What's a good jumping on point for the OS?
- Thread starter Spookshow
- Start date
That's an excellent jumping on point. I also highly recommend Ex Machina, by Christopher L. Bennett, and if you're interested in Captain Pike, Burning Dreams by Margaret Wander Bonanno is fairly fantastic.
There hasn't been much TOS published lately though, so that might be it for now.
It doesn't really matter where you start, since there's no overarching continuity to the TOS novels the way there is to something like the DS9 post-finale fiction or the SCE or Vanguard series. TOS novels tend to stand alone, unless they're parts of trilogies or duologies, and they can take place at any point in the TOS timeframe. So you can start with whichever ones catch your interest and read them in just about any order.
If you're not a stickler for things having to adhere to the canon later established in TNG...I suggest trying to get your hands on the really OLD Trek novels like The Final Reflection, The Wounded Sky, and Uhura's Song: writing that in my opinion has never been beaten (though some have come very close).
The first one is one of my favorite ST books of all time. The other two books are good as well. This series is a great place to start. Read them.
Another reason they are a great place to start is because they are an entity to themselves so there's no worrying about having to read a zillion other books. You normally don't have to worry about reading a zillion books anyway but here it's more clear you don't have to do that. Read them.
What Christopher said.
I agree, so my recommendation would be my favorite TOS novel:
In the Name of Honor by Dayton Ward.
My Enemy, My Ally. Pretty good stuff.
^^I wouldn't consider ME,MA a "jumping-on point," because in some ways it's a followup to Diane Duane's first novel, The Wounded Sky. That's a fabulous novel, and it's a shame that people tend to overlook it because it isn't part of Duane's Rihannsu series. But there are characters and concepts in ME,MA that were introduced in TWS.
You know, if you like The Wounded Sky, I would also recommend her young adults' series, Young Wizards. I don't care if it's for "young adults"--don't be embarrassed to go to the teens section to buy it because it blows a lot of books supposedly written for an older audience out of the water. There are also thematic similarities, and a few nice nods to her Trek work if you're looking closely.
I actually can't think of a better starting point. These three were written to stand apart from any other pieces of Trek lit, and focus on tying in with the TV show only.
Don't know if you'll agree, but I always like to sample several authors first to find new authors I'll like and get different takes on the characters. The short story collection Constellations really brought me into the Trek Literature. I had a couple books here and there but that one sold me on it. It's all about the original series and takes place during the five year mission, well except for the last story which does and doesn't. And best of all, there's not a bad story in the book.
I'm gonna be shameless and throw in a plug for the Mere Anarchy miniseries. It doesn't have links to other books/stories that are terribly overt or which trigger other "required reading," and it offers stories with the gang (or subsets thereof) spread across 30 or so years of TOS history.
If you can't/won't check out the stories in their original e-Book format, the trade paperback compilation is coming out next March.
[/shameless plug]
If you can't/won't check out the stories in their original e-Book format, the trade paperback compilation is coming out next March.
[/shameless plug]
Okay, I guess I've been out of touch with the TOS Lit scene for a spell, who wrote these novels and when were they published?
Thanks in advance.
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