Question I've been playing around with, thought it might be a fun Trek Lit thread: What is your favorite 'type' of Trek book? Having read just about all of them, and most MANY times, there's some generalized buckets I could put some of the books into, and I find for sure that I seem to enjoy some 'types' more than others (always exceptions both ways of course). I'll try and explain a bit, and give a couple examples of books that sort of describe what I'm going for. Examples don't always mean great book, just follows the trend I'm talking about.
Not looking to categorize all of the books, just talking about general plot themes/types. If there's an obvious category I've forgotten, please add that for me as well. Some may play in more than one category, but tried to just grab the big strokes here. I may also wander into old numbered TOS books a lot, nice clear examples there sometimes. I got to 10 and realized I could probably keep going, but trying to keep from filling the entire first page of the thread with a single post!
1. Political: Maybe our crew doesn't feature prominently, or maybe the crew is stuck right in the middle of something, but we're in the Alpha Quadrant sandbox and the dynamics of the Feds/Klingons/Romulans/etc. are in play. Examples: Articles of the Federation, several of the Cardassia or Garak books, Typhon Pact series, etc.
2. Exploration: Our crew is out in the unknown, runs into a new planet, gets sucked into their problem, generally solves it and laughter ensues on the bridge as they fly away. Our ship is generally at full strength, crew is on top of things, representing the Federation and Going Boldly, all that. There's probably a MILLION examples of this one, any Planet of the Week book counts (not said negatively). Armageddon's Arrow is a recent one, DS9 Gamma Quadrant series, Abode of Life, Legacies Series (mostly), most TOS episodes.
3. Galactic Crisis: There's a big crisis out there, and only our intrepid crew is smart/brave/close enough to save the galaxy/universe! Another one that happens a lot, and sometimes as a result of #2, but examples are things like Genesis Wave, Maximum Warp, The Eternal Tide, The Wounded Sky. Doomsday Machine is a nice clean TOS episode example, but again, very common. Dunno if universe-threatening crises seek out the Enterprise, or if she just has really good/bad luck.
4. The Follow-up: Remember that episode or movie? Well, here's what happened next! (or sometimes before, or much later but we're back on that planet!). An episode just scratched the surface, or finished by asking questions it didn't have time to follow up on. Or just introduced a cool planet/species/whatever. Wrath of Khan is the obvious movie example. There have been plenty of book examples, lots of recent TOS ones that have titles that play off of the episode title. Examples: That Which Divides, for example, or Devil's Bargain, think Foul Deeds Will Rise did so, would argue that the Khan books, especially To Reign in Hell, is another good example. Ex Machina jumping in after TMP, as well.
5. We're Alone Out Here: I guess this is Voyager's natural state, but in general, your fearless ship and crew have been tossed somewhere/when, and are on their own to sort it out and get back home. Maybe the ship is also damaged and at less than full strength, maybe they're good. Examples: Chain of Attack, First Frontier, etc.
6. The Crew vs. the World: different than #5, in that it's just a few people alone against the planet/aliens/possessed crew/evil Starfleet plot. They don't have the ship's resources, or they are actively being used against them. Usually somewhat low tech, but not always. Examples: Prime Directive, Memory Prime, Uhura's Song, Mutiny on the Enterprise, Demons, Sanctuary, Shell Game, Section 31 - Control, Rogue Saucer, another category that could go on a while. They seem to lose the support of the ship/crew/Federation a LOT
7. Time Travel: Sometimes well thought, sometimes causes headaches. Are things going to reset? Was this always meant to be anyway? Who can tell? But we're definitely moving around in time; forward, backwards, and sideways. Or we're in the right place and someone else has moved around. Examples: Yesterday Saga, Assignment Eternity, Engines of Destiny, Crossroad, Crucible, Millennium series, DTI
8. Character piece: Maybe we delve more into what made a character what we saw on screen, or maybe we just grab a couple characters and have a side adventure. The ship and rest of the crew may or may not play into the story, maybe there's a framing device? Examples: Sarek, Mosaic, A Stitch in Time, Cold Equations/The Light Fantastic, Garth of Izar.
9. The team-up: my favorite crew, your guys, the other team, let's get everyone in a room and see what happens! Could be a multi-book crossover, could be a single epic book. All the books could address a problem across eras, or they're all in the same place, both happen. Examples are the Invasion Series, Federation, Shatnerverse, Double Helix, literally Planet X I guess, and others.
10. Meanwhile, on ships NOT named Enterprise: This covers your other series, and your one-off crews as well. Maybe the main series' characters play a role, but are in the background. Maybe it's a total spinoff ship. Examples could be Titan, New Frontier, Stargazer, Aventine, Gorkon, Dreadnaught!/Battlestations!, etc. Tons more here, but it's not focused on the Big E and the guy in the center seat.
So, that went on a while, but thought it may be a fun conversation. Which ones are your favorites, if you blindly grabbed a Trek book, what are you hoping is inside?
Not looking to categorize all of the books, just talking about general plot themes/types. If there's an obvious category I've forgotten, please add that for me as well. Some may play in more than one category, but tried to just grab the big strokes here. I may also wander into old numbered TOS books a lot, nice clear examples there sometimes. I got to 10 and realized I could probably keep going, but trying to keep from filling the entire first page of the thread with a single post!
1. Political: Maybe our crew doesn't feature prominently, or maybe the crew is stuck right in the middle of something, but we're in the Alpha Quadrant sandbox and the dynamics of the Feds/Klingons/Romulans/etc. are in play. Examples: Articles of the Federation, several of the Cardassia or Garak books, Typhon Pact series, etc.
2. Exploration: Our crew is out in the unknown, runs into a new planet, gets sucked into their problem, generally solves it and laughter ensues on the bridge as they fly away. Our ship is generally at full strength, crew is on top of things, representing the Federation and Going Boldly, all that. There's probably a MILLION examples of this one, any Planet of the Week book counts (not said negatively). Armageddon's Arrow is a recent one, DS9 Gamma Quadrant series, Abode of Life, Legacies Series (mostly), most TOS episodes.
3. Galactic Crisis: There's a big crisis out there, and only our intrepid crew is smart/brave/close enough to save the galaxy/universe! Another one that happens a lot, and sometimes as a result of #2, but examples are things like Genesis Wave, Maximum Warp, The Eternal Tide, The Wounded Sky. Doomsday Machine is a nice clean TOS episode example, but again, very common. Dunno if universe-threatening crises seek out the Enterprise, or if she just has really good/bad luck.
4. The Follow-up: Remember that episode or movie? Well, here's what happened next! (or sometimes before, or much later but we're back on that planet!). An episode just scratched the surface, or finished by asking questions it didn't have time to follow up on. Or just introduced a cool planet/species/whatever. Wrath of Khan is the obvious movie example. There have been plenty of book examples, lots of recent TOS ones that have titles that play off of the episode title. Examples: That Which Divides, for example, or Devil's Bargain, think Foul Deeds Will Rise did so, would argue that the Khan books, especially To Reign in Hell, is another good example. Ex Machina jumping in after TMP, as well.
5. We're Alone Out Here: I guess this is Voyager's natural state, but in general, your fearless ship and crew have been tossed somewhere/when, and are on their own to sort it out and get back home. Maybe the ship is also damaged and at less than full strength, maybe they're good. Examples: Chain of Attack, First Frontier, etc.
6. The Crew vs. the World: different than #5, in that it's just a few people alone against the planet/aliens/possessed crew/evil Starfleet plot. They don't have the ship's resources, or they are actively being used against them. Usually somewhat low tech, but not always. Examples: Prime Directive, Memory Prime, Uhura's Song, Mutiny on the Enterprise, Demons, Sanctuary, Shell Game, Section 31 - Control, Rogue Saucer, another category that could go on a while. They seem to lose the support of the ship/crew/Federation a LOT
7. Time Travel: Sometimes well thought, sometimes causes headaches. Are things going to reset? Was this always meant to be anyway? Who can tell? But we're definitely moving around in time; forward, backwards, and sideways. Or we're in the right place and someone else has moved around. Examples: Yesterday Saga, Assignment Eternity, Engines of Destiny, Crossroad, Crucible, Millennium series, DTI
8. Character piece: Maybe we delve more into what made a character what we saw on screen, or maybe we just grab a couple characters and have a side adventure. The ship and rest of the crew may or may not play into the story, maybe there's a framing device? Examples: Sarek, Mosaic, A Stitch in Time, Cold Equations/The Light Fantastic, Garth of Izar.
9. The team-up: my favorite crew, your guys, the other team, let's get everyone in a room and see what happens! Could be a multi-book crossover, could be a single epic book. All the books could address a problem across eras, or they're all in the same place, both happen. Examples are the Invasion Series, Federation, Shatnerverse, Double Helix, literally Planet X I guess, and others.
10. Meanwhile, on ships NOT named Enterprise: This covers your other series, and your one-off crews as well. Maybe the main series' characters play a role, but are in the background. Maybe it's a total spinoff ship. Examples could be Titan, New Frontier, Stargazer, Aventine, Gorkon, Dreadnaught!/Battlestations!, etc. Tons more here, but it's not focused on the Big E and the guy in the center seat.
So, that went on a while, but thought it may be a fun conversation. Which ones are your favorites, if you blindly grabbed a Trek book, what are you hoping is inside?
