Sure, but at that point I could get the 4 (I think) TPBs for Batman - No Man's Land or just get the paperback that Greg Rucka wrote anyway.
Now, you miss some of the story in the condensation, but the meat is there.
So what are you reading now (Part 4)?
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Sure, but at that point I could get the 4 (I think) TPBs for Batman - No Man's Land or just get the paperback that Greg Rucka wrote anyway.
Now, you miss some of the story in the condensation, but the meat is there.
There are 5 TPBs for Mo Man's Land, just FYI.
Currently almost done reading Star Trek Vanguard: Reap The Whirlwind. After that I may start on the fourth Vangaurd book, or World War Z once the library has it in.
I'm on a Trek break right now and I just started "The Tender Bar" by JR Moehringer a few days ago. I've been meaning to read it for a couple years now. It is excellent so far.
I tried to read "Three Nights in August" by Buzz Bissinger. Unfortunately, Bissinger is a A-level douchebag and it comes across in his writing. I couldn't get through it.
I tried to read "Three Nights in August" by Buzz Bissinger. Unfortunately, Bissinger is a A-level douchebag and it comes across in his writing. I couldn't get through it.
I finished Revenant. I'm now reading Work is Hard, the Sloth/Pakled story from Seven Deadly Sins.
(*spoiler alert*) I've just finished The Needs of the Many - I loved it! I have no interest in playing the game, but I was really interested in a look at a post-Romulus, post-Countdown Star Trek. I really didn't expect much (the interview format of TNoTM sounded painful), but I was blown away. It had the feel of the flashforward Babylon 5 finale (which I loved). I loved the DTI bit (I usually think of "alternate universe" as a cheap cop-out, but it was handled brilliantly here), but thought adding Q was a bit much. I think the novel set a new all-time continuity porn record (something often done badly, but I loved it here). A few bits, like Kai Kira sounded painful, but the story is set decades later and one wouldn't assume Londo had a chance at emperor at the start of B5, either. I hated the Gorn baseball chapter. Why not have a WWE wrestling match to settle the Gorn/Klingon dispute, next time? 
The Picard/Riker kid thing is just nasty.
Otherwise, great. More please.
The Picard/Riker kid thing is just nasty.Otherwise, great. More please.
Reading Crucible McCoy: Provenance of Shadows. Enjoying it greatly; Benny Russell's appearance floored me. Not sure how his showing up in the "real" Trek world impacts "Far Beyond the Stars".
Been reading the scripts for the first six Faction Paradox audios on my IPod Touch, but my copy of Charles Stross's The Fuller Memorandum just showed up from Amazon, along with Out of the Cocoon (Trek content!) and the 2CD reissue of the Buzzcocks' A Different Kind of Tension. It's a good day.
Been reading the TNG novels in chronological order, post-Encounter at Farpoint. Finished "Ghostship", "The Peacekeepers","The Children of Hamlin", "Survivors" and "The Captain's Honor." Currently on "Strike Zone."
of all those so far, Survivors is miles ahead of any of the other early TNG books that came out.
of all those so far, Survivors is miles ahead of any of the other early TNG books that came out.
I have just finished (well, last night) reading Out of the Cocoon (the story) and I loved it. Picard doesn't always make the best decisions and it is nice to see that he is not completely infallible.
Also, I liked the Nemesis foreshadowing too.
Also, I liked the Nemesis foreshadowing too.
On my holidays, I finished VOY anthology Distant Shores and The 4400 novel Promises Broken and started (or rather, got a couple hundred pages into) DS9 Mission Gamma: Twilight.
I guess it's not surprising, being written by David Mack, that Promises Broken is an epic climax of the story where all hell breaks loose, including
I wonder how they'll follow this up in the sequel, which is being set up in the last chapter (BTW, the foreboding words are certainly meant to be mysterious and interest people, but they seem silly - I mean what can be worse than
Overall it was a great conclusion to a the storyline (even though it's obviously meant to be continued), but I was bothered by a couple of characters being out of character. When did Tom Baldwin become such a jokester? I remember him as a rather earnest fellow, he was the same in Greg Cox's Welcome to the Promise City, but with all the one-liners now he seemed more like Jack O'Neill or John Sheppard. And between the two novels, Kyle became an almost total puppet of Cassie. Incidentally, I'm not sure I enjoyed the turn that Kyle/Cassie got in Cox's novel and continued with in Mack's - it seemed like the writers have watched too much BSG season 1... Which was great, but I don't exactly want The 4400 characters to turn into BSG characters any more than I want them to turn into Stargate characters.
And where is Kevin Birkoff? I guess he's meant to reappear in the next novel...
Distant Shores is one of the better Trek anthologies I've read. I like it better than Prophecy and Change despite being more invested in DS9 characters, because VOY more badly needed some continuity holes filled and some things further explored, and because this anthology did this for the most part, while the DS9 one was mostly just a nice little addition to the show. While there isn't a bad story in the book, the first few stories were OK, but it gets really good with "Letting Go", which shows the other perspective - that of Janeway's fiancee and other families and loved ones of the people on Voyager; "Closure" - which does the incredible by proving that a story about the Neelix/Kes relationship can actually be convincing and moving; "The Secret Heart of Zolaluz", a very beautiful and moving story which stands apart as it is focused on a (very compelling) original character as well as on Seven of Nine, and which might be my favorite in the book; "Isabo's Shirt", which deals with the Janeway/Chakotay relationship much better with more depth than the show ever did (I haven't read the VOY novels yet, but since this is Kristin Beyer's story, it seems very promising as the characterization of both of those characters was very good and made me care about them a lot more than the show did); "Brief Candle", another very moving story, focused on one Bajoran ex-Borg from the mini-collective created by Seven, which also proves that even Kim can have a good storyline and a good romance written for him; "Eighteen Minutes" about EMH's experience on the fast-moving planet from the episode "Blink of an Eye", which was just brushed off casually on the show; and the last two stories that deal with probably the most jarring loose end of all, the fate of the ex-Equinox crew-members. The only thing I disliked about those was the ending of the latter, which was telegraphed long before - and it's a bit too much of a cliche to have
Overall, the stories tie up a number of loose ends, and also manage to give better characterizations of several of the characters than the show usually did. If this is an example what the rest of VOY literature is like, I look forward to reading it.
Now, Mission Gamma: Twilight. I'm not sure what to say about it yet. So far it has had some good character stuff, introductions of new characters like Admiral Akaar and Shar's bondmates, setting up themes (like Bajor's admittance into the Federation and the possibility of reinstating diplomatic relations between Bajor and Cardassia), developing of relationships and focusing on the tensions and (potential) conflict - Vaughn/Prynn, Kira/Macet, Nog/Taran'taran, Shar/his zhavey and bondmates - but some 150 pages (into the big format These Haunted Seas omnibus) and it all still feels like a setup. OK, it's a big book, I haven't even read a third of it, but usually you get the idea what the novel is about much earlier. The exploration of the Gamma Quadrant has only just started, and I still don't know what the book will mainly be about, story-wise.
I guess it's not surprising, being written by David Mack, that Promises Broken is an epic climax of the story where all hell breaks loose, including
an all-out war between the US and Jordan Collier's Movement, while the Marked are trying to end the world.
the literal end of the world, and how the hell could anyone say that Tom taking the shot was a bad thing, when he saved the world?)
And where is Kevin Birkoff? I guess he's meant to reappear in the next novel...
Distant Shores is one of the better Trek anthologies I've read. I like it better than Prophecy and Change despite being more invested in DS9 characters, because VOY more badly needed some continuity holes filled and some things further explored, and because this anthology did this for the most part, while the DS9 one was mostly just a nice little addition to the show. While there isn't a bad story in the book, the first few stories were OK, but it gets really good with "Letting Go", which shows the other perspective - that of Janeway's fiancee and other families and loved ones of the people on Voyager; "Closure" - which does the incredible by proving that a story about the Neelix/Kes relationship can actually be convincing and moving; "The Secret Heart of Zolaluz", a very beautiful and moving story which stands apart as it is focused on a (very compelling) original character as well as on Seven of Nine, and which might be my favorite in the book; "Isabo's Shirt", which deals with the Janeway/Chakotay relationship much better with more depth than the show ever did (I haven't read the VOY novels yet, but since this is Kristin Beyer's story, it seems very promising as the characterization of both of those characters was very good and made me care about them a lot more than the show did); "Brief Candle", another very moving story, focused on one Bajoran ex-Borg from the mini-collective created by Seven, which also proves that even Kim can have a good storyline and a good romance written for him; "Eighteen Minutes" about EMH's experience on the fast-moving planet from the episode "Blink of an Eye", which was just brushed off casually on the show; and the last two stories that deal with probably the most jarring loose end of all, the fate of the ex-Equinox crew-members. The only thing I disliked about those was the ending of the latter, which was telegraphed long before - and it's a bit too much of a cliche to have
someone redeem themselves while sacrificing themselves and dying for the crew. At least Noah Lessing was allowed to live in the previous story.
Now, Mission Gamma: Twilight. I'm not sure what to say about it yet. So far it has had some good character stuff, introductions of new characters like Admiral Akaar and Shar's bondmates, setting up themes (like Bajor's admittance into the Federation and the possibility of reinstating diplomatic relations between Bajor and Cardassia), developing of relationships and focusing on the tensions and (potential) conflict - Vaughn/Prynn, Kira/Macet, Nog/Taran'taran, Shar/his zhavey and bondmates - but some 150 pages (into the big format These Haunted Seas omnibus) and it all still feels like a setup. OK, it's a big book, I haven't even read a third of it, but usually you get the idea what the novel is about much earlier. The exploration of the Gamma Quadrant has only just started, and I still don't know what the book will mainly be about, story-wise.
I'm currently reading The Children of Kings (fascinating to read a Pike-era TOS novel influenced by both STXI and Enterprise) and The Man-Kzin Wars.
Sadly, from everything I've heard Promises Broken will most likely be the last The 4400 novel. Unless you've heard differently in the last couple months?
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