# The Star Trek: New Frontier appreciation thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 21, 2004, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-trek-new-frontier-appreciation-thread/270473 "2004-10-21T19:53:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-trek-new-frontier-appreciation-thread/270473/1 "2004-10-21T19:53:28Z")
Inspired by [this thread,](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=281333&page=1&pp=50) where the crew of the _USS Excalibur_ gets completely short shrift (again)… What’s with the (seeming) lack of love 'n respect for the **Star Trek: New Frontier** series? I mean, we’re talking about the rarest sight in _Star Trek_ – a _completely_ original idea, one with an engaging crew, wild adventures, a healthy dose of comedy and characterization, and more than a hint of sex. 🆒 And yet, finding fans who’ve actually read the series, much less find the characters equitable to those of the established franchises, is harder than finding a Vulcan comic. So, what, am I the only one out here? Or are y’all just hiding in the Holodeck again? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-trek-new-frontier-appreciation-thread/270473/2 "2004-10-21T20:48:49Z")
What am I, chopped liver? You and I have discussed the series at least twice in the past week and you’re asking if you’re alone? I am slighted, sir. More seriously, Trek novels just aren’t all that popular, even amongst Trekkies, and I wouldn’t be surprised to find out you and I are the only fans except for maybe **jsgoddess** and one or two others. TNF is superb though. Even as big a fan of DS9 as I am, I have to give it to Peter David for crafting a universe almost as good as Behr’s and Piller’s at its best and better when only middling or poor. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-trek-new-frontier-appreciation-thread/270473/3 "2004-10-22T00:20:12Z")
I know the only time I’ve heard of it is when one of our erstwhile nerds — um, I mean, _experts_ — mentions it here on the SDMB. **Aesiron** is right; I don’t take Trek novels seriously. I read a couple when I was younger and never picked up another. I don’t read any novel tie-ins for anything I’ve enjoyed, whether it be Trek, Buffy, X-Files, or Iron Chef. (Well, _Morimoto and the Mystery of the Legless Octopus_ was pretty good. But I got that as a gift.) ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-trek-new-frontier-appreciation-thread/270473/4 "2004-10-22T03:40:48Z")
I cain’t read. If’n it ain’t on the TV, I ain’t not gonna be seein’ it, see? Trek Novels don’t get much… promotion… from the Trek PTB. Never have. Plus, there’s so freakin MANY of them! A good 2/3 of them that I’ve read are dreck. Yep, Star Dreck. Not a putdown of the NF series. It’s actually pretty good. Just the ways things go in the world of franchise TV/Movies/Novels. Shucks, that Trek Vegas “experience” gets more promotion from Paramount than any novel series has. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-trek-new-frontier-appreciation-thread/270473/5 "2004-10-22T06:10:30Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > What am I, chopped liver? Well, when you wear the brown shirt, and slouch like _that…_😉 > [@Aesiron](#): > > You and I have discussed the series at least twice in the past week and you’re asking if you’re alone? Okay, are _we_ alone, then. Geez. > [@Aesiron](#): > > More seriously, Trek novels just aren’t all that popular, even amongst Trekkies, and I wouldn’t be surprised to find out you and I are the only fans except for maybe **jsgoddess** and one or two others. Given the sheer volumes of _Trek_ novels that get pumped out, the idea that they aren’t popular strikes me as odder than a celibate Hermat. > [@Aesiron](#): > > TNF is superb though. Even as big a fan of DS9 as I am, I have to give it to Peter David for crafting a universe almost as good as Behr’s and Piller’s at its best and better when only middling or poor. I have to admit that I’m hard-pressed to find another _Trek_ franchise that consistently hits the high notes as well as TNF does. Not every story is a jewel, but the hits-to-misses ratio is far better than anything else I’ve read or seen. The lack of fanDopers is depressingly strange… ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-trek-new-frontier-appreciation-thread/270473/6 "2004-10-22T06:20:37Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Given the sheer volumes of _Trek_ novels that get pumped out, the idea that they aren’t popular strikes me as odder than a celibate Hermat. How many fans have you met? I’ve been reading them for about ten years now and except for a Star Trek board I read occasionally, I can count one two hands the number of other people I’ve known to be fans. And you are one of them. In relation to even TAS, VGR, and ENT, the books just aren’t that popular despite some really good stories… _Metamorphosis_, _Imzadi_, _Prime Directive_, the DS9 Relaunch and the _New Frontier_ series are all as good, if not better, than anything put on television. > [@rjung](#): > > I have to admit that I’m hard-pressed to find another Trek franchise that consistently hits the high notes as well as TNF does. Not every story is a jewel, but the hits-to-misses ratio is far better than anything else I’ve read or seen. The lack of fanDopers is depressingly strange… Only DS9 S4-S7 is better in my opinion but I’m more than a little biased. Truth be told, I would rather reread the books than watch any TOS and VGR repeats and only the best TNG and ENT episodes rank alongside them. ---
**Author:** ![BraheSilver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@BraheSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BraheSilver)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-trek-new-frontier-appreciation-thread/270473/7 "2004-10-22T07:51:04Z")
I read up to the one where the the navigator turned out to be Apollo’s grandson. Were there many beyond that? I didn’t read _Double Helix_ either, even though that was the big big one that seperates the whole series into “before” and “after.” The New Frontier entry in the “Captain’s Table” series was the best, imo. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-trek-new-frontier-appreciation-thread/270473/8 "2004-10-22T17:30:27Z")
I’m a big fan. I really like the idea of finally letting characters in the Star Trek universe have sex. It’s quite funny as well. I was a little disappointed by the one novel where two of the characters accidentally become pregnant. What? Don’t they have birth control in the future?