"Star" novels

[mybeaker]

I'll just throw this out, as I'm curious as to what other people think. And I'm pretty sure there isn't a topic like it *checks again*. Anyway...

I've read every Star Wars book and about half the Star Trek books. Which do you guys think is a better series? This of course leaving out (please) the eternal debate of which is better, Star Wars or Star Trek. My question is which series has actually had the best authors?

I prefer the Star Wars authors to the Star Trek ones, but thats just MO.

[Cellandros]

Star Wars novels have had the better authors.

However on a whole, the Star Trek novels better capture the 'feel' of the Trek universe than the SW novels have captured the SW 'feel'.

Partly that's due to the nature of Trek....highly episodic in nature as opposed to a story arc. In that respect, having multiple authors has not hurt Trek. Since SW is so much more dependant on story and character continuity, the SW novels have suffered somewhat, in my opinion, because so many authors have presented varying representations of the characters.

The best SW novels are the ones that do not focus on Han, Luke, Leia, etc; but use SW only as a backdrop (like the X-Wing and Wraith novels).

Regardless, I burned out on Trek novels many years ago (around #60); and now have pretty much burned out on SW novels. The problem with both: There's only so many times you can read about a core group of characters before it gets tiresome. Kirk, Spock, Scotty, Han, Luke, Leia...they've all run their course.

Back to the specific question you asked..., SW has had the best authors, but it would be interesting to see what would happen in a different publisher (with a different pool of authors) would do with the Trek franchise.

[Aleya]

I heard that the Star Trek novels are notoriously badly written, and generally rely too much on the reader already being in love with the ST universe to carry them through.

Consequently I've never picked one up.

Any opinions on whether they are written more badly than mainstream SF?

Can anyone list me their top five? I'd be interested in starting with something decent.

Cheers,
Aleya - http://silver-oak.com

[lior]

Speaking of star wars, I recommend the SW comic books published by Dark Horse comics, most of them are well plotted and drawn, and are generally pretty good, especially the "Crimson Empire" mini series, which tells of the emperor's personal elite guard.

[Rob B]

I generally don't like Star Trek except for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and that is mainly for Shatner's over-the-top over-acting.

I have read some of the Star Wars books and recommend HIGHLY the first trilogy by Timothy Zahn. Not just good Star Wars books, but good books period.

Another GREAT DarkHorse SW comic book limited series was Dark Empire now available in trade paperback. Really captured the feel of the original movies and is available in trade paperback.