So what are you reading now (Part 4)?

[Allyn Gibson]

Working on the Day of Honor omnibus. Two books down so far... I do wonder what the HECK they were thinking in how they printed this. Next Gen, DS9, Voyager, THEN the original Trek novel that explains where the Day came from? Huh?

When asked about it at the time, John Ordover said that he wanted to shake things up. Also that he felt it was more effective narratively and aesthetically to have the start at the end. He must have liked that structure, because he used it again with Double Helix a few years later. *shrug*

I'm surprised he never did a backwards crossover, that ran from Voyager back to the original series.

 

[Christopher]

Working on the Day of Honor omnibus. Two books down so far... I do wonder what the HECK they were thinking in how they printed this. Next Gen, DS9, Voyager, THEN the original Trek novel that explains where the Day came from? Huh?

I always figured they were trying to vary things up from the previous crossover, Invasion!, in which TOS came first. Although now that I think about it, it's possible that the publication order was a function of author scheduling; maybe Dean Wesley Smith & Kristine Kathryn Rusch weren't able to get the book done in time to be first (they both had plenty of other responsibilities), so it had to go last.

There is precedent for saving an "origin story" to last, or nearly last. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician's Nephew is chronologically the first book and is essentially the "Book of Genesis" for Narnia, but in publication order it's the sixth of seven.

The pattern was also repeated for the later ST crossover event Double Helix, with the chronologically first tale in the series being the last one published, but in that case there was a reason for it, because publishing it first would've spoiled the mystery in the earlier installments.

EDIT: Or, what Allyn said. Never mind....

 

[Joel_Kirk]

If he wrote it before, oh, about 1980, sure

Dude definitely got a little... loopy towards the end.

Loopy Clarke still beats 99% of other writers.

Rendezvous With Rama is definitely top 5 books of all time for me, and I have to vehemently disagree with this. At the very least, Clarke + any co-author = immediate fail.

Rama's on my book list.

I'll get to it someday.

 

[timothy]

is that series aviable on the nook . and is anybody an issac asimov fan.

 

[Smellincoffee]

is that series aviable on the nook . and is anybody an issac asimov fan.

Isaac Asimov is my favorite author: I thought I'd never say I had "one" favorite author, but when I started reading him obsessively three years ago I realized he fit the bill. I am actually reading his A Whiff of Death at present.

 

[drazzz52923849]

Spock's World by Diane Duane

 

[shanejayell]

Finished Day of Honor. All the books were pretty much OKAY, with only two that actually stood out, the DS9 chapter and the Original Series one. If I was asked I'd only really recommend those two.

 

[Almost Unique]

Finished Terok Nor: Dawn of the Eagles. Not bad, but compared to the two books I read right before that (Full Circle and Precipie) it did lack the extra extra awesomeness.

 

[AdmiralSteven]

Book one of I.K.S. Gorkon: A Good Day to Die.

 

[Thrawn]

Finished Day of Honor. All the books were pretty much OKAY, with only two that actually stood out, the DS9 chapter and the Original Series one. If I was asked I'd only really recommend those two.

Wow, really? I thought the DS9 entry was fine, but on the list that I've been keeping since I picked Trek back up in summer 08, the TOS entry is ranked second worst out of all 210 Trek books I've read.

The only one worse was Gateways: Doors Into Chaos.

What did you like about it? I thought it turned everyone into a caricature, didn't provide any depth into the series, set up a potentially cool enemy only to make them generic and boring, and just generally failed to tell an interesting story in every way possible.

 

[JD]

If there are any Philip K. Dick fans on here, what would be the best book of his for someone new to his writing? What about Lovecraft? I've been hearing about these guys for ages, and I want to read them, but don't know which books/stories of theirs to read.

 

[Smellincoffee]

Reading William Leisner's Losing the Peace. Enjoying the return of Chen.

 

[shanejayell]

Finished Day of Honor. All the books were pretty much OKAY, with only two that actually stood out, the DS9 chapter and the Original Series one. If I was asked I'd only really recommend those two.

What did you like about it? I thought it turned everyone into a caricature, didn't provide any depth into the series, set up a potentially cool enemy only to make them generic and boring, and just generally failed to tell an interesting story in every way possible.

I liked the Kirk & Kor scenes, and I thought that the story was reasonably interesting. I admit everyone's firmly into their TV series modes, but 'caricature' is a little harsh. *lol*

I'm surprised you rate it so bad. I can think of worse books, probably.

*cough* Before Dishonor *cough*

 

[Allyn Gibson]

If there are any Philip K. Dick fans on here, what would be the best book of his for someone new to his writing? What about Lovecraft? I've been hearing about these guys for ages, and I want to read them, but don't know which books/stories of theirs to read.

You can't go wrong with PKD's The Man in the High Castle. Or The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. A Scanner Darkly would also be a good entre to PKD.

 

[Steve Roby]

If there are any Philip K. Dick fans on here, what would be the best book of his for someone new to his writing? What about Lovecraft? I've been hearing about these guys for ages, and I want to read them, but don't know which books/stories of theirs to read.

What Allyn said. Also, the novel UBIK was my first PKD, and it certainly hooked me.

Lovecraft is harder to make a suggestion for because he mainly wrote short stories and novellas, and there are lots of collections with lots of different combinations of stories. There are also a number of books that look like Lovecraft collections but actually have little of his stuff, so buyer beware. Look for something with The Call of Cthulhu, At the Mountains of Madness, The Colour Out of Space, The Shadow over Innsmouth... or find a site like dagonbytes with free etexts.

 

[ST20133]

This week I have read Q&A and Before Dishonor (sic), currently halfway through Greater Than the Sum. Trying to read more TNG novels before Paths of Disharmony comes out.

Before Dishonor had one of the funniest/worst lines I've ever read in Trek literature

Spoiler: Before Dishonor

If the crew of the Enterprise had ever seen a Rubik's Cube, which they hadn't...

I don't see the need to reference the 21st Century so often in Trek even though the shows did it too. I can see that the purpose is supposed to be to draw us into the world but it actually draws me out of it. Why don't they ever mention things that happened in the 22nd and 23rd centuries? I wish Trek writers would stop using the word roiling too.

Despite the moan there I've enjoyed all three books so far. A lot better than Seize the Fire.

 

[JD]

If there are any Philip K. Dick fans on here, what would be the best book of his for someone new to his writing? What about Lovecraft? I've been hearing about these guys for ages, and I want to read them, but don't know which books/stories of theirs to read.

You can't go wrong with PKD's The Man in the High Castle. Or The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. A Scanner Darkly would also be a good entre to PKD.

How close is the ASD movie to the book? I really liked the movie.

 

[Steve Roby]

Quite close, as I recall.

 

[Smellincoffee]

Just finished Losing the Peace, which I enjoyed thoroughly. My next trek read will probably be Beneath the Raptor's Wings.

 

[JD]

What about Blade Runner and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?? (No that is not a typo one of those ? is from the title of the book)