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Star Wars/Star Trek "Must See/Read" list

Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 2:28 am
by ILikeDeathNote
It might be a good idea if we have a thread compiling all the various works in either franchise that people generally agree are "must see" or "must read" works. Individual episodes and movies can be listed too (though it seems like the entirety of the canon Wars saga is agreed as must-see, at least as far as the OT is concerned)


I might as well start with the obvious: the Thrawn Trilogy (Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising and The Last Command in that order)

Also, for individual Trek episodes, my favorites are "Balance of Terror" (TOS), "The Inner Light" and "Tapestry" (both from TNG), "Message in a Bottle" (VOY) and "In a Mirror, Darkly Parts 1 and 2" (ENT). And of course, getting the obvious out of the way, TWOK, which I probably don't even need to spell out what that acronym means.

Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 3:03 am
by Airlocke_Jedi_Knight
The Darth Bane books. Very interesting books that explore a previously unexplored time period in the Galaxy.

Vector Prime. First novel in the NJO, also arguably the best.

Star by Star. Ninth novel in the NJO, not amazing in its self, but for how it changes the EU.

Traitor. Book 13 in NJO, it is the genesis of a new view of the force, one that wasn't even mentioned in any of the Canon movies. It also was the novel that my Signature comes from. That should make it a must read right there.

While I can think of other works that I thoroughly enjoyed(almost all of the EU that I have read) those are the only ones that are vitally important to the EU and are also great novels.

Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 4:13 am
by Mike DiCenso
Just to toss in a few more:

"The City On The Edge Of Forever" (TOS)

"The Doomsday Machine" (TOS)

"The Trouble With Tribbles" (TOS)

"The Big Goodbye" (TNG)

"Yesterday's Enteprise" (TNG)

"The Measure Of A Man" (TNG)

"Best Of Both Worlds, part I & II" (TNG)

"Chain of Command, part I & II" (TNG)

"Duet" (DS9)

"In the Pale Moonlight" (DS9)

"Trials and Tribble-ations" (DS9)

"Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges " (DS9)

"Tuvix" (VOY)

"Twilight" (ST:ENT)

I'am not a big fan of either the ST or SW EU books, so right now I can't think of any to recommend aside from what's already been suggested.
-Mike

Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 11:20 am
by 2046
Why would EU be included? Not only are you just wasting time for debate purposes but you're also coloring your interpretation of the Lucas universe.

EU is for enjoyment . . . nothing more.

Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 11:53 am
by The Corporal
2046 wrote:Why would EU be included? Not only are you just wasting time for debate purposes but you're also coloring your interpretation of the Lucas universe.

EU is for enjoyment . . . nothing more.
Who says this has anything to do with debate?

I'll second the already mentioned episodes and add a few of the decent Trek books:

To Reign In Hell: The Exile Of Khan Noonien Singh

The Vanguard series

Kahless

Decent SW books:

Dark Lord

Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 3:57 pm
by Mike DiCenso
Actually pre-Zahn Trilogy, I'll have to say I have a soft spot for Brian Daley's Han Solo Trilogy:

* "Han Solo at Star's End"

* "Han Solo's Revenge"

* "Han Solo and the Lost Legacy"

Not the greatest writing, but the spirit behind it is true Star Wars.
-Mike

Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 7:45 pm
by ILikeDeathNote
The Corporal wrote:
Who says this has anything to do with debate?
As Corporal pointed out, I intended this thread to be a reading list, not a list for canon or debate material. We already have a thread (multiple threads, in fact) for that.

In fact I was kind of hoping this thread would lean more towards books and other EU material for both franchises.

Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 8:51 pm
by l33telboi
Well. The two novels I enjoyed the most were "Darth Bane - Path of Destruction" and "Dark Lord". But, they both also lacked something. For some very strange reason I just can't get turned on by the fight-scenes in Star Wars. They don't translate well into text.

Comics and games work just fine though.

Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 10:34 pm
by The Corporal
l33telboi wrote:Well. The two novels I enjoyed the most were "Darth Bane - Path of Destruction" and "Dark Lord". But, they both also lacked something. For some very strange reason I just can't get turned on by the fight-scenes in Star Wars. They don't translate well into text.

Comics and games work just fine though.
Kind of wierd that the movies have the opposite problem; the dialogue doesn't translate well to video but the fight scenes are at least passable. Though I prefer the OT ones by far.

Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 10:51 pm
by Airlocke_Jedi_Knight
You prefer the Original Trilogy fight scenes. Whaaat?(incredulous voice)
Even the Darth Vader Obi-wan snore fest where Vader had to wait for Obi-wan to finish his three year long spin? The fact that the guy in the Vader suit had no flexibility(because of the suit's restrictions) and couldn't really move around, does not affect your opinion? Those fights are almost laughable. The space battle are probably better than the PT, though.

Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 10:54 pm
by The Corporal
Airlocke_Jedi_Knight wrote:You prefer the Original Trilogy fight scenes. Whaaat?(incredulous voice)
Even the Darth Vader Obi-wan snore fest where Vader had to wait for Obi-wan to finish his three year long spin? The fact that the guy in the Vader suit had no flexibility(because of the suit's restrictions) and couldn't really move around, does not affect your opinion? Those fights are almost laughable. The space battle are probably better than the PT, though.
Yes I do. For whatever reason the PT fights don't draw me in, especially Yoda VS Dooku.

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:10 am
by 2046
ILikeDeathNote wrote:I intended this thread to be a reading list
My bad. I thought the list was for critical data . . . e.g. how "Space Seed" has to be on a list of must-see Trek eps.

To make some amends, I'll suggest Trek books "Immortal Coil" for its good writing and great historical unification, "Federation" for similar, and "Vendetta" for a proper take on the Borg as they were in TNG.

The latter two books are *both* superceded by First Contact, and all three have to do with robotics. Hey, at least I'm consistent.

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:39 am
by Jedi Master Spock
IMO, Diane Duane and Peter David are the giants of the Trek novel world. Some of Peter David's stuff I don't like as much (and some just is not targeted to my demographic, e.g., his children's books) but I think he may have written more Trek than any other novelist. I can't think of a Diane Duane Trek novel that I disliked.

I recommend especially several books that have one-word titles:

Sarek, Imzadi, Kahless, Federation

For a good laugh:
How Much for Just the Planet, Trials and Tribble-ations, and Q-in-law. The recurring characters of Lwaxana Troi and Q both lend themselves to comedy, and the book plays them off each other nicely. IIRC. It's been a little while since I read it.

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 5:25 am
by Airlocke_Jedi_Knight
I don't know the title of the episode, but it is STNG first season, I think the 4th or 5th episode. They come across an infection that causes everyone to react as if they were extraordinarily drunk. It was a great episode if you were looking for a laugh.

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 6:57 am
by Mike DiCenso
That is the 1st season episode "The Naked Now", which is a rip-off/homage/sequel to the TOS 1st season episode "The Naked Time".
-Mike