What's a good TNG Relaunch continuity stand alone novel?

[TenLubak]

Any can be read. Everyting is summerized to some in more detail, the events of the Federation and Enterprise E-s good ol continuin misson under the command of Capt. Jean Luc Picards, First Officer Commander Worf, the lovable Lt. Commader La Forge- Cheir Engineer! Plus a lot new chracters

 

[Christopher]

Another vote for Q & A, or Greater Than the Sum. While GTTS is technically a continuation of BD, there is enough new stuff that it really isn't that hard to follow.

GTTS was not conceived as a continuation of BD. It was conceived to be: first, an original story of exploration; second, a lead-in to Destiny; and third, a resolution of BD's dangling loose end of the Einstein, which is used in GTTS simply as a McGuffin. There's also some tying off of lingering character issues from the previous three books including BD, but mostly in the first three chapters. It's a continuation of the TNG post-Nemesis series as a whole, not of any single book. Yes, it follows up on some elements from BD, but it also follows up on the information revealed about the Borg in Resistance, the character of Rebekah Grabowski first mentioned in Q & A, the B-4 material from Articles of the Federation and Resistance, and threads going back to various TNG episodes including "I, Borg" and "The Inner Light." BD is not its primary influence, merely its most recent predecessor.

And though GTTS does resolve some issues and discrepancies from prior books, it's designed to be a fresh start as well, the setup of a new status quo and a good jumping-on point for the series. It fills in the reader on the current status quo and then moves forward.

 

[JD]

Ah, my bad. I've always considered it a continuation, since it follows up on Einstein plot line from BD.

 

[mattburgess]

JD, I don't know anybody that doesn't feel the same way as you.

Sorry Chris, if you intended it another way. "General consensus" appears to consider it part of a continuation.

And essentially, that's correct, as it is part of the ongoing story of the Next Generation crew. Also it references the preceding storyline far more than old next gen novels used to (back when they never ever referred to each other) so it's unsurprising that people would feel that way.

 

[DimesDan]

Sorry Chris, if you intended it another way. "General consensus" appears to consider it part of a continuation.

And essentially, that's correct, as it is part of the ongoing story of the Next Generation crew. Also it references the preceding storyline far more than old next gen novels used to (back when they never ever referred to each other) so it's unsurprising that people would feel that way.

Yep indeed, I'd have to agree with those points, just because you intended something to come across in a certain way doesn't mean it actually came across in that way.

 

[Therin of Andor]

it references the preceding storyline far more than old next gen novels used to (back when they never ever referred to each other.

You know, the only time they weren't supposed to refer to each other was early 1989 till Roddenberry's death in September 1991. And, even then, things slipped through.

"General consensus" or not, the novel works as a standalone book. Its major plot points are resolved within the one book, and it dangles a few new plot threads for the next trilogy to take on.

 

[mattburgess]

Absolutely, I'm not saying that it doesn't work as a standalone book.

I'm just saying that it appears part of a continuation, particularly in the way that it ties up the last book at the start, then introduces the next book at the end.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Absolutely, I'm not saying that it doesn't work as a standalone book...

"I don't know anybody that doesn't feel the same way as you."

You do now.

 

[mattburgess]

Good, nice to meet you

Lol.

Edit: JD: I don't know anybody (except for Therin of Andor) who doesn't feel the same way as you.

 

[Paris]

Q & A is the way to go if you're looking for a stand-alone. I think I have to agree with Christopher. GttS was a great book on it's own, and the only way it tied into the other borg-arc books was that it tied up some loose ends from Before Dishonor. I read Gtts before the other two (I had heard good things) and wasn't lost at all. In fact, when I went back and read Resistance and Before Dishonor I was dissapointed with their quality. GttS was so good, that I assumed the ones that came before were just as good...

 

[Christopher]

Yep indeed, I'd have to agree with those points, just because you intended something to come across in a certain way doesn't mean it actually came across in that way.

Granted. But this thread was started by someone who was asking which TNG post-NEM books could be read as standalones, and GTTS was specifically designed to be accessible to readers who hadn't read the previous books. Yes, to those who have read the previous books, it feels like a continuation, but that's not the question this thread is meant to address. The question is, would the book be accessible to someone who hasn't read the previous books? And the answer is yes, because it was specifically designed to be. The reason it contains so much recapping of what came before is so that new readers can be brought up to speed and not feel lost.

 

[Thrawn]

^ That's true. In a lot of ways, it might be better if read without prior knowledge, because then the summary would just seem like a recap of a coherent story, instead of a somewhat uncomfortable attempt to reconcile conflicting characterizations.

 

[childofdarkness]

I read Resistance initially. It worked very well for me as a stand-alone book. I think Losing the Peace would work pretty well too, if one prefers to jump in a little farther down the line.

 

[David Brennon]

For me it was Q&A