Your favorite Trek Novel?

[Rush Limborg]

Okay, fans, here's one that should go on for a while:

What is your all time FAVORITE Star Trek novel, and WHY?

Mine would have to be "Excelsior: Forged In Fire". Great story, with a fast-paced, driving plot that holds you to the end, complete with excellent character interaction. Major continuity errors are explained, Star Trek history is made, AND it even refers to the older books for reference, without hitting you over the head!

I must say, THIS is the book that, above all others, caused me to stay up late THE MOST.

(Even if it DID have Chapel's hair change color in the same scene....)

 

[Dayton Ward]

I don't read Star Trek novels.

 

[Rush Limborg]

I don't read Star Trek novels.

Right....

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Vulcan's Heart. Definitely my absolute favorite Trek novel of all time.

Federation comes in a close second.

 

[KRAD]

The Entropy Effect by Vonda N. McIntyre. The characterizations were spot-on, the dialogue crisp and intelligent, the original characters fun, the story engaging and well paced, and dammit, I actually believed that Jim Kirk was dead, even though I knew it wouldn't last.

I still consider this the gold standard, honestly.

 

[Thrawn]

I didn't like the 100 pages in Forged In Fire that kept cutting back to Sulu on the Excelsior wanting to charge into action but not being able to justify it to himself, over and over and over. It was like the same exact scene, 7 times.

Personally, if I had to just pick one and one only, it'd be Stone And Anvil. I love Peter David's style when he's at his best (he reads like I think Joss Whedon would, if he wrote novels) and that one had some outstanding character development and surprises, plus the stare-down between Calhoun and Picard at the end. I was hooked from beginning to end, I loved it.

Close behind would be everything of Christopher's except GTTS, Reap The Whirlwind, PAD's 4 TNG hardcovers, This Gray Spirit, Missing In Action, Sword Of Damocles, and Articles of the Federation, all pretty much tied together for second

 

[JD]

I don't really have one favorite, so I'm gonna just go with my top pick from each of my favorite series
DS9R: tieTwilight/Unity (I really tried to pick just one but I couldn't)
VAN:Reap the Whirlwind
MU:The Sorrows of Empire
TTN: Orions Hounds
MryU: A Gutted World (I'm only about halfway through it, but it's already been good enought I feel comfortable putting it up with these others)

 

[KayArr]

Can't pick one--

Uhura's Song--great first contact novel that not even a Mary Sue could ruin. Loved the characterizations of Kirk, Spock, Chekov, and the cats! The alien society was fantastic!

Ishmael--loved the HCTB crossover (a better end for that tv series than their second season!), and loved Spock with amnesia.

Loved the L.A. Graf TOS novels that featured Chekov, Uhura, and Sulu. Fun to see those three fleshed out, and thought the fleshing out was well done. I don't even like t.v. Chekov any more, he can't compete...Uhura was a commanding and competent officer instead of "hailing frequencies open," and Sulu was fun. Really, no one has done those three characters as well as the authors who made up L.A. Graf.

Imzadi--a great story, Riker and Troi were well done--great backstory for the characters.

Masks by John Vornholt is one of the very best TNG novels--I loved the planet, masks, alien characters, and just the whole plot. Another superb first contact story--what Trek's all about.

A.C. Crispin's The Eyes of the Beholder--one of the very best treatments of Data as a character--loved the museum that kills!

 

[The Grim Ghost]

The Spock Crucible book. After having read hundreds of novels involving our favorite Vulcan, I felt that this book really got to the heart of who Spock is and why he had made some of the choices that always seemed somewhat strange to me.

 

[Therin of Andor]

The Entropy Effect by Vonda N. McIntyre. The characterizations were spot-on, the dialogue crisp and intelligent, the original characters fun, the story engaging and well paced, and dammit, I actually believed that Jim Kirk was dead, even though I knew it wouldn't last.

I'm with you, except I must now try to squeeze it alongside "Ex Machina", TNG's "Immortal Coil", NF's "Stone and Anvil" and DS9's "Andor: Paradigm".

Ah! "Uhura's Song"! "Strangers from the Sky"! "Crucible: McCoy"! Noooooo.

 

[HIj'Qa]

Federation
I think I'll go read it again

 

[LightningStorm]

DS9's Millennium Trilogy by J&G Reeves-Stevens.

 

[captcalhoun]

Prime Directive

 

[Defcon]

Fallen Heroes by Dafydd ab Hugh

 

[Therin of Andor]

Mmmm, you also asked why. My first choice has the same answer as KRAD's.

"Ex Machina" is the novel I wished I'd been able to see - preferably as a movie - about six weeks after ST:TMP's premiere. It's also the novel I wished I could have written. "Immortal Coil" is a great whodunnit, a great Data novel and chockful of TOS android and AI references. The ending of "Stone and Anvil" made me cry, as did the funeral scene in "Andor: Paradigm".

"Uhura's Song" is the ultimate TOS first contact story, with cool aliens and a fun guest character. "Strangers from the Sky" kept me enthralled throughout. I've read it twice and heard the audio version many times. "Crucible: McCoy" is such an enjoyable long journey.

 

[The Laughing Vulcan]

My favourite Trek novels are the ones I can read again and again without ever getting tired of them... Not too many of those.

Who am I kidding? The ones that spring to mind immediately...

Strangers From The Sky
The Final Reflection
Prime Directive
The Romulan Way
Gulliver's Fugitives
Corona

 

[BrotherBenny]

Articles of the Federation is my favourite because it just feels right. I love the characters and the interactions between them, and I've read the book eleven times, so far. That's the only Trek book I've read more than 2 or 3 times, and I'll read it again someday.

IMHO it's KRAD's best work to date, and A Burning House does come close but not close enough. I'm looking forward to seeing more of the Bacco administration in the Destiny trilogy and A Singular Destiny.

 

[captcalhoun]

PD because it's a near-perfect TOS tale, with everyone getting somethng to do, some nice aliens who're analogous to us Humans and i've read it about 15 or 16 times.

 

[BryanSorensen]

I cant say i can narrow it down to one either. There have been so many great ones Ill see if i can get them all here:

The Left Hand of Destiny 1 and 2- This wa a great 2 parter that delved into what was going on with the Klingons after the war, plus it explored Martok a great deal and got into his background and history.

Ship of the Line- Ive read this about 7 times. I thought the way they gave a little bit of background on captain bateson and his crew and how they got stuck in the loop was great. Besides that i think it was that the Enteprise E wasnt given to Captain Picard right off the bat when it was ready to launch.

The Good that Men Do- This book redeemed the last episode of Enterprise in so many ways. I have said in here before that this book SHOULD have been the last episode of Enterprise. Trip became a standout character in the show, but really stood out in this book, and in Kobayashi Maru.

Echoes and Refractions- I was waiting for this book for quite a while so the anticipation was getting way too high for it. I was not dissapointed. All three stories showed that its not all a happy ending in Trek, but also showed how great the characters are at dealing with those endings. Especially Geoffs story on what happened when spock wasnt around to save everyones butts when Khan set off the Genesis Device.

 

[Christopher]

The Entropy Effect by Vonda N. McIntyre. The characterizations were spot-on...

Hunh. I always felt McIntyre's Sulu was completely out of character. The Sulu I know from the show was an upbeat, confident Renaissance man with a rich sense of humor. The Sulu in McIntyre's novels was brooding, insecure, and ultra-serious.