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Star Wars/Star Trek Novels
I'm usually a bit embarrassed to read a Star Wars or Star Trek novel, but I read Vanguard a few weeks ago and it wasn't that bad. Not as good as something serious, like Revelation Space, but not bad. Last year I read Revenge of the Sith and it was TERRIBLE. I read Dark Lord soon after and it wasn't too bad, but there wasn't enough Vader, which was silly because the story was supposed to be primarily about him. I read Outbound Flight a little before that, and found that I'm really not that interested in Republic stories.
I remember when Splinter of the Mind's Eye first came out. I thought it was good, but I was in the eighth grade, so I don't know if it would seem as good now.
Does anyone have any suggestions for Star Wars novels that involve the original trilogy characters or Star Trek novels dealing with TOS?
Another thing: Has anyone seen that Iron Man DVD? I saw it in Blockbuster last weekend and nearly rented it, but before i got to the checkout counter, I decided that I didn't want to invest even an hour in it if it was gonna turn out to be as crappy as the Ultimate Avengers DVD. I really want to like Iron Man, but I just can't work up the interest.
I remember when Splinter of the Mind's Eye first came out. I thought it was good, but I was in the eighth grade, so I don't know if it would seem as good now.
Does anyone have any suggestions for Star Wars novels that involve the original trilogy characters or Star Trek novels dealing with TOS?
Another thing: Has anyone seen that Iron Man DVD? I saw it in Blockbuster last weekend and nearly rented it, but before i got to the checkout counter, I decided that I didn't want to invest even an hour in it if it was gonna turn out to be as crappy as the Ultimate Avengers DVD. I really want to like Iron Man, but I just can't work up the interest.
Comments
If you like fighter pilot action, have you played (and I know they're very old) "Crimson Skies" and "Secret Weapons over Normandy"? "Crimson Skies" was interesting at first, but I was disappointed when I realized that no one was actually dying. Everyone successfully bailed out of their plane, like an old episode of "A-Team". That's why I'm embarrassed to read them. The Star Wars books I talked about in the first post could all easily be kid's books. Vanguard was a little more grown up. That's kind of the question. Does anyone know of any such novels that are a little more serious and grown up?
I'm very tempted by Allegiance. I don't know if I'll be able to resist buying it until it comes out in paperback, my local library gets it, or I find it cheaper on Amazon or Ebay than I could get it from SFBC. I'll be very disappointed if I spend money on it and it turns out to be crappy.
If you're interested in fantasy series, now... there I can make some recommendations. I'll wait for your cue on that one, though, because I have the feeling you want to stay more on the sci-fi side.
I've read Starship Troopers four times. I even like the movie. I'm like *this close* to getting the video game, in spite of people saying it's bad.
I've got a bug about Star Trek/Star Wars right now though. Mostly because Vanguard was so decent and Allegiance looks so pretty. There's another new Star Trek one called Missing in Action that looks like it might have to do with the Mirror Universe, one of my favorite Universes of all. Normally, I wouldn't be that interested.
I have also read Starship Troopers multiple times. I did not care for the movie at all because I'm more of a purist when it comes to adapting a book into a movie. Where were the gorilla suits??? Where were the Skinnies???
I have never heard of a Starship Troopers video game though there is a miniatures game (based more on the CGI series) and Avalon Hill put out a very good Starship Troopers game. I have that game but I have trouble finding others to play it with.
As to SW/ST novels... I read them as a kid and enjoyed them but I can't get as much enjoyment out of them now. This is because of the instances where the answer to a problem is so obvious yet the characters can't figure it out because the problem is the core plot of the book.
(EXCEPT for those damn Drizzt books. I just couldn't stand them).
Regarding the ST/SW novels, I'm focussing more on the new ones, like Vanguard, Allegiance, and Missing in Action. Those seem to be less aimed at kids.
Has anyone seen that Iron Man DVD? I saw it in Blockbuster last weekend and nearly rented it, but before i got to the checkout counter, I decided that I didn't want to invest even an hour in it if it was gonna turn out to be as crappy as the Ultimate Avengers DVD. I really want to like Iron Man, but I just can't work up the interest.
What those ships REALLY reminded me of though, was the Pillar of Autumn. Has anyone read the Halo books? The Flood was just a blow-by-blow of the game, but The Fall of Reach was like an improved version of Ender's Game. It's definitely worth reading, especially if you like Ender's Game. That's cool, but I'd still have to pay money to rent Iron Man, and if it's anything like Ultimate Avengers, it's not worth it.
Joe: I beg. I plead. Watch them.
I was looking through them and notices that there were some Mirror episodes. I didn't know they did those. Did they by any chance collect them in a DVD set? I'd buy that for a dollar.
Did you see the couple of episodes of Enterprise set in the Mirror Universe? They were the only episodes of that whole series worth watching. I loves me some Mirror Universe.
As for the starships in the movie. They did look cool but, being someone who is big on military history and tactics, seeing them in the standard 2-D formation in space all clumped together just rubbed me the wrong way.
This reminds me: I don't know anything about Warhammer. Nothing at all. However, I've seen a couple of HUGE collections of stories in Borders that look very appealing. Would it be worth it to pick up one of those?
Has anyone read any of the Mechwarrior books? Are they any good? Are there any books that deal with the Wolf's Dragoons? I'm not hooked up enough with the trekkies to know.
The last season of that show was the pits as they were obviously rushing things so they could kill the show.
If you are talking about the books I have gotten a lot of enjoyment out of the Gaunt's Ghosts line of books set in the WarHammer 40K Universe. There are some other sets you can purchase in an omnibus format as well.
Say what you will about the game but, GamesWorkshop/Black Library keeps to a high standard when it comes to their book lines. If you see Eisenhorn in a thick paperback format pick it up. It's good stuff and a long read.
X-Wing series - based on the pc games, the ones by Micheal Stackpole have better action and those by Aaron Allston are hilarious are are highly recommended. What I love about this series is that they don't focus on the main characters of Luke, Han, Chewie, Leia, etc and instead flesh out minor characters from the movie like Wedge Antilles and Tycho and introduce new ones. This freedom really creates some memorable characters.
I, Jedi - Many people call this the quintessential SW book, it has the starfighter action from the X-Wing books and details Jedi training/fighting. But it borrows characters from the X-Wing series so it is a good idea to finish those books first.
The Thrawn Trilogy - What makes this series so great is the villian, Thrawn is a level-headed calculating badass instead of the typical crazy evil Imperial warlord or random sith villian.
Y'know, it's really not so much that I disdained these series. They were on during times when I was so busy I couldn't regularly watch TV. I think I might've liked "Voyager" and "Babylon 5", but I never could synch up my schedule so that I could record them, much less see them.