Now, if you want to go following the whole story then all four books are "Must Read" stories. The Crusher thing is covered in Death in Winter. The Worf thing in Resistance. Q&A introduces the new crew.
TNG post-Nemesis novels: Any must-reads out there?
- Thread starter Jefferies
- Start date
Now, if you want to go following the whole story then all four books are "Must Read" stories. The Crusher thing is covered in Death in Winter. The Worf thing in Resistance. Q&A introduces the new crew.
If it helps at all, I'm not much of a TNG fan myself (TOS for me, with DS9 as a series I haven't seen enough of to have an opinion on) but I thought KRAD's Q & A was a superb Trek novel.
I'd really like to read his Articles of the Federation, but it unfortunately seems to be out-of-print...
You should try an out-of-print vendor, like Amazon Marketplace (via the "see all buying options" link on amazon.com). I've had some success finding out-of-print Star Trek books in new condition from there.
I haven't read Death in Winter or Resistance yet, but I have read the other two, and Q&A was the better book by far. Just give you an idea of my feelings for Before Dishonor, I stopped a couple chapters in, and that is the only Trek book that I can remember stopping reding before I finished it.
I also got to a point with Before Dishonor that I just had to set it down for a bit. When I picked it back up, it was mostly out of curiousity to see how bad it continued to get and to be able to participate in the discussions about it here.
The point of divergence for me began when the Borg cube "absorbed" the Thunderchild. Up until then I thought the book was acceptable, but after that scene the absurdity level kept climbing to where, when the mutiny happened, I had had enough.
[deleted]
Last edited:
I didn't even make it that far.
Although my quiting was mostly due to the reviews I read here, and also because what little I did read did absoultely nothing for me. I am probably going to try again though, because it seems like pretty much everything in the Post Nemesis timeframe will be continuing it's Borg storyline.
The last thing I remember is Janeway being absorbed, and Jellico being prick to 7.
Which is often the blurb, or even what was written months earlier for the wholesalers' catalogue!
These events are well-documented in the novels themselves. They are key to your enjoyment of the plots. "Will they or won't they?" stuff. Just buy the books, read and enjoy!
I must be the only person on the board that thinks that, out of the TNG-Relaunch, 'Before Dishonor' is, by far, the best of the three. 'Resistance' was okay and fun but boring in parts and - as others have said - we got three new _interesting_ crewmembers and then two of them get slaughtered.
T'Lana, with barely any personality of her own (the other two had more) comes over as merely a person to disagree with Picard - it seems that that's all she's there to do.
I can't get into Q&A, I keep stumbling - the characterisations of the new characters (even T'Lana, whom I love) comes across as annoying (especially Kadohata).
This isn't a criticism of KRAD's style - in general, I'm quite a fan of his work - but I just don't like this novel.
However, 'Before Dishonor' is a fun romp - it's got some great cinematic moments, a fun appearance by Spock and it gives the new crewmembers an interesting set of personalities (if they'd had these in the last novel, they wouldn't have been quite as boring) - and a perfectly justifiable reason for not necessarily trusting Picard's decision, thus causing the mutiny - as well as actually making the Borg fracking scary for the first time in years.
But then, I'm a major fan of PAD's and love his style of writing.
Of the Titan series?
Book 1 is good - but not really representative of the Titan series as a whole - which is about getting back to good old fashioned exploration, which is what Star Trek does best. Titan, with it's emphasis on plausible science, feels like the SeaQuest DSV of the Trek world - (albeit without an annoying kid and a talking dolphin - instead, we get an annoying kid and a talking four armed teddy bear - *joke* -).
Book 2 is where Titan hits its stride - an interesting problem for the crew to face and the full cast introduced (one of the main cast doesn't arrive until the end of the first book).
Book 3 is probably my favourite so far - and, whilst Book 4 (Damocles) is ruddy good, it's just not quite up to the standard of Book 3.
T'Lana, with barely any personality of her own (the other two had more) comes over as merely a person to disagree with Picard - it seems that that's all she's there to do.
I can't get into Q&A, I keep stumbling - the characterisations of the new characters (even T'Lana, whom I love) comes across as annoying (especially Kadohata).
This isn't a criticism of KRAD's style - in general, I'm quite a fan of his work - but I just don't like this novel.
However, 'Before Dishonor' is a fun romp - it's got some great cinematic moments, a fun appearance by Spock and it gives the new crewmembers an interesting set of personalities (if they'd had these in the last novel, they wouldn't have been quite as boring) - and a perfectly justifiable reason for not necessarily trusting Picard's decision, thus causing the mutiny - as well as actually making the Borg fracking scary for the first time in years.
But then, I'm a major fan of PAD's and love his style of writing.
Of the Titan series?
Book 1 is good - but not really representative of the Titan series as a whole - which is about getting back to good old fashioned exploration, which is what Star Trek does best. Titan, with it's emphasis on plausible science, feels like the SeaQuest DSV of the Trek world - (albeit without an annoying kid and a talking dolphin - instead, we get an annoying kid and a talking four armed teddy bear - *joke* -).
Book 2 is where Titan hits its stride - an interesting problem for the crew to face and the full cast introduced (one of the main cast doesn't arrive until the end of the first book).
Book 3 is probably my favourite so far - and, whilst Book 4 (Damocles) is ruddy good, it's just not quite up to the standard of Book 3.
I enjoyed all of the post Nemesis TNG novels.
Death In Winter was probably my favourite out of the four. I just really liked the plot of this book. Anything Romulan-heavy and I'm sold, I guess. And Donatra too? And Tal'Aura?? And Sela!??? Fantastic!! Seriously though, it's a really good read. I thought it was a real page-turner.
Resistance was enjoyable too. I didn't like the characterisation of Sara Nave or the other guy who died so I was pretty happy with how things turned out in the end. Also, I thought it was very unpredictable. I didn't know where it was going so the surprises in the twists of the plot were very satisfying. What I especially loved with this book though was T'Lana. I find it very hard to become too interested in Vulcan characters, presumably because it's more difficult to form an emotional connection.. so the fact that I instantly fell in love with this character was a very pleasant surprise. I just love the way she is written here.
Q&A.. hmm, I did enjoy this book but I'd actually say it was probably the most disappointing of the four, in my opinion. I dunno what it is.. I just saw 'Q back in a great new adventure written by KRAD!' and assumed it'd be a winner. But it was all over way too quickly. The book is too short and it seems very light. And I think too much time is spent showing the same event happening to different people in different places. I think you know what I'm talking about. I mean, fair enough.. I wouldn't have minded if it was done a few times and then we'd get the picture. But there must have been at least ten instances where it was the same process over and over again. Just with different people.
I get that it was to show the scale of what was going on and how it was affecting 'everywhere' but I still think it was overdone to the point where I groaned when it came up again as it was so obvious where it was going.
And then, in the end, the whole situation was explained and wrapped up in a couple of chapters. To me, it just seemed to consist of too much set-up and not enough payoff. Hope that makes sense.
It's still a good book though, it is a fun read. And again, I loved the way Keith continued with the characterisation of T'Lana. And I liked the introduction of Kadohata too. As for Leybenzon... well, let's not go there. I knew I wasn't going to like him from Day 1. Just not my kind of character.... at all. But that's just my own personal taste. Don't mind me.
As for Before Dishonor, I actually really enjoyed this one. But then I love Peter David's writing. It's a very fun read and definitely a page-turner. Sure, it can be a bit ludicrous at times (in regards to Jellico's line about Pluto especially), but anything can happen in Star Trek and that's what I told myself. Perhaps some time can be spent in future books to deal with the consequences of the events in a serious matter, as it certainly wasn't addressed here.
Peter David got Seven of Nine down to a tee, as well. Her characterisation was perfect. Pretty good with Janeway too... but I was very upset with the ending. I mean, how could they!!? (They = The editors)
My only major criticism of Before Dishonor and it is a real one is T'Lana. After so much great stuff from J.M. Dillard and KRAD, she was turned into just another Vulcan bitch in this book. All wrong. And I didn't buy any of it. I sincerely hope this isn't the last we've seen of her because this character has huge potential.
Kadohata didn't bother me in this book. You could tell that she didn't want to mutiny and she regretted it afterwards. She was foolish and egged on by Bad T'Lana and Leybenzon, if you ask me. So I'm happy for her to be redeemed.
As for Leybenzon, get rid, immediately. I didn't like anything about him.
I'm eagerly awaiting Greater Than The Sum now, especially as it it'll be the first full book I'll have read by Christopher and I've heard such great things so I'm very excited.
As for Titan, I've only read Taking Wing so far but I intend to read the rest sometime before Destiny arrives. My only complaint with Taking Wing was that I really wanted a resolution to the Romulan storyline and I didn't get it but other than that, great book.
Death In Winter was probably my favourite out of the four. I just really liked the plot of this book. Anything Romulan-heavy and I'm sold, I guess. And Donatra too? And Tal'Aura?? And Sela!??? Fantastic!! Seriously though, it's a really good read. I thought it was a real page-turner.
Resistance was enjoyable too. I didn't like the characterisation of Sara Nave or the other guy who died so I was pretty happy with how things turned out in the end. Also, I thought it was very unpredictable. I didn't know where it was going so the surprises in the twists of the plot were very satisfying. What I especially loved with this book though was T'Lana. I find it very hard to become too interested in Vulcan characters, presumably because it's more difficult to form an emotional connection.. so the fact that I instantly fell in love with this character was a very pleasant surprise. I just love the way she is written here.
Q&A.. hmm, I did enjoy this book but I'd actually say it was probably the most disappointing of the four, in my opinion. I dunno what it is.. I just saw 'Q back in a great new adventure written by KRAD!' and assumed it'd be a winner. But it was all over way too quickly. The book is too short and it seems very light. And I think too much time is spent showing the same event happening to different people in different places. I think you know what I'm talking about. I mean, fair enough.. I wouldn't have minded if it was done a few times and then we'd get the picture. But there must have been at least ten instances where it was the same process over and over again. Just with different people.
I get that it was to show the scale of what was going on and how it was affecting 'everywhere' but I still think it was overdone to the point where I groaned when it came up again as it was so obvious where it was going.
And then, in the end, the whole situation was explained and wrapped up in a couple of chapters. To me, it just seemed to consist of too much set-up and not enough payoff. Hope that makes sense.
It's still a good book though, it is a fun read. And again, I loved the way Keith continued with the characterisation of T'Lana. And I liked the introduction of Kadohata too. As for Leybenzon... well, let's not go there. I knew I wasn't going to like him from Day 1. Just not my kind of character.... at all. But that's just my own personal taste. Don't mind me.
As for Before Dishonor, I actually really enjoyed this one. But then I love Peter David's writing. It's a very fun read and definitely a page-turner. Sure, it can be a bit ludicrous at times (in regards to Jellico's line about Pluto especially), but anything can happen in Star Trek and that's what I told myself. Perhaps some time can be spent in future books to deal with the consequences of the events in a serious matter, as it certainly wasn't addressed here.
Peter David got Seven of Nine down to a tee, as well. Her characterisation was perfect. Pretty good with Janeway too... but I was very upset with the ending. I mean, how could they!!? (They = The editors)
My only major criticism of Before Dishonor and it is a real one is T'Lana. After so much great stuff from J.M. Dillard and KRAD, she was turned into just another Vulcan bitch in this book. All wrong. And I didn't buy any of it. I sincerely hope this isn't the last we've seen of her because this character has huge potential.
Kadohata didn't bother me in this book. You could tell that she didn't want to mutiny and she regretted it afterwards. She was foolish and egged on by Bad T'Lana and Leybenzon, if you ask me. So I'm happy for her to be redeemed.
As for Leybenzon, get rid, immediately. I didn't like anything about him.
I'm eagerly awaiting Greater Than The Sum now, especially as it it'll be the first full book I'll have read by Christopher and I've heard such great things so I'm very excited.
As for Titan, I've only read Taking Wing so far but I intend to read the rest sometime before Destiny arrives. My only complaint with Taking Wing was that I really wanted a resolution to the Romulan storyline and I didn't get it but other than that, great book.
I enjoyed seeing PAD get his teeth into TNG again.
But that was the idea! They were great new characters - and fate took them too early. Just like in real life. It then meant that every new character in the next few books was not necessarily a permanent fixture either. I guess that makes us tentative to get attached to someone. But the first DS9 Relaunch novel duology did the same with a certain Bolian character, even lulling us into a false sense of security by introducing her as a major character in a comic mini-series ("n-Vector"), and then a cameo in the novel duology "Maximum Warp" first!
JM Dillard herself did a similar thing with her first ST books ("Mindshadow"/"Demons"/"Bloodthirst"). She killed off one of her (supposedly ongoing) original characters in her second book - and it came as a terrible shock. Nothing wrong with that.
I'd hardly say that Jast qualifies in the same manner as Nave and Battaglia, though. Okay, maybe Battaglia, but not Nave.
Sure, Jast dies - but if you hadn't read the comic book (and, at the time, I hadn't - nor had I read the 'Maximum Warp' duology) - you're not missing much, she's in - what? - about three chapters and she's never set up as a regular.
What the TNG Relaunch did with Nave and Battaglia would be comparable with if the DS9 Relaunch had introduced Shar and Vaughn and then chosen to kill them off at the end of the 'Avatar' duology.
I think the problem is that we're invited to become attached to these new characters and then they're unceremoniously slaughtered - replaced in the subsequent novel. With the new replacements, it's almost like a reader might not want to invest time in the new characters for fear that they're not going to make it out -
Senior Officers becoming the Redshirts of the TNG Relaunch novels, eh?
I've not got a problem with Battaglia being killed, but I think the character of Nave got much more interesting once Lio was killed and that dimension would have been much more interesting to see played out over the subsequent novels - and given T'Lana much more to do in the subsequent novels too as she could have developed some sort of friendship with Nave as she counseled her.
How would Nave have dealt with the events in 'Before Dishonor' - would she have sided with Kadohata, would she have sided with Zelik (assuming that she went back to CONN after Resistance)?
But I did read the mini-series and "Maximum Warp" and she was set up as the first new regular, even in "Avatar"! for example, her quick friendship with Kira, which surprises even Kira.
It was a terrible shock to me (and Kira) when she went kablooie.
We're judging the scenario from different vantage points, then
Exactly. Which is one reason why ST fans can have such varying opinions on the standards of ST novels.
(I was still editing when you responded; the quick friendship between Kira and Jast was unique to "Avatar", part of the ploy to cause us to assume Jast was a new regular.)
Actually Avatar did do something similar by
introducing Kitana'klan and making us think he was Odo's Jem'Hadar emissary, then having him turn out to be a saboteur with the Jem'Hadar "intruder," Taran'atar, turning out to be the genuine article.
Point conceded, Christopher. I guess that felt like it was set up from the beginning, the Nave situation though felt like it was trying to be shocking - and we didn't get three new characters in DS9 of which two were killed off, we got Vaughn, Jast, Ro (admittedly not new to Trek, but new to DS9), Shar, Prynn, Taran'atar and Kitana'klan - out of which only two were killed off (and two were 'replacement' characters) and all of which were introduced in the first story (first two books).
My reaction might have been different if Kadohata and Leybenzon had been brought in during Resistance - there's no good reason why Kadohata couldn't have been there in the first book and her appearance there and non-death could have soured the feel of the Nave/Battalgio deaths.
Zel, of course, needed to be left to the second novel - for obvious reasons.
Anyway - the only thing that has, so far, made me raise my eyebrow in Before Dishnor is the order in which the Admirals ask the senior officers to remove Picard from command.
Worf, then LaForge, then Kadohata - shouldn't Kadohata have been asked before the request was made to LaForge? Given she's second officer and all and the novel has repeatedly stated that?
But, this is honestly the only thing to pull me out of the drama so far.
My reaction might have been different if Kadohata and Leybenzon had been brought in during Resistance - there's no good reason why Kadohata couldn't have been there in the first book and her appearance there and non-death could have soured the feel of the Nave/Battalgio deaths.
Zel, of course, needed to be left to the second novel - for obvious reasons.
Anyway - the only thing that has, so far, made me raise my eyebrow in Before Dishnor is the order in which the Admirals ask the senior officers to remove Picard from command.
Worf, then LaForge, then Kadohata - shouldn't Kadohata have been asked before the request was made to LaForge? Given she's second officer and all and the novel has repeatedly stated that?
But, this is honestly the only thing to pull me out of the drama so far.
Hasn't she only just returned from maternity leave? In which case the admirals went with a familiar face first: Geordi.
Yeah, I get that reasoning - which was what I did reason to myself as the reason - it just seemed odd.
Even if Geordi had done what he'd done and started mutiny - surely Kadohata could've come along and removed HIM from command given she's higher up the chain of command?
It seemed an odd move too, given the storyline about the command structure and order following.
Even if Geordi had done what he'd done and started mutiny - surely Kadohata could've come along and removed HIM from command given she's higher up the chain of command?
It seemed an odd move too, given the storyline about the command structure and order following.
Looking back, I think "Before Dishounor" was crap. You have to list it as a must read though as mentioned above, it has lasting effects.
Titan, well, Orions Hounds was so bad after I read it, I took a few months before I started reading "Swords of..." and so far this book has got me interested again. So as for all books, you like some you hate some.
Overall, both TNG post Nemesis and Titan deserved to be read. Looking forward to more TNG stuff since Titan is off the radar for so long.
I have two SCI books I am going to start soon enough.
Titan, well, Orions Hounds was so bad after I read it, I took a few months before I started reading "Swords of..." and so far this book has got me interested again. So as for all books, you like some you hate some.
Overall, both TNG post Nemesis and Titan deserved to be read. Looking forward to more TNG stuff since Titan is off the radar for so long.
I have two SCI books I am going to start soon enough.
Similar threads
