So What Are you Reading?: Generations
- Thread starter captcalhoun
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Elijah has passed on his mantle to Elisha, but Jezebel still lives.
I've just collected a book from the library (The Dragon Waiting) and it didn't occur to me until I got it home that the author's name seemed very familiar. When I checked, John M Ford is, indeed, the writer of possibly my favourite ST novel (How Much For Just the Planet).
Now I'm a bit worried. I really like "The Laertian Gamble" but it had never occurred to me that Robert Sheckley had written other novels (I know, it's a bit dim of me) until it was mentioned here. A comment was made along the lines "once you've read one Sheckley, you've read them all" (I apologise if I am misrepresenting the poster). Tried one of his non-ST novels: turned out to be true. I was very disappointed.
I hope Ford isn't going to be the same...
Now I'm a bit worried. I really like "The Laertian Gamble" but it had never occurred to me that Robert Sheckley had written other novels (I know, it's a bit dim of me) until it was mentioned here. A comment was made along the lines "once you've read one Sheckley, you've read them all" (I apologise if I am misrepresenting the poster). Tried one of his non-ST novels: turned out to be true. I was very disappointed.
I hope Ford isn't going to be the same...
Just posted my review of Voyager: String Theory, Book 1: Cohesion by Jeffrey Lang.
A good start to the trilogy, and some fun dynamics between the characters, especially Seven and Torres.
Currently finishing up The Rising Storm by Cavan Scott, and also halfway through Star Trek Explorer Presents: "The Mission" and Other Stories.
A good start to the trilogy, and some fun dynamics between the characters, especially Seven and Torres.
Currently finishing up The Rising Storm by Cavan Scott, and also halfway through Star Trek Explorer Presents: "The Mission" and Other Stories.
I would hardly think so. How Much . . . is a musical comedy (with much of the cast entirely unaware that they're in a musical comedy), while The Final Reflection is (as I recall) an in-universe historical novel. That's just his two ST works, and while his style is recognizable, the works are entirely different from each other.
By way of analogy: think of John Williams (the American composer, not the Australian guitarist, nor the character in Stanley Elkins' "A Poetics for Bullies"). His works cover many idioms, and yet regardless of idiom, they're instantly recognizable as his. But does his score for Star Wars: A New Hope sound like ET? Do either of them sound like Jaws? Does any one of those three sound like Catch Me If You Can? Do any of those sound like Schindler's List? Or The Cowboys? Or Saving Private Ryan? And that's just a few of his film scores, and doesn't begin to mention his concert works.
Just as good composers don't write the same piece over and over, good writers don't write the same book over and over. They might have an instantly recognizable style. They might have certain "tells" (think about how James Horner uses the brass section). But they'd bore themselves if they just kept repeating themselves.
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I've been collecting all the new Tor reprints of Ford's work, though I haven't got to actually reading them yet! But one thing he is consistently praised for is his versatility as a writer. Have you read The Final Reflection? It's nothing like How Much for Just the Planet?
I'd say the common thread is that they're both experiments with bringing new genres into Trek storytelling -- an in-universe historical novel and a musical comedy.
Another common thread is Ford's writing style. Ford's literary legacy is going to look like Ford's literary legacy, just as an ADF novel is going to look like an ADF novel, no matter how different the subject might be. Just as your novels are generally recognizable as yours, GC's are generally recognizable as his, DD's are generally recognizable as hers, and so forth. DC's novels are recognizable as DC novels even when she didn't indulge her hard-Libertarian political leanings.
There are even adjectives that you'll find in a standard dictionary, that are derived from an author's writing style, "Dickensian" being the most commonly used one. And to go back to music analogies for a moment, Für Elise is not Symphony No. 5 in c minor, and yet they're both instantly recognizable as works of Beethoven.
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Sure, but as books they're not really alike.
I didn't say they were. I just said they had at least one thing in common. There's a ton of middle ground between "nothing alike" and "exactly alike."
For what it's worth, THE DRAGON WAITING won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel back in the day.
It's a very rich, intricate, alternate-history version of the War of the Roses, with magic and vampires. I recently reread it for first time in decades and suspect that I missed some of the finer nuances of its alternate history, but I still found it very compelling.
It's a very rich, intricate, alternate-history version of the War of the Roses, with magic and vampires. I recently reread it for first time in decades and suspect that I missed some of the finer nuances of its alternate history, but I still found it very compelling.
Okay, but your need to be pedantic aside, I don't think there's any danger that someone reading one of the books would find that "once you've read one [Ford], you've read them all" when they read the other, which is the thing they were actually worried about.
I was merely making an observation that what unites Ford's books is their experimentalism. I don't see how anyone could possibly misread that as "they're exactly alike," so I don't think you have anything to worry about there.
I have read The Final Reflection but realise that I can't remember anything about it. Certainly I hadn't connected it with HMFJTP. Had a look at my copy and I think I wasn't too keen on it....however that does bear out, as you have all assured me, that Ford's novels, while bearing Fordian traits, are distinct.
It might be time to reread TFR as well as reading TDW.
Thanks for taking the time to help.
It might be time to reread TFR as well as reading TDW.
Thanks for taking the time to help.
Yeah, the original brief from CBS for what became The Dark Veil was a request for a two-tier story, one part focussing on Riker, Troi and their son Thaddeus, the other on Worf taking captaincy of the Enterprise; but I figured that was too much ground for one novel to cover adequately, so I concentrated on the former. I think the Worf story still has a lot of potential, though.
Many of you have no doubt heard of a very famous jazz venue in New Orleans, a place called Preservation Hall. It looks like a burned-out art gallery because when it became exclusively a music venue (no bar, no kitchen, just music), it was a burned-out art gallery.
There's a sign on the wall, behind where the musicians sit (no raised stage, either). It typically says something like "Traditional Requests, $5.00. Others, $10.00. The Saints, $20.00." It's not because the musicians don't like playing "When the Saints Go Marching In"; it's because if they didn't charge a premium, they'd be stuck playing it ad nauseum.
I personally can't imagine that an author (or a composer) would want to keep writing the same thing over and over.
And @Victoria, glad to hear that our insights helped.
Oh, and to go back on-topic,
First Chronicles. Much of which reads like a ledger or a shipping manifest. But that makes reading at a pace needed to get through the entire KJV during Lent a bit easier.
I'm on bk 3 of David Mack's Cold Equations Trilogy, i'm feeling a bit bored, trying to finish it up.. i just wanted to read about Data but my expectations have been somewhat dashed. The very end of Book 1 did feel pretty exciting though it took the entirety of the book to reach that point and it felt somehow..almost anti-climatic. Trying very hard not to include spoilers.
Does anyone know any TNG books that take place more in the time period of the TNG series, you know before they killed off my favorite character? I just want to read books where he is still alive. I've read "The Light Fantastic" and "Immortal Coil" by Jeffrey Lang.
Does anyone know any TNG books that take place more in the time period of the TNG series, you know before they killed off my favorite character? I just want to read books where he is still alive. I've read "The Light Fantastic" and "Immortal Coil" by Jeffrey Lang.
I agree, Data himself seemed kind of forgotten in this Data-centric trilogy.I'm on bk 3 of David Mack's Cold Equations Trilogy, i'm feeling a bit bored, trying to finish it up.. i just wanted to read about Data but my expectations have been somewhat dashed. The very end of Book 1 did feel pretty exciting though it took the entirety of the book to reach that point and it felt somehow..almost anti-climatic. Trying very hard not to include spoilers.
Does anyone know any TNG books that take place more in the time period of the TNG series, you know before they killed off my favorite character? I just want to read books where he is still alive. I've read "The Light Fantastic" and "Immortal Coil" by Jeffrey Lang.
Jean Lorrah had a good handle on Data; I really enjoyed both Survivors and Metamorphosis.
If you want something Data-focused, Metamorphosis comes highly recommended. They are post-series, but Data has some juicy parts in two John Vornholt duologies: The Dominion War Books 1/3 and A Time to Be Born/A Time to Die.
Other TNG books I recommend:
Imzadi
Q-Squared
The Romulan Prize
Kahless
Other TNG books I recommend:
Imzadi
Q-Squared
The Romulan Prize
Kahless
I haven't read The Dominion War Books, nor The Romulan Prize.. will look them up! Thanks!
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