What series of trek books should I start?

[Danoz]

To this point, I've been committed fully to the DS9 relaunch-- but soon, I'll be in the same boat as the rest of you waiting for new releases after "Soul Key" releases in August. Part of me wants to take on "New Frontier" (I've only read the first four books)-- whereas, I'd also like to read Star Trek: Titan w/ and the Riker series as well. I know there are multiple other streams-- I read the first two in the "Voyager" relaunch (homecoming & farther shore) but was a little disappointed by

Spoiler: Spoilers about Voyager books

the holographic insurrection on Earth and the underground starfleet conspiracy to create a Borg Queen

. I'd really like to read more about Picard and the enterprise and some of these post-TNG books... and I'd also like to start up The Left Hand of Destiny and the Klingon archs (I love Klingon stories).

Is there a better breakdown of my options as far as series are concerned w/o subjecting myself to spoilers on memory-beta and elsewhere? Thanks!

 

[Paris]

Do you only read the books one series at a time? If you don't need to, I would recommend books from all the series you mentioned plus a few others.

-The Voyager relaunch is better now . The first two books are decent with the two book follow up (Spirit Walk) just being okay. Full Circle, the fifth book, and which was just released, has put Voyager back on the map. I highly recommend it even if you don't read Spirit Walk. FC brings you up to speed with all you need to know and covers about three years in our heroes lives.
-New Frontier is a great series, but it really stands alone as it is the "baby" of a single writer (Peter David). There are some tie-in stories and the series does pay attention to canon, but it doesn't really interact with the rest of the 24th Century crews all that much. Before Dishonor (TNG) is an example of when they actually do show up..
-The Klingon books are great. There's a thread about which book everyone likes the best that's pretty new.
-The post-Nemesis TNG books have been good. There are several threads about which ones are worth while.
-And the novel only series like Titan, Corps of Engineers, and Vanguard have all been very good. Titan only has 5 books out at this point (#6 will come out at the end of the year), and Vanguard has only released three books, with #4 out next month, and #5 due out in December. The CoE has released 11 (I think) collections that feature between 3 and 8 (?) stories per collection. It's some good readin'

Hopefully this was helpful Enjoy!

 

[JD]

I posted this a couple weeks ago when some asked a similar question and I think it applies here too.

If you really want to check out some of the best of current Trek, IMO you might want to check out some of the post-finale series and novel only series, since they are both some of the best Trek out there, and what the majority of books are these days.
My favorites in order:
Vanguard: A novel series focusing on a space station in the TOS era.This series features a good cast of new character, intersting plot, and some fun ties into the later Treks. Easily one of my favorite Trek series in any format.

Titan: Follows Riker and Troi on their new ship after Nemesis. Also features Nurse Ogawa, Tuvok, Melora Pazlar, and a couple of recurring characters from some of the other novels. This series focuses alot on old fashioned Trek exploration.

DS9 Post Finale: The first post finale novel series, these books do a great job of continuing the story of DS9 after the end of the TV series. It also introduces some really good new (and one not so new) characters to replace the ones who left in the finale.

TNG Post-Nemesis: Baiscally does for TNG what DS9PF did for it. This series is a little more hit and miss when it comes to quality. I skipped over a few of them, but the ones I did read where really good.

Corps of Engineer/ SCE: An e-book series focusing on a starship beloning to the SCE. Also features a mix of new and old characters (most of the series do). The series is also being released as paperbacks collecting four and eventually eight ebook stories in each collection. I've only read a handfull of stories, but they were also good.

New Frontier: The first novel only series. These books are alot of fun, although some people complain that they can be a little to over the top at times. I've read these books pretty much since they started in the mid ninties, and other than a fall in quality twoards the middle, I've enjoyed most of them.

IKS Gorkon/Klingon Empire: A series focusing on the crew of a TNG era of a Klingon ship. I've only read one of these so I can't really form an opinion myself, although most people do seem to like them.

Voy-Post Finale: Another PF series, this one is just about to start again with a new author and new direction, after the original author left to due non-Trek stuff.

A couple months back we just got Destiny, a major crossover with characters from the casts of DS9PF, TNGPF, Titan, and the Columbia from ENT. The trilogy followed a major Borg invasion, and has had a big effect on the Litverse, that will pretty much continue from now on. The new direction of the Voyager Relaunch is a direct result of Destiny.

I'm not trying to say you need to read all of these, these are just the series that are going on right now.

The links do take you to MB, but as long as you just read the series/book descriptions you should be able to avoid spoilers.

 

[Danoz]

Hmm.. How does Destiny fit in with the Ds9 Relaunch as far as the timeline is concerned? Would I want to start those now?

I dare say I'm impressed at how well-coordinated all of this is. Trek-Lit seems to have its own established "canon" without treading or contradicting too much. Is this correct?

 

[Paris]

Hmm.. How does Destiny fit in with the Ds9 Relaunch as far as the timeline is concerned? Would I want to start those now?

I dare say I'm impressed at how well-coordinated all of this is. Trek-Lit seems to have its own established "canon" without treading or contradicting too much. Is this correct?

A unified continuity amoungst the books is the way of things now, it seems. The DS9 relaunch is currently in the year 2377, while the rest of the books in the 24th century (TNG, Titan, Voyager, Destiny) minus New Frontier (2379) are currently in 2381. The only spoiler for the DS9-R in Destiny, is that

Spoiler: Ezri spoiler

Ezri becomes a Captain by 2381

. I think Pocket is trying to let DS9 unravel its own story at its own pace. Reading Destiny won't ruin the DS9-R for you.

 

[Steve Roby]

Trek-Lit seems to have its own established "canon"
without treading or contradicting too much. Is this correct?

Probably safer to say continuity rather than canon, but yeah, the books are doing a lot more to present Star Trek as one big series rather than a whole bunch of rarely connected series.

 

[JD]

Hmm.. How does Destiny fit in with the Ds9 Relaunch as far as the timeline is concerned? Would I want to start those now?

I dare say I'm impressed at how well-coordinated all of this is. Trek-Lit seems to have its own established "canon" without treading or contradicting too much. Is this correct?

When you read Destiny would kind of depend on when you intend to read the other series.
You can read pretty much any of them by themselves, but if you want to read the other series then I would hold off on Destiny until you get to the point where it takes place in those series.
Here's the chronolgy leading up to Destiny:
TNG: Nemesis, Death in Winter, Resistance, Q&A, Before Dishonor, Greater Than The Sum, Destiny, Losing the Peace (coming July '09)
Titan: Nemesis, Taking Wing, Red King, (Q&A has a couple Titan cameos here), Orion's Hounds, Sword of Damocles, Destiny, Over A Torrent Sea, Synthesis (coming November '09)
Then there are also the two Enterprise Relaunch books, both of which take place before Destiny in the Columbia's timeline, and the Voyager books, which don't have much of an impact on the miniseries.

 

[Danoz]

Hmm.. How does Destiny fit in with the Ds9 Relaunch as far as the timeline is concerned? Would I want to start those now?

I dare say I'm impressed at how well-coordinated all of this is. Trek-Lit seems to have its own established "canon" without treading or contradicting too much. Is this correct?

When you read Destiny would kind of depend on when you intend to read the other series.
You can read pretty much any of them by themselves, but if you want to read the other series then I would hold off on Destiny until you get to the point where it takes place in those series.
Here's the chronolgy leading up to Destiny:
TNG: Nemesis, Death in Winter, Resistance, Q&A, Before Dishonor, Greater Than The Sum, Destiny, Losing the Peace (coming July '09)
Titan: Nemesis, Taking Wing, Red King, (Q&A has a couple Titan cameos here), Orion's Hounds, Sword of Damocles, Destiny, Over A Torrent Sea, Synthesis (coming November '09)
Then there are also the two Enterprise Relaunch books, both of which take place before Destiny in the Columbia's timeline, and the Voyager books, which don't have much of an impact on the miniseries.

This is all good to know. I'm having trouble visualizing where all the books are. But if I read you correctly, you're saying that I should definitely read the TNG and Titan streams before I move onto Destiny books?

--Daniel

 

[JB2005]

Hmm.. How does Destiny fit in with the Ds9 Relaunch as far as the timeline is concerned? Would I want to start those now?

I dare say I'm impressed at how well-coordinated all of this is. Trek-Lit seems to have its own established "canon" without treading or contradicting too much. Is this correct?

When you read Destiny would kind of depend on when you intend to read the other series.
You can read pretty much any of them by themselves, but if you want to read the other series then I would hold off on Destiny until you get to the point where it takes place in those series.
Here's the chronolgy leading up to Destiny:
TNG: Nemesis, Death in Winter, Resistance, Q&A, Before Dishonor, Greater Than The Sum, Destiny, Losing the Peace (coming July '09)
Titan: Nemesis, Taking Wing, Red King, (Q&A has a couple Titan cameos here), Orion's Hounds, Sword of Damocles, Destiny, Over A Torrent Sea, Synthesis (coming November '09)
Then there are also the two Enterprise Relaunch books, both of which take place before Destiny in the Columbia's timeline, and the Voyager books, which don't have much of an impact on the miniseries.

This is all good to know. I'm having trouble visualizing where all the books are. But if I read you correctly, you're saying that I should definitely read the TNG and Titan streams before I move onto Destiny books?

--Daniel

It isn't crucial, but it might help with some of the back story

 

[Rowan Sjet]

Of the TNG books leading up to Destiny, I've only read Q&A and Greater than the Sum, and enjoyed both of them immensely, even though I only knew a few bare facts on what happened before and between. IMO, you shouldn't need to read any of the others to understand the TNG portions of Destiny.

As for Titan, I've read all of the books apart from the first one, Taking Wing, which I lost interest in half way through, but I intend to go back and rectify this just as soon as possible. This is a really good series, on par with the DS9 relaunch I'd say, particularly the Mission Gamma series.

 

[Thrawn]

Yeah. You want to read the TNG and Titan series before you hit Destiny.

If you really want the full picture do this:

1) Read the last three A Time To books (A Time To Kill, A Time To Heal, A Time For War/A Time For Peace). It's not at all necessary or important to read the other 6; these are the ones that make an impact, going forwards.

2) Read Death In Winter, and then Taking Wing & The Red King (start the TNG post-Nemesis and Titan series).

3) Read Articles Of The Federation, a book by KRAD about a year in the life of the Federation president.

4) Read the rest of TNG-PN and Titan that takes place before Destiny. I'd recommend Titan first. (So, Titan - Orion's Hounds, Sword Of Damocles; then TNG - Resistance, Q & A, Before Dishonor, Greater Than The Sum)

5) Read Destiny

6) Read the follow-ups (A Singular Destiny, Titan: Over A Torrent Sea, Voyager: Full Circle, the forthcoming TNG: Losing The Peace).

That'll get you the whole post-Nemesis continuity. Reading the first four Voyager post-finale books before Full Circle is not at all necessary, though can be helpful.


---


Aside from that, New Frontier is *outstanding*, though make sure you hit up Memory Beta to get all the books that take place in New Frontier's arc that are part of other miniseries (Captain's Table, Double Helix, Gateways), because they're all important. It's also totally possible to read just the NF entries in each miniseries, though; don't feel like you have to read all the Captain's Table books, for example. Just make sure you get all the NF ones, in order, and you'll do fine.

And Vanguard is absolutely killer, maybe the best TrekLit going, and it's only 3 books so far (soon 4). THIS is actually where I'd start; not too many books to buy, and SO GOOD.


---


Finally, if you want to follow the Klingon stories, I'd do this:

1) DS9: The Left Hand Of Destiny, 1 & 2

2) TNG #61: Diplomatic Implausibility (introduces Gorkon crew)

3) The Brave And The Bold, Book 2: The Fourth Artifact (uses Gorkon crew again)

4) IKS Gorkon, 1-3

5) Klingon Empire: A Burning House

6) Voyager: Full Circle, believe it or not, picks it up from there. There's also a reference in A Time For War/A Time For Peace, which I mentioned above. Then, the characters all reappear in A Singular Destiny, also mentioned above.


There, how about that?

 

[Astraea]

I was wondering how long it would take for someone to recommend AotF.

Thrawn's post is excellent; all I can add is that if you want to start in on Voyager, now's a great time, since it's getting a re-boot.

And I've gotten into the Lost Era stuff recently, and I have to say that, while it's certainly not necessary, I'd get The Sundered and read it before The Red King. I read the latter and went back and re-read the former, and liked The Red King better for having read The Sundered first.

 

[Danoz]

There, how about that?

Just when I was starting to feel ahead in the Ds9 relaunch, you've reminded me how seriously behind I am with Trek Literature in General . Anyway, it's good to know there's still so much trek to enjoy . Thanks for the lengthy timeline/advice for starting a new series. I'm starting to think a Kindle would be worth the money as opposed to hunting down all of those hard copies... (will have to weigh with that or getting all the DS9s on DVD like I've planned).

Thanks again, I'm saving this post.

 

[Thrawn]

Kindles are awesome.

And you're welcome


A couple more details, if you like.

Titan: The Red King is a follow-up on The Lost Era: The Sundered, which also establishes some cool stuff about the Tholians that Vanguard uses.
TNG: Death In Winter is, partially, a follow-up on TNG: Reunion, the TNG hardcover that introduced the Stargazer crew, also available as half of Pantheon, the signature edition reprint.
TNG: Before Dishonor is, partially, a follow-up on TNG: Vendetta, PAD's first TNG giant novel.

None of those three are required reading, but they're all pretty awesome, and it makes it all hold together better.

Aside from that, I can't think of any books I mentioned above that majorly reference prior books. I think that pretty much covers it.

 

[Danoz]

Thrawn,

Okay, I've broken up these posts into a rough, suggested reading order:

1. TNG: A Time to Kill
2. TNG: A Time to Heal
3. TNG: A Time for War
4. TNG: A Time for Peace

The above, as I understand it, are novels that take place between the movies?

1. TNG: Reunion (Precursor to Death in Winter)
2. Death in Winter

Partial Preparation for "Death in Winter" -- A story about the old Stargazer crew.

1. The Lost Era: The Sundered

Original Series Novel w/ Captain Sulu that sets up some background for "The Red King."

1. Taking Wing (Titan)
2. The Red King (Titan)
3. Articles of The Federation
4. Titan: Orion's Hounds
5. Titan: Sword of Damocles
6. TNG: Resistance
7. Q & A

1. TNG: Vendetta (precursor to Before Dishonor)
2. Before Dishonor

Vendetta (Borg Novel w/ Peter David. Partially before "Before Dishonor"

1. Greater Than the Sum
2. ST: Destiny Gods of Night
3. Mere Mortals
4. Lost Souls
5. A Singular Destiny
6. Titan: Over A Torrent Sea

Back to Titan/TNG arch following up on Destiny

1. DS9: The Left Hand of Destiny
2. DS9: The Left Hand of Destiny (part 2)
3. TNG: Diplomatic Implausibility
4. The Brave And the Bold (Book 2): The Fourth Artifact
5. Klingon Empire

Leads into...

1. Voyager: Full Circle
2. TNG: Losing the Peace (forthcoming)

Would you make any corrections to this reading order? Or does this seem pretty solid? Any of these drag or tough to get through?

 

[Kopernikus]

Thrawn,

Okay, I've broken up these posts into a rough, suggested reading order:

1. TNG: A Time to Kill
2. TNG: A Time to Heal
3. TNG: A Time for War
4. TNG: A Time for Peace

The above, as I understand it, are novels that take place between the movies?
.
.
.

3 and 4 are one Book, but yes, the entire "A Time to"-Series covers the year before Nemesis. And especially the last three are quite good.
Apart from that, the list looks quite good, you're surely going to have a lot of fun with those books.

 

[Marie1]

Have you read SCE? Read SCE!! Isn't there like 70 of them? That'll tide you over!

 

[Danoz]

Have you read SCE? Read SCE!! Isn't there like 70 of them? That'll tide you over!

Yeah, I'm shocked at how much trek literature there is.

Keep in mind, I spend almost 2 hours a day in public transit. I enjoy having the recreational reading on hand.

 

[SicOne]

Danoz, I recently had to recommend a reading order to a friend who is just getting reacquainted with the Trek universe after having his last contact with Star Trek be "Nemesis" (for God's sake). As he is busier than an AIG exec trying to hide his assets and just wanted to get right down to what was ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY necessary to read prior to the "Destiny" trilogy, I recommended the following order...

(1) Articles Of The Federation
(2) Resistance
(3) Before Dishonor
(4) Greater Than The Sum

I did mention that his enjoyment of those titles would be greatly enhanced if he started from scratch with the "A Time To..." series, the entire Titan series, and the Voyager relaunch, I gotta say (especially looking at Thrawn's list) that's a whole lotta Trekin' to get through to get to present, and unless you have vast sums of cash and free time, you'll be reading nigh unto eternity to get caught up. My job actually gives me scads of free time to read (yay, modern inefficient railroading!), but it still took me many months to get prepped for "Destiny". And that's still with the work of Memory Beta, the Trek BBS, and the twin godly companions of caffeine and chocolate to assist me in those endeavors.

I mean no disrespect to the authors whose hard work has brought us to this point, but if I had to pick the best starting point to get into current Trek literature that will get you hooked and beggin' for more, I'd go with the Destiny series, and if I had to pick a handful of precursors I'd go with the aforementioned four titles. Do those if you're in a hurry to get caught up with those of us on the Trek Lit forum, then go back and read some earlier titles for a fuller appreciation and understanding. It is worth the time, money, and effort.

I do have to say that it certainly seems that the modern Trek authors do a helluva job in cooperating with each other to at some point in their books bring the reader up to speed if he or she has not read previous titles...but you will, indeed, enjoy the later books if you read the earlier ones first.

Hope this helps, and the authors of books I did not list will forgive my blasphemy...

 

[Thrawn]

Thrawn,

Okay, I've broken up these posts into a rough, suggested reading order:

1. TNG: A Time to Kill
2. TNG: A Time to Heal
3. TNG: A Time for War, A Time for Peace

The above, as I understand it, are novels that take place between the movies?

1. TNG: Reunion (Precursor to Death in Winter)
2. Death in Winter

Partial Preparation for "Death in Winter" -- A story about the old Stargazer crew.

1. The Lost Era: The Sundered

Original Series Novel w/ Captain Sulu that sets up some background for "The Red King."

1. Taking Wing (Titan)
2. The Red King (Titan)
3. Articles of The Federation
4. Titan: Orion's Hounds
5. Titan: Sword of Damocles
6. TNG: Resistance
7. Q & A

1. TNG: Vendetta (precursor to Before Dishonor)
2. Before Dishonor

Vendetta (Borg Novel w/ Peter David. Partially before "Before Dishonor"

1. Greater Than the Sum
2. ST: Destiny Gods of Night
3. Mere Mortals
4. Lost Souls

Back to Titan/TNG arch following up on Destiny

1. DS9: The Left Hand of Destiny
2. DS9: The Left Hand of Destiny (part 2)
3. TNG: Diplomatic Implausibility
4. The Brave And the Bold (Book 2): The Fourth Artifact
5. Klingon Empire

Leads into...

1. A Singular Destiny
2. Titan: Over A Torrent Sea
3. Voyager: Full Circle
4. TNG: Losing the Peace (forthcoming)

Would you make any corrections to this reading order? Or does this seem pretty solid? Any of these drag or tough to get through?

You're probably going to want to read the Klingon stuff before A Singular Destiny. I'd move A Singular Destiny and Torrent Sea in front of Full Circle on your bottom list.

And 3 & 4 on your first list are one book.

I made the edits within the quote, if you'd just like to copy/paste.

Otherwise solid; DAMN you are in for some good reading