So What Are you Reading?: Generations

[Paris]

Just finished book one of MJF's Brother's Keeper trilogy. I really enjoyed it. MJF isn't my favorite writer, but after a few decent Stargazer books, I thought I would try it out. Onto book two: Constitution. Was going to try and tackle Allegiance in Exile, but I've been finding it really hard to stay in the story. I guess i'll try again after Constitution...

 

[ICW]

Finished The Body Electric last night. I am now reading Storming Heaven. Back to back David Mack novels...I can't complain!

 

[Gul Re'jal]

I'm reading "Shards and Shadows". I read 2 stories and am reading a third one and, unfortunately, so far they're quite "meh". But I still hope my favourite Trek authors won't disappoint me so I'll read a few more

 

[Cap'n Crunch]

I finished Allegiance in Exile a few days ago. I'm now reading Torchwood: Border Princes.

 

[Reanok]

I started reading TNG Peacekeepers by Gene Deweese

 

[Garrovick]

Currently reading:
Cold Equations Book 1: The Persistence of Memory by David Mack
Best Destiny by Diane Carey
A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin
Unification novelization by Jeri Taylor

Over the last week, I finished:
Typhon Pact: Brinksmanship by Una McCormack
Dark Passions: Book Two by Susan Wright
Legacy (TOS #56) by Michael Jan Friedman
The Rift (TOS #57) by Peter David
Boogeymen (TNG #17) by Mel Gilden
Q-in-Law (TNG #18) by Peter David

In Voyages of the Imagination, Peter David states that he wrote his initial story treatment for The Rift as one of three novel proposals, with no real expectation that Pocket would pick it to turn into a full novel. He includes quite a few characters from various TOS episodes, to the point where even the characters in the novel remark on how contrived the situation is. I can't help but agree to a certain extent. I liked the overall concept and plot, but I think there were a few too many characters from previous episodes in it.

I thought it was interesting how both Legacy and The Rift involved the Kirk-era crew dealing with situations stemming from previous adventures of the Pike-era crew. Even though the plots of the two books weren't really that similar, I thought it was funny how that happened in two consecutive TOS novels. I wonder if it was any relation to the fact that they were published in 1991 which was the 25th anniversary year of Trek.

I thoroughly enjoyed Q-in-Law. I don't want to say much about the plot to avoid spoiling anyone, but a glance at the cover will tell one that the novel features both Q and Lwaxana Troi in it - I think, with a few tweaks, this novel could have made an excellent comedic TNG two-part episode.

 

[Use of Time]

Just started the novelization of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. I usually find myself speed reading through these as I can get bored with novelizations if they don't offer much supplementary story not seen on screen. I feel that J.M. Dillard is much better with that than Diane Carey.

By the way, those two seem to have had cornered that market all for themselves after Vonda McIntyre stopped. I know Friedman did a few but thats about it.

 

[ronny]

Just started the novelization of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. I usually find myself speed reading through these as I can get bored with novelizations if they don't offer much supplementary story not seen on screen.

I've been blasting through the novelizations while hanging out in the living room while the TV is on and it's something that my wife is more interested than I am. Finished off Voyager, Enterprise and only have All Good Things... left for TNG. Most of them don't have a lot of interesting new material.

I feel that J.M. Dillard is much better with that than Diane Carey.

Yep. Carey seemed to be a go to person at the time, I've heard it's because she should be depended on to meet very tight deadlines, but if she's writing a non-TOS book it just never sounds like she has the characters voices. I get it with the novelizations for the pilot episodes of a series but for 4th and 5th season episodes it's like she's never actually watched the series.

By the way, those two seem to have had cornered that market all for themselves after Vonda McIntyre stopped. I know Friedman did a few but thats about it.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure most of the other authors besides those three only wrote one each.

I just finished Ishmael which I enjoyed a lot more than I thought I would. I was also surprised by the amount of Here Comes the Brides content. I knew it was there but I thought it was cameos by a couple of characters. I didn't realize the story was pretty much a Brides story with Spock hanging out with the main characters from the show and basically wrapping up the series. At least I'm assuming it wraps up the series, it's not available streaming so can't watch it, since it wasn't the fashion at the time on TV to conclude a storyline before a series went off the air. I'm assuming the final episode didn't settle who won the bet for the mountain.

I'm continuing with more old school Trek by reading Crisis on Centaurus.

 

[Use of Time]

^ You know, I am not familiar at all with the tie in but I too finished Ishmael about two weeks and found it pretty underrated. Definitely a change of pace than the usual trek novel but I found it a pretty nice little read.

I generally read the novelizations when I am doing two things at once. I was watching the USA vs Canada basball game on Sunday and knocking out the TFF at the same time.

 

[Sci]

That person with the Brazilian flag

Hello! Though I'm afraid the Brazilian flag is gone; I'm doing a "flags of the world" thing and it's on to the next one.

may wish to know I read "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" (translated by Ramos) by Paulo Freire (30th anniversary edition) and found it very good for a treatise on Marxist revolutionary education.

I've heard of Pedagogy of the Oppressed! There was quite a stir last year over it in Arizona -- a Mexican-American studies program in public high schools using it got shut down, and the instructors were accused of all manner of horrible things for using it. The book was banned from school libraries, IIRC.

 

[Endgame]

Actually, "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" by Freire (1970, 2000) teaches something very similar to the ethos of 'peer specialists' in the health care system. The client does not do recovery work for the specialist; the specialist does not do treatment for the client; but, rather, they practice recovery with each other. Likewise, revolution is done with the people's goals with the people. With a few simple adjustments, this could be a model for the American Revolution. How ironic!

... still reading "Bloodletter" (DS9 #3) by K. W. Jeter (1993) also have started "Tomorrow, the Stars" edited by Robert A. Heinlein (1952). Recently read "Minority Report" by Philip K. Dick and "Literally" by Antonya Nelson (2012). Finished watching season 5 of DS9 and shall pick up season 6 from the library very soon.

Serendipity. I was using the church computer and found an older article which, I must admit, is very academic, and I read or reread the article. It was in Political Theory (February 1995) and by Melissa Williams and about "Justice Toward Groups" and is about 25 pages long. Probably boring for non-academics. But then I am not really too academic!

 

[Greg Cox]

^ You know, I am not familiar at all with the tie in but I too finished Ishmael about two weeks and found it pretty underrated. Definitely a change of pace than the usual trek novel but I found it a pretty nice little read.

I remember enjoying Ishmael a lot. Of course, I grew up in Seattle so "Here Comes the Brides" was pretty hard to miss.

 

[Relayer1]

^ You know, I am not familiar at all with the tie in but I too finished Ishmael about two weeks and found it pretty underrated. Definitely a change of pace than the usual trek novel but I found it a pretty nice little read.

I remember enjoying Ishmael a lot. Of course, I grew up in Seattle so "Here Comes the Brides" was pretty hard to miss.

What is "Here Comes the Brides" and could I enjoy the novel without getting the reference(s) ?

 

[Greg Cox]

^ You know, I am not familiar at all with the tie in but I too finished Ishmael about two weeks and found it pretty underrated. Definitely a change of pace than the usual trek novel but I found it a pretty nice little read.

I remember enjoying Ishmael a lot. Of course, I grew up in Seattle so "Here Comes the Brides" was pretty hard to miss.

What is "Here Comes the Brides" and could I enjoy the novel without getting the reference(s) ?

"Here Comes the Brides" was an old TV series (1968-1970) about mail-order brides in frontier Seattle. It's been decades since I read Ishmael but I imagine that it's perfectly possible to enjoy the book as a fun time-travel adventure in which Spock ends up in old Seattle even if you've never encountered the "Here Comes the Brides" characters before.

In fact, I suspect that lots of Trekkies have read and enjoyed the book without being aware of the "Here Comes the Brides" connection.

 

[Lonemagpie]

I remember enjoying Ishmael a lot. Of course, I grew up in Seattle so "Here Comes the Brides" was pretty hard to miss.

What is "Here Comes the Brides" and could I enjoy the novel without getting the reference(s) ?

"Here Comes the Brides" was an old TV series (1968-1970) about mail-order brides in frontier Seattle. It's been decades since I read Ishmael but I imagine that it's perfectly possible to enjoy the book as a fun time-travel adventure in which Spock ends up in old Seattle even if you've never encountered the "Here Comes the Brides" characters before.

In fact, I suspect that lots of Trekkies have read and enjoyed the book without being aware of the "Here Comes the Brides" connection.

Yep, I'd never heard of that show until well after having read the book (I'm not sure it aired in the UK), and still thought it's one of the best.

 

[Christopher]

In fact, I suspect that lots of Trekkies have read and enjoyed the book without being aware of the "Here Comes the Brides" connection.

Quite true. I don't think it was until I read Bjo Trimble's book On the Good Ship Enterprise, with a chapter where she talks about Here Come the Brides, that I realized Ishmael was an unauthorized crossover between the shows.

The reason HCtB was of interest to Trek fans, and no doubt the reason why Ishmael crossed them over, was because its regular cast included several Trek guest stars, including Robert Brown, David Soul, and most notably Mark Lenard as the series' main antagonist. Ishmael portrayed Lenard's character in a more sympathetic light and, as an in-joke, made him a surrogate father figure for the amnesiac, time-displaced Spock.

 

[ronny]

^ You know, I am not familiar at all with the tie in but I too finished Ishmael about two weeks and found it pretty underrated. Definitely a change of pace than the usual trek novel but I found it a pretty nice little read.

I remember enjoying Ishmael a lot. Of course, I grew up in Seattle so "Here Comes the Brides" was pretty hard to miss.

What is "Here Comes the Brides" and could I enjoy the novel without getting the reference(s) ?

If I ever watched an episode of the show as a kid I don't remember it. I checked Netflix to see if it was available streaming but no luck, disk only. I read the Wikipedia entry for the series and that told me everything I needed to know to get what was going on. And Barbara Hambley explains everything anyway so I'm sure you don't even need that.

It looks like someone put up one episode, or at least chunks of it, with Steve Ihnat as a guest star on Youtube.

 

[Use of Time]

Well suffice to say, I had no idea what the tie in was and enjoyed the book on its own. Hambley did a nice job of making it a seamless read for those unaware of the HCtB tie-in.

 

[Christopher]

Indeed, I wonder if people who were fans of HCTB might have a problem with the book's portrayals, since it turns the show's villain into the hero (or at least antihero).

 

[Brit]

Indeed, I wonder if people who were fans of HCTB might have a problem with the book's portrayals, since it turns the show's villain into the hero (or at least antihero).

I was a fan of HCTB and I didn't have a problem with "Ishmael" at all, I thought it was a lot of fun. The thing is, there was a lot of females that liked Mark Leonard's character more than the others. He was the only reason my Mom watched the show in the first place. (She was also a Dr. McCoy, Scotty, Sarak fan in that order.)