Trek Books that are just horrible -- new and old
- Thread starter Nathan
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The pre-RotF Enterprise relaunch. Did not enjoy, and never got beyond Beneath the Raptor's Wing.
The Great Starship Race. I usually enjoy Diane Carey's work (even the much-malligned Red Sector), but this bored me to tears.
Assignment: Eternity. Bored me to death.
In all cases, there are other works by the same authors I have very much enjoyed.
The Great Starship Race. I usually enjoy Diane Carey's work (even the much-malligned Red Sector), but this bored me to tears.
Assignment: Eternity. Bored me to death.
In all cases, there are other works by the same authors I have very much enjoyed.
I believe that (outside fanfiction) the most homoerotic subtext between the TOS main characters is present in the Marshak/Culbreath novels...
I have read all of those, and I thought Price of the Phoenix was the best. It was the most directly homoerotic, so I enjoyed the sexy atmosphere, but it was also really fast paced, with lots of action and adventure. Another highlight of both the Phoenix novels is the strong characterization and prominent role of the female Romulan Commander. Their take on her is a really powerful and dynamic figure who shares the spotlight equally with Kirk and Spock. I could easily imagine this version of the character being the star of her own series.
Any examples of homoeroticism snuck into non TOS Trek novels? I imagine by the time TNG and beyond novels came along the editors weren't letting slash fiction sneak in thru the door, until we got to the point where supporting LGBT and other non heteronormative aliens were appearing openly in the novels.
I have a copy of Spock Enslaved. Some eBay sellers are asking as much as $300 for it, although I got my copy for less than a tenth of that.
Apparently a copy of this was on display in the dealer's room at a convention where Mark Lenard was one of the guests of honor. He saw it, and shook his head, saying, "Oh, my son..."
The only example I can think of would be some of the Bashir/Garak material. It does come across as somewhat slashy on screen, and it doesn't surprise me in the least that there's a fair bit of slashfic out there.
I'm surprised nobody's mentioned DS9 "Bloodletter", by KW Jeter. It's obvious the novel was written before the show went on the air, but nonetheless the author showed complete disregard for the characters (as described in the Writer's Guide).
As for Carey... geez, I don't know. I enjoyed the Piper's book, her political views notwithstanding. But the nautical references get tiresome after a while. And she's not into the new series. But, as @Chistopher says (I finished the last DTI e-book, Borg Dinosaurs, yeah!), "Fire ship" is a good book. In fact, it's the best Voyager novel before the relaunch IMHO. And "Best destiny" is pretty good as well.
One more: I always had problems with the LA Graf novels, with the exception of "Traitor winds". The worst was "Armageddon sky", their entry for the "Day of honor" series. It was boooring. Same with "Rough trails", from "New earth".
As for Carey... geez, I don't know. I enjoyed the Piper's book, her political views notwithstanding. But the nautical references get tiresome after a while. And she's not into the new series. But, as @Chistopher says (I finished the last DTI e-book, Borg Dinosaurs, yeah!), "Fire ship" is a good book. In fact, it's the best Voyager novel before the relaunch IMHO. And "Best destiny" is pretty good as well.
One more: I always had problems with the LA Graf novels, with the exception of "Traitor winds". The worst was "Armageddon sky", their entry for the "Day of honor" series. It was boooring. Same with "Rough trails", from "New earth".
How about their novelization of "Caretaker", Sebastion? Or Julie Ecklar's "Kobayashi Maru"? (Ecklar's was part of the L.A. Graf team)
I'm probably going to read Carey's First Frontier TOS novel this week. The idea sound interesting, dinosaurs, time travel. But I'm rather worn out on Carey right now.
I recently picked up a bunch of old Voyager novels at a secondhand book store, so I now have every Voyager novel that's not a novelization except for Carey's Fire Ship. I'm unsure if I'm going to get it or not. The collector in me wants it just for completion's sake.
This also makes me want to get more of the old novels. I've not read much of the numbered DS9 novels yet, and I have the first few of them in my stacks to be read soon. It's tempting to try and get more or all of them. The collecting can be nearly as fun as the reading, but I have lots to read still and I generally think the newer novels from the last 12 to 15 years or so are of higher quality than the older numbered novels. I am generalizing, as some of the older novels are good, but the quality was more hit or miss back then it seems.
I recently picked up a bunch of old Voyager novels at a secondhand book store, so I now have every Voyager novel that's not a novelization except for Carey's Fire Ship. I'm unsure if I'm going to get it or not. The collector in me wants it just for completion's sake.
This also makes me want to get more of the old novels. I've not read much of the numbered DS9 novels yet, and I have the first few of them in my stacks to be read soon. It's tempting to try and get more or all of them. The collecting can be nearly as fun as the reading, but I have lots to read still and I generally think the newer novels from the last 12 to 15 years or so are of higher quality than the older numbered novels. I am generalizing, as some of the older novels are good, but the quality was more hit or miss back then it seems.
I've read all of the numbered Voyager novels and I have to say that Fire Ship is one of the better Voyager novels. It's focus is pretty clearly on Janeway while she's temporarily separated from her crew. It's nothing groundbreaking but it is a solid Janeway novel.
borgboy;10639174 I recently picked up a bunch of old Voyager novels at a secondhand book store said:
I was thinking more of the numbers novels being hit or miss. The hardcovers were allowed bigger scope and allowed to make more meaningful contributions to the history of Trek. That's not to say there aren't some great numbered novels out there, but there are a few forgettable ones among them. Having to put all the toys back in the box did really limit what the novels could do, of course.
Sorry to bring this thread back to life, but I just read a Trek comic and thought this might the the best place to air my thoughts. I started reading DC Comics TNG miniseries that launched their TNG line. Issue two is most likely the worst story I've ever read. Not just worst Star Trek story, but the worst story of any kind.
The Enterprise crew, on the night before Christmas, celebrate. The clothes they change into made me temporarily think they were dreaming or had been transported to an alternate reality. Picard's party clothes looked bizarre, and Yar's looked like something out of a bondage sex club. An alien ship encounters the Enterprise, and the crew is invited aboard for the festivities. The bizarre alien Christmas parties which we glimpse are populated by entire cultures of specific aliens who work on the Enterprise.
Also aboard the ship is the aliens apparent arch nemesis, a non corporal entity whom they have been trying to destroy. It is then revealed that the non corporal entity takes the form of Santa Claus (yes seriously) and when the aliens remove their masks they look just like the Grinch (yes seriously again). Picard and crew help the entity spread it's love into the hearts of the aliens, and all is right with the world.
And all of this is played out as seriously as could be, just as if this were a normal issue of the comic. It makes the Star Wars Holiday Special look like a great work of art.
Wow. Just wow.
The Enterprise crew, on the night before Christmas, celebrate. The clothes they change into made me temporarily think they were dreaming or had been transported to an alternate reality. Picard's party clothes looked bizarre, and Yar's looked like something out of a bondage sex club. An alien ship encounters the Enterprise, and the crew is invited aboard for the festivities. The bizarre alien Christmas parties which we glimpse are populated by entire cultures of specific aliens who work on the Enterprise.
Also aboard the ship is the aliens apparent arch nemesis, a non corporal entity whom they have been trying to destroy. It is then revealed that the non corporal entity takes the form of Santa Claus (yes seriously) and when the aliens remove their masks they look just like the Grinch (yes seriously again). Picard and crew help the entity spread it's love into the hearts of the aliens, and all is right with the world.
And all of this is played out as seriously as could be, just as if this were a normal issue of the comic. It makes the Star Wars Holiday Special look like a great work of art.
Wow. Just wow.
^Yeah, Mike Carlin's Trek comics were not exactly the high point of the series. But the later issues of his TNG miniseries are somewhat better than the Christmas issue. There's a scene with Data in the Q story that's really pretty good, although totally inconsistent with Data's later characterization in the show.
Just out of curiosity, what is this? The only reference I could find to "Juggernaut" was a VOY episode.
Any of the Diane Carey TOS books are just plain icky. And formulaic. I'm absolutely convinced that she was the original "Mary Sue" novelist that gave Rodenberry fits -- with good reason ("Dreadnought!" "Battlestations!")
Almost every single book has a heavily-accented character, usually as comic relief. Some have childish drawings of her newly invented ships. And most have remarkably self-absorbed sections detailing her mawkish sailing experiences. As if anyone cares.
Oh -- and she almost always stops all the action to insert a political manifesto, usually along Ayn Rand lines, whom she actually quotes in "Final Frontier."
Yeah. Star Trek and Ayn Rand. They go together perfectly.
Almost every single book has a heavily-accented character, usually as comic relief. Some have childish drawings of her newly invented ships. And most have remarkably self-absorbed sections detailing her mawkish sailing experiences. As if anyone cares.
Oh -- and she almost always stops all the action to insert a political manifesto, usually along Ayn Rand lines, whom she actually quotes in "Final Frontier."
Yeah. Star Trek and Ayn Rand. They go together perfectly.
No, there were tons of "Mary Sue" novels before hers, not to mention all the fanfic stories that led to the creation of the nickname in the first place (the original Mary Sue was the star of a fanfic parody of all the earlier fanfic stories that featured the character type). You want to see egregious Mary Sues in professionally published novels, look at Elizabeth Schaefer from Death's Angel by Kathleen Sky or Sola Thane from Triangle by Sondra Marshak & Myrna Culbreath.
I don't see Piper from Dreadnought!/Battlestations! as a Mary Sue at all. Rather, those books are the proto-"Lower Decks" or Young Justice (the TV series). They're looking at the established series from the perspective of a fresh set of characters, the junior proteges of the core cast, who look up to them and try to learn from their example. That's very different from the Mary Sue formula, in which the new character outperforms, dominates, and marginalizes the core cast. Piper and her team are three steps behind Kirk and his team at every stage, basically just trying to keep up.
And the Piper books are just about the least formulaic TOS novels that had ever been published up to that point (aside from The Final Reflection), since they were the first to shake up the formula by writing from the "Lower Decks" perspective, not to mention writing in first person, a novelty for the Trek line.
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