Where Do I Start with the Novels??

[borgboy]

I haven't gotten around to reading either version of The Sorrows of Empire yet. Is there any reason to read them both of should I just skip ahead to the full length novel?

 

[Leto_II]

Full-length novel. Unquestionably.

It's the definitive version.

 

[JD]

Pretty much all of the text of the novella is in the novel, the author just added more stuff to in between the stuff from the novella. I think David Mack might have said that he did touch up some of the stuff from the novella, but that was it outside of the totally new stuff. So I would say as long as length isn't a concern for you, you should probably just read the novel.

 

[Leto_II]

^ Yeah, Mack's posted his preference for people reading the novel-version in here, from time to time in the past. As truly great as the novella was, the novel absolutely blows it out of the water.

 

[Defcon]

I haven't gotten around to reading either version of The Sorrows of Empire yet. Is there any reason to read them both of should I just skip ahead to the full length novel?

In my interview with him from around the time of the novel's release he had this to say about the differences:

The fact that the novel is an expansion of an existing story might lead to scepticism amongst readers as to whether the new version is worth buying. What, in David’s opinion, makes the new Sorrows a worthwhile read? “The first reason is that the new novel is more than twice the length of the original, clocking in at around 92,000 words.” But quantity isn’t everything, so David has made sure to improve the existing material, too. “In the course of adding new material, mostly in the form of new chapters, I have also taken the opportunity to streamline much of the original work. In some cases this was done to mesh old and new material; in other cases I was addressing stylistic issues, tweaking my word choices, or otherwise applying the lessons I have learned in the last few years since I wrote the original.”

The expansion has also given him the chance to explore some plot elements and characters which were sidelined in the short novel in more depth. “I’ve plumbed deeper into characters other than Spock,” he reveals, “and I’ve detailed at least one event from each of the 28 years spanned by the story. Marlena’s point of view is given greater examination, and I’ve worked to better integrate the characters who previously had made only cameos – in particular, Saavik and, to a lesser degree, T’Prynn from the Vanguard series.”

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Odd: I'd forgotten that there were two different versions of The Sorrows of Empire, even though I know I must have read both of them.

At any rate, I've been wanting to say this since I first noticed the thread:

For the crime of asking the question, "Where do I start with the novels," you are condemned to wander the used bookstores, until you can start with the following, in the specified sequence.
1. Mission to Horatius
2. Spock Must Die!
3. Spock: Messiah
4. The Price of the Phoenix.

And then, go on to the variations on "Kirk & co. poke their noses where they're not wanted, and muck about with things they don't understand, and then wonder why there's a superbeing punishing them,"
5. The Starless World
6. World Without End, and the ever-popular
7. Devil World.

You do that, and even the worst clunkers Pocket ever let out the door (e.g., Killing Time [the uncensored edition], Black Fire, Timetrap) will seem like masterpieces.

 

[VulcanMindBlown]

Where are the Section 31 novels on the graphic?

I know what the order is, but I don't see that in the Trek Collective.com link.... just a suggestion Thrawn, 8of5, and ryan123450.

 

[borgboy]

I quite enjoy Killing Time. I love alternate reality stories anyways, and it's a fun read. There's a new canine alien to get to know as well.

 

[Idran]

Where are the Section 31 novels on the graphic?

I know what the order is, but I don't see that in the Trek Collective.com link.... just a suggestion Thrawn, 8of5, and ryan123450.

They're there, just not as a group since they don't have anything to do with one another. They're part of the same banner, but they aren't actually linked together or anything, not even tentatively. "Abyss" and "Disavowed" are listed under DS9 (since they're both really key for that line) and "Rogue" is listed under Titan (since it's largely relevant for Keru's backstory). "Cloak" and "Shadow" aren't included I assume because they aren't really connected to the Litverse; "Shadow" is pretty standalone overall, I don't think anything really connects to it, and "Cloak" gets the occasional reference (I know Ex Machina referenced it briefly, and I think Vaughn referenced being in the anti-31 "Kirk cabal" in one of the DS9 books?) but that's pretty much it.

 

[VulcanMindBlown]

They're there, just not as a group since they don't have anything to do with one another. They're part of the same banner, but they aren't actually linked together or anything, not even tentatively. "Abyss" and "Disavowed" are listed under DS9 (since they're both really key for that line) and "Rogue" is listed under Titan (since it's largely relevant for Keru's backstory). "Cloak" and "Shadow" aren't included I assume because they aren't really connected to the Litverse; "Shadow" is pretty standalone overall, I don't think anything really connects to it, and "Cloak" gets the occasional reference (I know Ex Machina referenced it briefly, and I think Vaughn referenced being in the anti-31 "Kirk cabal" in one of the DS9 books?) but that's pretty much it.

Sorry, I did see that after researching it. Don't you have the Daedalus books?

 

[Idran]

The Enterprise duology? I don't think there's any Section 31 connection there, is there? It's been a while since I've read them, but I don't remember anything like that there.

 

[VulcanMindBlown]

The Enterprise duology? I don't think there's any Section 31 connection there, is there? It's been a while since I've read them, but I don't remember anything like that there.

It's fine, sorry, I was just wondering if the Daedalus books were on there. It looked like they weren't. There's no connection between them.

 

[Idran]

Oh! Okay, sorry, misunderstood. No, I don't think any of the during-series Enterprise books are included on 8of5's flowchart either, but that's same thing; they aren't really connected. They don't contradict (and I think individual details have been referenced here and there), but they're all kind of stand alone. His flowchart's only really for books that have heavy plot or setting connections with one another, the more interconnected Litverse. For anything at all that can fit together or has had references from the "core" Litverse, @ryan123450 's site is a better reference.

 

[Jinn]

Oh! Okay, sorry, misunderstood. No, I don't think any of the during-series Enterprise books are included on 8of5's flowchart either, but that's same thing; they aren't really connected. They don't contradict (and I think individual details have been referenced here and there), but they're all kind of stand alone. His flowchart's only really for books that have heavy plot or setting connections with one another, the more interconnected Litverse. For anything at all that can fit together or has had references from the "core" Litverse, @ryan123450 's site is a better reference.

Full Last Measure is set season 3 and included in the flowchart.

 

[JD]

It specifically set up elements of the Relaunch, which are part of the novelverse.

 

[Idran]

Er, yeah, that's the one exception because it's kind of grouped separately from them in my head and I forgot it was an in-series one.

Like, to me, the Enterprise books are grouped up as "everything up to Rosetta", "LFM to Romulan War", and "RotF".

 

[Thrawn]

^ That works, yeah.