Peter David

[A_Ranger]

Has anyone else read any of Peter David's non-B5 stuff? It's quite fun, intelligent, and witty satire. One series, Sir Apropos of Nothing is satire of the heroic epic fantasy whose protagonist is a selfish, despicable, but quite normal and human person who is thrust into heroic situations and stature despite his absolutely non-heroic actions.

Another series is his modern version of King Arthur, starting with Knight Life. It is also satire, of not only King Arthur legend but of modern society and politics. In the first book, Arthur returns healed from Avalon and runs for mayor of New York City, being perfectly bold and honest about his opinions.

If anyone likes satire, I highly recommend checking Peter David out.

 

[Chilli]

A long, long time ago, I read some of his Star Trek novels. They were pure brilliance.

Of course, I was about 12. But hey, maybe I wasn't that daft for a 12-year-old.

 

[Ranger1]

his star trek books were pretty cool, i read them when i was probably about the same age, and i still remember "Q-Squared" fondly.

 

[LondosHair]

Loved his Trek books, but I didn't know he's written B5 material. He's currently writing Marvel's X-Factor series, which I'm also enjoying. He does like to give a dry wit to a lot of his characters.

 

[darth_librarian]

Read some of his Hulk ages back. I agree, the guy is a talent. He wrote two season two episode for B5 and all of the Centauri trilogy.

 

[B5_Obsessed]

Loved his Trek books, but I didn't know he's written B5 material. He's currently writing Marvel's X-Factor series, which I'm also enjoying. He does like to give a dry wit to a lot of his characters.

I believe he wrote the episode "Soul Mates", and the novelization of "In the Beginning" as well as the "Legions of Fire" trilogy.

His Trek books were excellent. Q Squared was so much better than I expected from the cover, and then there's the extremely popular "Imzadi", and his original "New Frontier" series.

 

[Chilli]

I believe he wrote the episode "Soul Mates", and the novelization of "In the Beginning" as well as the "Legions of Fire" trilogy.

His Trek books were excellent. Q Squared was so much better than I expected from the cover, and then there's the extremely popular "Imzadi", and his original "New Frontier" series.

He also wrote the episode "A Matter of Honor" for B5.

 

[B5_Obsessed]

He also wrote the episode "A Matter of Honor" for B5.

Not possible. "Matters of Honor" was the Season 3 opener. JMS always writes the opener.

 

[Chilli]

Not possible. "Matters of Honor" was the Season 3 opener. JMS always writes the opener.

Er .. "There All the Honor Lies". I suck.

 

[darth_librarian]

Heh. It usually has honor, soul or shadows in the title. B5 episode titles were a weak point of it for me. They became a bit of a cliche.

 

[Ninja_Squirrel]

To me, Peter David has always been the best of the Star Trek writers. When TNG was in its prime, Peter David completely nailed the entire cast's personalities and voices in the novels. I loved Vendetta, Q-in-Law, Imzadi, and Q-Squared. He also co-authored, along with 3 or 4 others, Doomsday World.

I also really enjoyed his take on B5 in the Centauri Prime trilogy and on Alien Nation in Body & Soul, a novelization of one of the TV movies.

I also have B5's Thirdspace novelization on my bookshelf, but I can't remember if I ever actually read it or not. I vaguely remember PD doing a good job with it. But, I didn't like the story of that movie much in the first place, and therefore, I may not have finsihed the book, despite PD's good handling of it.

I've read the first two books in his modern Arthur series. Knight Life was excellent. I felt One Knight Only was a little too serious compared to the first book, but I vaguely remember the climax being pretty exciting. I've heard there's a third in the series, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Skimming through the Apropos books, the names of places and some of the dialogue sound hilarious. If I remember correctly, I bought the first book but had a lot of problem getting through the first part of it. Almost the whole first fourth of the book is plot setup, and it's all about one fight and one occurence of adultery. It dragged on too long, and I lost interest before finishing it. Maybe I need to give it another chance sometime.

 

[A_Ranger]

Definitely give Apropos another chance. It is a hilarious read.

The third King Arthur book is okay, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the first two. It just kinda lost its steam.