I read several Diane Duane books, and I enjoyed them all. She had also some pretty fantastic science fiction in several of them - anything involving the spider scientist K'tlk (or K's'tlk?), for example, or Doctor's Order with intelligent rocks.My favourite ever Star Trek novel was a TOS-era one, My Enemy My Ally by Diane Duane. It's basically Star Trek without the budgetary restrictions - a truly widely-varied-species crew, including my favourite character Ensign Neraht, the first Horta in Starfleet, a great investigation of Romulan society and culture, an epic rescue behind enemy lines, some of the best ship-to-ship combat I've read, and excellent characterisations of both the established crew and new characters. Oh, and a Doctor Who reference snuck in there too.
Other than that, most of Peter David's novels were worth checking out, and I particularly enjoyed Vendetta, an epic Borg novel written in the wake of the Best of Both Worlds two-parter, before later series diluted the Borgs' threat.
including my favourite character Ensign Neraht, the first Horta in Starfleet
Ah, yes! Any ensign you can drop from orbit is a good ensign.
He'd certainly have a meteoric career.
I can't pick a favourite.
I like DS9 as a TV show. It was dark and honest and excellent in a way no other Trek was. It touched on serialized narratives and dealt with questions that couldn't be answered in 60 minutes. But it was really a different show set in the Trek universe.
The characters and their stories really made TNG. I loved them and grew with them. There were some amazing episodes. But it also lasted twice as long as TOS.
I remember hating Picard as a kid. I wanted him to die and Riker to take over since he was more like Kirk. It's a testament to the show, the acting, and the stories that they made me care about this older captain that very much wasn't what I wanted in charge of the Enterprise.
But you never forget your first. And that's still TOS. I was watching it years before TNG premiered and I loved so much of the show. It had a huge influence on me and I cannot say how many times I watched the movies.