Star Trek: The Seekers

[Jedi Ben]

Seems an appropriate place for a quick review of an older work so....

Finished Vanguard. Nice little book with all manner of things going on and a good character mix with various agendas in collision. I also liked the diagrams pull-out, a nice extra.

What I enjoyed most, reading this with the perspective that it plays into the events of The Fall a century later, is the way it uses continuity. It starts off using the TV series as a springboard to launch, then spins its own tale atop that, but you don't actually need to have seen the ep as the book recaps what you need to know. The same is true for The Fall, but, seeing all 3 pieces? Makes for a very satisfying optional link-up.

It's interesting to note there's only one big battle in the book - USS Bombay versus 4 Tholian cruisers, but it has a real sense of weight and impact, both in the battle and its aftermath, which I thought was exceedingly well-done.

So, onto Book 2!

 

[Markonian]

Actually, it's trivial to get ALL of the Vanguard books. Just buy them as eBooks and you can get them no trouble at all.

Just can't get into that format. I spend 8 hours a day screen-reading, don't really want that for the fun stuff.

I still like holding a book!

Amazon Kindle e-readers use a completely different type of screen from what you're used to with your computer. It's no pain on the eyes at all.

 

[Jedi Ben]

Hmm, may be so but I'm getting older and more stuck in my ways!

 

[Relayer1]

By the by, for UK posters interested in this series, Book Depository are offering them at a prebuy price of £4.31 each - hard to say how much longer they will be doing that for though.

Given the RRP ends up as £6.99, it's quite a bargain. If you scan the site for advance releases, you can prebuy the books for as low as £3.84!

(I'm aware people's experience with BD varies, but I've never had any problems myself.)

Just preordered - thanks !

 

[Jedi Ben]

Will be posting deals as and when I see them in the relevant threads, the next ones will be for the Oct-Dec books in all likelihood but that's dependent on when BD update their catalogue! The lowest I've been able to prebuy for was £3.72.

 

[JD]

Simon and Schuster's website has the descriptions up for the first two books, but the BBS is being stupid and won't let me cut and paste, so you'll have to find it yourselves.

 

[DimesDan]

Simon and Schuster's website has the descriptions up for the first two books, but the BBS is being stupid and won't let me cut and paste, so you'll have to find it yourselves.

Or you know, your browser or even your PC or what ever you use is being "stupid."

 

[JD]

It's the only site I'm having trouble with, and I've been to a whole bunch of sites today.

 

[Jedi Ben]

OK, I can likely see what JD's referring to, so got creative:

Star Trek: Seekers: Second Nature

A new mission: The late twenty-third century—Starfleet’s golden age of exploration. Desperate to stay one step ahead of its rivals, the Federation sends two starships, the scout Sagittarius and the cruiser Endeavour, to plumb the secrets of the vast region known as the Taurus Reach.

A doomed race: Drawn by mysterious energy readings to a lush green world, the crew of the Sagittarius find the Tomol: a species whose members all commit ritual suicide just as they reach the cusp of adulthood.

Star Trek: Seekers: Point of Divergence

By Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore

The second novel set in The Original Series/Vanguard universe…

The Taurus Reach. Once the conquered realm of a powerful alien species, this region remains largely shrouded in mystery even as it brims with potential for exploration and colonization. The Federation has sent in two of its finest starships on a quest to uncover the secrets it may yet hold...

Spoiler: Possible giveaway for plot of Book 1

The Tomol are aprimitive civilization occupying a lone island on a remote world. Their culture is an enigma, centered on every member’s commitment to a painful, fiery self-sacrifice upon reaching maturity. But one of their clan has shunned this obligation, triggering a transformation into a new, powerful life form. Answering the distress call of the U.S.S. Sagittarius—which has crashed on the planet following a fierce battle with the Klingons—Captain Atish Khatami and the crew of the Starship Endeavour must now attempt a rescue mission…even as they are locked in battle with the evolving, increasingly malevolent Tomol who, if allowed to escape their home world, pose an imminent threat to the entire galaxy!

EDIT: Thanks to TW for the flag-up on the Bk 2 blurb potentially giving the game away for Bk 1!.

 

[JD]

Thanks.

 

[The Wormhole]

Perhaps those blurbs should be spoiler coded? The book two blurb in particular includes something which to me seems like a spoiler for book 1.

Not that I care in particular, if it was something terribly important they wouldn't have revealed it in any manner. But I know how upset some people get on this matter anyway.

 

[Avro Arrow]

For those who do like eBooks, it might be possible to acquire the nook version of Reap the Whirlwind more economically via nook.com in the UK, which sells the nook version for £3.99 (roughly $6.67 USD). Also, amazon.co.uk sells the Kindle version of Reap the Whirlwind for the same price. If you sign up on those sites with a U.S. address, it might be possible to buy the eBooks from them without paying VAT, since that applies only to EU residents. (Unless these eBooks are region-restricted; anybody know anything about that?)

UPDATE: I registered an account at amazon.co.uk and it was able to sense that I was in the U.S., and as such, it won't let me buy Kindle ebooks through their site. So this advice helps my European fans, but not the Yanks or the Canucks.

Huh. Don't know if it helps the Yanks, but for my fellow Canucks, Kobo has it for C$8.99, the usual one-dollar-less than the original paperback price. (link) And amazon.ca also has the Kindle version for C$8.99... although in this case it claims the print list price is C$36, and you get 75% off, so maybe this is a limited time thing? (link)

Hmm... I already have the pBook version, but I wonder if I should get an eBook copy before the Canadian retailers decide to match the zany US prices? I thought it would be nice to have the entire Vanguard saga on my Kobo at some point, but I was hoping there would be cheaper omnibus versions released at some point.

 

[David Mack]

I am happy to report that thanks to the efforts of editor Edward Schlesinger at Simon & Schuster, we have succeeded in reducing the price of the Star Trek Vanguard: Reap the Whirlwind Amazon Kindle eBook and the Apple iTunes Store iBook back to its original $7.99. It’s my hope that this price correction on the eBook versions of this impossible-to-find installment in the Vanguard saga will soon propagate to the B&N Nook edition, as well.

 

[Thrawn]

That's awesome.

 

[trampledamage]

That's good to hear, thanks!

 

[Christopher]

Good going, Ed!

 

[Kilana2]

German publisher Cross Cult has put Seekers on its list, even though no release dates are fixed yet.

 

[Defcon]

Book Four now has a title:

For those who may be curious, we can now offer up the title for the 4th Star Trek: Seekers novel: ALL THAT'S LEFT.

Source: Dayton's twitter

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Book Four now has a title:

For those who may be curious, we can now offer up the title for the 4th Star Trek: Seekers novel: ALL THAT'S LEFT.

Source: Dayton's twitter

The Endeavour charts Ned Flanders' Leftorium?

 

[Enterprise1701]

Here's the blurb for All That's Left.

Initially charted by Starfleet probes dispatched to survey the Taurus Reach, the planet Cantrel V now plays host to a budding Federation colony as well as a combined civilian/Starfleet exploration team. Ancient ruins of an unknown civilization scattered around the planet have raised the curiosity of archeologists, anthropologists, historians, and other interested members of the Federation scientific community. Together, they are attempting to shed light on the beings who once called this world home.

After a large, unidentified vessel arrives in orbit and launches a seemingly unprovoked orbital bombardment, the U.S.S. Endeavour responds to the colony’s distress call. As they attempt to render assistance and investigate the mysterious ship, Captain Atish Khatami and her crew begin to unlock the astonishing secrets the planet has harbored for centuries. Does the survival of a newly discovered yet endangered alien race pose a threat not only to Cantrel V but other inhabited worlds throughout the Taurus Reach and beyond?