Star Trek Paperback Novels Are Too Long
- Thread starter Dayton3
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Same as a piece of string...
(for those who don't know, that's "twice as long as half its length")
Meh... I like to get my money's worth in length if I'm going to pay $7.99 for a book.
My solution is simple:
When I long (sorry, couldn't resist) for the short 80's trek novels, I get one from my shelf and read (or re-read) it. Otherwise when you need a quick trek lit fix, grab one of the SNW or other short-story collections.
When I want to be more involved in the world of the story, the longer novels are wonderful.
There's something for everyone! Ahh Trek...
When I long (sorry, couldn't resist) for the short 80's trek novels, I get one from my shelf and read (or re-read) it. Otherwise when you need a quick trek lit fix, grab one of the SNW or other short-story collections.
When I want to be more involved in the world of the story, the longer novels are wonderful.
There's something for everyone! Ahh Trek...
^ Now that this is settled, I think all Trek comics should be more like the old Gold Key issues.
Not right now, no.
But, rest assured that when I do, it will be (too) long, and be just like the Gold Key comics. Fire coming out the back of the Endeavour's nacelles, the works
But, rest assured that when I do, it will be (too) long, and be just like the Gold Key comics. Fire coming out the back of the Endeavour's nacelles, the works
Another long-winded Trek novel?
I guess that's my answer . . .
That was my intention, but due to a bit of 'Christmas merriment' it didn't turn out quite as I planned.
It's the equivalent of about $15.60 in the UK.donners22 said:
$7.99? They retail for $15+ in Australia, and the exchange rate is almost equal.
But why should those who love a long read be punished because you don't have a supportive reading environment at the moment?
Remember that Pocket also has novellas in their collections of SCE/CoE, and there are many recent collections of excellent ST short stories. I really miss my old three-hour-per-day commute to and from work which helped me clear my backlog at one point. But me changing jobs isn't a fault of Pocket Books.I've just had ten days vacation interstate, and I was able to race through "Sword of Damocles" and "Forged in Fire" with relatively few interruptions. Reminded me of the good ol' days, before the Internet soaked up most of my recreational reading time.
I used to devour/love the old Bantams and early Pocket ST novels - but many were so very short - and I still recall my ST friends' joy when "The Wounded Sky", and later "Uhura's Song", came out and they had thicker spines than we'd been used to. Ditto the landmark arrival of the "giant" series of ST MMPBs and then the first original hardcovers for older readers, such as "Spock's World", which replaced them on the schedule.
Although I enjoyed many of the MMPB duologies and trilogies we were getting in the 90s, if you actually added up the total cost and compared the $$$$ spent (and excitement value) to any of the old "giant" novels, then they often came up short.
The relatively recent move to more epic-length ST novels (and even two or three whole adventures in one economical book, such as the three "Worlds of DS9" MMPB volumes and the "Mirror Universe" trades) has been great, especially when you remember that Pocket's editors are catering for a huge array of readers' tastes, budgets and expectations.
donners22 said:
They retail for $15+ in Australia, and the exchange rate is almost equal.
But usually still worth every cent!
Even the bad ones?
But Simon & Schuster Audioworks was only doing single-cassette adaptations at the time! All three TOS "giant" MMPBs were 90 min., like the regular novels. The first 180 min. audio was "Spock's World".
It's also important to note that, until "Reunion" (1991), the audios were abridged by the actual authors of the novels. So Vonda McIntyre got to "gut" her own works. Most audios after "Reunion" were abridgements by one George Truett, with the authors only sometimes being invited to abridge them. eg. the novel "I, Q" by John de Lancie & Peter David was actually abridged for audio by John de Lancie!
It's all relative. Like Mack says, a great novel can never be too long, and a bad novel can never be too short.
The Wounded Sky is only 237 pages, but it took so long for me to slog through that it felt like 600. On the other hand, I read the first 100+ pages of Forged in Fire today, and that seemed to breeze by like I was reading the sports headlines.
The Wounded Sky is only 237 pages, but it took so long for me to slog through that it felt like 600. On the other hand, I read the first 100+ pages of Forged in Fire today, and that seemed to breeze by like I was reading the sports headlines.
As long as it's interesting and well written and not full of padding I don't care how long it is. If it takes me weeks to get through that's ok. As long as it's good.
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