So I read some (not all) of my first ever exposure to Trek lit today!

[Quinton O'Connor]

There will be spoilers for the first few short stories of the bolded book listed below!

I was at the local mall for some ten hours waiting lengthy periods of time between various interviews today, so naturally I took to the book store (Borders, to be exact) and got myself some coffee. Usually, I read things on metaphysics, philosophy, or a Tad Williams fiction novel, or a video game strategy guide, or the Star Trek magazine... my tastes are somewhat diverse.

Today, however, I knew I would be going back to Borders several times and I'd be there for the long haul, so it dawned on me after a few hours that I should finally check out some 'soft canon' Star Trek work. I was browsing the sadly-much-too-small Trek section and happened upon a rather intriguing title for a DS9 fan such as myself: Tales of the Dominion War. I also took note of the fact that one Gregory Cox wrote one of the short stories, and having recognized the name from Trek BBS, I felt a compulsory need to pick this up and start reading. It also helped that, being short stories, the individual pieces would be easy to plug into and get through quickly, making it very efficient for my situation.

Well, I only read up through "Mirror Eyes" but I must say, when I have the money I'm going to purchase this book and read the rest of it. Of the stories I read, "Night of the Vulture" was my favorite, (and I'm not just saying that because you're here, Gregory... honest!) although I'm not too sure of how I feel about the idea that the Dominion was so utterly poised to win the war like that. It's my understanding that I'll have to get used to 'concurrent events of massive revelatory proportions' being placed alongside the televised, firm canon events if I am to delve too far into Trek lit, so I'll get used to it. I did quite enjoy the writing and the return of oh-hell-I-don't-think-I-can-type-its-name.

"What Dreams May Come" and "Mirror Eyes" were also really cool, and I did enjoy "Blood Sacrifice" for all its Spock coverage and peering deeper into Romulan society, but I felt it was a little obvious from the start who the perpetrator was.

All told, this was a thoroughly fun experience and I look forward to boldly going all sorts of places in the future!

 

[JD]

Re: So I read some (not all) of my first ever exposure to Trek lit tod

You picked a good place to start. That's a pretty consistantly good collection, and it will also serve to introduce you to characters from some of the non-TV series, and some of the most prominent writers.

 

[captcalhoun]

Re: So I read some (not all) of my first ever exposure to Trek lit tod

'soft canon'? wtf is 'soft canon'?

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

Re: So I read some (not all) of my first ever exposure to Trek lit tod

I'm glad to read that, JD.

'soft canon'? wtf is 'soft canon'?

A chewable form of the more common hard canon most doctors prescribe, designed specifically for Pocket Trek literature. I still prefer liquid canon overall, though.

No, it's... some term I seem to have picked up from another, less-populated Trek board referring to things which can at any time be directly contradicted by on-screen showings but until then are generally accepted as having occurred.

Of course, you don't have to bother correcting me on any of this because after I started this thread I read the FAQ Sticky and realized the err in my post. There is no 'soft canon', only what is canonical and what is officially licensed. That is all.

I'll have to see to it those other folks get the memo.

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

Re: So I read some (not all) of my first ever exposure to Trek lit tod

I read "Twilight's Wrath" this morning. That was awesome. As someone who actually enjoyed Shinzon and Tom Hardy's performance of him in the movie, I was quite enthralled. It helped to explain a few things the director didn't seem to think required explanation, too...

 

[JD]

Re: So I read some (not all) of my first ever exposure to Trek lit tod

Yeah, I was pretty shocked by how much I liked that story (I didn't like Nem.). If you like Nemesis, then you might want to check out the A Time To... series. It's a TNG series that covers the years leading up to Nemesis, and shows many of the events that lead to the characters making the desicions they did in the movie. The first couple books in the series aren't very popular (I tried the first one twice and couldn't get far), but the other books in the serious range from good to a-freakin'-mazing.

 

[David Mack]

Re: So I read some (not all) of my first ever exposure to Trek lit tod

I read "Twilight's Wrath" this morning. That was awesome. As someone who actually enjoyed Shinzon and Tom Hardy's performance of him in the movie, I was quite enthralled. It helped to explain a few things the director didn't seem to think required explanation, too...

Glad you enjoyed it!

 

[Greg Cox]

Re: So I read some (not all) of my first ever exposure to Trek lit tod

Well, I only read up through "Mirror Eyes" but I must say, when I have the money I'm going to purchase this book and read the rest of it. Of the stories I read, "Night of the Vulture" was my favorite, (and I'm not just saying that because you're here, Gregory... honest!) although I'm not too sure of how I feel about the idea that the Dominion was so utterly poised to win the war like that. It's my understanding that I'll have to get used to 'concurrent events of massive revelatory proportions' being placed alongside the televised, firm canon events if I am to delve too far into Trek lit, so I'll get used to it. I did quite enjoy the writing and the return of oh-hell-I-don't-think-I-can-type-its-name.

!

Glad you liked "Night of the Vulture." A bit of trivia: that story actually started out as an excised chapter in my Q Continuum trilogy. I had originally intended to include you-know-who in that series, but eventually decided the Q books were already too crowded, so I cut it out. Years later, I reworked the chapter into a standalone story for the Dominion War book.

Strange but true!

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

Re: So I read some (not all) of my first ever exposure to Trek lit tod

I'll have to check that out, JD. I know a lot of people didn't like Nemesis and, believe me, I can understand why, but since I did like it, I would love to read more into its background. I definitely agree with those who think it could have used a fair bit more of that on-screen.

So this is a brand-new sort of experience for me, this checking on a thread and then finding out that two authors have posted in it thing. Quite cool.

That is pretty interesting, Greg. Q Continuum trilogy... it's officially on the list of book series I'm going to have to hunt down and devour as soon as possible. I do love me some Q.

 

[JD]

Re: So I read some (not all) of my first ever exposure to Trek lit tod

Actually the majority of the authors from Tales of the Dominion War post here. David Mack, Greg Cox (as you saw), Keith R.A. DeCandido, Jeffrey Lang (I think), Josepha Sherman (I think she's posted a handful of times) Dayton Ward, Kevin Dilmore, Dave Galanter, Robert Greenberger, and Andy Mangels all post or have posted here in the past. And there are several others authors that post here to.

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

Re: So I read some (not all) of my first ever exposure to Trek lit tod

That is too freaking savvy. Talk about best fansite material. I'm glad to have found this place. What exactly makes TrekBBS so lucky, if I might inquire? I'm unfamiliar with the history of the site. I've been to other Trekkian lands on the virtual plane, but none have been graced with the presence of authors like this!

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

Re: So I read some (not all) of my first ever exposure to Trek lit tod

That is too freaking savvy. Talk about best fansite material. I'm glad to have found this place. What exactly makes TrekBBS so lucky, if I might inquire? I'm unfamiliar with the history of the site. I've been to other Trekkian lands on the virtual plane, but none have been graced with the presence of authors like this!

 

[JD]

Re: So I read some (not all) of my first ever exposure to Trek lit tod

I'm honestly not sure. As time has gone on more and more authors have come here, and some of the posters have started writing novels.

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

Re: So I read some (not all) of my first ever exposure to Trek lit tod

I think this is a fairly long-running forum a forums go, isn't it? That must have a lot to do with it. Also, I have no idea why I wound up posting twice. Hrm.

Well, it must be a good place to bounce ideas off of one-another and whatnot. Certainly useful in writing a novel.

 

[Christopher]

Re: So I read some (not all) of my first ever exposure to Trek lit tod

Well, it must be a good place to bounce ideas off of one-another and whatnot. Certainly useful in writing a novel.

No, I don't think it gets used for that much. Anything like that going on among authors would generally be conducted more privately.

 

[Steve Roby]

Re: So I read some (not all) of my first ever exposure to Trek lit tod

What exactly makes TrekBBS so lucky, if I might inquire? I'm unfamiliar with the history of the site. I've been to other Trekkian lands on the virtual plane, but none have been graced with the presence of authors like this!

In the pre-web days, I gather that Genie had a lot of SF authors online, including some Trek writers, and I remember Compuserve's ST forum also had a few people like Diane Duane, Carmen Carter, etc online. You could occasionally find writers and editors posting on Usenet, too, on rec.arts.startrek.current.

The first web hangout where I remember the people involved in producing the books being visible and active was the old Pocket Books Trek bulletin board. But at some point there were technical issues or something that was never properly addressed, and in the meantime David Henderson's Psi Phi site had been upgraded quite a bit, including a message board, and that became the unofficial home of TrekLit for a while. But a few things happened there -- more technical problems, and IIRC some health problems that kept the site from being worked on -- and this place had been started in the meantime and everyone seemed to gravitate over here.

Along the way, a number of people who posted on these sites as fans ended up becoming writers as well.

At least, that's this longtime TrekLit fanboy's memories.

 

[William Leisner]

Re: So I read some (not all) of my first ever exposure to Trek lit tod

^ The AOL Trek message board, as moderated by a young Dayton Ward, was also a major hangout in the late 90s/early 00s. Both John Ordover and Dean Wesley Smith posted there regularly, and for the first few years, it was where the winners of the Strange New Worlds contest would be formally announced.

 

[Greg Cox]

Re: So I read some (not all) of my first ever exposure to Trek lit tod

That is too freaking savvy. Talk about best fansite material. I'm glad to have found this place. What exactly makes TrekBBS so lucky, if I might inquire? I'm unfamiliar with the history of the site. I've been to other Trekkian lands on the virtual plane, but none have been graced with the presence of authors like this!

I think a lot of it may have to do with the fact that people here are interested in the books and spending a lot of time talking about them. Without naming names, I've written for plenty of other franchises where the fan boards pretty much ignore the book end of things . . . .

 

[Steve Roby]

Re: So I read some (not all) of my first ever exposure to Trek lit tod

^ The AOL Trek message board, as moderated by a young Dayton Ward, was also a major hangout in the late 90s/early 00s. Both John Ordover and Dean Wesley Smith posted there regularly, and for the first few years, it was where the winners of the Strange New Worlds contest would be formally announced.

Yeah, I remember hearing that it was a big place for SNW. I never did AOL, though.

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

Re: So I read some (not all) of my first ever exposure to Trek lit tod

Well, that was all quite informative. I'm doubly glad I made this topic, now. It seems I've stumbled upon a site with some fairly rich history to it, after all. Between this place and GameFAQs, I could write a bit of a book, myself.

It doesn't surprise me that some Trek authors have their roots in forums. I think it's grand for them to find the conviction to pursue such a thing. I'm a bit of a light author, myself, as well as an occasional local stage actor. I could be described as somewhat artsy, then, and so it's great to see other artsy types getting out and paving a path for themselves.