Oh, this is amazing. I am an avid fan of Star Trek, and for over a year, I've been reading TOS novels (which was my entry into Trek...with syndication. I was born in 1966, and when syndication became a thing, we watched Star Trek: TOS every weekday at dinnertime. I owned all 79 VHS tapes of the series, and watched them into my adulthood. SO, hearing about #BookTrek2024 is amazing. Without knowing about this readathon, I decided to start reading the Trek Lit Reading Flowchart on the first of June (coincidence? ), and started with TNG. It is now the end of June of 2024 and I have read 20 novels this month (so far, it being June 30th...might be able to read one more). 1) Star Trek: TNG - Post-Nemesis: Death in WInter by Michael Jan Friedman - 3.75 Stars 2) Star Trek: TNG - Post-Nemesis: Resisteance by J.M. Dillard (aka: Jeanne Kalfridis) - 4 Stars 3) Star Trek: TNG - Post-Nemesis: Q & A by Keith R.A. DeCandido - 4.25 Stars 4) Star Trek: TNG - Post-Nemesis: Before Dishonor by Peter David - 4.25 Stars 5) Star Trek: TNG - Post-Nemesis: Greater Than the Sum by Christopher L. Bennett - 4.25 Stars 6) Star Trek: Titan - Post-Nemesis: Taking Wing by Michael A. Martin & Andy Mangels - 4.5 Stars 7) Star Trek: Titan - Post-Nemesis: The Red King by Andy Mangels & Michael A. Martin - 4.25 Stars 8) Star Trek: TNG - Post-Nemesis: Articles of the Federation by Keith R.A. DeCandido - 4.5 Stars 9) Star Trek: Titan - Post-Nemesis: Orion's Hounds by Christopher L. Bennett - 4.5 Stars 10) Star Trek: Titan - Post-Nemesis: Sword of Damocles by Geoffrey Thorne - 4.75 Stars 11) Star Trek: Destiny - Post-Nemesis: Gods of Night by David Mack - 4 Stars 12) Star Trek: Destiny - Post-Nemesis: Mere Mortals by David Mack - 4.25 Stars 13) Star Trek: Destiny - Post-Nemesis: Lost Souls by David Mack - 4.5 Stars 14) Star Trek: Voyager - Post-Nemesis: Full Circle by Kirsten Beyer - 4.5 Stars 15) Star Trek: Voyager - Post-Nemesis: Unworthy by Kirsten Beyer - 4.5 Stars 16) Star Trek: Voyager - Post-Nemesis: Children of the Storm by Kirsten Beyer - 4.25 Stars 17) Star Trek: Voyager - Post-Nemesis: The Eternal Tide by Kirsten Beyer - 3.75 Stars 18) Star Trek: DS9 - Post-Nemesis: Avatar, Book One by S.D. Perry - 3.75 Stars 19) Star Trek: DS9 - Post-Nemesis: Avatar, Book Two by S.D. Perry - 4.25 Stars 20) Star Trek: Section 31 - Post-Nemesis: Abyss by David Weddle & Jeffrey Lang - 4 Stars ...might start, if not finish Star Trek: Demons of Air and Darkness by Keith R.A. DeCandido...we shall see. SO...as you can see...I've been having fun in the Summer...with #BookTrek2024, not even knowing it existed. Thank you for this video. I will now be looking forward to your videos, and checking out the other content creators. Thanks for doing this. It is now going to be my destination for MORE Trek reading each Summer. The Trek-Lit Reading Flowchart is AMAZING, and I'm so glad that I found it. I'm on a 75+ book run...and now 20 books in...and having a blast. Love your recommendations (obviously). Thank you for providing this type of content for new (and old) Star Trek readers. Like I said above, I was (previous to starting the Trek-Lit Reading Flowchart) primarily a TOS reader. Glad I found this community of Star Trek lovers. Talk to you, later.
I was wondering about TOS, but then you clarified the lack of it at the end … the cool thing about the TOS books is that there are over 100 of them, and most of them are standalone stories, so in your mind, you can have over 3 seasons more with the classic crew to explore strange new worlds. There are also some interesting crossover books like the Badlands duology or the four Invasion books that spread over all four shows at the time they were released. And (again) the Shatnerverse, for all the probably older guys out there who weren’t too happy that they killed off Kirk at the end of Generations. Fear not, he is not really dead and taken to the TNG timeline, where he can save the galaxy in another 9 books. Anyway, I’m very interested in reading DESTINY, after a some cool little adventures with the classic crew. But a great video and probably very helpful for everyone who didn’t exactly grew up with the shows and the subsequently released books…
Something I’ve found intriguing about Star Trek and Star Wars books is the titles. ST books have titles that make you think (Before Dishonor and Greater Than the Sum) while SW, on the whole, have simpler titles (Truce at Bakura and Vector Prime).
This is a helpful video, I do plan on reading Star Trek novels in the future. I read Reunion, a TNG novel a couple months back, pretty much a random choice, but I was pleased with it. I collected a giant pile of Star Trek books a few months back, to keep my Star Wars collection company, that pretty much sums up my Sci-fi library. My first love is fantasy, I have tons of that, so It will be a while before getting into the Star Trek books, but I enjoy the Star Trek videos on this channel, it is too bad there are not more book tubers talking about Star Trek out there.
It really is strange that there is a solid trek readership, but almost no Booktubers. I think it’s because the general audience for Trek books doesn’t follow Booktubers as much.
Great video Jonathan, I will defo pick up Last Best Hope (and eventually most of the others). If you are looking for (mostly) new crew, I reccomend trying the Starfleet Corps of Engineers. They are short-form ebooks, which I know isn't everyone's cup of tea, but the short form makes them feel just like an episode of star trek, with lots of ideas crammed into 1 short episode. The crew is the USS Da Vinci, who specialise in advanced engineering and scientific issues. The crew include some 1 episode TNG/DS9 characters like the now Commanda Sonya Gomez a few years later in their career, and some interesting aliens including a Bynar Pair which has some interesting stories to tell. Much like the concept for Voyager (and lower decks in a way) it's interesting to follow the adventures of a non-flagship, and their missions. This doesn't mean they don't get up to some big stuff, and it also intersects with the other lit-verse novels from the time in some fun ways!
Personal favorite book is Federation; a TOS and Generation crossover. Another good crossover is No time like the Past. It's a TOS/Voyager crossover. Seven of nine travels back in time and has an adventure with Kirk!
I just finished "Federation" myself. I have a whole bunch of ST books on my Kindle from the different series. Thanks @JonathanKoan for the excellent video.
I think you should do a video on some of the books that gene Roddenberry might have been inspired by and anything there’s a record he loved. Like a chariots of the gods? I think remember a documentary where they talk about Jean Roddenberry being inspired by that book. Original series is based off of a lot of humanism and 60s hippie culture psychedelics ect talking about human Evolution and the power of the mind In science-fiction terms.
Have you read The Good That Men Do? I just found your channel and have been clicking around to different videos but I haven’t really heard you mention any Enterprise books. After all these years I finally watched the series and I loved it, but with the finale… I was pretty disappointed. People recommended that book and it was my first time giving Trek novels a chance. I’ve been grabbing different books at random after that. Been reading The Captain’s Table series. I realized book 5 revolves around McKenzie Calhoun. I didn’t even know the New Frontier book series existed so now I’m jumping over to that. Thanks for your videos! I don’t know anyone else who reads Trek novels so I wasn’t able to find any good recommendations
What's the general take on the Millenium trilogy ? My first contact with trek books was reading a bit about these and it sounded intriguing but too whacky. "Kai Weyoun ?! Ridiculous.." I thought 😂
star trek books have really been hit and miss for me. i'm really hoping to find a series or author that aligns with my taste. kind of wish r.a. salvatore wrote star trek but i gues he is more of a star war's guy. for me it's piccard then janeway. looking forward to your recommendations.
I'm just starting the final Destiny book now after hearing about it on one of your previous videos, loving it so far even though I haven't seen all of voyager or TNG.
Currently reading the DS9 numbered series of books I love that there set amongst the tv episodes it takes me right back there but will definatly read more set later and so on I have picked up a few odd ones but won't get to them for some time
I learned not too long into the post-Bantam period which authors wrote well enough to be worth reading. The stories/plots were always hit and miss no matter who was writing. Black Fire was the first (what everyone now refers to as) TOS novel that impressed me. The Reeves-Stevens books were consistently good. Shatner took full advantage of their talents. The movie novelizations were not as interesting as what James Blish accomplished with the TV scripts, but mostly okay. The only real disappoint for me was The Voyage Home. The film is great. The book… uh… no. But it’s all a matter of taste and reading is always an experience worth the time. Some are just better spent than others.
I didn’t include the TOS books because they don’t form a continuity in the same way that the Post-Nemesis books do. With the Original Series, you can largely start wherever you like, and it probably won’t impact the timeline. The Post-Nemesis books are much more convoluted and impactful for the overall storyline. But there are some fantastic TOS books!
I’ve only read 2 discovery books: The Enterprise War and Die Standing, both by John Jackson Miller. I thought Enterprise War was good, but I thought Die Standing was amazing, one of his best and most underrated/under read works. I have 2 more Discovery books that I intend to read eventually.
Oh, this is amazing. I am an avid fan of Star Trek, and for over a year, I've been reading TOS novels (which was my entry into Trek...with syndication. I was born in 1966, and when syndication became a thing, we watched Star Trek: TOS every weekday at dinnertime. I owned all 79 VHS tapes of the series, and watched them into my adulthood. SO, hearing about #BookTrek2024 is amazing.
Without knowing about this readathon, I decided to start reading the Trek Lit Reading Flowchart on the first of June (coincidence? ), and started with TNG.
It is now the end of June of 2024 and I have read 20 novels this month (so far, it being June 30th...might be able to read one more).
1) Star Trek: TNG - Post-Nemesis: Death in WInter by Michael Jan Friedman - 3.75 Stars
2) Star Trek: TNG - Post-Nemesis: Resisteance by J.M. Dillard (aka: Jeanne Kalfridis) - 4 Stars
3) Star Trek: TNG - Post-Nemesis: Q & A by Keith R.A. DeCandido - 4.25 Stars
4) Star Trek: TNG - Post-Nemesis: Before Dishonor by Peter David - 4.25 Stars
5) Star Trek: TNG - Post-Nemesis: Greater Than the Sum by Christopher L. Bennett - 4.25 Stars
6) Star Trek: Titan - Post-Nemesis: Taking Wing by Michael A. Martin & Andy Mangels - 4.5 Stars
7) Star Trek: Titan - Post-Nemesis: The Red King by Andy Mangels & Michael A. Martin - 4.25 Stars
8) Star Trek: TNG - Post-Nemesis: Articles of the Federation by Keith R.A. DeCandido - 4.5 Stars
9) Star Trek: Titan - Post-Nemesis: Orion's Hounds by Christopher L. Bennett - 4.5 Stars
10) Star Trek: Titan - Post-Nemesis: Sword of Damocles by Geoffrey Thorne - 4.75 Stars
11) Star Trek: Destiny - Post-Nemesis: Gods of Night by David Mack - 4 Stars
12) Star Trek: Destiny - Post-Nemesis: Mere Mortals by David Mack - 4.25 Stars
13) Star Trek: Destiny - Post-Nemesis: Lost Souls by David Mack - 4.5 Stars
14) Star Trek: Voyager - Post-Nemesis: Full Circle by Kirsten Beyer - 4.5 Stars
15) Star Trek: Voyager - Post-Nemesis: Unworthy by Kirsten Beyer - 4.5 Stars
16) Star Trek: Voyager - Post-Nemesis: Children of the Storm by Kirsten Beyer - 4.25 Stars
17) Star Trek: Voyager - Post-Nemesis: The Eternal Tide by Kirsten Beyer - 3.75 Stars
18) Star Trek: DS9 - Post-Nemesis: Avatar, Book One by S.D. Perry - 3.75 Stars
19) Star Trek: DS9 - Post-Nemesis: Avatar, Book Two by S.D. Perry - 4.25 Stars
20) Star Trek: Section 31 - Post-Nemesis: Abyss by David Weddle & Jeffrey Lang - 4 Stars
...might start, if not finish Star Trek: Demons of Air and Darkness by Keith R.A. DeCandido...we shall see.
SO...as you can see...I've been having fun in the Summer...with #BookTrek2024, not even knowing it existed. Thank you for this video. I will now be looking forward to your videos, and checking out the other content creators. Thanks for doing this. It is now going to be my destination for MORE Trek reading each Summer.
The Trek-Lit Reading Flowchart is AMAZING, and I'm so glad that I found it. I'm on a 75+ book run...and now 20 books in...and having a blast.
Love your recommendations (obviously). Thank you for providing this type of content for new (and old) Star Trek readers. Like I said above, I was (previous to starting the Trek-Lit Reading Flowchart) primarily a TOS reader.
Glad I found this community of Star Trek lovers.
Talk to you, later.
That’s incredible! I’m so glad you’re getting into the books!
Honest to g-d: I could see 50 more videos like this. You are wonderful at this. You nailed it. Thank you.
Please never quit.
Aw, thank you.
I was wondering about TOS, but then you clarified the lack of it at the end … the cool thing about the TOS books is that there are over 100 of them, and most of them are standalone stories, so in your mind, you can have over 3 seasons more with the classic crew to explore strange new worlds. There are also some interesting crossover books like the Badlands duology or the four Invasion books that spread over all four shows at the time they were released. And (again) the Shatnerverse, for all the probably older guys out there who weren’t too happy that they killed off Kirk at the end of Generations. Fear not, he is not really dead and taken to the TNG timeline, where he can save the galaxy in another 9 books. Anyway, I’m very interested in reading DESTINY, after a some cool little adventures with the classic crew. But a great video and probably very helpful for everyone who didn’t exactly grew up with the shows and the subsequently released books…
many, many good books from TOS
@@jackcherbourg2899 And even the not so good ones have their moments. I’m very happy that I finally got them all.
I absolutely love your content! Good job Mate ) 🙌🏻
Thanks! I picked up the Avatar books since I loved DS9. Hopefully it'll act as a springboard into more novels.
Star Trek Tie in novels are a gift to the world ♥ I think you can't go wrong with anything by Greg Cox to start with :)
Something I’ve found intriguing about Star Trek and Star Wars books is the titles. ST books have titles that make you think (Before Dishonor and Greater Than the Sum) while SW, on the whole, have simpler titles (Truce at Bakura and Vector Prime).
This is a helpful video, I do plan on reading Star Trek novels in the future. I read Reunion, a TNG novel a couple months back, pretty much a random choice, but I was pleased with it. I collected a giant pile of Star Trek books a few months back, to keep my Star Wars collection company, that pretty much sums up my Sci-fi library.
My first love is fantasy, I have tons of that, so It will be a while before getting into the Star Trek books, but I enjoy the Star Trek videos on this channel, it is too bad there are not more book tubers talking about Star Trek out there.
It really is strange that there is a solid trek readership, but almost no Booktubers. I think it’s because the general audience for Trek books doesn’t follow Booktubers as much.
@@jonathankoanI’m glad you do. I feel less alone 😂😂😂
Great video Jonathan, I will defo pick up Last Best Hope (and eventually most of the others). If you are looking for (mostly) new crew, I reccomend trying the Starfleet Corps of Engineers. They are short-form ebooks, which I know isn't everyone's cup of tea, but the short form makes them feel just like an episode of star trek, with lots of ideas crammed into 1 short episode.
The crew is the USS Da Vinci, who specialise in advanced engineering and scientific issues. The crew include some 1 episode TNG/DS9 characters like the now Commanda Sonya Gomez a few years later in their career, and some interesting aliens including a Bynar Pair which has some interesting stories to tell.
Much like the concept for Voyager (and lower decks in a way) it's interesting to follow the adventures of a non-flagship, and their missions. This doesn't mean they don't get up to some big stuff, and it also intersects with the other lit-verse novels from the time in some fun ways!
That’s a series I want to get into, but just have too many Trek books in my way at the moment. But one day!
@@jonathankoan haha! Too many Star Trek books is a problem I have too, but a good one to have
Personal favorite book is Federation; a TOS and Generation crossover. Another good crossover is No time like the Past. It's a TOS/Voyager crossover. Seven of nine travels back in time and has an adventure with Kirk!
I just finished "Federation" myself. I have a whole bunch of ST books on my Kindle from the different series. Thanks @JonathanKoan for the excellent video.
I think you should do a video on some of the books that gene Roddenberry might have been inspired by and anything there’s a record he loved. Like a chariots of the gods? I think remember a documentary where they talk about Jean Roddenberry being inspired by that book. Original series is based off of a lot of humanism and 60s hippie culture psychedelics ect talking about human Evolution and the power of the mind In science-fiction terms.
Have you read The Good That Men Do? I just found your channel and have been clicking around to different videos but I haven’t really heard you mention any Enterprise books. After all these years I finally watched the series and I loved it, but with the finale… I was pretty disappointed. People recommended that book and it was my first time giving Trek novels a chance.
I’ve been grabbing different books at random after that. Been reading The Captain’s Table series. I realized book 5 revolves around McKenzie Calhoun. I didn’t even know the New Frontier book series existed so now I’m jumping over to that.
Thanks for your videos! I don’t know anyone else who reads Trek novels so I wasn’t able to find any good recommendations
I haven’t read that one yet.
Thank you for this. I have been debating for a while now to rewatch some of the series and get into the book universe. Hoping to get to it this year
What's the general take on the Millenium trilogy ? My first contact with trek books was reading a bit about these and it sounded intriguing but too whacky. "Kai Weyoun ?! Ridiculous.." I thought 😂
@@xellestar I have not read that trilogy yet, so I don’t know, sorry.
star trek books have really been hit and miss for me. i'm really hoping to find a series or author that aligns with my taste. kind of wish r.a. salvatore wrote star trek but i gues he is more of a star war's guy. for me it's piccard then janeway. looking forward to your recommendations.
Just stumbled on the channel thanks for the recommendations. will definitely check them all out.
I hope you enjoy them!
I'm just starting the final Destiny book now after hearing about it on one of your previous videos, loving it so far even though I haven't seen all of voyager or TNG.
The Original Series books tend to be more episodic. They are really good if you want a self-contained story in one volume.
The High Country was really fun to read!
Great recs, Jonathan!
Currently reading the DS9 numbered series of books I love that there set amongst the tv episodes it takes me right back there but will definatly read more set later and so on I have picked up a few odd ones but won't get to them for some time
I learned not too long into the post-Bantam period which authors wrote well enough to be worth reading. The stories/plots were always hit and miss no matter who was writing. Black Fire was the first (what everyone now refers to as) TOS novel that impressed me. The Reeves-Stevens books were consistently good. Shatner took full advantage of their talents. The movie novelizations were not as interesting as what James Blish accomplished with the TV scripts, but mostly okay. The only real disappoint for me was The Voyage Home. The film is great. The book… uh… no. But it’s all a matter of taste and reading is always an experience worth the time. Some are just better spent than others.
For TOS novels i suggest Demons & Best Destiny
Hmm a little confused as to why you left out books of the original Star Trek. More interested to know where to start with Kirk's Enterprise Crew.
I didn’t include the TOS books because they don’t form a continuity in the same way that the Post-Nemesis books do. With the Original Series, you can largely start wherever you like, and it probably won’t impact the timeline. The Post-Nemesis books are much more convoluted and impactful for the overall storyline.
But there are some fantastic TOS books!
@@jonathankoan thank you for explaining!
I needed this!!
Janeway is my captain. I'm subscribed now. Voyager is my shit.
There’s only one way to go with Star Trek…the Janeway. 😂 Thank you for subscribing!
Not a very good captain, though.
you should Read Star Trek The Gennisess Wave it is a 4 book Series it is in the TNG Tmeline.
I have Avatar and Revenant but have yet to read them as I try to read my ST books in order of publication.
Have you read any of the DISCOVERY books and if so what is your opinion.
I’ve only read 2 discovery books: The Enterprise War and Die Standing, both by John Jackson Miller. I thought Enterprise War was good, but I thought Die Standing was amazing, one of his best and most underrated/under read works.
I have 2 more Discovery books that I intend to read eventually.
I plan on buying Before Dishonor. Should I read Greater Than The Sum first or does it matter?
I think you can do them in any order. They’re both good books, but I think Before Dishonor is better overall.
Long live TNG!