calhoun, like the rest of the series he’s larger than life but somehow it works.
I enjoyed the introduction of Soleta. She reminds me of Vash from Captain’s Holiday here acting as the Space Lady Indiana Jones and introducing the audience to the Thallonian Empire and Si Cwan.
The collapse of the Thallonian Empire is a unique setting and gives New Frontier its own corner of the Star Trek galaxy to play in, which is probably a large part of the reason the series is able to go as over the top as it does.
Shelby and Calhoun’s relationship is another unique set-up that plays really well. Sheby is cast in the role of the straight man whose job it is to note just how absurd the rest of the characters are and it works well. There is certainly a lot of room for the relationship to grow.
The four short books do a great job of acting like a two-hour pilot episode to set up the cast and adventures and I really enjoyed the epic scope establishing various characters' backstories instead of simply starting when everyone comes onboard the Excalibur.
These books managed to make the story feel like an event at a time when most of the novels had to limit events and character growth by design to fit in with the episodes as they aired. It was an early hint at where the books could go.
When I read that a novel-only series was being developed back in ’97 I was excited to see where they took it. I read the first five books but didn’t manage to keep up.
I’d occasionally see the series in bookshops and had a vague idea that the series went in a different direction with new ships being added and the crew moving around, and also that the plot was more in keeping with TOS than the later series. Frankly, I was put off by how ridiculous it all sounded but I was always curious to see for myself how it turned out.
Needing a new series to read I’ve started reading New Frontier from the beginning.
New Frontier 1 – 4
As a twelve-year-old, I immediately skipped to the present-day scenes, missing the entire point of Calhounes backstory. It offers a unique take on Starfleet Captain. I like Calhoun, like the rest of the series he’s larger than life but somehow it works.
I enjoyed the introduction of Soleta. She reminds me of Vash from Captain’s Holiday here acting as the Space Lady Indiana Jones and introducing the audience to the Thallonian Empire and Si Cwan.
The collapse of the Thallonian Empire is a unique setting and gives New Frontier its own corner of the Star Trek galaxy to play in, which is probably a large part of the reason the series is able to go as over the top as it does.
Shelby and Calhoun’s relationship is another unique set-up that plays really well. Sheby is cast in the role of the straight man whose job it is to note just how absurd the rest of the characters are and it works well. There is certainly a lot of room for the relationship to grow.
The four short books do a great job of acting like a two-hour pilot episode to set up the cast and adventures and I really enjoyed the epic scope establishing various characters' backstories instead of simply starting when everyone comes onboard the Excalibur.
These books managed to make the story feel like an event at a time when most of the novels had to limit events and character growth by design to fit in with the episodes as they aired. It was an early hint at where the books could go.
