Where should I begin?

[JimmyTeeKirk]

I know there are other threads like this that I could possibly refer to, but my case is slightly different than the rest in that, I haven't read a single Star Trek novel and haven't watched any of the television shows since back when Star Trek: The Next Generation was in its first or second season. But I'm interested in getting back into Star Trek, and since I find that I've got a lot of spare time to read nowadays, I figured the books/novels would be a good place to start.

Ideally, I'd like to start off with perhaps a trilogy or a series, rather than a stand-alone novel, to kick-start my venture back into the genre. I have no preferences for which series the books can cover, and the only real criteria I have is that I want to begin around the time when the editors started being more conscious of continuity.

Also, before posting this, I'd browsed a few titles listed in various threads and noticed that a lot of these books don't seem to be readily available from online retailers. So, while not crucial to my request, I'd also ask that whatever recommendations you make be of the recent variety, so I'll be certain I can obtain the entire series from Amazon or Chapters.

Thanks.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Ideally, I'd like to start off with perhaps a trilogy or a series, rather than a stand-alone novel, to kick-start my venture back into the genre.

It still helps for us to know who your favourite characters are, are you a tech or relationships type fan, do you prefer action, exploration or comedy, etc.

You said you stopped watching TNG early on, but does that mean you knew TOS and the TOS movies?

 

[HIj'Qa]

If The Next Gen is your preferred crew, most books set after 2378 consciously established a continuity. Deep Space Nine novels set after the series' end, 2376, have been of consistent high quality and the most continuity.

See the first link in my sig for a timeline.

For stand-alone series of books that cover several series, I liked the Day of Honor series as an action-adventure packed read.

Have you checked Half.com for cheap used copies of books?

 

[Starbreaker]

You need to get caught up on your TV watching first!

 

[Rosalind]

Ideally, I'd like to start off with perhaps a trilogy or a series, rather than a stand-alone novel, to kick-start my venture back into the genre. I have no preferences for which series the books can cover, and the only real criteria I have is that I want to begin around the time when the editors started being more conscious of continuity.

Also, before posting this, I'd browsed a few titles listed in various threads and noticed that a lot of these books don't seem to be readily available from online retailers. So, while not crucial to my request, I'd also ask that whatever recommendations you make be of the recent variety, so I'll be certain I can obtain the entire series from Amazon or Chapters.

Then I suggest either the Destiny trilogy or the Titan series (5 books so far). The former came out Oct-Dec last year, and the later started in April 2005.

Destiny focuses on four crews: Picard's Enterprise, Riker's Titan, Dax's Aventine and Hernandez's Columbia from the 22nd century. Aventine was introduced in Destiny though Dax is a character from DS9, Columbia was introduced in Enterprise but that was only one or two episodes, Titan has a bit more background from the actual series of books. You might get a bit lost on the background stories the characters talk about, but I think the story can be read stand alone.

As for Titan, you don't need to know much about it other than Riker got his own ship after the movie Nemesis, everything else was build from the ground up from book 1.

Another series you can get into is Vanguard, a series taking place during the TOS era on a space station. The series started in Aug 05 and has 4 books so far, so it shouldn't be too hard to find. Although there was a mismatch with book 3's ordering number for retailers and the book's ISBN, hopefully it's fixed now and it can be ordered easily.

 

[crohnie]

Destiny focuses on four crews: Picard's Enterprise, Riker's Titan, Dax's Aventine and Hernandez's Columbia from the 22nd century. Aventine was introduced in Destiny though Dax is a character from DS9, Columbia was introduced in Enterprise but that was only one or two episodes, Titan has a bit more background from the actual series of books. You might get a bit lost on the background stories the characters talk about, but I think the story can be read stand alone.

As for Titan, you don't need to know much about it other than Riker got his own ship after the movie Nemesis, everything else was build from the ground up from book 1.

Another series you can get into is Vanguard, a series taking place during the TOS era on a space station. The series started in Aug 05 and has 4 books so far, so it shouldn't be too hard to find. Although there was a mismatch with book 3's ordering number for retailers and the book's ISBN, hopefully it's fixed now and it can be ordered easily.

I was going to recommend Destiny. That is where I started reading. I hadn't read any other novels before. At the same time I purchased Book one of Destiny, I also purchased first one of Titan. I read through the Destiny trilogy and then I read through Titan and caught up. (Mr Mack recommended to me on ST.com's boards that I read Titan 3 and 4)

But both (mini)series are great and I'd definitely recommend both
Pleasant reading

 

[JimmyTeeKirk]

Thanks guys (and gals?). The Destiny trilogy it is, then I'll give either the Titan series or the DS9 stuff a go.

 

[Turtletrekker]

^I'ts worth pointing out that the Destiny trilogy takes place inbetween the fourth and fifth Titan books and that Titan is an important part of Destiny. So you may or may not want to read Titan 1-4, jump into Destiny, and then continue with Titan 5. Just a thought.