So What Are you Reading?: Generations
- Thread starter captcalhoun
- Start date
Started reading ANGELS OF MUSIC by Kim Newman last night and am enjoying it so far. (In fact, I stayed up later than I should have reading it.)
The basic idea is clever and cheeky: Basically, it's a steampunk version of "Charlie's Angels," with the Phantom of the Opera as Charlie: the mysterious, largely unseen mastermind dispatching trios of Victorian heroines on arcane missions, with the ever-changing roster of "Angels" including such luminaries as a young Irene Adler!
Think "League of Extraordinary Ladies" and you're not far off . ...
The basic idea is clever and cheeky: Basically, it's a steampunk version of "Charlie's Angels," with the Phantom of the Opera as Charlie: the mysterious, largely unseen mastermind dispatching trios of Victorian heroines on arcane missions, with the ever-changing roster of "Angels" including such luminaries as a young Irene Adler!
Think "League of Extraordinary Ladies" and you're not far off . ...
To Be Perfectly Honest by Phil Callaway. The author, a comedian, tries to tell the truth for a whole year. Chaos ensues.
Went a separate route than initially thought, as mentioned in a previous post. Decided instead of taking the CE Trilogy TNG route & with my attempt and fail to ignore my love for DS9, I've given the DS9 universe a visit.
I'm just about halfway through James Swallow's Day of the Vipers. In the past, I've been thoroughly impressed by Mr. Swallow's additions to the Titan and TOS universe, but at least thus far, may I prematurely say, this is definitely one of the MOST UNDERRATED and undermentioned Star Trek novels in general. I'm immersed and glued to this one. Just impressive stuff!
Being born in the mid 80's, I had the pleasure to enjoy both TNG and DS9 in their prime. DS9 become the favorite secondary to it's complexion and how the crew, despite its diversity, solved everyday and life threatening problems of the station.
I'm just about halfway through James Swallow's Day of the Vipers. In the past, I've been thoroughly impressed by Mr. Swallow's additions to the Titan and TOS universe, but at least thus far, may I prematurely say, this is definitely one of the MOST UNDERRATED and undermentioned Star Trek novels in general. I'm immersed and glued to this one. Just impressive stuff!
Being born in the mid 80's, I had the pleasure to enjoy both TNG and DS9 in their prime. DS9 become the favorite secondary to it's complexion and how the crew, despite its diversity, solved everyday and life threatening problems of the station.
My somewhat chronological maiden voyage through Trek Lit continues...ENT done and moving into some 2252 Pike stories:
Just read Vulcan's Glory by DC Fontana.
It was an entertaining little Pocket TOS novel that you could tell was written by a screenwriter of the show. It read like an episode with clearly defined A, B, and even C plot lines. I feel like the main storyline of Spock's maiden voyage under Pike, the recovery of the Glory, and the subsequent murder-mystery plot aboard Enterprise was almost overshadowed by the Areta "kidnapping" B-story and neither was really fleshed out into something that grabbed my complete attention. Every conflict was resolved a little too easily with a seeming "jump-cut" screenwriter's mentality (i.e. Ongoing conflict -- break to next paragraph or chapter -- and its resolved). The resolutions themselves were almost skipped entirely, but I did enjoy Fontana's descriptive style of the action sequences and settings. She did a great job setting the scenes with vivid imagery.
Another aspect of the A-story that was intriguing but never fully developed was Spock's budding new love interest T'Pris. I felt myself picturing Ron Burgundy post fight sequence: "Well that escalated quickly." It was a little hard to buy into the whole romance as quickly as it began and ended but I get the author's intent with Spock grappling with his obligations between Vulcan and Starfleet.
I enjoyed this writer's introduction of Scotty as a new engineer into the C-story, brewing up some of the finest engine room hooch, but it was pretty much filler and not relevant. I get that most of the newer Lit-Verse brings in different backstories and I'm cool with separating this Pocket story from others as just a fun little adventure on its own.
Overall, it was what I intended it to be - a quick little read during my lunch breaks at work this week that felt very much like an old TOS episode. On to another Pike story - The Children of Kings...
Just read Vulcan's Glory by DC Fontana.
It was an entertaining little Pocket TOS novel that you could tell was written by a screenwriter of the show. It read like an episode with clearly defined A, B, and even C plot lines. I feel like the main storyline of Spock's maiden voyage under Pike, the recovery of the Glory, and the subsequent murder-mystery plot aboard Enterprise was almost overshadowed by the Areta "kidnapping" B-story and neither was really fleshed out into something that grabbed my complete attention. Every conflict was resolved a little too easily with a seeming "jump-cut" screenwriter's mentality (i.e. Ongoing conflict -- break to next paragraph or chapter -- and its resolved). The resolutions themselves were almost skipped entirely, but I did enjoy Fontana's descriptive style of the action sequences and settings. She did a great job setting the scenes with vivid imagery.
Another aspect of the A-story that was intriguing but never fully developed was Spock's budding new love interest T'Pris. I felt myself picturing Ron Burgundy post fight sequence: "Well that escalated quickly." It was a little hard to buy into the whole romance as quickly as it began and ended but I get the author's intent with Spock grappling with his obligations between Vulcan and Starfleet.
I enjoyed this writer's introduction of Scotty as a new engineer into the C-story, brewing up some of the finest engine room hooch, but it was pretty much filler and not relevant. I get that most of the newer Lit-Verse brings in different backstories and I'm cool with separating this Pocket story from others as just a fun little adventure on its own.
Overall, it was what I intended it to be - a quick little read during my lunch breaks at work this week that felt very much like an old TOS episode. On to another Pike story - The Children of Kings...
Day of the Vipers is amazing, it's one of my favorite books.
I ran into a glitch in the Google Play digital version of the 3rd issue IDW's ST: TOS Year Four: The Enterprise Experiement comic. Page 15 is a duplicate of page 14, and then page 16 is the real page 16. I decided to set that aside until I get a fixed copy and started another digital IDW comic, ST: TOS/Planet of the Apes: The Primate Directive.
I'm still working my way through ST: The Fall: Peaceable Kingdoms, I'm should probably be done with that within the next week or two.
I'm still working my way through ST: The Fall: Peaceable Kingdoms, I'm should probably be done with that within the next week or two.
Last edited:
Just finished The Good That Men Do, after recently wrapping Last Full Measure following my first full re-watch of ENT in years. Great continuation so far, although the stuff with Trip felt a little forced in the former book, but I appreciate the attempt to fix the TATV. Absolutely hate that they made their "fix" be something that will seemingly impact Trip for decades to come though.
Why didn't I read these books sooner? Onto the next!
Why didn't I read these books sooner? Onto the next!
Michal, book one in Jill Eileen Smith's "The Wives of King David" trilogy.
Just finished The Children of Kings by David Stern.
I enjoyed the pace and the action sequences the most, especially the climax aboard the Orion warbird. The author also did a good job tying in the B story of Boyce's past without dwelling too heavily in it. The one aspect of "past events" I was wanting more detail on was the events that took place in the Borderlands to lead up to the Gorengar Treaty. Maybe this exists in another novel that I just have not come across yet. There seemed like a good opportunity there to fill in some blanks or use some creative license to expound on the politics and conflicts between the Federation, Klingons, Orions, etc in the timeframe between ENT and Pike.
Either way, the twists (while somewhat predictable) were well crafted and I will say there was an opportunity there at the end to leave this open for future tie-ins and Pike stories if the author wanted to explore the internal conflicts with Starfleet Intelligence and the xenophobic factions within the Federation.
Looking forward to starting Child of Two Worlds this week. Then I gotta decide my approach into Vanguard and some of the early TOS stories.
I enjoyed the pace and the action sequences the most, especially the climax aboard the Orion warbird. The author also did a good job tying in the B story of Boyce's past without dwelling too heavily in it. The one aspect of "past events" I was wanting more detail on was the events that took place in the Borderlands to lead up to the Gorengar Treaty. Maybe this exists in another novel that I just have not come across yet. There seemed like a good opportunity there to fill in some blanks or use some creative license to expound on the politics and conflicts between the Federation, Klingons, Orions, etc in the timeframe between ENT and Pike.
Either way, the twists (while somewhat predictable) were well crafted and I will say there was an opportunity there at the end to leave this open for future tie-ins and Pike stories if the author wanted to explore the internal conflicts with Starfleet Intelligence and the xenophobic factions within the Federation.
Looking forward to starting Child of Two Worlds this week. Then I gotta decide my approach into Vanguard and some of the early TOS stories.
This past weekend, i was at a Half Price bookstore and I found the trade paperback version of Star Trek: Destiny by David Mack. I have all 3 individual novels, but they are falling apart. So i decided to buy it. and not only that, use it as a jumping back-on point into the Post-Nemesis Trek lit. I havent read any of it in years. I own all the books because i collect them, but the last stuff i remember reading was everything up to and including Destiny. So i've decided with this new volume i found, to re-read Destiny and move forward from there, using the great flow chart shown off on this site. I look forward to it. I've never read anything post-Destiny.
Children of Kings kind of takes place off in it's own little universe by itself, so none of the stuff in it comes from other books, and as far as I know no other books have followed up on anything from it.
I finished Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows, Book 2: The Oppressor's Wrong by Phaedra M. Weldon.
I then read "The Calling" by Andrew J. Robinson, from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Prophecy and Change.
After that I read two Star Trek comic TPB's, Burden of Knowledge and Ongoing Volume 4.
I'm now reading Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows, Book 3: The Insolence of Office by William Leisner.
I then read "The Calling" by Andrew J. Robinson, from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Prophecy and Change.
After that I read two Star Trek comic TPB's, Burden of Knowledge and Ongoing Volume 4.
I'm now reading Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows, Book 3: The Insolence of Office by William Leisner.
Just finished Abigail and now reading Bathsheba.
Star Trek Vanguard Series
Book 1 - Harbinger - Never thought I would find non TOS characters set in the Kirk era interesting, but I do. Wish the T.V show could have more of life in Starfleet outside of the USS Enterprise.
Looking forward to getting thru all 13 books, before I go back to the post tv series DS9 and ST TNG novels in timeline order.
Book 1 - Harbinger - Never thought I would find non TOS characters set in the Kirk era interesting, but I do. Wish the T.V show could have more of life in Starfleet outside of the USS Enterprise.
Looking forward to getting thru all 13 books, before I go back to the post tv series DS9 and ST TNG novels in timeline order.
I read a lot of numbered voyager novels lately:
10-Bless the beasts: not bad, even if it is a "Paris seduces the wrong girl" type.
11-The garden: a bit slow to start but in the end the aliens turned out to be interesting
12-Chrysalis: the worst one, way too slow for my taste
13-The black shore: one of the best in the series, with creepy aliens and some interesting parts involving Kes and mystic powers.
14-Marooned: a very good one, and apart from the others since it gives a little insight in the relationship between Torres and Paris. Also the plot good, original
15-Echoes: related to the episode deadlock, since I like it, the novel was appealing to me. Only one thing was disturbing: some parts are repeated because of the parallel universes. But overall a good (if hard to follow sometimes) story
16-Seven of Nine: Interesting story, a bit confusing a first because of the different characters who are bugging Seven, but quite good
17-Death of a neutron star: Very hard to start because of the scientific explanations in th early chapters, but afterwards not bad. What disturbed me is the way the characters don't feel like they are in season 5, I mean Torres and Paris should be a couple but they completely ignore each other, they act like perfect strangers.
18-Battle lines: One of the best, one of the few with a lot of action and interesting aliens. The only thing I did not like was the fact that one faction was pure evil, this was disappointing as it is quite impossible if you ask me. But overall it was enjoyable to read.
Now I am eagerly waiting to receive the Dark matter books, and I started to read "antimatter", the number 8 in DS9 books. Not a bad one, it seems
10-Bless the beasts: not bad, even if it is a "Paris seduces the wrong girl" type.
11-The garden: a bit slow to start but in the end the aliens turned out to be interesting
12-Chrysalis: the worst one, way too slow for my taste
13-The black shore: one of the best in the series, with creepy aliens and some interesting parts involving Kes and mystic powers.
14-Marooned: a very good one, and apart from the others since it gives a little insight in the relationship between Torres and Paris. Also the plot good, original
15-Echoes: related to the episode deadlock, since I like it, the novel was appealing to me. Only one thing was disturbing: some parts are repeated because of the parallel universes. But overall a good (if hard to follow sometimes) story
16-Seven of Nine: Interesting story, a bit confusing a first because of the different characters who are bugging Seven, but quite good
17-Death of a neutron star: Very hard to start because of the scientific explanations in th early chapters, but afterwards not bad. What disturbed me is the way the characters don't feel like they are in season 5, I mean Torres and Paris should be a couple but they completely ignore each other, they act like perfect strangers.
18-Battle lines: One of the best, one of the few with a lot of action and interesting aliens. The only thing I did not like was the fact that one faction was pure evil, this was disappointing as it is quite impossible if you ask me. But overall it was enjoyable to read.
Now I am eagerly waiting to receive the Dark matter books, and I started to read "antimatter", the number 8 in DS9 books. Not a bad one, it seems
I'm reading NOS4A2 by Joe Hill, Stephen King's son.
Similar threads
