Star Trek Reads discussion

Easily my favourite Trek books, the Destiny trilogy by David Mack has set the bar for me.

When I decided to try an get back into Trek novels, I'd actually started with Typhon Pact: Zero Sum Game. When I realised that a whole shwack of things had taken place since Nemesis - and the book saying at the beginning "this follows the events of Destiny" - I figured it might be a good idea to go back and read this first. Plus I had a friend's (Matthew) recommendation to start here.

So I did, and I'm so glad. I devoured these three books. Lots of action, true to character writing... and the inclusion of Enterprise-era ships! Yay :)

So far I've gotten three other people hooked into Trek novels by recommending to start here. It's a great place to catch up on what's happened, and really good reads.

What are your thoughts on the Destiny triology?

They really did a great job with this series of books. In one fell swoop, they wrapped up loose plot threads, set up more ongoing plots, and provided a jumping-on point for fans.

Really, as I read it, it felt like it had a lot in common with some of the big comic book events of recent days. Massive plotlines coming to a head, the threat of annihilation, revelations galore. It really seems like Pocket Books has gotten the go-ahead from Paramount to take the 24th century part of the franchise and make it their own. And that, if nothing else, excites me.

With the way that Destiny was written, they're finally able to let the status quo fall by the wayside and make actual, lasting changes to things. And with the way Typhon Pact is shaping up, it's going to be awesome.

I have to say there was one section that I thought was kind of peculiar. I think it was in the last book...

[Warning! Possible Spoilers]
Picard is having a bit of a meltdown. Riker comes in and they have a little chat, that in my mind lasts about 20 mins - half an hour. With everything that is going on around them, it seemed weird timing for them to take THIS much time out. I know that Picard is struggling through issues, but it's just weird timing.

That said, he does have a meltdown in First Contact, where Lily Sloan verbally smacks some sense into him. But that was all of 5 minutes, and Picard gained some sense that yeah his issues are present, but he has other things to consider.

Anyway, that's just some thoughts from my head. It didn't take away from the books at all. Just one of those little things that I thought peculiar.

I am about halfway through book 3, and I'm just ADDICTED to this series!

I just bought the omnibus version. Looking forward to tackling this trilogy in a couple weeks.

I started reading it last night. Not too far into it, but so far very intrigued. There's a lot to keep track of, especially the fact that I have no clue who a lot of these characters are. Thankfully, Mack puts in a lot of introductions and backstory so I'm not totally lost.

PS, the omnibus version of the the trilogy is friggin' huge.

Amazing trilogy. Absolutely loved it. My copy was nice and thin... well at least physically... a lot of bits and bytes tho! :)

I gave serious consideration to getting the ebooks, but I saved a bit of money by getting the paperback omnibus. Also, the store I bought it from donates proceeds to HIV/AIDS charities, so I felt good about that.

However, as I began reading it I immediately began to get aggravated at my inability to simply tap words I didn't recognize for instant definitions!

Yes... that is the second reason I read on a PADD... er I mean Nook. :)

I have to say since reading it there have been few books that quite reach the calibre of Destiny. There are some really good ones to be sure, but nothing quite this awesome yet lol

About halfway through it now. It is addictive.

Well, holy crap. I'm not 100% enamored of how Picard and Riker acted in these books -- I'd say on more than one occasion I found myself more interested in what was happening with the Columbia crew rather than the present-day stuff -- but on the whole they were very enjoyable. The body count is pretty incredible, and the sense of impending doom is palpable.

I, too, find these books to be very addictive! I can hardly bare to put them down! I've finished the first two & now I'm on the third!

I still have no idea how this book is going to wind up the series but I've already discovered that the nebula was caused when the Caeliar's star blew up! That came as a surprise to me!

It's quite confusing these jumps back & forth in time!

I was reading a passage in bed last night that was very gruesome & I could hardly keep on reading! I also find that there is an awful lot of deaths & fighting in this book - not something I like in a book! I normally eschew books that are inclined to be very violent. Yet I can hardly put this book down!

I read the first and the third books in the Destiny trilogy. I'll have to go back and re-read them (maybe see if I can track down the second one too)

I read the Destiny triology back in '09 and remember really liking them. I just finished reading the Voyager book Full Circle and currently reading it's sequel Unworthy which takes place right after the Destiny series and continues on with some of the plot of the Caeliar when Seven of Nine starts having problems. I think I may have to re-read the Destiny triology as I have forgotten alot of the details and some of what happens in Full Circle and Unworthy are confusing because I can't remember what happened in Destiny.

I'd like to get hold of those two books as well. I especially like the Voyager series, especially on TV as I haven't read all that many books on Voyager. :-((

I finished reading the Destiny trilogy just last week. Yesterday I discovered that one of the books that had been reserved for me by my local library, "A Singular Destiny" by Keith DeCandido, was set in more or less the same period of time. So knowing there are 2 more makes it exciting!

Carlissa: A lot definitely happened in Destiny! I tried to read the first Typhon Pact book and felt totally lost about what was going on. Fortunately a friend pointed me in the right direction, so I jumped back and started in with Destiny.

David: The majority of the recent Trek releases take place in the post-Destiny timeline, and they lead you up to the Typhon pact storylines. If you'd like to read them in order the next two after Singular Destiny would be Voyager: Full Circle (brings Voyager into the post-Destiny timeline) and Titan: Over a Torrent Sea.

If you check out the Reading Order thread, I've tried to maintain a list of the post-Destiny books. :-)

Andrea: Although I would love to re-read the Destiny series, I don't think I will have time! I just looked at my list of ST books that I have yet to read and it's a long list! I read the first 3 Destiny books, but need to read A Singular Destiny, I have most of the Typhon Pact books and need to read them, and I have read only the first of the Titan series! I'm working through the Voyager books now; I finished Full Circle and Unworthy and am reading Children of the Storm now; after that comes Eternal Tide.

I looked at your reading order and I'm sure it will come in handy as far as the timeline is concerned, but I tend to stick to one series at a time; it's less confusing for me that way. I'm having enough trouble keeping track of what's going on with Children of the Storm when they keep jumping around from one ship to the other! I like the story, but it's making my head spin!

David: After Full Circle and Unworthy there's Children of the Storm and Eternal Tide to add to your Voyager list. I have all of these as ebooks.

Carlissa: Yeah, that's what my problem is too! There's so many Trek books out there it's tough to keep up sometimes. I decided to read them in release order, so I jump around from series to series. I started with Destiny and once I get through the last Cold Equations book I'll be caught up until the next release. I don't read the TOS ones, so that means a few months until something new. I'm going to catch up on Enterprise until then.

I agree about Children of the Storm! The Voyager books have introduced a lot of new characters to keep up with. They're great, but wow do you need to pay attention.

@Carlissa That's good to know. Because there were some screaming loose ends in the trilogy.

Spoilers

They say that the Caeliar set everyone free from the collective but then they also say all the former drones are Caeliar now. Also there was a mention of a major character getting assimilated. Also what the Caelier did went a long way to redeeming them but they need to realize that holding people hostage for life is an act of violence just as much as killing or injuring someone is. I kind of hate them worse than the borg so I hope the former drones get free.

I finished reading 'A Singular Destiny' a couple of weeks ago & I felt it wasn't up to the standard of the other 3 books I'd read, in fact in places I found it quite boring! (Yes, I know it was written by a different author!)

Spoilers,

I was surprised by how the Caelier were able to 'assimilate' the Borg drones into their own society I was even more surprised to read that the Borg originated from the assimilation of a couple of humans by a Caelier! That really took my breath away!

The role of Capitan Ezra, my first encounter with her in that role, was fundamental to the story & her decisions were no less daring at times than those of Kirk, Picard, or Riker in other ST series!