Recommend a book?

[Itisnotlogical]

Can anyone recommend a really excellent Trek book to me? Virtually every book I've ever read other than the Nemesis novel has left me cold... to me it seems like the authors put as much effort into (insert Trek book here) as I would in writing a love poem to the casserole-quice-pie type thing I had for breakfast. Can anyone recommend a really really really high quality Trek novel? Like, Arthur C. Clarke, Frank Herbert type stuff?

... or am I being too picky?

 

[Thrawn]

Star Trek: Destiny.

You'll love it.

(Though I am curious - what did you read before and dislike?)

 

[Deranged Nasat]

I don't really know how to be helpful here, but I'll list a few of my personal favourites, though some of these are certainly not universally liked:

A Stitch in Time (my number one )
Catalyst of Sorrows
Day of the Vipers
The Never-Ending Sacrifice
Millennium trilogy
Destiny trilogy
The Buried Age
Well of Souls
Orion's Hounds.

The "Titan", "Vanguard" and Deep Space Nine post-finale series are often listed as favourites, and I think they tend to be consistently good.

What are your favourite series (TV, I mean)?

 

[chelly]

I would go for the Destiny Books .

I would also say the Voyager (Kirsten Beyer's) and TNG relanch is pretty good. The titan series is good. Those are my favorite but it depends on what series you like. (tos, TNG,
DS9 Voyager).

I have to say I like the S.C.E Series but I haven't read all the series that don't involve the tv shows.

 

[William Leisner]

to me it seems like the authors put as much effort into (insert Trek book here) as I would in writing a love poem to the casserole-quice-pie type thing I had for breakfast.

I'm assuming that you're a newcomer, and are unaware that a number of TrekLit authors regularly visit here. Because if you were aware, you'd think twice about hurling oh-so-clever little slams against the degree of effort and dedication they put into their writing.

And as already stated, it's hard to be helpful when all you have to offer is this drive-by shooting of a critique.

 

[ryan123450]

Destiny would be perfect from what I can tell. It has a big element of almost-un-Trekishly-very-sci-fi-ness to it, and the element of being the biggest Trek-lit event...ever, basically, and has the bonus of being a great jumping on point for the newest Trek-lit-verse novels.

 

[Lt. Brannigan]

I really liked these and I recommend them to you as well.

Uhura's Song
First Frontier
Sarek
Q-Squared
The Vulcan Academy Murders

 

[F. King Daniel]

Most of Nasat's list, plus (in no perticular order):

The Final Reflection
Pawns and Symbols
Final Frontier
Metamorphosis
Vendetta
My Enemy, My Ally
The Romulan Way
Spock's World
Crossroad
Ishmael
Chain of Attack

...dozens more...

 

[garoo1980]

to me it seems like the authors put as much effort into (insert Trek book here) as I would in writing a love poem to the casserole-quice-pie type thing I had for breakfast.

I'm assuming that you're a newcomer, and are unaware that a number of TrekLit authors regularly visit here. Because if you were aware, you'd think twice about hurling oh-so-clever little slams against the degree of effort and dedication they put into their writing.

And as already stated, it's hard to be helpful when all you have to offer is this drive-by shooting of a critique.

I have to agree with William on this one. I'm new here too but I've already discovered that Star Trek appeals to a lot of people for different reasons. I like the more action oriented stories but lots of people read for the character development for example. So you need to give us some more detail in what you look for in books.

 

[Lt. Brannigan]

I have to agree with William on this one. I'm new here too but I've already discovered that Star Trek appeals to a lot of people for different reasons. I like the more action oriented stories but lots of people read for the character development for example. So you need to give us some more detail in what you look for in books.

I myself love character development and interaction more than straight out action. But good mixture of the two is awesome.

 

[DevilEyes]

I don't really know how to be helpful here, but I'll list a few of my personal favourites, though some of these are certainly not universally liked:

A Stitch in Time (my number one )
Catalyst of Sorrows
Day of the Vipers
The Never-Ending Sacrifice
Millennium trilogy
Destiny trilogy
The Buried Age
Well of Souls
Orion's Hounds.

These are the only ones I've read from that list, and I second the recommendations, but I'd put the entire Terok Nor trilogy on the list, not just its first part. But I am (or so it seems) the only person who liked Night of the Wolves and Dawn of the Eagles (parts 2 and 3) better than Day of the Vipers (part 1).

 

[BillJ]

Memory Prime

 

[F. King Daniel]

Federation! I somehow missed Federation off my list.

Feh derr ray shun.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Can anyone recommend a really really really high quality Trek novel? Like, Arthur C. Clarke, Frank Herbert type stuff?

Try Burning Dreams or Crucible: McCoy: Provenance of Shadows. Both are good novels, not just good Star Trek novels.

 

[JD]

I'm putting in another vote for Destiny. I'd also recommend A Stitch in Time, Day of the Vipers, Serpents Among the Ruins, and The Art of the Impossible. These are all ones that I think would be pretty easy to pick up and read, and they also show a pretty good example of how good Trek Lit can be.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Like, Arthur C. Clarke, Frank Herbert type stuff?

... or am I being too picky?

Maybe. The only Clarke I've read was his short piece which inspired "2001", and then got re-presented with essays as a quasi novelization. The only Herbert I've read was half of the original "Dune" and it put me to sleep, although I admired his world building.

It's hard to tell what you're looking for in a ST novel that you believe to be lacking. Characters? Tech? New alien races? Canonical alien races? Exploration? World building?

"Crucible: McCoy", "Strangers From the Sky" or "Prime Directive" are all pretty epic. But do you prefer TNG, DS9, VOY or ENT?

 

[F. King Daniel]

I can't believe I missed Prime Directive too.

I think it's time I retired from "good book" lists...

 

[ProtoAvatar]

'Articles of the Federation' for 'good' West Wing star trek.
'A buried age' for ancient civilizations and worldbuilding.
'Orion's hounds' for exploring a morality dillema much better than you're accustomed to from televised trek.
'Destiny' - but only if you don't care about established characters or you turn your brain off.

 

[seigezunt]

Vulcan Love Slave.

It's still in print. Ask them about it at Barnes & Noble. I'm sure they can order a copy.

 

[RonG]

'Destiny' - but only if you don't care about established characters or you turn your brain off.

what do you mean by "you turn your brain off"?

if this is going where I think it is, I couldn't disagree more.

(just to make nyself clear - I do think Destiny should be on the top of every Trek book recommendation)