Growth and change for the sake of growth and change are not good things. Growth and change that happen as part of a life experience are an essential part of being alive.
--Sran
When did New Frontier "Jump the Shark"?
- Thread starter Nathan
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Growth and change for the sake of growth and change are not good things. Growth and change that happen as part of a life experience are an essential part of being alive.
--Sran
I agree with this. I've read the 2 volumes following it, but for me New Frontier's true story ended with Stone and Anvil. It should probably have done what Vanguard did, and go out on a high note. The final scene where Calhoun and Shelby watch Janos leave could have been the perfect closing moment for the series.
What I would like however... is a few name drops for the series cast in new novels from other series. That the series ended doesn't have to mean the characters' adventures can't continue. Say for example the Typhon Pact was up to something in sector 221-G, but Starfleet then informs Picard that the Excalibur had already put a stop to it or some such.
Cameos would be a nice touch, too. If Picard or Sisko attends a meeting at Starfleet Headquarters, why not have Mueller there, as well? I realize that keeping series separate is sometimes important to avoid confusing readers who haven't read each of them, but casually mentioning the commanding officer of USS Trident isn't that big of a deal.
--Sran
After the Fall. I *loved* NF, and Stone and Anvil is my favorite entry (I think the ending is just beautiful)... but damn, AtF lost me on the series, and everything I've read after has felt downright stale and unfunny.
The cast being split across two ships was where I began to wobble, and then the time-jump sealed the deal for my disinterest.
Yeah, I have to go with the time-skip as well, but the beginning of the end, at least IMHO, was when the series stopped being a series about a ship and a crew. The splitting up the family is what killed it for me.
That description is spot on. The whole thing felt like a comic book after the first book or two--and I mean a 90's comic book, where everyone was sexy, emotionally stunted and the best at what they do, bub.
I think the Great Bird hatching was the shark jumping moment, but I read a few books after that, unfortunately.
Now, to try Vanguard and SCE. How did they turn out?
Vanguard is great all the way through and you're probably going to get a lot of people saying the same thing.
I thought SCE got off to a slow start, like the first book or two just didn't do a lot for me, but it gets better.
SCE is the closest we've come to having a book-only TV series, if that makes sense. Episodic adventures of varying quality with characters coming in and out of focus; a lot of different writers but ongoing character arcs.
Vanguard is impressive throughout, and certainly not like your description of New Frontier.
That's pretty much my opinion as well.
It makes sense for character to evolve and change, and a result of that would inevitably be having them leave the ship. Unfortunately, I felt that the stories started to get spread too thin with too many storylines happening in too many different places. I didn't necessarily mind the introduction of a second ship, but the time jump when everybody was suddenly spread all over the Quadrant just made it hard to care anymore.
Through the telling of the stories, crews of the Star Trek ships become families. When you split the family up, it ruins the dynamic of the story you're telling.
I've not read SCE, but I thought Vanguard was great.
It's got a great cast of interesting characters, almost entirely novel-only characters. If you like TOS, it provides a really interesting picture of what was going on in places where Kirk and the Enterprise were not -- except for a couple of "guest appearances." I enjoyed the way Vanguard storylines filled in some of the blanks behind the TOS episodes and movies, while telling their own story at the same time.
I do find it kind of ironic that a lot of people seem to agree that NF started going downhill when they split up the characters, but Kirsten Beyer did the the same thing in Voyager and everybody loves them. I'm even guilty of this myself. I guess she just must have managed to make it work where Peter David couldn't.
As for SCE and Vanguard, I've really enjoyed them both.
Vanguard is has a fascinating group of diverse characters in an interesting new area of space, with a great overarching story.
The SCE books are a lot of fun. They're most smaller more episodic stories, but the characters are really good. I do agree with Nasat that it does feel the most like another TV series of any of the book series.
As for SCE and Vanguard, I've really enjoyed them both.
Vanguard is has a fascinating group of diverse characters in an interesting new area of space, with a great overarching story.
The SCE books are a lot of fun. They're most smaller more episodic stories, but the characters are really good. I do agree with Nasat that it does feel the most like another TV series of any of the book series.
Well, excuuuuuuse me for having a different opinion than you. The characters changed over the years, just not career-wise. If the writers weren't actually wanting Riker to transfer off the ship, they shouldn't have written in any center seat offers.
Look, I get that you have a different opinion than me, but I really don't see why you(or anyone, really) feel you can't squelch the need to be rude about it.
Coinciding with the splitting up of the "family" into two ships - and then two ships and a starbase - was the series going to just one book per year. Perhaps when PAD mooted the split, he was assuming there'd be several NF adventures each year?
As for the "like a comic book", PAD's unique brand of comedy, wacky puns, witty banter and unexpected tragedy was what I loved most about his books. I'd enjoyed it in his work on the TOS comics for DC, and projects such as "Dreadstar", and his "Apropos of Nothing" novels. It won't be to everyone's tastes.
