TrekLit Authors' greatest novels
- Thread starter RonG
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I haven't read Destiny, and I'd substitute Buried Age for Orion's Hounds, but otherwise
So far, I'd say Reap The Whirlwind is Mack's best, but from what I hear, Destiny will likely dethrone it.
Sweet.
Reap the Whirlwind is a great book, and I would have put it down as well had it not been for Destiny.
And yes, for the record, Destiny heartily dethroned it.
Ex Machina was a thoughtful and intelligent exploration of the Enterprise crew just after The Motion Picture; it was an era I hadn't ever given much thought to, and seeing his takes on those characters really surprised me. It's probably my favorite TOS novel. Don't get me wrong, I really love it a lot.
But what made The Buried Age better for me was that it had a lot more to offer, as well as hitting the same high points of Ex Machina. Early TNG is, to put it bluntly, quite crap; the characters hadn't solidified, the writing was shallow and inconsistent, and the spirit of the show hadn't come close to landing yet. Bennett takes that strange, disjointed atmosphere, and writes a prologue to it that makes it all make sense in-universe. I actually got to the end of the book and wanted to immediately go watch Encounter At Farpoint again, feeling as though I at last understood where the characters of Troi, Picard, Yar, and Data were coming from at the beginning of the show. It turned one of the most horrible seasons in all of Star Trek into a story about a bitter, isolated man slowly warming to a new situation, as well as adding similar arcs for Data and Troi. It made what I'd previously considered one of the biggest flaws in all of Star Trek make perfect sense to me.
And then on TOP of that, it was what I'd genuinely call an epic; Ex Machina was a small story with excellent characterizations, this was a BIG story with excellent characterizations. It worked towards explaining a foundation for the universe we live in that would explain what all of Trek has looked like since TOS. It invented a wholly new and fascinating advanced alien race. It took Picard to places I've never seen that character taken. It ran over 400 pages with nary a dull moment. It was really just brilliant on so many more levels than Ex Machina.
In my opinion, anyway
While The Buried Age is indeed a fantastic novel, playing to the strengths of CLB, as well as telling a sweeping epic story, I believe Ex Machina tops it because of one thing: Characterization.
I went into the novel with lowered expectations as not only it was a direct sequel to TMP, it was also a sequel to a TOS episode (FTWiHaIHTtS) (and I usually prefer more "stand-alone" stories, if such a term can be applied to serial sci-fi\media tie-in...), and while The Buried Age is more to my liking on that regard, Ex Machina's characterization is what sets it apart.
First, the atmosphere on the Enterprise, and the relationships between the characters are a first (AFAIK) for the TOS cast. The fact that the "big three" (Kirk, Spock and McCoy) start the novel with the disrespect (and even scorn) of fellow officers is fascinating, and the personal journey each character undergoes (main as well as supporting) is phenomenal IMO.
The fact that Ex Machina is also filled with little tibbits (such as Sulu's "decision" to go into command) and the overall quality of the prose, just make this a bona-fide Trek masterpiece
Last, my personally rankd CLB TrekLit list (from what I'd read of course):
Ex Machina
The Buried Age
Orion's Hounds
Greater than the Sum
I went into the novel with lowered expectations as not only it was a direct sequel to TMP, it was also a sequel to a TOS episode (FTWiHaIHTtS) (and I usually prefer more "stand-alone" stories, if such a term can be applied to serial sci-fi\media tie-in...), and while The Buried Age is more to my liking on that regard, Ex Machina's characterization is what sets it apart.
First, the atmosphere on the Enterprise, and the relationships between the characters are a first (AFAIK) for the TOS cast. The fact that the "big three" (Kirk, Spock and McCoy) start the novel with the disrespect (and even scorn) of fellow officers is fascinating, and the personal journey each character undergoes (main as well as supporting) is phenomenal IMO.
The fact that Ex Machina is also filled with little tibbits (such as Sulu's "decision" to go into command) and the overall quality of the prose, just make this a bona-fide Trek masterpiece
Last, my personally rankd CLB TrekLit list (from what I'd read of course):
Ex Machina
The Buried Age
Orion's Hounds
Greater than the Sum
Ex Machina is by far my favourite book by CLB. But that just may be because in recent years I've developed quite a preference for TOS-novels. *g*
Orion's Hounds was, so far, the best entry in the Titan-series (not counting Destiny), but I couldn't get over the first 100 pages of The Buried Age. I don't know why exactly because I was very much looking forward to that novel... but somehow it just didn't work for me.
Orion's Hounds was, so far, the best entry in the Titan-series (not counting Destiny), but I couldn't get over the first 100 pages of The Buried Age. I don't know why exactly because I was very much looking forward to that novel... but somehow it just didn't work for me.
Thank you very much!
Something like that. I've wanted for a very long time to do the TMP sequel that nobody else ever did. It just seemed to me like it was a story waiting to be told.
Thank you. That's an intriguing way of looking at it. I wasn't consciously trying for anything of the sort, but I suppose I was trying to find a way to explain the characters' early portrayals in the context of what we later learned about them.
Well, the meat of the story doesn't really begin until after the first 100 pages. I pretty much structured TBA as a collection of four novella-length "episodes" that add up to a larger story arc. And 100 pages only gets you through the first and shortest "episode" (which is the least relevant to the overall story, more an extended prologue than anything else) and the first "act" of the second.
Early TNG is, to put it bluntly, quite crap; the characters hadn't solidified, the writing was shallow and inconsistent, and the spirit of the show hadn't come close to landing yet...
...It turned one of the most horrible seasons in all of Star Trek...
...It made what I'd previously considered one of the biggest flaws in all of Star Trek make perfect sense to me... ...In my opinion, anyway
haha, nice I see that your opinion on the matter of Season 1 is quite impassioned. Though it makes me wonder what you thought of seasons 6 and 7 of TNG, about which I've had similar feelings.So would you say it referenced a lot of Continuity? Filled in a lot of blanks?
The first 100 pages is the shortest episode? How long is this book again?
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In order - yes; why bother having opinions if they aren't strong ones? And no, I rather liked 6th and 7th. A few bum episodes, to be sure, but the cast chemistry was stronger than ever.
...
So would you say it referenced a lot of Continuity? Filled in a lot of blanks?
...
The first 100 pages is the shortest episode? How long is this book again?
Yes, it filled in a ton of blanks. It filled in blanks you never realized were blanks.
And the book is 433 pages of very small print. If I remember correctly, it was contracted as 100,000 words (roughly the length of Articles Of The Federation or each individual Destiny novel), but came out over 130,000.
No, it's the first and shortest part plus 1/4 of the second part. Part I is 66 pages, and Parts II-IV are a bit over 120 pages each.
Maybe it was because I was ten or so When I watched with my dad on it's first airing, so it is perhaps a bit canonized in my personal psyche, but what were the real crappers to you about Season 1? Despite the occasionally awkward writing I always felt that Eps in the first couple seasons had an epic quality and grandeur to them as well as a freshness and feeling of limitless possibility. Whereas for me that latter seasons became trite and pointless, coming nowhere near to living up to their potential. The exact opposite happened with DS9, but that's a topic for another thread.
I see what you're saying by the characterization and personal relations becoming stronger though, I just always felt it could have become much more. Though I love the Series so, and grew up on it, in retrospect, in my eyes anyway, it peaked around season 4 and then began its slow decline.
Now that just sounds dirty...
The following are the Star Trek authors who have written stories in my top ten list:
Diane Duane - Dark Mirror
Peter David - Q-Squared/Vendetta/Imzadi
Judith and Gar Reeves-Stevens - Millennium trilogy
David Mack - The Sorrows of Empire
Jean Lorrah - Metamorphosis
Theodore Sturgeon & James Gunn - The Joy Machine
Armin Shimerman and David R. George III - The 34th Rule
Christopher Bennett--The Buried Age (Lost Tales)
KRAD got very close with Articles of the Federation. I'm looking forward to seeing how he did with Q&A and The Art of the Impossible (currently on my to-be-read list).
Diane Duane - Dark Mirror
Peter David - Q-Squared/Vendetta/Imzadi
Judith and Gar Reeves-Stevens - Millennium trilogy
David Mack - The Sorrows of Empire
Jean Lorrah - Metamorphosis
Theodore Sturgeon & James Gunn - The Joy Machine
Armin Shimerman and David R. George III - The 34th Rule
Christopher Bennett--The Buried Age (Lost Tales)
KRAD got very close with Articles of the Federation. I'm looking forward to seeing how he did with Q&A and The Art of the Impossible (currently on my to-be-read list).
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If you need to ask that question, then you need to read Wil Wheaton's series of TNG retro-reviews at TVSquad.com.
(And even those who don't need to ask the question should check them out...)
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