TNG post-Nemesis novels: Any must-reads out there?

[Jefferies]

Can any of you guys recommend any of the TNG post Nemesis novels, especially ones that focus on the Enterprise? Though, I am open to stories involving the Titan, as long as they do not do so exclusively. The reason I am asking is that I have been told that the quality of these books is somewhat uneven, unlike the DS9 relaunch series, which had high quality almost throughout. I would like to know which of these stories you think are really worth reading. It would be great if you could also give me a short synopsis in addition to your personal evaluation, which story elements did you think stood out? (Without giving too much away of course )

 

[Cicero]

I wouldn't recommend any of them. The Titan series has diminished in merit with each subsequent release, while the TNG line proper has been of dependably low quality. If one installment has stood out as better than the others, it's probably KRAD's Q & A, a Q story set in the middle of the recent (and as yet un-ended) storyline which began in Resistance. It exhibits many of the shortcomings of KRAD's work, but is also an examplar of what he does best. None of the others are worth your money or time.

I don't mean to sound negative, but the line has not done well since the conclusion of A Time To (which also didn't start well, so there's still hope).

 

[Smiley]

You're bound to get differing opinions, and here is the first. Q & A is a great read, but Before Dishonor is the best post-NEM story so far.

 

[Christopher]

At this point, all the Titan novels deal with that ship exclusively, except for the first one, Taking Wing, which briefly features the Enterprise in an early chapter. Otherwise, the Titan series and the post-NEM TNG series are separate entities from different editors -- part of the same overall continuity, but not overlapping much. The Titan series contains the following books:

Taking Wing
The Red King
Orion's Hounds
Sword of Damocles

Plus Over a Torrent Sea, which I'm going to begin writing as soon as CBS approves the outline.

And the post-NEM TNG series contains the following:

Death in Winter
Resistance
Q & A
Before Dishonor

Plus Greater Than the Sum, due in August. Then the Destiny trilogy in October - December will be a full crossover between the Enterprise, Titan, and some characters from DS9 and other series.

Also, the Titan and the Enterprise both appear in Captain's Blood and Captain's Glory by William Shatner and Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens, but those books are not quite in the same continuity as the others.

 

[Trent Roman]

^ Whereas I thought Before Dishonor was epic fail, so to speak. The TNG Relaunch book with the best overall critical consensus so far is Q&A.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

EDIT: In reply to Smiley.

 

[LightningStorm]

My opinion:

Death in Winter is ok, but not a "Must Read"
Resistance is somewhat below average
Q&A is somewhat above average, only a "must read" if you like Q
Before Dishonor is TERRIBLE -- but falls in the "must read" due to the largeness and lasting consequences of the events within.

Let's also not forget Articles of the Federation, which is pure greatness, and requires no prior reading to understand.

As Christopher said the Titan books focus on Titan exclusively, but I think even given that his own book "Orion's Hounds" is a must-read.

And as a "typical internet poster" I'll go ahead and review the book before it comes out... and say Destiny coming at the end of this year will be a MUST read.

 

[Section 31]

I've read all of the TNG Relaunch to date, and here are my thoughts:

Death in Winter - Not the absolute best Star Trek novel ever, but I thought it was of acceptable quality. Most of it happens off-ship while the Enterprise is still in drydock after Nemesis. It mainly features Picard and Beverly, with cameos from two of MJF's Stargazer characters. Overall a fast, easy read and acceptably entertaining.

Resistance - Not horrible, but not that great either. Mediocre is how I would describe it. The Borg are back, but not written very cleverly. The final solution comes off a little lame. We learn about three new crewmembers, only to have two of them killed off, dropping us nearly back to square one. Read it to get the overall background to the books that follow, but don't expect much.

Q&A - I'll join the consensus in identifying this book as the diamond in the rough. It's a fast and entertaining read featuring Q and giving some background tying in each of Q's appearances in the show and some previous novels. It introduces us to two new characters that may actually stick around, plus adding to the characterization of the new counselor from the last book. This one, of any of them, is definitely worth your time.

Before Dishonor - This is uncategorically the worst Star Trek novel I've ever read (out of almost ninety). The Borg are back again, but have "evolved" in a way that's almost ludicrous. There are far too many cutesy jokes and references for my taste (the Pluto jokes, the historical references to Paul Revere and Neville Chamberlain, the gift shop joke), and the Borg ship flies through the heart of a star, but is somehow still vulnerable to the planet killer's anti-proton beam (wtf?). But the worst parts by far are 1) the new personalities that were thoughtfully sculpted in Q&A undergo a complete character destruction at David's hands, betraying Picard, Worf, Beverly, Geordi, & Spock, yet somehow quickly forgiven and allowed to remain on the ship and 2) Although billed as a TNG novel, it heavily features two Voyager characters (including having one as the only person on the cover). Not that big a deal, except that one of the characters undergoes an irrevocable life change. Again, not an unforgivable sin, but because it happens in a novel so badly written and sub-standard, it left me with a very bitter sense of extreme disappointment. I'm not normally a proponent of "reset buttons", but if there was ever a place I'd like to roll the clock back and overwrite something, this is it.

^All that being said, though, I think that the best is yet to come. It's important with a multi-author series not to pre-judge the work of one person harshly by the failings of another. Christopher L. Bennett and David Mack have written excellent novels in the past, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they resurrect what was once a promising (and eagerly anticipated by me) series.

 

[Section 31]

[repeat post deleted]

 

[NovusInceptum]

Huh...that's strange. I liked Resistance, Q&A, and Before Dishonor. I thought they were all exceptional examples of post-Nemesis TNG.

...or maybe I'm just blind...

 

[Turtletrekker]

The Titan series has diminished in merit with each subsequent release,

Hardly. Orion's Hounds was not only by far the best release of the Titan series to this point, but it is also one of the best Trek novels released in the last several years from any Trek series by any author.

 

[KRAD]

It exhibits many of the shortcomings of KRAD's work, but is also an examplar of what he does best.

I'm curious -- if you don't mind, Cicero, and if you don't want to explicate, I understand -- as to which elements of Q & A exhibit the former, and which parts exhibit the latter.

 

[ronny]

i'm in the same boat as a lot of people. so far the TNG-R just hasn't been wowing me. and even though i liked Q&A the best of the lot i still enjoyed burning house by KRAD which came out a couple months later a LOT more.

i have been enjoying titan a lot though. my least favorite of the bunch has been the 2nd one and even that one wasn't that bad. just not as good as the other 3.

 

[captcalhoun]

i liked all of the TNG novels i've read

Resistance 8/10

Q&A 10/10

Before Dishonor 9/10

As for TTN

Taking Wing 9/10

The Red King 7/10

Orion's Hounds 10/10

Sword of Damocles 8/10

 

[Therin of Andor]

i liked all of the TNG novels i've read

I had similar reactions. "Sword of Damocles" really kept me guessing, so I'd rate that a little higher than you.

 

[Jefferies]

Thank you all for your forthcoming comments and assessments. My impression from what you all are saying is that much of the TNG relaunch is not good, even if enjoyable to some on their own terms. The Q book sounds tempting, especially as I have always liked the character. However, from the synopses I read on sites selling the book, it sounds a bit like a rehash of Encounter at Farpoint. Also one point I was wondering about, as most of the TNG characters have left the ship, how TNGish are these stories, are they true to the style of the show (maybe in the way that the DS9 relaunch was consistent with the series)?

 

[Therin of Andor]

My impression from what you all are saying

All? Several of us didn't say that at all.

it sounds a bit like a rehash of Encounter at Farpoint.

Huh? Why be dissuaded by brief online ads? Why so distrusting of the author that you think he's just rehashing television episodes?

how TNGish are these stories, are they true to the style of the show (maybe in the way that the DS9 relaunch was consistent with the series)?

Sounds to me like you'll never know, because you're too scared to make a purchase and take a risk.

There are always public libraries, I guess...

 

[Steve Roby]

Thank you all for your forthcoming comments and assessments. My impression from what you all are saying is that much of the TNG relaunch is not good, even if enjoyable to some on their own terms.

There's only one of the four TNG books that I really liked without reservation (Q&A); I thought two of them were average with one feeling too much like a retread of a lot of other stuff we'd seen before (Death in Winter and Resistance respectively), and one was frustrating, a frequently fun read with some big stumbling blocks that, the more I thought about it, annoyed me (Before Dishonor).

Likewise, I've found the Titan books a bit of a mixed bag: one I liked, one I found disappointing, one I loved, one I found disappointing.

But all of that is just my opinion. It doesn't really tell you anything useful. You don't know the kinds of things I like; my favourite writers may be your all-time least favourite writers, and vice versa. You'll never know if you'd like any of these books until you read them, because it's all subjective.

The Q book sounds tempting, especially as I have always liked the character. However, from the synopses I read on sites selling the book, it sounds a bit like a rehash of Encounter at Farpoint.

I can't say that's how I'd describe the book at all. It does revisit past Q stories, but it does so to view them in a different light, to put them into a context we (and Picard et al.) didn't understand until now.

 

[JoeZhang]

Of the ones I read - death in Winter was average and before dishonor was a real steamer, someone should pay you to read it not the other way around....

 

[KRAD]

The Q book sounds tempting, especially as I have always liked the character. However, from the synopses I read on sites selling the book, it sounds a bit like a rehash of Encounter at Farpoint.

Speaking as the guy who wrote it, it isn't even remotely a rehash of "Encounter at Farpoint," or much of anything else. It's a new adventure that ties together all of Q's prior appearances.

Also one point I was wondering about, as most of the TNG characters have left the ship, how TNGish are these stories, are they true to the style of the show (maybe in the way that the DS9 relaunch was consistent with the series)?

They're completely "TNGish." First of all, "most" of the characters are still there -- of the seven main characters, we still have four of 'em. Only Riker, Troi, and Data are gone -- Picard, Worf, La Forge, and Crusher still serve on the ship.

 

[Jefferies]

The Q book sounds tempting, especially as I have always liked the character. However, from the synopses I read on sites selling the book, it sounds a bit like a rehash of Encounter at Farpoint.

Speaking as the guy who wrote it, it isn't even remotely a rehash of "Encounter at Farpoint," or much of anything else. It's a new adventure that ties together all of Q's prior appearances.

Also one point I was wondering about, as most of the TNG characters have left the ship, how TNGish are these stories, are they true to the style of the show (maybe in the way that the DS9 relaunch was consistent with the series)?

They're completely "TNGish." First of all, "most" of the characters are still there -- of the seven main characters, we still have four of 'em. Only Riker, Troi, and Data are gone -- Picard, Worf, La Forge, and Crusher still serve on the ship.

Thanks for responding. I think from what I have read here I will give this book a try. And sorry about the rehash comment, I was just trying to summarise quickly what I had read at online bookshops.

About Crusher and Worf. I thought she had gone of to work at Starfleet Medical and I wasn't aware Worf had rejoined the crew indefinitely? If Worf is officially posted on the Enterprise is he the new first officer now?