They could have easily resolved it by having Cardassians shed their skin every so many years. They seem like a species that sheds. Too bad there's no basis for it.
So what are you reading now? (Part 3)
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I've finished the Doctor Who novel I started a few days ago, The Nightmare of Black Island by Mike Tucker. Those new Who books are quite enthralling, more often than not real pageturners, usually starting with an intriguing mystery. So I enjoyed reading it, though some details didn't add up in the end. I liked the book characters, especially Bronwyn and Ali. Both Ten and Rose were well in character. Some of the prose was a bit too colloquial for my taste.
That was much more of a problem in the other Doctor Who novel I also read, Wooden Heart by Martin Day. The Doctor's too frequent popcultural references were a bit annoying. True, Ten does (or did
) that in the series, too, but it was a bit jarring in the book. Also, Martha came across as pretty useless in the first half of the book. Granted, one could interpret her tenure as companion that way, but that would be kind of mean. Overall, it was an interesting, suspenseful read.
It seems, though, that all of the three Who novel I picked up at half price involve villages, monsters and a mystery involving the children of the village. So, I might put off reading the third book until later.
That was much more of a problem in the other Doctor Who novel I also read, Wooden Heart by Martin Day. The Doctor's too frequent popcultural references were a bit annoying. True, Ten does (or did
) that in the series, too, but it was a bit jarring in the book. Also, Martha came across as pretty useless in the first half of the book. Granted, one could interpret her tenure as companion that way, but that would be kind of mean. Overall, it was an interesting, suspenseful read.It seems, though, that all of the three Who novel I picked up at half price involve villages, monsters and a mystery involving the children of the village. So, I might put off reading the third book until later.
I like the current Doctor Who novels well enough, but for the most part they don't grab me the way some of the books in the New Adventures line (with the Seventh Doctor) or the Eighth Doctor Adventures line (with the... oh, you figured that one out) did. For that matter, I tend to enjoy the Torchwood novels more than the current Who novels.
Next Who-related book I'm likely to read... I've been thinking it might be time to get around to Lance Parkin's The Infinity Doctors, or I might get started on The Panda Book of Horror.
Next Who-related book I'm likely to read... I've been thinking it might be time to get around to Lance Parkin's The Infinity Doctors, or I might get started on The Panda Book of Horror.
Ugh.
I just finished Gateways: Doors Into Chaos, which is my 147th Star Trek novel in a little over a year and a half, and clearly CLEARLY clearly the worst.
I mean, ok, dude knows his continuity. As a whirlwind tour of the Trek universe, this certainly… I dunno, contains a lot of things and places. But it isn’t very whirlwind. It’s kind of boring and repetitive, actually.
Here’s a thought – have the gateway crisis asides be actual subplots; three of them or so that we hit with regular plot interludes in some kind of actual organized fashion. And make them surprising. OR, get other authors to write random little nifty continuity asides, and include them as bonus short stories. OR, ignore the whole thing completely. But this kind of giant mosaic of half-assed-ness is just goddamn annoying, and ends up feeling like padding on a really bad short story so it can pretend it’s a novel.
And speaking of that short story, ew just EW EW ew. We get: 1) Picard adjusting to a new crew, from which I care about no one. 2) Troi commanding said crew, after everyone makes fun of her again for crashing the Enterprise OH WHAT A BARREL OF LAUGHS. 3) A space battle, during which Picard several times visits his ready room just to chill because clearly nothing important is happening. 4) A foregone conclusion of a reveal that nonetheless necessitates effectively giving away the surprise ending of the TOS tale... and then doesn’t make any sense at all. (Picard goes through the gateway all by himself because... I dunno, beats me. Clearly Greenberger didn't have any ideas either.)
Amazing, isn’t it? Obvious and yet implausible; lengthy and yet underdeveloped; demonstrating obvious familiarity and yet getting everything important wrong. The best scene in the book is Troi deciding that she is going to develop her own command style, and to do so getting a really great zinger in on her crew by claiming that Betazoids are notoriously good gamblers. And then smiling mysteriously. Ha ha how unexpected and full of mirth is this surprising Troi woman! Yes, I’m not shitting you – that’s the BEST scene.
For a celebration of the (then) current state of Trek continuity, this has all the charm of a slideshow at a family reunion of ugly cousins I’d prefer to forget. Or possibly actively murder.
Just... sigh. At least Demons of Air and Darkness is next, which I remember being a blast.
I just finished Gateways: Doors Into Chaos, which is my 147th Star Trek novel in a little over a year and a half, and clearly CLEARLY clearly the worst.
I mean, ok, dude knows his continuity. As a whirlwind tour of the Trek universe, this certainly… I dunno, contains a lot of things and places. But it isn’t very whirlwind. It’s kind of boring and repetitive, actually.
Here’s a thought – have the gateway crisis asides be actual subplots; three of them or so that we hit with regular plot interludes in some kind of actual organized fashion. And make them surprising. OR, get other authors to write random little nifty continuity asides, and include them as bonus short stories. OR, ignore the whole thing completely. But this kind of giant mosaic of half-assed-ness is just goddamn annoying, and ends up feeling like padding on a really bad short story so it can pretend it’s a novel.
And speaking of that short story, ew just EW EW ew. We get: 1) Picard adjusting to a new crew, from which I care about no one. 2) Troi commanding said crew, after everyone makes fun of her again for crashing the Enterprise OH WHAT A BARREL OF LAUGHS. 3) A space battle, during which Picard several times visits his ready room just to chill because clearly nothing important is happening. 4) A foregone conclusion of a reveal that nonetheless necessitates effectively giving away the surprise ending of the TOS tale... and then doesn’t make any sense at all. (Picard goes through the gateway all by himself because... I dunno, beats me. Clearly Greenberger didn't have any ideas either.)
Amazing, isn’t it? Obvious and yet implausible; lengthy and yet underdeveloped; demonstrating obvious familiarity and yet getting everything important wrong. The best scene in the book is Troi deciding that she is going to develop her own command style, and to do so getting a really great zinger in on her crew by claiming that Betazoids are notoriously good gamblers. And then smiling mysteriously. Ha ha how unexpected and full of mirth is this surprising Troi woman! Yes, I’m not shitting you – that’s the BEST scene.
For a celebration of the (then) current state of Trek continuity, this has all the charm of a slideshow at a family reunion of ugly cousins I’d prefer to forget. Or possibly actively murder.
Just... sigh. At least Demons of Air and Darkness is next, which I remember being a blast.
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I set aside Terok Nor2 to read the Tos Mirror universe comic complilation from IDC comics. I really thought the story fits in nicely with the Mirror Universe novels that have come out the last few years.I may have to check out the ds9 comics whenthey're all compiled liked this collection is.
I've heard that opinion before. I'm still stuck in the Troughton era in my viewing of the classic series, so it'll probably be years before I'm in the position to read books involving the 7th and 8th Doctor.
But still, which books would you recommend? I'm also open to suggestions for the other Doctors.
Interesting. I've only seen Torchwood's last season, though. Any recommendations?
Meanwhile, I've started the next Who novel, Sting of the Zygons by Stephen Cole, never mind my plans outlined earlier in the thread. So far, I'm enjoying it.
I guess, I'm really suffering from Ten withdrawal. If I continue at this pace I'll be done with all 10th Doctor novels before series 5 even starts...
I've heard that opinion before. I'm still stuck in the Troughton era in my viewing of the classic series, so it'll probably be years before I'm in the position to read books involving the 7th and 8th Doctor.
But still, which books would you recommend?
The problem with recommending any of them is that they're all out of print, and a lot of them are getting very hard to find. A few of the good ones are available as free ebooks at the BBC website.
I don't think there have been any I've actually disliked, though some are better than others, and I haven't read the three latest books yet. They range from serious to silly; Bay of the Dead is a zombie romp that's a lot of fun, and might not be the worst place to start. It's set between the second season and Children of Earth, so you've already seen all the main characters in action. (Many of the books feature the original cast from the first season; some have the smaller, pre-Children of Earth team. There's nothing set after that yet.)
I recently reread Vulcan' Glory for nostalgia's sake and I like the idea of meeting Cap'n Pike before the series pilot. Finally found two minutes to rub together to read Unworthy by K Beyer - was not disappointed - loved it as much as Full Circle. Right now working on I Bick's Well of Souls. I put off reading it because I heard it was one of the weaker links in the Lost Era set; but I am liking it well enough for now.
Am currently trying to work my way through the New Frontier series - have just finished the Excalibur trilogy with Book 3: Restoration, and have started on Being Human.
Otherwise, I'm also reading Exile, the fourth book in the Legacy of the Force, Star Wars, series, and the Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson. All good books, so far.
Otherwise, I'm also reading Exile, the fourth book in the Legacy of the Force, Star Wars, series, and the Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson. All good books, so far.
I was formally introduced to Star Trek: S.C.E. by reading Have Tech, Will Travel which contains the first four S.C.E. novels. I enjoyed all 4 stories!
I am now reading the New Frontier comic Double Time, which is included in my newest purchase Other Realities, featuring two other stories from the crew of DS9 and TOS.
Here's a quick question...from what I understand, Double Time is set between Once Burned and Double or Nothing, which is from the Double Helix novels. My question is whether or not it is necessary to read the previous Double Helix novels before I read Double or Nothing?
I just finished reading Double Time and will now be reading the Voyager relaunch novel Unworthy
I am now reading the New Frontier comic Double Time, which is included in my newest purchase Other Realities, featuring two other stories from the crew of DS9 and TOS.
Here's a quick question...from what I understand, Double Time is set between Once Burned and Double or Nothing, which is from the Double Helix novels. My question is whether or not it is necessary to read the previous Double Helix novels before I read Double or Nothing?
I just finished reading Double Time and will now be reading the Voyager relaunch novel Unworthy
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I finished the forth Inspector Rebus novel, The Black Book last night and decided to shy away from crimes covered by the Edinburgh Police Force and started reading the Section Thirty One novel Rogue. I'm not that far in (around fifty or so pages) but there have bee some discrepancies which I just put down to artistic licence.
The first was that Humanities first warp jump and First Contact were not on the same day. In the film we see Enterprise head back through time just as this is occurring but in the book, according to Picard's musings, Geordi and Data spent a few days looking for parts for a replacement deflector dish.
The second was the Tal Shiar leaders comments about the Kilingons and the empires alliance with the Federation even though at this point in time, several months before the events of First Contact and the Deep Space Nine episode By Infernos Light were the Khitimor accords were resigned, they were at war!
So far, like all of Mr Mangels and Mr Martins novels in my opinion, it's ok, just not great.
The first was that Humanities first warp jump and First Contact were not on the same day. In the film we see Enterprise head back through time just as this is occurring but in the book, according to Picard's musings, Geordi and Data spent a few days looking for parts for a replacement deflector dish.
The second was the Tal Shiar leaders comments about the Kilingons and the empires alliance with the Federation even though at this point in time, several months before the events of First Contact and the Deep Space Nine episode By Infernos Light were the Khitimor accords were resigned, they were at war!
So far, like all of Mr Mangels and Mr Martins novels in my opinion, it's ok, just not great.
I'm reading SCE Caveat Emptor right now, which has been really fun. I'm a big Ferengi fan and I really enjoy the SCE series, so putting them together was a guarenteed win for me. They haven't gotten aboard the Merchantman yet, so I'm very curious to what he does to them. I'm probably gonna be done by the end of the day, and once I am I was going to start The Golden Compass (aka Northern Lights), the first book in Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials series. I've been wanting to read this for a while so I'm excited to get started.
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