TNG and DS9 numbered novels recommendations

Discussion in 'Trek Literature' started by TheGreenDeath, Feb 2, 2018.

  1. tomswift2002

    tomswift2002 Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Dec 19, 2011
    Forget about reading the book. Just find the audio book for this one. Sure the book itself is funny, but the audio book is hilarious with both Majel Barret and John de Lancie reading the story. And its the only time that you have TNG's two comedic guest stars together.
     
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  2. Stevil2001

    Stevil2001 Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 7, 2001
    To be honest, it's been a long time, so those details are kind of forgotten. The main thing I remember is the emphasis on how the alien ships smell!
    I've actually never seen "Legacy"! So if you want to talk "head canon," for me Survivors is and always will be Tasha's backstory. Lorrah writes an excellent Data.

    All of these things are legitimate, but for me do not outweigh the awesomeness of a STARSHIP FULL OF SPACE ROMANS.
     
  3. marlboro

    marlboro Guest

    • The Children of Hamlin


    Just read this one today. A mixed bag, but considering how difficult it must be to write a novel based on a show that hasn't even aired yet, I am more than willing to cut the author some slack

    Positives:

    - I appreciate that the author tried to give the entire cast something to do. Well, except for Worf. Some of the characters were actually better served here than they were in the first season of TNG: Troi seemed somewhat useful, Wesley was likable, Beverly was more assertive - there was even a bit of sexual tension between her and Picard. Data, on the other hand, was pretty much comic relief: every scene with him was basically a rehashing of the "Data takes everything literally" joke.

    - As Christopher wrote above, this is a tiny bit darker than typical season 1 TNG. There isn't as much of the Roddenberry Utopian quirkiness and the character Andrew Deelor seemed like he wandered in from from a David Mack novel.

    - The Choraii are an interesting new species. The need for small quantities of refined metal seemed kind of silly to me however. I wish more time had been spent expanding on their story. Which leads me to the...


    Negatives:

    - The Farmers. Their society wasn't nearly interesting enough to make up for how annoying most of their sect was. I wish they had just used "normal" Federation colonists so they could devote more time to the Choraii, Deelor, and Ruthe.

    - The children. I watch a lot of old westerns and there are a great number of shows that deal with whites who have been kidnapped and raised by Indians or vice versa. The episodes invariably center around whether the children are better off where they are or whether they should be returned to their "own kind." It's an old chestnut, but these stories always work because their moral quandaries are so compelling. I wish there had been more of an exploration about what the lives of the kidnapped children were like on the Choraii ships and I wish there had been more debate about how to handle a tough decision among the crew.

    - The Title. It's a silly title. I never would have bought this book if it hadn't been recommended here so often. Give Ruthe a nice singing voice or a vuvuzela or anything besides a flute and the Pied Piper will not spring to the mind of a single reader. It feels like the author had a story about kidnapped children and a flutist and panicked to the point they felt like they had to say "Yeah, yeah I know - it's the Pied Piper Part Deux" and goes to the extreme of naming the destroyed colony Hamlin. Way too on the nose.


    Negatives aside, this was still a fairly entertaining read. Better than most of the numbered books that I have read.
     
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