30 Days of Star Trek Day 17 and 18
Sep. 19th, 2019 02:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivendellroseDay 17 - Favorite Trek Novel
Oh, do I ever have a ready answer for this one.
I found Uhura's Song by Janet Kagan at a used bookstore when I was twelve, and have since read it, I'm going to conservatively guess, a hundred times. I had to buy a new (used) copy because my old one was too ratty to be read anymore. I have this book more or less memorized, and I still read it every few years.
After this, I read pretty much everything Janet ever wrote, and, because it was the marvelous old days of the internet and she was a sweetheart, corresponded with her by email on and off for a number of years prior to her unfortunately early death.
The book has everything I love that most Star Trek novels don't -- namely, the female characters and the aliens are centered, and there's more focus on the alien cultures than anything else in the book. Oh, and there's an OFC who's, sure, a bit of a Mary Sue, but also tiny and fierce and fun, and she significantly ups the female-to-male character quotient, and I like her tons. I'm sure someone somewhere has a thing about how this isn't a good book or whatever, but I don't care. I've loved it forever, and I expect to love it forevermore.
Second place goes to My Enemy, My Ally by Diane Duane, for most of the same reasons.
It's a goddamned pity that the novelizations aren't any good anymore. I'd pretty much kill to see what Diane or, alas, Janet, would have done with the Disco characters.
Day 18 - Favorite Non-Aligned Race
I guess this means not Federation but also not the Klingons, Romulans or other imperial powers?
In which case... er... oh, I know! The Horta! Every damned time there's a new season or a reboot or whatever I hope we'll get a Horta crewperson. There was one in My Enemy, My Ally, and I was absolutely charmed by that and have never quite recovered from the disappointment that it hasn't yet happened on-screen. Come on, guys -- we have the technology now! Do it!
Day 1 - Favorite Episode of TOS
Day 2 - Favorite Federation Race
Day 3 - Favorite Ship
Day 4 - Favorite Captain
Day 5 - Saddest Event
Day 6 - Happiest Event
Day 7 - Favorite TNG Episode
Day 8 - Favorite Federation Enemy
Day 9 - Favorite Character
Day 10 - Most Shocking Moment
Day 11 - Crew Position You Would Want
Day 12 - Crew Position You Would Not Want
Day 13 - Favorite DS9 Episode
Day 14 - Favorite Time Travel Episode
Day 15 - Favorite First Officer
Day 16 - Favorite Voyager Episode
Day 19 - Favorite Enterprise Episode
Day 20 - Character You're Most Like
Day 21 - Least Favorite Character
Day 22 - Favorite Trek Film
Day 23 - Best Trek Tech
Day 24 - Best Overall Space Vessel
Day 25 - Favorite Discovery Episode
Day 26 - Planet You Would Most Like To Visit
Day 27 - Character You Would Date
Day 28 - Name Your Own Starship
Day 29 - Favorite Trek Quote
Day 30 - Favorite Trek Series
Oh, do I ever have a ready answer for this one.
I found Uhura's Song by Janet Kagan at a used bookstore when I was twelve, and have since read it, I'm going to conservatively guess, a hundred times. I had to buy a new (used) copy because my old one was too ratty to be read anymore. I have this book more or less memorized, and I still read it every few years.
After this, I read pretty much everything Janet ever wrote, and, because it was the marvelous old days of the internet and she was a sweetheart, corresponded with her by email on and off for a number of years prior to her unfortunately early death.
The book has everything I love that most Star Trek novels don't -- namely, the female characters and the aliens are centered, and there's more focus on the alien cultures than anything else in the book. Oh, and there's an OFC who's, sure, a bit of a Mary Sue, but also tiny and fierce and fun, and she significantly ups the female-to-male character quotient, and I like her tons. I'm sure someone somewhere has a thing about how this isn't a good book or whatever, but I don't care. I've loved it forever, and I expect to love it forevermore.
Second place goes to My Enemy, My Ally by Diane Duane, for most of the same reasons.
It's a goddamned pity that the novelizations aren't any good anymore. I'd pretty much kill to see what Diane or, alas, Janet, would have done with the Disco characters.
Day 18 - Favorite Non-Aligned Race
I guess this means not Federation but also not the Klingons, Romulans or other imperial powers?
In which case... er... oh, I know! The Horta! Every damned time there's a new season or a reboot or whatever I hope we'll get a Horta crewperson. There was one in My Enemy, My Ally, and I was absolutely charmed by that and have never quite recovered from the disappointment that it hasn't yet happened on-screen. Come on, guys -- we have the technology now! Do it!
Day 1 - Favorite Episode of TOS
Day 2 - Favorite Federation Race
Day 3 - Favorite Ship
Day 4 - Favorite Captain
Day 5 - Saddest Event
Day 6 - Happiest Event
Day 7 - Favorite TNG Episode
Day 8 - Favorite Federation Enemy
Day 9 - Favorite Character
Day 10 - Most Shocking Moment
Day 11 - Crew Position You Would Want
Day 12 - Crew Position You Would Not Want
Day 13 - Favorite DS9 Episode
Day 14 - Favorite Time Travel Episode
Day 15 - Favorite First Officer
Day 16 - Favorite Voyager Episode
Day 19 - Favorite Enterprise Episode
Day 20 - Character You're Most Like
Day 21 - Least Favorite Character
Day 22 - Favorite Trek Film
Day 23 - Best Trek Tech
Day 24 - Best Overall Space Vessel
Day 25 - Favorite Discovery Episode
Day 26 - Planet You Would Most Like To Visit
Day 27 - Character You Would Date
Day 28 - Name Your Own Starship
Day 29 - Favorite Trek Quote
Day 30 - Favorite Trek Series
no subject
Date: 2019-09-20 04:05 am (UTC)Sadly, the novelizations now have such a huge list of dos and don'ts that it's almost impossible to write one well, or so I hear.
no subject
Date: 2019-09-20 04:11 am (UTC)That doesn't surprise me -- I remember thinking even back in the 90s that it was clear that the kinds of writing Diane Duane and Janet Kagan were allowed to do in the 80s wouldn't have been allowed then, and the corporate stranglehold has only gotten stronger since then. What nonsense.