Quite a few people are asking me the order in which the latest “New Frontier” novels (which should be on the stands just about any time) should be read. They are as follows:
“Gods Above,” which is the long-awaited conclusion to “Being Human.” The bad news is, it ends on a cliffhanger. The good news is, you don’t have to wait two years for the conclusion because the continuation, “Stone And Anvil,” should be out by the time you finish reading “Being Human.”
The short story collection, “No Limits,” can be read at any time because most of the stories are set before the crew of the Excalibur came together. The one exception to that is the story I wrote which is set immediately after “Restoration.” But it’s been a couple of years, so I’m hoping you’ve gotten around to reading that one by now. Thus it isn’t a problem.
PAD
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Just got and burned through “Gods Above,” and it was a lot of fun. I’m glad we’ve been gettign a giant bump of PAD books these past few months. How long are we going to wait for the next round? Silly question, I know, but we’re all book and PADdicts, so it’s a natural question. I mean, i almost went into shock when Greg Rucka said that his next Atticus Kodiak novel won’t be out until ’05…maybe. I take my books seriously.
I’ve checked with Ingram (my store’s primary book distributor) and both “Stone & Anvil” and “No Limits” are listed as “on order,” with what look to be several hundred copies destined to ship out to each of the various warehouses. Hopefully, they will make it there soon. I can’t speak for other stores or chain stores, although I may give the mall a swing by to see if Waldenbooks has them.
Fingers crossed…
Good deal, I’ve been checking the shelves for new New Frontier for a while now… If I could take just a moment to gush over them, these books (under PAD’s skilled hand) have been the most consistently entertaining Trek series EVER (movies, books, TV – period). It is my opinion that every novel that Peter has written for the Trek franchise should be made canon. Okay, gushing’s over, I’ll go look for the books now.
[quote]”Stone And Anvil,” should be out by the time you finish reading “Being Human.” [/quote]
But I finished reading “Being Human” almost two years ago.
Excellent! I was afraid that the New Frontier line was over, and it’s easily my favourite line of Trek books (probably because they’re all done by my favourite Trek writer)
/end shameless brown-nosing
We got “Gods Above” at our Waldenbooks thursday. Should be out everywhere now.
“The bad news is, it ends on a cliffhanger.”
Why?
I’m serious here. Because I’ll probably give it a miss.
IMZADI/VENDETTA and other large novels seemed to sell well and I don’t recall any publication problems. So why these ‘partial’ novels which only tell part of the story and one needs to wait until the bookstore get the next installment – IF if does? Why not simply put them all together into one larger book? Two or three relatively thin NF books wouldn’t amount to more than one of the ‘giant-sized’ novels, after all. So, again, why annoy and frustrate the fans who would probably prefer to be able to read it all at one sitting, as it were, rather than having to wait for the next installment … whenever?
Hi PAD,
i recall you announced at least three New Frontier novels for next year, when you answered some reader questions on your page. Maybe it is still a little early for that, but can you tell us a little about them? Are they more or less stand alone novels or will it be a new trilogy? I would be grateful for every tiny bit of information, as i am a big fan of the series.
Cheers,
Marco
Ending on a cliffhanger doesn’t necessarily mean cutting one story into two pieces. Aside from the last paragraph, NF #8 was pretty much wrapped up in its own book. The cliffhanger in the last paragraph introduced the following story and served as a hook to get you interested in what comes next.
davidh
StarWolf, Gods Above ends on a cliffhanger the same way that Dark Allies ended on a cliffhanger — and the same way that “Broken Link” on DS9 did. In other words, the story has a complete beginning, middle, and end, but then something happens in the denouement that will be resolved in Stone and Anvil.
But Gods Above does tell a complete story, and one that is separate from the one being told in Stone and Anvil. The cliffhanger is just a bridge between the two.
On another note, there’s a NF timeline in the back of No Limits, so if you want to read the short stories therein in chronological order rather than the more aesthetically-chosen order the stories are printed in, that’ll be your guide for it. *smile*
—KRAD
i recall you announced at least three New Frontier novels for next year
John Ordover clarified that a bit on the PsiPhi board. John said the current plan is a trilogy of NF hardcovers, one hardcover coming out each year for the next 3 years.
Corey
Thx, Corey, i will look into that right now, :-).
On another note, there’s a NF timeline in the back of No Limits, so if you want to read the short stories therein in chronological order rather than the more aesthetically-chosen order the stories are printed in, that’ll be your guide for it.
Chronological order == aesthetic. Thanks for letting us know, though, so I don’t get to the end only to then see the timeline and go all ME on PAD and KRAD.
“Do you have any novels lined up for 2004 beyond Spider-Man 2 and perhaps a third “Knight Life” book?
At least three more New Frontier novels, plus another fantasy series I’m currently working on selling.”
Rereading the question and answer here and the statement by John in the forum, it still puzzles me a little. Could it be, that PAD intended to write (and get published) all 3 next year, but (maybe) due to decreasing sales the volumes are split up over 3 years and released in the more expensive hardcover format!?
Cheers,
Marco
P.S.: Excuse my crappy english, but i am german, ;-).
David,
I asked you this at DC, but now since it’s a lot closer to publication date you might know the answer. Who do we get to see write your characters in “No Limits”.
Hi Q,
i am not Peter David, ;-), but since i was just on the right page, here it comes:
Introduction by Peter David
Mackenzie Calhoun: “Loose Ends” by Dayton Ward
Elizabeth Shelby: “All that Glisters…” by Loren L. Coleman
Zak Kebron: “Waiting for G’Doh, or, How I Learned to Stop Moving and Hate People” by David Mack
Robin Lefler: “Lefler’s Logs” by Robert Greenberger
Morgan Primus: “Alice, on the Edge of Night” by Ilsa J. Bick
Soleta: “Revelations” by Keith R.A. DeCandido
Si Cwan: “Turning Point” by Josepha Sherman
Selar: “‘Q’uandary” by Terri Osborne
Burgoyne 172: “Oil and Water” by Robert Jeschonek
Mark McHenry: “Singularity” by Christina F. York
Arex: “The Road to Edos” by Kevin Dilmore
D’ndai of Calhoun: “A Lady of Xenex” by Peg Robinson
U.S.S. Excalibur: “Making a Difference” by Mary Scott-Wiecek
Katerina Mueller: “Performance Appraisal” by Allyn Gibson
Xant: “Redemption” by Glenn Hauman and Lisa Sullivan
Soleta: “Out of the Frying Pan” by Susan Shwartz
Burgoyne 172: “Through the Looking Glass” by Susan Wright
Calhoun & Shelby: “A Little Getaway” by Peter David
The Star Trek: New Frontier Timeline, compiled by Keith R.A. DeCandido
About time! I love the New Frontier series, don’t get me wrong, but two years is just too long to wait between books!
So, “Stone and Anvil” is the continuation of “Gods Above”? Does “Stone and Anvil” end on a “to be continued”?
No, Stone and Anvil doesn’t end on a cliffhanger. So quoth PAD in the “Stone and Anvil” post on this very site, about a month ago.
Well, I just finished Gods Above, and I can’t wait to see what happens next. The cliffhanger is definitely an intriguing one (discussion in spoiler space to follow). And I loved the resolution to the Gods story, and the unexpected revelation about just what was going on with Kebron. (Boy, Brikars are a goofy species. But then, they probably feel the same way about us.)
Anyway, spoiler stuff:
Okay, Gods Above stuff first: I just about cheered when I figured out Morgan was in the computer. I was devastated when she was seemingly killed off at the end of Being Human, so it was great to get her back. And, now that she’s the computer voice, Peter has succeeded in unifying every Majel Barret-Roddenberry character to appear in the series. Which I suspect was the reason for Morgan all along. I’d figured out who Woden was and that he was Moke’s father during my year-long rereading of the series in preparation for the new volumes, but I very much liked the way it was handled in the story. And, as for the mystery of Commander Gleau’s murderer, so far I’ve ID’ed five suspects: M’Ress, Arex, Mueller, Si Cwan, and dark horse candidate Ensign Janos. Of course, this being a PAD plot, it’s probably none of those, but it’s fun cooking up theories nonetheless. (By the way, don’t tell me if I’m right or wrong; I definitely want to find this out naturally.)
Just a note to say I have found your work to be very enjoyable, PAD…been a closet fan for quite some time…
“Hulk use erbal essense to smell fresh..”
Just a note to say I have found your work to be very enjoyable, PAD…been a closet fan for quite some time…
“Hulk use erbal essense to smell fresh..”
The novel kicked. I bought it and Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson. Which did i dig into first? Gods Above of course.
Loved it, and will continue to read.
Travis
Michael:
The Stone and Anvil jacket says that Janos is the one under suspicion. But you forgot a possibility: it’s a long shot, but Gleau may also have committed suicide, especially if he set it up to discredit someone.
I have to say that I was very pleased with Gods Above.
Spoilers follow:
My guess as to the killer is Xyon (Selar and Burgys son, not Mac’s), just because it would be out of left field. I’ll be really disappointed if it is Arex or M’ress, because I think that they are great additions to the crew. There were so many points when I laughed out loud at this book. I thought that “The Kirk Manuever” was hilarious!
I bought Gods Above (as well as The Art of the Impossible) yesterday afternoon and finished it at about 2 o’clock in the morning. I wasn’t sure it was going to be at the bookstore because I hadn’t heard anything yet, but I saw a whole end-shelf half-full of them, and I did a little jump up and down, grabbed one, rushed off, then had to come back and explain myself to the guy sitting across the way while getting a better copy. It’s like finally seeing old friends after a long absense, only they’re better!
Spoilers:
Gods Above read more like Q Squared at some points than any of the other NF novels have before. I’ve actually been waiting more for Stone and Anvil than Gods Above, despite the cliffhanger in Being Human, because I’m under the impression that Stone and Anvil will focus on Calhoun. Much as I enjoy the other characters, it’s really Calhoun who I look forward to. Mostly, I actually have a few questions: 1) How does Morgan tie in with Lwaxanna? I know there’s a letter in one of the novels, but I feel like I’ve missed something. 2) How did you figure out that Wodan was Moke’s father? 3) PAD, when you tie all the characters’ lives together so neatly, is that just a felicitous “coincidence”, or have you been planning these things all along?
.
Looking forward to the other two books, though a little suspicious of other people writing these beloved characters.
ZAB, I assume your 2nd spoiler question was directed at me. So, here’s my answer.
When I reread Revolution with knowledge of the events of Being Human, it seemed fairly obvious. Moke creates storms, not unlike a certain hammer-wielding God of Thunder. His father is an unknown person or being who has never made himself known, maybe not even to Moke’s mother. Combine that with the fact that he can see Woden (identifiable by the red beard and one eye), and it’s a small logical leap.
still haven’t found out anything about UK release dates for Gods above, Stone & Anvil, no limits. Any info greatly appreciated.
Thanks to everyone who hid spoilers. I do not want to know anything in advance.
Since we’ve been talking about NF for next year, KRAD just posted the table of contents for next year’s Tales of the Dominion War anthology at Psi Phi. And on TrekBBS, he mentioned that PAD’s story in it will be a NF story.
Corey
The New Frontier books are awesome, and Peter has such a great turn of phrase — but you need to pay a bit of attention, such as when “Gods Above”‘s special guest star was having an ‘animated’ conversation with M’Ress and Arex. One simple word made me laugh. Simply wonderful.
The Trek books generally start showing up in the UK one month after they start showing up in the U.S.
—KRAD
Will “A Little Getaway” be about the missing part of Calhoun and Shelby’s honeymoon?