So What Are you Reading?: Generations

[Christopher]

I still feel as though Shadow Lord was basically a mish-mash of elements that Laurence Yep enjoyed, with the "Star Trek" label slapped onto it, though.

Well, that's kind of what makes it interesting. Star Trek has always had room in it for a wide range of different types of stories; keep in mind that the original intent was to make it a framework for an anthology-style approach to storytelling, since the starship could take its crew to any kind of environment the writer could conceive. If there's room in the ST format for haunted castles, gangsters, ancient Romans, and so on, there must surely be room for feudal societies and swordfights as well.

 

[Skywalker]

Working my way through Avatar, Book Two by S. D. Perry. Reading these in an omnibus format makes them both feel a lot shorter than they probably are.

 

[Patrick O'Brien]

I have been reading and enjoying Martin and Mangels: Forged in Fire. I hope to finish by the 29th so I can dive into DRGIII's new book

 

[C. Cole-Chakotay]

I'm reading this: First Shift - Legacy (part 6 of the Silo Series) by Hugh Howey.

 

[Greg Cox]

I still feel as though Shadow Lord was basically a mish-mash of elements that Laurence Yep enjoyed, with the "Star Trek" label slapped onto it, though.

Well, that's kind of what makes it interesting. Star Trek has always had room in it for a wide range of different types of stories; keep in mind that the original intent was to make it a framework for an anthology-style approach to storytelling, since the starship could take its crew to any kind of environment the writer could conceive. If there's room in the ST format for haunted castles, gangsters, ancient Romans, and so on, there must surely be room for feudal societies and swordfights as well.

Yeah, this is particularly notable in early TOS where you can see them experimenting with different types of storytelling from episode to episode: a monster movie, a submarine thriller, a courtroom drama, a morality play about a fugitive war criminal, a murder mystery, etc.

 

[Kertrats47]

I still feel as though Shadow Lord was basically a mish-mash of elements that Laurence Yep enjoyed, with the "Star Trek" label slapped onto it, though.

Well, that's kind of what makes it interesting. Star Trek has always had room in it for a wide range of different types of stories; keep in mind that the original intent was to make it a framework for an anthology-style approach to storytelling, since the starship could take its crew to any kind of environment the writer could conceive. If there's room in the ST format for haunted castles, gangsters, ancient Romans, and so on, there must surely be room for feudal societies and swordfights as well.

Oh, believe me, I'm not saying that there's not room in Star Trek for those elements, I'm saying that the author displays an unfamiliarity with Star Trek, so much so that the Trek elements seem forced into a very different kind of story. However, I happily agree that this story could have been done well without the characters acting, well, out-of-character and without blatant disregard for some of the core ideas of Star Trek.

 

[kirk55555]

Finished the first of the Star Trek Destiny books. It was pretty good. I liked having a few different main parts of the story. That said, Troi is a complete idiot in this book. I get that there are major emotional issues, but if nothing else the first officer should have demanded she get taken off duty, reguadless of what Riker wants. A counselor thats exposing herself to mortal danger for no reason is not mentally stable, and shouldn't be on active duty. That said, I still liked the book.

Next, Star Trek - The rings of Time, and the second Destiny book.

Also, I got the Franz Joseph Star Fleet Technical Manual today. It is awesome, so much cool stuff. I don't care if most of it is considered unoffical, and some of it actually contradicts stuff established later, its great. The Ptolemy, Federation, and Saladin/Hermes classes are awesome. I love all the detail he put into things, like writing the whole Federation constitution, and putting a toilet on the bridge. I was lucky to get a very good copy of the book (for a book printed in the 70's, its in great shape, very solid and not fragile at all) for about $6 with shipping. Its worth 3-4 times as much.

 

[BritishSeaPower]

Finished A Time to Harvest last night. Pretty good, but the first half of the book was a slow plod through recapping the previous novel. There seemed to be some unnecessary "recaps" of episodes and such throughout the book to. A throwaway reference to DS9 was followed by a one page summary of DS9 the series. And while it is ultimately important to the story, having three separate retellings of "Conundrum" was unnecessary. The back half of the book was solid, though it felt rushed ultimately. The final chapter, much like the final chapter in A Time to Die could probably have been two chapters and let the wrap up of the storyline breathe a little.

Now I'm onto Worlds of Deep Space Nine Volume 2.

 

[C. Cole-Chakotay]

I finished First Shift - Legacy and now need to choose a book from my collection to read.

 

[sportzkid]

I am just starting Forgotten History, the second book in Department of Temporal Investigations, which I am very excited got a second book.

 

[C. Cole-Chakotay]

I started the Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead last night.

 

[Snaploud]

I just finished reading Insurgent (sequel to Divergent).

 

[RonG]

Once again my starting That Which Divides was interrupted by the excellent Errand of Vengeance and its follow up Errand of Fury series (see my thoughts on it in this thread: http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=177430).

For those looking for a "proto Vanguard", this was it (IMO of course).

Now, finally on to That Which Divides

 

[Joel_Kirk]

My choices are currently:
*Finishing "Menace from Earth."
*Re-reading "Fledgling."
*Reading "The Man with the Red Tattoo."
*Finally starting "Firefly" (the novel by Piers Anthony...not anything to do with Joss Whedon).

 

[rahullak]

Currently reading: The Codex by Douglas Preston.

Next up: Forgotten History by Christopher L. Bennett

 

[Sakrysta]

Finally finished Island in the Sea of Time today. It kept me interested, but there were certain elements that I found ... annoying.

One, I found it difficult to suspend my disbelief the further along the novel went. I cannot imagine any microcosm of US society being able to accomplish all that they did in just two short years, I don't care what kind of throwback specialists might have just happened to be around. Two, I found both the sailing jargon and the battle/firearms jargon to be beyond my comprehension, and therefore a real slog to read through as the story wore on and it took up more and more of the narrative.

I like the concept and characters enough to proceed onward to the next volume, Against the Tide of Years. I need to see what Walker will get up to in Greece. However, I did just get the new Typhon Pact installment the other day, and I'm kind of eager to check it out. We'll see where my fancy takes me.

 

[stonester1]

Just finished ST Vanguard What Judgements Lie, and now am diving into Declassified in anticipation of the arrival of Storming Heaven.

 

[John Clark]

Just finished The Icarus Effect (James Swallow). Thought it was pretty good.

Next up is Plagues of Night by DRGIII

 

[wahwahkits]

On Book Three of The Dominion War series and to be honest it's becoming a bit of a slog

 

[Sho]

Just finished The Icarus Effect (James Swallow). Thought it was pretty good.

Still on my todo. The original Deus Ex is easily my favorite game ever, and Human Revolution came a lot closer to capturing the magic than I thought possible in this day and age of diluted console game-fare.