So What Are you Reading?: Generations

[Damian]

I wouldn't claim to be a trek expert or anything so I might have missed this when I watched TOS a few years ago, but I don't recall all this 'Vulcan mode' nonsense. its a total distraction for the book and it still would be if the show was like that every other word. I don't mind the conflict with Spock and Kirk, and the training sparring match early in the book is pretty fun but I feel like the authors do everything they can to get in their own way.

Plenty of books have invented new worldbuilding that wasn't in the shows, especially back in those days when there were so few episodes in comparison. Nothing wrong with that, in principle. (There was plenty of that in The Entropy Effect.)

Part of the "Vulcan mode" that you noted might be because this is a post-TMP novel. They even referenced Spock's encounter with V'Ger and how it affected him. So part of that might have been purposeful since the authors want us to know it's a post-TMP book.

I'm only about 2 or 3 chapters in so I have a long way to go. I don't expect much from this novel, given the author's, um, poor history of writing prevous Star Trek books. But that's at least one point I could concede makes sense (and the novel was released pre-TWOK so they didn't even have that ahead of them yet story wise--it was still a blank slate where Spock would go on after TMP).

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

The Wounded Sky: I'd forgotten the Tolkien nod (a flower called "elanor," from a forested planet called "Lorien").

 

[Christopher]

Part of the "Vulcan mode" that you noted might be because this is a post-TMP novel. They even referenced Spock's encounter with V'Ger and how it affected him. So part of that might have been purposeful since the authors want us to know it's a post-TMP book.

On the contrary. While it's true that The Prometheus Design drew heavily on concepts and plot points from ST:TMP (inded, it and Triangle from the same authors probably draw more on TMP elements than any other novel prior to Ex Machina), its treatment of Spock was a direct repudiation of where TMP took him. While TMP showed Spock having a life-changing epiphany that emotion was of value and it should be reconciled with rather than repressed, TPD aggressively reversed that by having him become "hyper-Vulcan" and bury his emotions more than ever. It never made sense to me that they'd embrace the post-TMP setting in most respects but so drastically reject it in that respect. Indeed, that was part of what motivated me to write Ex Machina and explore Spock's emotional journey the way it should've been done. (Well, that along with the fact that nearly every other post-TMP novel just ignored it and wrote Spock as if he were unchanged from TOS.)

 

[Reanok]

Late Checkout by Carol J Perry

 

[Damian]

On the contrary. While it's true that The Prometheus Design drew heavily on concepts and plot points from ST:TMP (inded, it and Triangle from the same authors probably draw more on TMP elements than any other novel prior to Ex Machina), its treatment of Spock was a direct repudiation of where TMP took him. While TMP showed Spock having a life-changing epiphany that emotion was of value and it should be reconciled with rather than repressed, TPD aggressively reversed that by having him become "hyper-Vulcan" and bury his emotions more than ever. It never made sense to me that they'd embrace the post-TMP setting in most respects but so drastically reject it in that respect. Indeed, that was part of what motivated me to write Ex Machina and explore Spock's emotional journey the way it should've been done. (Well, that along with the fact that nearly every other post-TMP novel just ignored it and wrote Spock as if he were unchanged from TOS.)

Ok, I'll have to see where they take it. I've just started it so it's still pretty early going.

But I agree, TMP showed him Kolinahr was not the answer for him. It's something I think you pointed out in the past that might be one of the few things to carry over from TMP into TWOK, as in TWOK Spock appears much more comfortable in his own skin. A lesson learned from his encounter from V'Ger perhaps? I imagine any continuity in that regard is probably coincidental, but still, it works in story.

But when reading this particular novel I have to try to keep in mind that there was no TWOK yet. But still, as you noted, it's a point brought up by the end of TMP and the authors here should have been aware of at least that much.

 

[Christopher]

But still, as you noted, it's a point brought up by the end of TMP and the authors here should have been aware of at least that much.

They were certainly aware of it, but they explicitly reversed it. Other authors doing post-TMP novels (prior to me) mostly ignored Spock's epiphany, but Marshak & Culbreath acknowledged that it happened and then undid it, basically having Spock say "Never mind" and overcorrect in the other direction.

 

[JD]

I've given up on the Fantastic Four audiobook. The story was pretty good, but I didn't really like the narration. The guy was reading in a fairly flat monotone, and there was no music, or effects or anything, it was just him, and I kept finding my mind wandering and missing things.

 

[Damian]

They were certainly aware of it, but they explicitly reversed it. Other authors doing post-TMP novels (prior to me) mostly ignored Spock's epiphany, but Marshak & Culbreath acknowledged that it happened and then undid it, basically having Spock say "Never mind" and overcorrect in the other direction.

Can't say I'm surprised .

I guess with other authors it was too easy to default to TV series Spock. They probably did it without realizing it.

I'm trying to think of some of the other movie era books I've read. I don't recall Spock's portrayal in the New Earth series. The characters and the ship were all in the right places, and it even portrayed Chekov's transfer to the Reliant, but I don't recall if that series followed up on Spock's encounter in TMP (of course, that series featured different authors so it's possible one author might have touched on it where others did not).

Foul Deeds Will Rise I thought had Spock pretty spot on for the time period. Of course that's several years later and post-Resurrection for Spock so that's obviously a whole other major life changing event for Spock.

But I agree, for the most part it seemed most post-TMP books reverted to TV series Spock. The facts about Spock are usually ok, but it lacks the proper 'feel' for this new Spock. And as you once noted I think, it was one thing that maybe TWOK followed up on from TMP, even if it was by accident. There is a certain continuity there that you could follow.

 

[Christopher]

I guess with other authors it was too easy to default to TV series Spock. They probably did it without realizing it.

It's also that TMP wasn't that well-regarded a movie. A lot of writers probably preferred to avoid engaging with it too directly, even if they set their books after it. Even though Spock had the same characterization in TWOK and after that he had at the end of TMP. (Spock's emotional epiphany is practically the only change in any Trek movie that actually stuck in every subsequent movie, rather than being reversed within two movies like the addition of Saavik, the death of Spock, the destruction of the Enterprise, the destruction of the Enterprise-D, and Data's emotion chip. Otherwise, the only lasting changes were the ones at the end of their respective series, like Sulu's or Riker's captaincy or Data's death -- or Kirk's death if you count GEN as an epilogue to the TOS movies.)

I'm trying to think of some of the other movie era books I've read. I don't recall Spock's portrayal in the New Earth series. The characters and the ship were all in the right places, and it even portrayed Chekov's transfer to the Reliant, but I don't recall if that series followed up on Spock's encounter in TMP (of course, that series featured different authors so it's possible one author might have touched on it where others did not).

I was thinking more of earlier novels set post-TMP. And New Earth is set much closer to TWOK, despite the erroneous historian's note saying it's "shortly after" TMP. (For some reason, historian's notes tend to default to any post-TMP story being "shortly after" it even if it's years after.)

 

[Damian]

I was thinking more of earlier novels set post-TMP. And New Earth is set much closer to TWOK, despite the erroneous historian's note saying it's "shortly after" TMP. (For some reason, historian's notes tend to default to any post-TMP story being "shortly after" it even if it's years after.

That's something I'll have to keep an eye on as I do my re-reading of the early Pocketbook novels that take place after TMP. I guess at that time they weren't as clear as to how much time there was between TMP and TWOK (though the movies themselves give some clues, since TMP seems to indicate it's been 2 1/2 years since Kirk was promoted and the Enterprise underwent an 18 month refit) whereas TWOK states it's been 15 years since Khan's exile. Even if you allow for some fudging (maybe it was around 15 years, give or take a year for instance) that still means TWOK would have to be about 7 to 10 years later).

Funny aside though.,,, since my first exposure to Star Trek was the movies, the time frames given in the movies when I first saw them really didn't clue me in. I had no idea about "Space Seed" and hadn't watched the TV series yet. So I literally thought TWOK was about 2 years after TMP since it was made 2 years later, then TSFS was obviously soon after TWOK. I was thinking to myself, gee, they just did a refit 2 or 3 years ago and they're already decommissioning the ship. Did they use substandard parts or something . Now, of course, I know it was much longer than that.

True about New Earth's time frame. It definitely felt like several years after TMP, not soon after. I think Memory Alpha's 'revised' time frame is much closer to the mark.

 

[Reanok]

Groomed for Murder by Annie Knox

 

[Kertrats47]

New episode of the Positively Trek Book Club podcast is up! This week, we discuss The Lost Era: The Art of the Impossible by Keith R.A. DeCandido. I think most will be unsurprised to discover that we loved this one!

 

[JD]

I finished up Ghost Story (Dresden Files Book 14) by Jim Butcher and started the Captain Marvel/Avengers Assemble comic book crossover The Enemy Within, written by Kelly Sue DeConnick, with art by Filipe Andrade, Matteo Buffagni, and Scott Hepburn.

 

[Damian]

I did finally download the first Slings and Arrows e-book and started reading it. I kept forgetting about it but now I got the ball rolling.

I'll have to work on the SCE stories next. IIRC there is a hardcopy out there for several of those that I'll have to pick up (I prefer hardcopies whenever possible).

 

[2of1million]

i finished reading Star Trek TNG Ghost Ship by Diane Carey. Now reading Star Trek TNG: The Peacekeepers by Gene DeWeese

 

[John Clark]

Since last posting in here finished The Second Korean War by Ted Halstead and Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo.
Onto Siege and Stone by Leigh Bardugo now

 

[Reanok]

Krysalise by John Therlaine

 

[JD]

I did finally download the first Slings and Arrows e-book and started reading it. I kept forgetting about it but now I got the ball rolling.

I'll have to work on the SCE stories next. IIRC there is a hardcopy out there for several of those that I'll have to pick up (I prefer hardcopies whenever possible).

There are thirteen paperbacks collecting the first 66 SCE novellas. The first 7 were released as mass market paperbacks collecting 4 novellas, after that, they switched over to trades collecting 8. When the switched over to trades, they also switched from the original series title, S.C.E., to the new one Corps of Engineers, even though all 66 novellas were released under the S.C.E. title. After #66, the novellas switched to the new title, and 8 more were released. The 8 Corps of Engineers novellas having never been collected in a papeback.

 

[Damian]

There are thirteen paperbacks collecting the first 66 SCE novellas. The first 7 were released as mass market paperbacks collecting 4 novellas, after that, they switched over to trades collecting 8. When the switched over to trades, they also switched from the original series title, S.C.E., to the new one Corps of Engineers, even though all 66 novellas were released under the S.C.E. title. After #66, the novellas switched to the new title, and 8 more were released. The 8 Corps of Engineers novellas having never been collected in a papeback.

Wow, that many. I didn't realize there were that many SCE stories.

I'll have to put those in my future to buy lists.

 

[youngtrek]

(Copy of post I just made on my Facebook page.) I just finished reading the second “Star Trek: Picard” novel, The Dark Veil, by James Swallow (2021).

Another prequel story to the opening events of the first season of “Star Trek: Picard”, the CBS All Access (now Paramount+) streaming access television series, just as the previous Picard novel, The Last Best Hope, had been, The Dark Veil focuses on Captain William T. Riker in command of the USS Titan, along with his wife, Commander Deanna Troi, their son, Thaddeus, and the rest of their crew.

Set soon after the attack on the shipbuilding facilities on Mars detailed on “Star Trek: Picard”, Riker and his ship and crew come to the aid of a secretive ally race of the Federation which is seeking to leave the area of space they have been living in behind and travel in a great colony ship across the galaxy to where their race first originated from.

Riker is forced to broker an uneasy partnership with the commander of a Romulan Warbird who has also taken an interest in seeing them on their way as it requires them to journey close by Romulan territory. And aboard the Romulan Warbird is a member of the Tal Shiar, the Romulan secret police/intelligence agency, who is also a member of the Zhat Vash, an even more secret Romulan organization/cadre who have witnessed a dire vision of future events called the Admonition in which the destruction of all organic living beings are wiped out by artificial/synthetic beings. The Zhat Vash’s mission is to route out and destroy synthetic beings before this may take place, all the while facing the destruction of the Romulan home world and much of the surrounding Empire but the soon to go supernova Romulan central star.

That all sets the stage for the events of The Dark Veil. I have to say that I really enjoyed this one. I like reading about Riker as captain of the Titan. From 2005 through 2017, there was a series of novels titled the “Star Trek: Titan” series, which followed Riker, Troi, and the USS Titan (James Swallow wrote two of the novels in that series), and these characters also appeared together in other Star Trek crossover novels throughout this same period.

However, “Star Trek: Picard” established a new backstory which places it and its tie-in material (which includes The Dark Veil) outside of anything established in the Pocket Books novels that preceded it, so it is unnecessary to have read any of the prior “Star Trek: Titan” novels to be able to understand and enjoy The Dark Veil. (I know because I have not yet read any of the “Titan” novels, yet I now look forward to going back and doing so.)

I don’t want to give too much more away regarding the plot, other than to say that it fits in well with the back story established in “Star Trek: Picard”, and also includes a lot of the tried and true Star Trek elements of success, such as exciting starship emergency rescues and ship battles, Romulan intrigue, and the Starfleet characters attempting to better understand this mostly unknown secretive race that has been living amongst them for a very long time but has always kept their ways hidden to outsiders.

I would love to see more stories aboard the USS Titan, although the time table of events established by “Star Trek: Picard” only allows a limited number of years following The Dark Veil that William Riker, Deanna Troi, and their family remain on the Titan. Plus, the next “Star Trek: Picard” novel has already been announced and like the first two will focus on an entirety different character, that of Captain Cristóbal Rios, and his story leading up to the start of the “Picard” series. This book, Rogue Elements, is due out in August 2021.

As for The Dark Veil, I highly recommend it, and I gave it four out of five stars on GoodReads.