What’s your favorite Star Trek book?

[Mage]

There are so many to choose from....

Una's The Neverending Sacrifice... I hugged that book when I finished it.
Vanguard. Just all of it.
Destiny.
Articles Of The Federation.

Those are a few. I probably missed a few. I enjoy many of Christopher's work. He has a tendency to tie in a lot of it things and make it work.

 

[KRAD]

Maybe I'm still salty about the nuking of the litverse and supplanting it with TV-aligned books...

Um, all the books are "TV-aligned," that's kind of the point. The "litverse" has always been supplanted by new things onscreen, starting in 1979, when the opening scene of The Motion Picture nuked Spock Must Die! This has continued, from TNG's "Second Chances" nuking Imzadi to First Contact nuking Federation to Enterprise's "Affliction"/"Divergence" nuking the 847 theories about smooth-headed-vs.-bumpy-headed Klingons to the existence of Picard, Lower Decks, and Prodigy nuking the litverse to SNW nuking the Early Voyages comic books.

I just don't foresee anything unique like them being written anymore.

Thanks for the insult to me and all the other writers here.

 

[Christopher]

And of course, nothing's been "nuked," because it's all equally unreal anyway. Different works of make-believe have never had to agree with each other; that's part of the fun of make-believe, that freedom to explore alternatives.

 

[VDCNI]

Really tough question,

Going by series

TNG. for the numbered novels probably Q In Law, I would be tempted to say The Buried Age but I'll go for The Crimson Shadow.

DS9. Again really hard given the quality of the relaunch novels. I'll say Unity which sums up that first and best run of DS9 post tv series novels.

Voyager. Children Of The Storm.

Titan. Orion's Hounds

Vanguard. Storming Heaven is great but Reap The Whirlwind just edges it.

TOS. I'm not a huge TOS fan and haven't read all the novels but probably The Weight Of Worlds.

Overall. Can't miss the incredible Destiny trilogy which I've read many times.

Honourable mention. Loved Articles Of The Federation.

 

[Steve Roby]

Favourite Star Trek book? The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, probably. Favourite novel? No idea. Too many to choose from.

 

[youngtrek]

My default answers are usually Strangers from the Sky (Margaret Wise Bonanno) and Federation (Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens). I also really like Doctor’s Orders (Diane Duane).

— David Young

 

[Zapp Brannigan]

Thanks for the insult to me and all the other writers here.

No insult intended, and I'm sorry for being unclear and saying something that may have come off as insulting.

My point was I didn't foresee Grigari being incorporated in post-Coda books because they're too "out there" for TV, and therefore, the current book continuity. That's all.

 

[Christopher]

My point was I didn't foresee Grigari being incorporated in post-Coda books because they're too "out there" for TV, and therefore, the current book continuity. That's all.

I don't follow your logic. The only requirement for tie-ins is to stay consistent with the facts and events of onscreen continuity. Outside of the anomalous era when Richard Arnold imposed tight strictures on the tie-ins, there's never been a requirement that they limit themselves stylistically or conceptually to the kind of story you'd see on TV.

Not to mention that TV Trek today is as stylistically diverse as it's ever been, so I'm not sure what "too 'out there' for TV" even means.

 

[I am not Herbert]

Thanks for the insult to me and all the other writers here.

I feel that if you are going to participate in a forum devoted to discussing (and, necessarily, at times criticizing) books that might include your own, you should set a higher bar for "insult" than this.

 

[Jedi Marso]

The Final Reflection.

 

[KRAD]

I feel that if you are going to participate in a forum devoted to discussing (and, necessarily, at times criticizing) books that might include your own, you should set a higher bar for "insult" than this.

And I feel that if you're going to call me out for being thin-skinned you should know what you're talking about. I'm more than happy to accept constructive and/or intelligent criticism of my work. I am not happy to accept blanket statements about how no writer will ever come up with anything as wonderful as what was done in an older Trek book, because it implies that all the people who write Trek novels forevermore are inferior. @Zapp Brannigan has since explained himself, and while I still don't agree with his premise, I will accept his explanation that any insult was unintentional.

 

[I am not Herbert]

And I feel that if you're going to call me out for being thin-skinned you should know what you're talking about. I'm more than happy to accept constructive and/or intelligent criticism of my work. I am not happy to accept blanket statements about how no writer will ever come up with anything as wonderful as what was done in an older Trek book, because it implies that all the people who write Trek novels forevermore are inferior. @Zapp Brannigan has since explained himself, and while I still don't agree with his premise, I will accept his explanation that any insult was unintentional.

How is it I don't know what I'm talking about? I read the same post you did. The OP gave their opinion as to the likelihood of something along the lines of what they had seen in a previous book recurring again, given the OP's understanding of the current direction of the books. If you think they're wrong, you should say so, citing examples. That's what a forum like this is for. But calling them out for personally "insulting" you and others because the comment could be construed as a commentary on your work brings all discussion to a halt, as though what was said was outside the boundaries of acceptable discourse. No reasonable person reading the OP's comment--and who is not a ST author--would view this comment as outside the boundaries of acceptable discourse. This shouldn't change merely because a ST author is on the site. Should we not make generalized statements about the 1980s books if we find out Laurence Yep has been lurking about here? Should we worry about Kathleen Sky's niece taking offense if we say the Bantam books had problems with characterization? If people are afraid to give their opinions about ST books for fear of "insulting" an author who might be reading the chain, we aren't going to have much of a forum left.

As for being "thin-skinned," I don't have any opinions about that. I don't know you, and you're entitled to feel insulted by whatever you want. I am talking about you giving voice to those feelings in a forum, and the likely chilling effect doing so will have.

 

[Avro Arrow]

How is it I don't know what I'm talking about? I read the same post you did. The OP gave their opinion as to the likelihood of something along the lines of what they had seen in a previous book recurring again, given the OP's understanding of the current direction of the books. If you think they're wrong, you should say so, citing examples. That's what a forum like this is for. But calling them out for personally "insulting" you and others because the comment could be construed as a commentary on your work brings all discussion to a halt, as though what was said was outside the boundaries of acceptable discourse. No reasonable person reading the OP's comment--and who is not a ST author--would view this comment as outside the boundaries of acceptable discourse. This shouldn't change merely because a ST author is on the site. Should we not make generalized statements about the 1980s books if we find out Laurence Yep has been lurking about here? Should we worry about Kathleen Sky's niece taking offense if we say the Bantam books had problems with characterization? If people are afraid to give their opinions about ST books for fear of "insulting" an author who might be reading the chain, we aren't going to have much of a forum left.

As for being "thin-skinned," I don't have any opinions about that. I don't know you, and you're entitled to feel insulted by whatever you want. I am talking about you giving voice to those feelings in a forum, and the likely chilling effect doing so will have.

Please stop trying to pick a fight with another poster. And apologies for being blunt, but you don’t get to tell people what they should or shouldn’t post.

The two posters involved in the initial exchange have both appeared to move on, so let’s stop with this derailment and get back on topic.

 

[I am not Herbert]

Please stop trying to pick a fight with another poster. And apologies for being blunt, but you don’t get to tell people what they should or shouldn’t post.

The two posters involved in the initial exchange have both appeared to move on, so let’s stop with this derailment and get back on topic.

Sure. I think when we got sidetracked a poster was being forced to apologize for liking a ST book in a way that 'implied' an insult to the author of a different ST book. Sounds like a promising line of inquiry. Please, carry on.

 

[Zapp Brannigan]

I have really fond memories of the Blish novelizations, too. I thought it was interesting to compare them to the actual TV episodes, including the "filler" material that would be added.

 

[T'Bonz]

Sure. I think when we got sidetracked a poster was being forced to apologize for liking a ST book in a way that 'implied' an insult to the author of a different ST book. Sounds like a promising line of inquiry. Please, carry on.

While I think KRAD took the original comment a bit personally, the two were able to solve the issue amicably and move on. Your comment to him was totally unnecessary. And then when the moderator did step in, you couldn't totally let it go and slapped back at her. That is, at my discretion, warnable. I won't do it - this time.

Let the moderator do her job. Believe me, if there is a problem, we are notified and and problems are taken care of - sometimes via PM. Nothing everything has to be washed out in public.

If you have any further comment on this issue (like to me), hit me up on private message and we can discuss this. The rest can get back to discussing their favorites - mine being (of course) The Romulan Way.

 

[Orac Zen]

Pretty much everything Vonda N McIntyre wrote. Pretty much everything Diane Duane wrote. I also like the LA Graf books, which focussed on Uhura, Sulu and Chekov. Made a nice change and the characterisations were excellent. And of course Vulcan's Glory by DC Fontana.

Sarek by Ann C. Crispin

Over forty years old, and it’s still The Entropy Effect for me.

Uhura's Song by Janet Kagan

Doctor’s Orders (Diane Duane)

All these are on my list.

 

[haddie moonfall]

A Stitch In Time written by Andrew Robinson!

 

[STEPhon IT]

I enjoyed both Technical Manuals from TNG and DS9, they're must reads and fun to imagine the construction of these very imaginative models.

 

[BillJ]

Thanks for the insult to me and all the other writers here.

To be fair, the current TV shows really aren't all that interesting. So it makes the writers work that much harder.