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From: wix@bergil.DEC (Jack Wickwire)
Newsgroups: net.startrek
Subject: Ex Libris
Message-ID: <2108@decwrl.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 10-May-85 10:54:13 EDT
Article-I.D.: decwrl.2108
Posted: Fri May 10 10:54:13 1985
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This is being forwarded through me to NET.STARTREK. I only do some basic 
formatting and I am not responsible for its content. All responses sent 
to me will be forwarded to the author. 


Somebody was asking for recommendations of "Star Trek" novels.
I'm a little wary of giving any; tastes differ so widely, and
the novels reviled by some fans are revered by others.  I'm
also uncertain what exactly constitutes violating the purity
of the "Star Trek" universe.  End of disclaimer.
 
David Gerrold's *The Galactic Whirlpool* is extremely intelligent,
sensible "Star Trek".  I didn't much care for it because it uses
the basic "Star Trek" setup only as a framework for a story that
could have happened in any number of universes, and the main
ST characters are little in evidence.  Kevin Riley does, however,
have a major part.
 
Vonda MacIntyre's *The Entropy Effect* and John M. Ford's
*The Final Reflection* are actually real science fiction
novels and can be happily read as such.  Ford's has even
less to do with the main ST characters than Gerrold's, but
is an excellent story and of great historical interest.
 
Diane Duane's *The Wounded Sky* and *My Enemy, My Ally*,
though a little starry-eyed, also have "Star Trek" down
perfectly, and contain, besides much careful thought
and suspense, some very funny moments.
 
A.C. Crispin's *Yesterday's Son* is a sequel to the
episode "All Our Yesterdays" and is solid, second-rate
"Star Trek".  Not inspired, but not likely to make you
tear your hair, either.
 
Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath's four novels,
*The Price of the Phoenix*, *The Fate of the Phoenix*,
*Triangle*, and *The Prometheus Design*, should be
approached cautiously, if at all, by people worried
about the purity of the "Star Trek" universe.  They
love "Star Trek" passionately, bring in characters
and lines and concepts from the episodes and the first
movie, and write a pretty good story.  But their
characterization of the main people, though derivable
from the episodes and perfectly consistent, is on the
edge of what many people will accept; and their
extrapolations from "Star Trek" technology are likely
to land them in the predicament Larry Niven found
himself in with the "Known Space" series:  anything
is possible, so nothing is interesting.
 
Hope this helps.  I understand that the latest ST
novel, *Ishmael* by Barbara Hambly (who is a very
fine fantasy writer) is excellent, but I haven't
read it yet.
 
PDDB
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