The New Frontier gone off the rails...

[PhoenixIreland]

These were my favorate ST books, and I love the story, if there was ever gonna be a normal series, and they insisted on it being on a ship I'd want this to be the basis for it.

I thought it would get better when they changed the ship to a galaxy class (sounds like a small point but it did help me picture the story more, we never saw the inside of an Ambassador class)....

So I have a question for people who've read past the book where we discover McHenrys part greek god...
Does it go off the rails? because I've been reading the blurbs of the next few books and it doens't look like it would hold my intrest, espechally when they seem to go a bit mad, skip forward a few years and suddenly Shelbys an Admiral...after 3 years as captain?

So, is it worth reading on?

 

[captcalhoun]

no it hasn't, yes you should.

 

[nx1701g]

I'm sorry to say that I haven't been able to keep up with New Frontier and lost interest in the series after a time. It's a good series it's just not my cup of tea. That doesn't mean that you won't enjoy it though. If you liked the previous entires give it a shot. It never hurts to try.

 

[Kopernikus]

You should definetly give the new books (And the Comic-Series being published this summer) a try. I agree, New Frontier had lost a lot of attraction from the Excalibur-Trilogy up until Gods Above, but the last two books were much better.

 

[Therin of Andor]

if there was ever gonna be a normal series, and they insisted on it being on a ship I'd want this to be the basis for it.

PAD has said he prefers it to stay a novel (and comic) series, as he'd lose his control if it became a show for TV made by committee.

So I have a question for people who've read past the book where we discover McHenrys part greek god...

I continue to enjoy NF and have never felt it went off the rails.

Does it go off the rails?

In the opinion of some, they haven't liked it since "Gateways: Cold Wars".

because I've been reading the blurbs of the next few books and it doens't look like it would hold my intrest

So go read something that does. Easy! If you like PAD's sense of humour and often-bizarre comic booky, sometimes soap operish characters, then nothing's changed. I like NF just fine, but that's me.

espechally when they seem to go a bit mad, skip forward a few years and suddenly Shelbys an Admiral...after 3 years as captain?

How is that mad? PAD wanted to have three years of new unknown backstory to tantalize readers over the next few books.

NF itself already did a timejump before - an actual timejump of several months - in the Wildstorm comic, "Double Time", meaning they missed most of the Dominion Wars.

TOS/TAS had a time jump of at least 18 months to TMP, and another bigger one from TMP to ST II. The whole of ST had a 78-year time jump from ST IV to TNG. ENT jumped a few years before its last episode. Nothing new there.

So, is it worth reading on?

Sure. And the storyline continues in IDW's great "Turnaround" NF comic mini-series, which ties into the regular novel series and the "Mirror Universe, Volume 2" omnibus story.

 

[DarKush]

I think NF began to loose it's magic during that Excalibur three-parter when the Ambassador-class ship was destroyed. And then PAD brought in two ships which somehow always wound up being in the same place at the same time for joint missions. The two crews stretched things a bit and I felt character development and the storyline suffered. That being said, I did decide to give Missing in Action a chance and I really liked it. The comic book series is also okay, nothing spectacular, but a good, solid tale.

 

[Therin of Andor]

two ships which somehow always wound up being in the same place at the same time for joint missions.

Not "somehow". Both ships were sent to the same dangerous, politically-fragile sector, where many UFP-friendly, vulnerable planets potentially required fast response times to their problems.

 

[EliyahuQeoni]

I never thought it was on the rails personally. But then I've been growing steadily disenchanted with Peter David's writing for quite some time now.

 

[nx1701g]

^ I think that may have been what happened to me in regards to the series.

 

[Baerbel Haddrell]

These were my favorate ST books, and I love the story, if there was ever gonna be a normal series, and they insisted on it being on a ship I'd want this to be the basis for it.

I thought it would get better when they changed the ship to a galaxy class (sounds like a small point but it did help me picture the story more, we never saw the inside of an Ambassador class)....

So I have a question for people who've read past the book where we discover McHenrys part greek god...
Does it go off the rails? because I've been reading the blurbs of the next few books and it doens't look like it would hold my intrest, espechally when they seem to go a bit mad, skip forward a few years and suddenly Shelbys an Admiral...after 3 years as captain?

So, is it worth reading on?

NF has a very distinctive style but I think if you liked the earlier books you should try the more recent books, too.

I always loved NF and I don`t think it went off the rails at all. Being over the top sometimes is part of NF`s trade mark. Not everyone likes it and dismisses it as typical comic book style. I can see why but I enjoy it. (Well, I have nothing against comics)

If you want to explore the more recent NF books, I recommend to start with “Stone and Anvil”. It is the ideal book for that purpose because it gives you more back story for the earlier books, the basics of what the NF status is at that time and moves the story forward. Also, it is one of my favourite books of that series.

Filling in the gaps after the series moved forward, that is nothing new for NF. At this point in time, there are still open questions when looking at early NF but of course a lot of new ones. It is part of what makes the series interesting or frustrating, depending on your point of view.

Nevertheless, what I also enjoy about NF is that you can always enter the books without getting lost. There are still issues missing but I think I can already recommend the IDW comic series “Turnaround”, too. Of course you will have questions but I think even a newcomer can understand the story.

 

[tenmei]

I love NF, have since they first came out - partly because of PAD's sense of humour and partly because there are characters, such as Burgoyne, who we would never see on the television screen.

It's never gone off the rails, in my opinion. My only issue is that I wish we'd have been able to have as many novels now as we used to in the days when we used to get two novels a year!

 

[Baerbel Haddrell]

I hope to be able to read news about a new NF novel when the Shore Leave announcements are made.

It was already announced that NF characters won`t actually appear in Destiny. Therefore this next NF novel will hopefully give fans like me the crossover fun and thrills Destiny will offer.

 

[PhoenixIreland]

I definitly love P.Davids sense of humor thats one of the main attractions of it to me, also always liked a Sisko style captain more.

I got nervous when they split it into two ships, I'm still not too sure how thats gonna work out, but I will give the rest a try, it will only cost €4 or so with the doller conversion, thats the price of two bus journeys so not much to loose.

If it gets bad I'll be back to seek revenge

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I recently picked up Missing in Action, and re-read the whole series, and I loved it as much as I remembered. I've pre-ordered the TPB of the comic mini-series, I just wish there was news on when we can expect the next book.

 

[JD]

I've read all of the books from the first to the most recent, and I don't think they've gone to far down in quality since the beginning. IMO the books are quite as awsome as they use to be, but they are still very good and definitely woth reading.

 

[Jack Bauer]

I continue to enjoy the NF series. i've never thought it went off track at all.

 

[donners22]

I've not seen the comics, so I cannot judge those, but I thought the novels were generally excellent. Stone & Anvil in particular was beautiful. The New Frontier novels are among the very few recent Trek books I've really enjoyed.

 

[JD]

Oh yeah, when I got on before I forgot to say that I really enjoyed the first two issues of the new NF comic. I haven't gotten a chance to pick up the rest yet.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I absolutely love New Frontier and the only time I ever thought the series was weak was in Cold Wars (but "Death After Life" was great). So, yes, keep reading!

 

[donners22]

^ Actually, I think Cold Wars is the only NF book I haven't re-read.

I forgot the No Limits anthology, which is a bit hit-and miss. Of the PAD NF, I have no complaints at all.