What have you been reading?

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From the Depths turned out to be a pretty good Star Trek novel, 100 times better than The Captain's Oath. It had a very gameable premise involving the Prime Directive, a mystery of sorts, and Klingon rivals, plus treason, but I don't to spoil it for anyone who may read it or play it if I ever rip it off for a game.

Now I'm reading Cast No Shadow, which is set seven years after Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and explores the situation left dangling at the end of that film, which is the Klingon Empire on the brink of collapse and suing for peace. Valeris from the movie is in it, currently at a Star Fleet penal stockade, and I wonder how she'll figure into things. At the very least the author has the benefit of an almost completely neglected but interesting period in Star Trek "history" to explore. I still think Star Trek VI would have been much more dramatic and tragic if Valeris had been Saavik as originally planned. Having Spock's protégé pursue logic to a different conclusion would have been more powerful than some character we'd never seen before doing the same. Anyway, I'm just a few pages in and it's good so far. There was already a terrorist attack on the weakened Klingons by some of their embittered past victims.
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Giganotosaurus said:
I finished "Inferno" by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. I always love a good redemption story.
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The sequel, Escape from Hell is fun, too.

I've restarted the Deverry books. After stumbling on the new one, I decided to start again. Got to say, I'd love to see an RPG set there and using the magic as described in the books.
 
Cast No Shadow was pretty good, although more of a spy novel with a thin veneer of Star Trek. The story was entertaining and I always enjoyed Valerie. However, I think the author made a big mistake in explaining away her motivations in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. It would be far more interesting if her actions were the result of logical determination. Anyway, Captain Sulu and the Excelsior were fun but not much more than a cameo.

Now I'm reading one where Captain Sulu Sulu is the main character. Terrible cover but interesting so far as he's been tasked with dealing with goings-on in Tholian space, which is a good choice as endless Klingons and Romulans gets tiresome. Let's see some Gorn, goddamit! Oh, and Chekov is his first officer.
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Read the Hack/Slash vs. Chaos comic book miniseries. Hack/Slash is my favorite comic book series, and this was worthy sequel. Much like the main series, Hack/Slash vs. Chaos had a much more emotionally affecting ending than one might expect from the admittedly somewhat goofy premise.
 
Is it ironic that I've lost interest in The Lost Era novel? For whatever reason the author decided it would be a good idea to insert flashbacks to events hundreds of years in the past, and in the process give away all there is to know about the "mysterious" menace. Worse still, all the flashbacks are incredibly dull to the point that I found myself skimming them to see if they were skippable. They were. Now I'm midway through the novel and haven't picked it up in days because the only good parts are sporadic. Captain Sulu deserved better.
 
Due to the Zombie Apocalypse that has shut down pretty much anywhere I'd like to do, I'm doing even more reading than usual. Fortunately I have stacks of books I picked up here and there over the years and haven't gotten around to reading yet, so reading material is not hard to come by even with libraries and thrift stores closed. Since that last Star Trek novel left such a bad taste in my mouth, I'm taking a break from them for now and digging out some books I acquired from a Goodwill or Salvation Army shop a while back:
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Toric said:
As I am about to start running Shatterzone and have been doing a Let's Read of the game here, I have started reading Downbelow Station by C.J. Cherryh, sited as inspiration for Shatterzone by one of the creators.

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And since I haven't read too many Science Fiction novels over the years outside of media tie-ins like Star Wars and Star Trek, I'm interested to expand my horizons and check out some good space opera novels. As I have an hour long commute each way for work, I am planning to listen to some audible books, starting with this one, the first of Bujold's Vorkosigan saga:

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Definitely a fan of the Alliance-Union 'verse and Vorkosigan Saga. Try reading Cyteen if you can get hold of it. No spoilers but the book is a really taut political thriller. Definitely A-list material and totally deserved its Hugo.

I do have GE humans in my opus 'verse and thought long and hard about whether to lift quaddies as they're a really neat idea. In the end I decided not to as they're kind of iconic to the Vorkosigan-verse in the way that light sabres are inextricably tied up with Star Wars. Plus, the setting didn't really need them and the obvious niche was taken up with something else.
 
I'm finally reading Grady Hendrix's history of 70s & 80s horror novels, Paperbacks from Hell. I've had it checked out from the library since approximately forever, but never got around to it. Thus far, I've read the introduction and the chapter about Satanic Possession novels. Next up is the chapter on Creepy Kids novels.

Not really doing much reading at the moment, because I feel a need to stay in motion, even if it's inside my apartment, but I am looking forward to reading more of this.
 
Just about finished with the first volume, which encompasses the conception and creation of the series as well as the tribulations endured. It's remarkable what they managed to put on screen with insufficient time and money. The book also takes apart a lot of myths about Star Trek. For one, almost all the respected sci fi authors who contributed turned in useless scripts that had to be rewritten numerous times until they bore little or no resemblance to the originals, and usually the famous name that was credited had nearly nothing to do with what you ended up seeing: the main reason their names were left in the final credits was because the producers wanted the attention and prestige-by-association. Even authors who had written for TV before had a difficult time adapting to a series with ongoing characters and would submit work that (1) could not be filmed the technology of the decade, (2) could not be filmed within or even near the budget, (3) was more suited for an anthology series like The Outer Limits. It also puts to rest the bullshit canard that William Shatner was a bad actor. We're talking about a guy who was highly respected in the industry, esteemed by his peers, well-received by audiences and singled out for compliment by reviewers, and in demand at top dollar. Getting him under contract was seen as a coup. It also overturns the claim that there were very few unused scripts: in fact there were many, many scripts commissioned and then deemed unusable and unsalvageable, often by familiar names, which maybe is why it wasn't let out what low quality the scripts were. Every episode has a breakdown in the script origin, rewrites, editing, casting, director, shooting schedule, broadcast reception, ratings, etc., all written clearly aside from the occasional grammatical error. There's also a lot about the things Gene Roddenberry would do that made him such persona non grata at the network and disliked by some writers. Great book. Can't wait to learn about Season 2.
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I haven't finished the anthologies I'm reading. Since I started wearing a mask outside, it causes my glasses to fog up. Since I've done most of my reading while on the bus on my phone, I cut back. However, I broke down and ordered a new kindle fire tablet that I should hopefully get on Tuesday, so i'll be able to read more at home
 
E-Rocker said:
I'm finally reading Grady Hendrix's history of 70s & 80s horror novels, Paperbacks from Hell. I've had it checked out from the library since approximately forever, but never got around to it. Thus far, I've read the introduction and the chapter about Satanic Possession novels. Next up is the chapter on Creepy Kids novels.

Not really doing much reading at the moment, because I feel a need to stay in motion, even if it's inside my apartment, but I am looking forward to reading more of this.
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This is a pretty hilarious book. Turned me on some really good authors like Michael McDowell and Ken Greenhall. Valancourt has started up a Paperbacks from Hell line to republish some of the better books covered in the book.
 
After years of stalling I’ve finally picked up and started reading my copy of The Black Company.

The anachronisms (so to speak — pre-industrial fantasy folk speaking like a lot like modern soldiers) are a bit grating at times but I also really appreciate the “D&Dness” of it.
 
I recently managed the two most recent "Action Figures" superhero novels by Michael C. Bailey. They're fun and they touch on some pretty heavy stuff once you get past the teen super-hero image. (One touched on PTSD, not in detail or enough, but even in the book AFTER that, there are mentions of the character who is dealing with it at her counselor/psychiatrist breaking down. Something I'm familiar with.) I find a lot of good super fiction stuff on Amazon. Some utter garbage too. But I've enjoyed these.
 
I already read These Are The Voyages: TOS Season One and I'm midway through Season Two.
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These are incredibly approachable scholarly works that get down into the vagaries, difficulties, and specifics of TV production of the 1960s and Star Trek in particular, which was not only probably the most expensive show on television but also the highest quality in terms of script supervision and production values. The author obtained the Nielsen reports and conducted interviews with nearly everyone who was involved, from writers, producers, cast members, guest stars, and even stuntmen. As Spock might say, it's fascinating. The best part is it's highly readable even when they get into technical details: everything is explained clearly. Put it this way: I'm getting through these three volumes faster than I get through The Lord of the Rings, which is comparable in length. Highly recommended not only if you grok Star Trek but also if you are interested in what it was like to produce a complicated and visionary television program from week to week on insufficient funds. The author did a heap of research and dispels a lot of b.s. that has been passed around over the years, most particularly about the ratings of Star Trek: the show was in fact an immediate hit and generally took 2nd place in its time slot and sometimes took 1st place. And it was generally #1 among the demographics most valued by advertisers. I haven't gotten to the third season yet but my impression thus far is that any threat of cancellation was due to the cost of production and, even more, animosity between NBC and Gene Roddenberry (the book details the many, many ways Gene Roddenberry made himself unpopular with network executives).

The only negative I can say about these books is that the proofreading isn't great: there are some grammatical and punctuation-type errors scattered throughout, but not too frequently.

Next in the queue is Season Three:
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And I also came across this to read after that, although it's "official" so probably won't be as interesting, although it does look pretty cool when I flip through the pages:
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Dumarest said:
The author did a heap of research and dispels a lot of b.s. that has been passed around over the years
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I've read a few histories of hobbies/interests of mine over the last three of so years and it seems to me that "folk history" in general is immensely inaccurate. It's often both simpler and more dramatic. Maybe part of how we compress information or why we like stories.
 
Arrived today. Forgot I had preordered it. Groovy early '70s team-ups from the period when World's Finest was Superman's The Brave and the Bold (pre-DC Comics Presents).
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A lot of music stuff, most recently a biography of Bill Evans. Didn't really learn anything super surprising about the man himself, but it got me to listen to some of his albums that I hadn't paid a lot of attention to before.

Philosophy, mostly work-related, but some personal interest, especially classical Chinese philosophy.

Halfway through The Expanse series, taking a bit of a break after book 5.

Trinity: Continuum core book, taking a look at their new Storypath system.
 
I read "Dancers at the End of Time" a few years back, it's a cool setting. Never read Legends, another for the list.
 
Séadna said:
I read "Dancers at the End of Time" a few years back, it's a cool setting. Never read Legends, another for the list.
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I know the first story 'Pale Roses' is often anthologized. I quite liked it amd want to check out the main series as well.
 
Back on the Star Trek novels, now reading Mindshadow. Sounds like the name of a Chris Claremont X-Men character. Pretty good so far. Spock was badly injured and has memory loss, yet holds a vital clue to the mystery of a planet being raided by pirates for unknown reasons. Feels like an episode that could have aired in 1968-1969. I don't know why, but there is a perceptible change in writing style of Star Trek novels between the '80s/'90s books and the stuff I've read from the 2000s. Most notably, the later authors and editors seem to have no clue how to tell a story and think "fanservice" and "Easter eggs" are more important than plot and characterization.
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Dumarest said:
Back on the Star Trek novels, now reading Mindshadow. Sounds like the name of a Chris Claremont X-Men character. Pretty good so far. Spock was badly injured and has memory loss, yet holds a vital clue to the mystery of a planet being raided by pirates for unknown reasons. Feels like an episode that could have aired in 1968-1969. I don't know why, but there is a perceptible change in writing style of Star Trek novels between the '80s/'90s books and the stuff I've read from the 2000s. Most notably, the later authors and editors seem to have no clue how to tell a story and think "fanservice" and "Easter eggs" are more important than plot and characterization.
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Have you read any of the Trek novels by James Blish, Joe Haldeman or Vonda McIntyre?

I believe Blish wrote the first ever Trek novel, unfortunately it was late in his career when he was apparently broke and alcoholic but I'd suspect that man who wrote the amazing 'Common Time' at even 1/10th of his abilities would produce a better-than-expected Trek novel. McIntyre can be too sentimental for me but that may be a good fit for Trek.

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Voros said:
Have you read any of the Trek novels by James Blish,
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Just the episode adaptations, which are interesting because a lot of them were based on earlier drafts rather than the final shooting scripts due to time and production constraints.
Voros said:
Joe Haldeman
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No.
Voros said:
Vonda McIntyre?
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All of them. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is great and includes a lot that didn't make the final cut of the movie. Three major instances are: (1) Saavik is an adopted half-Romulan/half-Vulcan urchin product of rape, which goes a long way to explaining why she seems so much more volatile with anger just below the surface (and even sheds a tear for Spock)--I've heard people wonder about Kirstie Alley's performance because the film failed to explain why she's acting so frequently un-Vulcan; (2) why Scotty is so worked up over that one engineering cadet's death--it's his nephew (and Saavik was his tutor); (3) lots of background and personality development of the Genesis science team that Khan tortures and murders, so you have a reason to care about their fates.
 
Cool, I do like a number of McIntyre's short stories btw, particularly her novella 'Aztecs' which she later expanded into a novel but I suspect the original is probably stronger due to its compactness.

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So...if you ever come across these, don't waste your time or money. First, the crew of the Enterprise are reduced to guest star roles as the story in Dreadnought! revolves around a near-Mary Sue character. If it were an RPG session, she'd be a GMPC. Second, the writing is effing terrible. It's in the first person and this is supposed to be a lieutenant in Star Fleet and a command candidate, but her inner life reads like a high school sophomore's diary. On top of that, the author keeps trying to be "poetic" in her turns of phrase and descriptions. If this didn't have the Pocket Books logo on it, I honestly would have thought it was some of that :crap: fan fiction you come across where a writer's protagonist is so obviously an idealized version of herself and all the main characters are just so taken with her. Third, the plot is enormously stupid. It involves a top-secret dreadnought starship with a special connection to our Mary Sue, blah blah blah, its special weapons don't make a lick of sense and neither does how it gets stolen from Star Fleet. Oh, and were you aware the Enterprise carries two-seater starfighters in its hangar? Well, it does in this book and only in this book. And they're remarkably easy to steal and fly away in even if you've no pilot training. How 'bout that?
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I confess I didn't read Battlestations! simply because it's a sequel with the same Mary Sue by the same author--it cannot possibly be good and I can't waste my time finding out if she's improved. A quick flip through it would seem to indicate she has not. How on earth did these get published? Dreadnought! is without qualification the worst Star Trek novel that I've read in the Books series. And why the heck do these titles need exclamation marks? I suppose that should have been a red flag.
 
I'm going to give Dreams of the Raven a chance.
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The blurb on the back cover sounds like it could be a good story.
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I finished Carl Sagan's "Contact" and boy howdy was that a slow burn. There were several points where I could barely get through a chapter. But the final few chapters were worth it I think. I really dug the reason for why aliens haven't invaded earth (All the aggressive civilizations tend to wipe themselves out before even reaching space). I also liked the ending a lot more than the movie, the "Artist's Signature".
Definitely not one I'd read again but I don't regret reading it.
 
Besides still slowly making my way through some anthologies I posted about earlier in the thread, I'm reading a comic I found on Comixology called The Alternate. It's about the only superhero in the world, Mettle, being shunted to a parallel world after stopping an alien invasion. There he meets his more powerful counterpart, Metalman, and the other superhumans of that world. It's only six issues so far, but it's been a fun read
 
Enjoying the Swamp Thing TV series enough to pick up the first volume of the original run as I only knew him from the Alan Moore run. Great artwork by Bernie Wrightson.

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Also enjoyed the first volume of Parasyte, the art is not cliche modern manga in style, the humour and characterization is a cut above and the body horror is wildly inventive. The first volume's story feels pretty complete and like a lot of manga I'm not sure the ideas will sustain over multiple volumes without becoming repetitive or losing steam but this is well worth checking out for horror fans.

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Voros said:
Enjoying the Swamp Thing TV series enough to pick up the first volume of the original run as I only knew him from the Alan Moore run. Great artwork by Bernie Wrightson.
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I watched the first episode, then found out it was cancelled. Should I watch the rest?
 
I can't for the life of me find it now, but someone, maybe Voros Voros?, mentioned Charles Saunders in another thread, so in case anyone is interested it appears his Imaro series from the 1980s is back in print:
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Saunders was selling them himself via Lulu (or at least the later volumes), as I ordered them from there. The first book or two was reissued around 2012 or so (I remember that cover on the copy I have), but they never finished the series.
 
Stevethulhu said:
I watched the first episode, then found out it was cancelled. Should I watch the rest?
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I think it has enough good points to be worth watching. It does a good job I think with some of the horror elements but it doesn't have the wild psychedelic impact of Alan Moore.
 
Gary Lachman, former guitarist for Blondie and Iggy Pop, has surprisingly become an excellent biographer and historian on the occult. He is a very fluid writer, good at explicating the often obtuse ideas of the occult, sympathetic but skeptical, he doesn't set out to be a debunker but he is willing to call bullshit when he sees it. Looking forward to a no-BS look at Crowley from him.

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Technically listening, but the audible version of Hammerhal and other stories. A Black Library collection of Age of Sigmar stuff. Never read any before. They do shout "only the faithful" a lot (instead of "for the emperor!")

I also bought the rpg
 
Won a big lot of books on eBay.

Currently reading the series of Star Trek the Next Generation novels. The first one, Ghost Ship, has an interesting premise but the adversary is never really well realized and feels amorphous. At no time was a ship such as the semi-Millennium Falcon on the cover described in the text, which confused me a bit as I thought such a ship was going to turn up at some point. Diane Carey is pretty good but I think the story went a little longer than it could stand.

I accidentally grabbed The Children of Hamlin to read next when I was somewhere with time to kill, so I ended up reading #3 before #2, but it was quite good. Interesting plot, interesting antagonist, although the Hamlin reference the author thought was clever just feels unnecessary and distracting anytime they mention the planet of that name. Carmen Carter also wrote Dreams of the Raven, which was a good "original series" story. I hope I see her name again as she's 2 for 2 for me so far.

From here on out I'm trying to read them in order, not that it really matters, so I'll hit #2 tonight and then move to #4, 5, 6, etc. I have all of them up to #34 except #17. The names Jean Lorrah and Gene DeWeese bode well. I know Lorrah wrote the two Vulcan-centric "original series" novels I read, both of which were good, and I think DeWeese wrote a good "original series" one as well.

(This is basically entertaining research for my planned Star Trek Adventures game.)
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Voros said:
Gary Lachman, former (I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dea for Blondie and Iggy Pop, has surprisingly become an excellent biographer and historian on the occult. He is a very fluid writer, good at explicating the often obtuse ideas of the occult, sympathetic but skeptical, he doesn't set out to be a debunker but he is willing to call bullshit when he sees it. Looking forward to a no-BS look at Crowley from him.

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Gary Valentine! Writer of the immortal "(I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear," and, as Voros Voros should know better, bassist for Blondie. Count the strings!
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