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What Should I Do?

Is Trek Lit worth my time and money?

  • Yes! Maximum warp to Borders! Engage!

    Votes: 34 94.4%
  • Nah, just activate your cloaking device whenever you walk by the ST section

    Votes: 2 5.6%

  • Total voters
    36

thew40

Commander
Red Shirt
So, it's been a while since I've posted and even when I did, it was infrequent. So no one here probably remembers me. That's besides the point, however.

The point of this thread (and poll) is regarding the question as to whether or not I should invest the time and money into Stak Trek Literature again.

I was a huge fan of the DS9-R, though thus far "Fearful Symmetry" has been rather lackluster and it'll be another year before the next one comes out.

I started to read the A Time To . . . series, but after the first two, I just lost interest. I later gave Articles of the Federation a read, but (even though it was well-written), I just couldn't get into it. Same with Death in Winter. I felt since I couldn't get into the A Time To . . .series that I was without hope on Titan.

And the Voyager Relaunch was bland and I couldn't even make it past the first bok, unfortunately.

I did like the first book of the Enterprise Relaunch. And the old The Lost Era (haven't had the chance to read the new ones).

I guess if you add all this up, you'd see that I'm not really into the Star Trek books anymore. But seeing all these exciting things happening and all these intriguing titles, covers, and brief hints about things to come, it has my curiousity piqued.

But should I invest in Trek Lit? Even if I've been left disappointed with previous projects? Should I give the post-Nemesis TNG books a shot? Should I power through the Voyager Relaunch? Should I take a look at Titan? This Destiny series looks very cool, but I'm worried about being confused and getting lost because all I've read are the DS9-R books.

So . . . what do you guys think?
 
Obvious suggestion would be to try the 3-book Terok Nor series since it ties in with the DS9 relaunch and The Lost Era.
I'm just getting back into it myself from a similar point as you (only read the DS9 relaunch and New Frontier up until recently). I powered through the A Time To Series and the last 3 books are a cut above the rest. Have just started the TNG 'relaunch' and Titan series. The first Titan book is something of a tough read as there's so many new characters and lots of non-humanoids so takes some getting in to.
Hopefully I'll be caught up on those two series by the time Destiny starts, though I imagine it'll be written in such a way as to be a jumping on point for new readers.
 
I'd recommend giving Vanguard a shot, because it is awesome. You'll be hard-pressed to find anyone that'd disagree. You also won't be at all lost in Titan if you didn't get through A Time To...; anything important is summarized. Might be worth a shot. The NextGen relaunch, on the other hand, is pretty well panned around here; perhaps that'll change with Greater Than The Sum. And Voyager is sort of re-relaunching in April; I wouldn't worry about catching up on that.

But really, losing interest isn't a problem. If you're just not interested, plenty of other books out there.
 
This Destiny series looks very cool, but I'm worried about being confused and getting lost because all I've read are the DS9-R books.

The Destiny books are a few years on from the DS9-R, but editor Margaret Clark said all the info one would need to read the books in included in the books, so, no worries!
 
I'd recommend Titan and Vanguard.

The TNG-Relaunch has been a bit of a mixed bag but hopefully it'll kick into high gear and maintain some cohesiveness from here on out.
 
I guess if you add all this up, you'd see that I'm not really into the Star Trek books anymore.
I know what you mean, I lost complete interest in TrekLit during the 90's (was it so long ago?), can't remember which book/s got me back in though.

I started to read the A Time To . . . series, but after the first two, I just lost interest. I later gave Articles of the Federation a read, but (even though it was well-written), I just couldn't get into it. Same with Death in Winter. I felt since I couldn't get into the A Time To . . .series that I was without hope on Titan.

you did better than me! :) I didn't buy ATT when it came out, only got them about 2 years later when I heard so much good things about it, still haven't started it yet. one day.

otoh, I LOVED Articles, and Titan is one of my favourite series.

But should I invest in Trek Lit? Even if I've been left disappointed with previous projects? Should I give the post-Nemesis TNG books a shot? Should I power through the Voyager Relaunch? Should I take a look at Titan? This Destiny series looks very cool, but I'm worried about being confused and getting lost because all I've read are the DS9-R books.
the short answer is yes. just read what you're interested in, unless it's definitely a duology or such, you won't have a problem understand them, the authors help you catch up with the events in the individual books.

then again, I'm one of those people who occasionally read the last chapter after a few of the earlier chapters... :D
 
The Treklit authors are great at explaining anything you may need to know about a story. You really should try the ATT books again. I personally liked the first 2 books, but there were people who did not enjoy them, but did like the later ones.
 
You really should try the ATT books again. I personally liked the first 2 books, but there were people who did not enjoy them, but did like the later ones.

Ditto from me. I enjoyed the first two, and the rest - but the last three, in particular, are amazing, and not to be missed.
 
Y'know, asking in this forum whether Trek Lit is worth your while is like asking the Pope if he's Catholic. :p But seriously, YES! It's definitely worth your time and money.
 
So . . . what do you guys think?

The TNG post-Nemesis books are maddeningly inconsistent, though Q&A is quite good. The Titan books are, on average, considerably more interesting. Vanguard is great. The Terok Nor books are well worth reading, and you can read the first as a more-or-less standalone or read all three. (Swallow's book describes the situation on Bajor up to the beginning of the full occupation; Perry and Dennison deal with the occupation era and feature more familiar faces from the TV series.) Have you tried the Starfleet Corps of Engineers books? There's some really good stuff there, too.

Oh, and depending on how long it's been since you drifted away, you may want to check out Jeff Ayers's Voyages of Imagination, the book about Star Trek books.
 
If you really want to get a feel for what Trek Lit is like now, I would recommed you check out the Vanguard, Titan, and SCE/Corps of Engineers series. Those are probably three of the best series available, along with the DS9R, and I think they're pretty representative of what Trek Lit is like right now.
 
Just browse the shelf and see if any books interest you. Trek Lit is not an all or nothing deal. Read what you like, and ignore what you don't. If a book's internal recaps are not enough for whatever reason, Memory Alpha, Memory Beta, and the members of this forum are excellent resources.
 
With all the TV series off the air, it's a very exciting time for Trek fiction. I have been buying more new books (consistently) then every before.

Terok Nor, Titan, Vanguard, DS9-R... all very exciting and worth the cash.
 
Thanks for all the thoughts, guys!

I'm not sure which to try next. I want to keep things in a fairly chronological order.
 
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