Star Trek: The Lost Era Books.

[Jakks]

Okay, so after many moon's I've finally gotten back into Trek Lit. I've already burned through all the Vanguard books, currently reading the Destiny saga and have Loseing the Peace and A Singular Destiny waiting in the wings.

Been eyeing the Lost Era books as well as the New Frontiers series...now, I found a thread of reviews on NF so I have an idea what that's all about.

Am wondering what you all think of Lost Era overall?

Worth the time? So, so? or save your money?

Opinions most welcome.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Largely, it's a really good series. Of the six "original" Lost Era books, I thought that three were really good (The Sundered, Serpents Among the Ruins and The Art of the Impossible, with SAtR being the best), one average (Catalyst of Sorrows), one realllly tough read that I ultimately felt was worth it in the end (Well of Souls) and only one real stinker (Deny Thy Father).

Other than that, The Buried Age and the Terok Nor trilogy were both billed as "Tales of the Lost Era". The Buried Age is really good and well worth your time. Terok Nor is worth it if you are into the DS9 backstory, but the quality is uneven.

While not an "official" Lost Era book, Vulcan's Heart is set in this era, and it's events play against events in The Art of the Impossible. In fact, Serpents Among the Ruins, Vulcan's Heart and The Art of the Impossible serve as a nice, if unofficial, trilogy in their own right, detailing the relations between the Federation and her competitors of the era.

 

[Jakks]

Largely, it's a really good series. Of the six "original" Lost Era books, I thought that three were really good (The Sundered, Serpents Among the Ruins and The Art of the Impossible, with SAtR being the best), one average (Catalyst of Sorrows), one realllly tough read that I ultimately felt was worth it in the end (Well of Souls) and only one real stinker (Deny Thy Father).

Other than that, The Buried Age and the Terok Nor trilogy were both billed as "Tales of the Lost Era". The Buried Age is really good and well worth your time. Terok Nor is worth it if you are into the DS9 backstory, but the quality is uneven.

While not an "official" Lost Era book, Vulcan's Heart is set in this era, and it's events play against events in The Art of the Impossible. In fact, Serpents Among the Ruins, Vulcan's Heart and The Art of the Impossible serve as a nice, if unofficial, trilogy in their own right, detailing the relations between the Federation and her competitors of the era.

Excellent, thanks for the additional book info.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I didn't like "unofficial Lost Era book" Vulcan's Heart. If you've read The Pandora Principle, or any of the Saavik origin stories in the comics (which are pretty much the same), the idea of Spock lusting after Saavik in Pon Farr, and marrying her, is somewhat unpleasent. Even if it is 80 years later.

Of the others, I've only read The Sundered, which I thought mediocre. The second Titan novel is a sequel to it.

There's also the Stargazer series that sort-of counts as a "Lost era". The story starts at the end with TNG-era novel Reunion, and then a young Picard takes command of the Stagazer in Valiant. I enjoyed both of those, but I haven't read the subsequent books yet.

 

[Paris]

I've really dug the original "Lost Era" books. Serpents Among the Ruins and Art of The Impossible especially. I couldn't get through Well of Souls, but Deny Thy Father wasn't too bad. I also had a tough time with Catalyst of Sorrows, but I really liked The Sundered (and it's sequel; The Red King). Christopher's The Buried Age was, IMO, the best Lost Era book to date. SatR and AotI are tied for a close second place, but the Picard centric Buried Age is the one I always go back to for a re-read. With 2011's Cast No Shadow taking place in 2300, it will also count as a "Lost Era" book. I'm def excited for that one

 

[Christopher]

I didn't like "unofficial Lost Era book" Vulcan's Glory.

Do you mean Vulcan's Heart? Vulcan's Glory is D. C. Fontana's novel about Spock's first mission aboard Captain Pike's Enterprise.

If you've read The Pandora Principle, or any of the Saavik origin stories in the comics (which are pretty much the same), the idea of Spock lusting after Saavik in Pon Farr, and marrying her, is somewhat unpleasent. Even if it is 80 years later.

Have you seen The Search for Spock? Dude, they had sex. Canonically. The portrayal of Saavik as a romantic interest for Spock has more canonical grounding than the portrayal of her as a surrogate daughter or adoptive sibling. It may not be your personal preference, but that doesn't make it objectively invalid.

 

[F. King Daniel]

^Vulcan's Heart. My bad.

There's a world of difference between having sex with a mind-wiped 15-year-old to save his life, and marrying the man who rescued you and helped raise you.

 

[Christopher]

I'm sure there have been cases of people marrying their rescuers. I've heard stories of people marrying doctors who saved their lives, for instance. And the extent to which Spock helped raise Saavik is a matter of ambiguity. Some Saavik stories assume that Spock was Saavik's primary mentor, while others assume that she was raised by Sarek and Amanda while Spock was off on the Enterprise. Personally, I find the latter more likely, since it's easier to fit into Spock's backstory as we understand it.

So don't assume that your personal preferences should dictate what another person should read. You prefer one interpretation of Saavik's story, others prefer a different one. This is a book recommendation thread, after all, and a lot of us, myself included, can recommend Vulcan's Heart without difficulty.

 

[Thrawn]

Largely, it's a really good series. Of the six "original" Lost Era books, I thought that three were really good (The Sundered, Serpents Among the Ruins and The Art of the Impossible, with SAtR being the best), one average (Catalyst of Sorrows), one realllly tough read that I ultimately felt was worth it in the end (Well of Souls) and only one real stinker (Deny Thy Father).

Other than that, The Buried Age and the Terok Nor trilogy were both billed as "Tales of the Lost Era". The Buried Age is really good and well worth your time. Terok Nor is worth it if you are into the DS9 backstory, but the quality is uneven.

While not an "official" Lost Era book, Vulcan's Heart is set in this era, and it's events play against events in The Art of the Impossible. In fact, Serpents Among the Ruins, Vulcan's Heart and The Art of the Impossible serve as a nice, if unofficial, trilogy in their own right, detailing the relations between the Federation and her competitors of the era.

This is absolutely correct on all counts. Well done.

 

[F. King Daniel]

So don't assume that your personal preferences should dictate what another person should read.

I never did any such thing. On a thread where someone is seeking opinions of books, I gave mine and my reasoning for it. You disagree? Fine - but I have as much right to state my opinion as you do yours.

 

[RandyS]

For me, the memories are mixed. The Lost Era novels came out at a time when I was still struggling to come to terms with my mom's death. I attempted to do this by burying myself in Star Trek, something I loved (not as much as my mom, obviously, but still...). Suffice it to say, the attempt failed in spectacular fashion, and as a result, I do not have good memories of the Lost Era, (an ironically apt title, as it turned out).

But, my sob story doesn't matter to you, so let me try to answer your question this way: I remember that I did enjoy KRAD's entry into the series. the red cover with General Worf on it. I don't remember the title, sorry. The next book, the blue one with Captain Garret of the Enterprise-C on the cover was a painfully slow read.The next one, the green cover with Riker on it was a mix. The parts with Will were good, but the section that focused on his dad were hard to get through. I did like the conclusion, the light green one with Uhura and Sisko on the cover.

I realize I haven't been much help. Obviously, the series will be different for you. But, the bottom line is, it's Star Trek, so I say, give it a shot.

 

[ronny]

Largely, it's a really good series. Of the six "original" Lost Era books, I thought that three were really good (The Sundered, Serpents Among the Ruins and The Art of the Impossible, with SAtR being the best), one average (Catalyst of Sorrows), one realllly tough read that I ultimately felt was worth it in the end (Well of Souls) and only one real stinker (Deny Thy Father).

Other than that, The Buried Age and the Terok Nor trilogy were both billed as "Tales of the Lost Era". The Buried Age is really good and well worth your time. Terok Nor is worth it if you are into the DS9 backstory, but the quality is uneven.

While not an "official" Lost Era book, Vulcan's Heart is set in this era, and it's events play against events in The Art of the Impossible. In fact, Serpents Among the Ruins, Vulcan's Heart and The Art of the Impossible serve as a nice, if unofficial, trilogy in their own right, detailing the relations between the Federation and her competitors of the era.

I'd switch The Sundered and Catalyst of Sorrows on your likability scale and clarify that the DS9 books are uneven but the first one, Day of Vipers, is freaking awesome, up there with SAtR which is the best of the original six. But other than those couple of tweaks, I agree with your assessment.

 

[sulfur]

As someone mentioned above, the Stargazer books are pseudo-Lost Era books, and tie in well with The Buried Age and Death in Winter, as the series shows Picard's time on the Stargazer (well, a chunk of it at least), and some of the characters from the series show up in Death in Winter.

The series taken as separate books is a bit uneven, but overall, is a pretty good read, and (as noted) sets up CLB's Buried Age very well.

 

[JD]

Four of the TLE books are some of my favorite books of all time, Serpents Among the Ruins, The Art of the Impossible, The Buried Age (which is actually marked as TNG, with "A Tale of the Lost Era" under the title), and Day of the Vipers (the first Terok Nor book) are absolutely a-freakin'-mazing. As for the rest of the series, The Sundered is pretty good, I'd would certainly recommend it, and the other two Terok Nor books are pretty much at the same point quality wise. I haven't read the other three yet, but based on what I've heard I'm probably not going to read Well of Souls or Deny Thy Father. As for Catalyst of Sorrows, it's sitting on my Nook wishlist, and I really look forward to reading it.

 

[shanejayell]

You could maybe slip The Captain's Daughter by Peter David and the Excelsior novel 'Forged in Fire' in the Lost Era too.

(I'm surprised they haven't rereleased both books with Lost Era covers, actually. Probably get a boost in sales)

 

[Christopher]

^Forged in Fire doesn't count as Lost Era, because most of it takes place in 2289-90, before Kirk was lost in the Nexus and therefore during the TOS era instead of the Lost Era. Only 3 chapters of the book (the second prologue and both epilogues) take place during the Lost Era.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

As for the actual, titled Lost Era books, The Sundered is far and away my favorite. I totally loved the story of the Neyel. I hope we get to see them again.

Although in general, Vulcan's Heart is my favorite in that general time frame (the titular 'lost era'). In fact, VH is my favorite Trek novel of all time.

 

[ronny]

You could maybe slip The Captain's Daughter by Peter David and the Excelsior novel 'Forged in Fire' in the Lost Era too.

(I'm surprised they haven't rereleased both books with Lost Era covers, actually. Probably get a boost in sales)

Forged in Fire came out years after the first series of Lost Era books. I'm assuming if they wanted to make that a Lost Era book they would have done so at the time.

But now that you mention it, yeah, I can see FiF as a Lost Era book. And I think it's one of the better ones too.

 

[ronny]

^Forged in Fire doesn't count as Lost Era, because most of it takes place in 2289-90, before Kirk was lost in the Nexus and therefore during the TOS era instead of the Lost Era. Only 3 chapters of the book (the second prologue and both epilogues) take place during the Lost Era.

Hmm, forgot Forged in Fire took place pre-Generations. Oh, well...

 

[DarKush]

I really liked Art of the Impossible and Serpents Among the Ruins. Both had this big, sweeping feel to them, and both fleshed out mysterious events in Trek history. And added bonus, both featured Elias Vaughn.

I liked The Sundered well enough, but I didn't love it. The Neyel were interesting, as were the take on the Tholians, but something about it didn't gel for me. I liked Well of Souls. It featured a largely unknown cast, but I enjoyed the Commander Al-Halak character, etc. It was a darker book than the others I read. With Catalyst of Sorrows, I enjoyed the team up the most. That was pretty cool and I liked the description of the Romulans. The Empire wasn't portrayed as powerful as it seemed in TNG, hence the reason perhaps that the Romulans weren't as expansionist as they should've been.

After hearing so much bad stuff about Deny Thy Father I skipped it. Have yet to read the other LE books. Did read Forged in Fire. I liked this book, though it took me forever to read. Qagh was a great villian; with a pretty unique motivation.