Underappreciated TrekLit
- Thread starter Mage
- Start date
For whatever reason I often re-read Death County by L.A. Graf. I have NO idea why I like it so much because to be honest...there isn't a lot to it. Maybe its because it deals with the secondary tier characters, Sulu, Chekov and Uhuru. It highlights their friendships and there is nonstop action. Pure escapism.
Depends on the audience. I know books like The Final Reflection, and Duane's Rihannsu books are well mentioned when they get mentioned, but are they all that well known to the modern Lit crowd? I get the impression that they're considered almost "grognard lit" today.
Not that ASD is that old.
Nevertheless...how about How Much For Just the Planet? I rarely see that mentioned or mentioned well, and I think it's a pretty decent farce/comedy along the lines of "Trouble With Tribbles" or "Piece of the Action".
It polarizes. I couldn't stand it when I've read it. Other people loved it. So it may be underappreciated.
I was always somewhat partial to Deep Domain from the 1980s.
I'm quite fond of TNG: Gulliver's Fugitives by Keith Sharee. I gather a lot of people don't care for it, but I think it's a very imaginative book that makes a strong statement against censorship. Other numbered TNG novels I like but don't often hear praised are Spartacus by T.L. Mancour and Imbalance by V.E. Mitchell.
I remember liking Deep Domain quite a bit, also.
War Drums by John Vornholt was one of the adventure of the week TNG novels that came out during the run of the series. I don't remember exactly why I enjoyed it so much, but do remember it featured Worf and Ensign Ro. It also had some resemblance to the "Birthright" two-parter, which must have been coincidental since that had not aired yet when the novel came out.
War Drums by John Vornholt was one of the adventure of the week TNG novels that came out during the run of the series. I don't remember exactly why I enjoyed it so much, but do remember it featured Worf and Ensign Ro. It also had some resemblance to the "Birthright" two-parter, which must have been coincidental since that had not aired yet when the novel came out.
Shatner's "lol I'm resurrecting Kirk you guys!" novels are a guilty pleasure.
They're so bad they're amazing. The Mirror Universe trilogy is among my favorite TrekLit (Mirror Kirk is also alive! He gave Mirror Geordi his ocular implants! Also now he's a good guy and looking for Mirror Teilani for reasons that make no actual sense!).
And whenever I'm sad I just remember that Shatner had Kirk and Picard go on vacation to Bajor and stumble ass-backwards onto one of the lost Orbs and then I'm happy with the world again.
They're so bad they're amazing. The Mirror Universe trilogy is among my favorite TrekLit (Mirror Kirk is also alive! He gave Mirror Geordi his ocular implants! Also now he's a good guy and looking for Mirror Teilani for reasons that make no actual sense!).
And whenever I'm sad I just remember that Shatner had Kirk and Picard go on vacation to Bajor and stumble ass-backwards onto one of the lost Orbs and then I'm happy with the world again.
Survivors and Masks are definite favorites of mine from the early TNG days, and I don't really hear a lot about them from others.
Federation for one, must be over 20 years old now.
The Invasion miniseries
The Invasion miniseries
Gemini's main plot is a bit naff, but I thought the voices of McCoy, Kirk and Spock were captured pretty well.
There's also an early TNG novel Strike Zone, which is pretty average outside a glorious moment where Data actually gets to retort to one of Pulaskis early S2 put downs.
There's also an early TNG novel Strike Zone, which is pretty average outside a glorious moment where Data actually gets to retort to one of Pulaskis early S2 put downs.
TNG Rogue Saucer is one of my favorites of the numbered series. I've also always been partial to Survivors. I think Spock Must Die! is often remembered with mainly chuckles, but for my money it has always been one of my most enjoyed Trek reads, going back to when I first started reading Trek fiction as a kid.
An early Trek book I liked when I was *much* younger was TOS's Black Fire. I'll admit, I was still in school when I read it, but it was the first book I read more than once. I'm almost scared to read it again now, all this time later. I'm worried that I'll change my opinion of it...
I really loved How Much For Just The Planet? It shows that TrekLit can do comedy aswell.
Is Spartacus the one where riker burns his throat eating android food? That was pretty fun.
Masks & Federation get a fair bit of appreciation whenever someone does a recommendation thread. Which isn't surprising in my opinion, as Masks is one of the best TNG books and Federation is one of my top three trek books full stop.
I'm not sure. Maybe it's because it is one of the older novels and therefore not omnipresent in the reader's minds.
Okay, seems like we're coming up with quite a list of good older books - Spartacus, Federation, Ishmael, Masks are all books I remember really enjoying when they come out. Another I might add would be Metamorphosis - the first "giant" TNG novel by Jean Lorrah with an interesting take on Data that's probably not consistent with his later portrayal on TV.
These all seem to be pretty well regarded when they come up in discussions here, so I'm not sure if they fit what the OP meant by "underappreciated" novels. However, when the request is for recommendations of good Treklit, books like these do seem to be overshadowed by the acclaim for more recent work like the DS9 and Voyager relaunches, Articles of Federation, Destiny trilogy, etc. In that sense, I would say that the books we're coming up with here are underappreciated.
These all seem to be pretty well regarded when they come up in discussions here, so I'm not sure if they fit what the OP meant by "underappreciated" novels. However, when the request is for recommendations of good Treklit, books like these do seem to be overshadowed by the acclaim for more recent work like the DS9 and Voyager relaunches, Articles of Federation, Destiny trilogy, etc. In that sense, I would say that the books we're coming up with here are underappreciated.
Similar threads
