A question I have to ask

Although this concerns the novel, I want to ask this of people who maybe have never read the books but are fans of the show what they think of the rebuilt station. Thoughts?

 

I think a new station gives the authors a lot of new storytelling possibilities for the DS9 series (the next novel DS9 novel The Missing is out at the end of the year) but I'm cool on the new design itself - I like that the pylons allude to the old Deep Space 9 but I don't like the 'dome' area in the middle. The new runabout landing areas are cool though.

The DS9 command crew has nearly changed beyond recognition, a bit too much for me - Miles O'Brien and Nog are the only regulars from the series serving aboard.

 

I saw it before and wasn't a big fan then either. When I see that Deep Space Nine, I don't think of the past exploits I think of when I see the Deep Space Nine we all remember from the show.

 

I don't like the design at all. But regardless of the design, to me having anything remotely different than what was already there is sort of like how I probably would have felt if the TOS crew got the Excelsior instead of a basically rebuilt Enterprise at the end of TVH. Or if the crew of the Galactica all had to abandon ship and take the rest of the journey on the Pegasus. It's just not right. There's a chemistry with those people in this fictional place, and part of the chemistry is the ship itself or in this case the space station. It's like one of the main characters. It's kind of hard to do DS9 without DS9 itself. I've heard great things about the novels though.

 

Blech.

 

I like the new design, but I don't think it should have been called Deep Space Nine. The old station is gone, and while this new station is built with everything Starfleet may have wanted out of a starbase, it doesn't have the same history nor cultural significance behind it. It should have been designated Deep Space Ten or Deep Space Twelve, IMO.

The new station, unfortunately, also got off to a very bad start:

Spoiler: the day it became operational

the Federation President was assassinated there

 

Yet more reasons why we need novels set within the seven year run of the series.

 

I can accept the design in and of itself. However, I find the whole story behind the destruction of the Cardassian-designed station to be contrived ... along with the rehabilitation of the the new station commander.

 

I think I would have liked it better if it were called 'Deep Space Nine A'.

 

I haven't read it.. can someone fill me in (maybe with spoiler codes) the short version on how it was destroyed?


but getting to the point.. Deep Space Nine was the Cardassian station. It had a look all it's own, with a cool color palette and deep shadows, and nice nooks and crannies in every corner, both on the model and on the set. The new station looks like they used one of the formerly unused designs from the Making of Deep Space Nine book (which, by the wya is a book all of you should own)

 

If they rebuilt the station, it should nave been named Starbase Bajor or Starbase 999 or some other high number.

 

I don't think it's strange that it kept the same name - story wise, starfleet must've given it that name for a reason in the first place and it's significantly more important for stationary bases to maintain recognized designations that it is for Starships (which is something we've already seen several times). I do think the motivation behind the new design is bizarre. DS9 (the cardassian station) is destroyed, so let's replace it with a new starbase design that's obviously a hybrid of Federation and Cardassian design. Why? Federation design has never used those kinds of pylons - they use huge open spaces where the ships drive to the inside of the station. And the description says the new type is the biggest starbase the Federation has. Maybe if it was an experimental *smaller* starbase, it would make sense that they would incorporate pylons, but as is, it makes no sense.

 

I hope nuDS9 has a conference room with a golden model of the old DS9.

 

The new DS9 is looks very strange with the pylons and despite the pictures I was struggling to get my head around where everything was internally but this is something that will hopefully resolve itself as I read more books.

 

Truthfully, Federation space stations, like starships, could come in many different designs--with some designs more commonly encountered than others. The new station could very well utilize pylons and other design elements that are seen on other space stations scattered across Federation space and beyond, but combined in a new configuration here.

As far the new station retaining the Deep Space Nine designation, nobody said that it was strange or even that terribly unexpected, but destroying the original just to have a shiny new one kinda reeks of what happened with the Enterprise-D, getting rid of it in Generations just for shock value or (even worse, IMO) just to a have a brand-new ship in First Contact.

 

Pocket Books don't seem interested in doing that - in the past decade I think only Hollow Men (the sequel to "In the Pale Moonlight") was set during the series.

 

Spoiler: Destruction of DS9 mk 1

It was the result of an external attack and internal bombing at the same time. The bombs were the handiwork of an Andorian terrorist working for the Treishya. The attack was the result of a cloaked Romulan ship getting caught by a tachyon net as it emerged from the wormhole, leading to a massive firefight as its equally cloaked Breen and Tzenkethi escorts fought back.

The two plots were both supported by the Tal Shiar and the True Way, but I think they were both only intended as alternate backup plans to the Tal Shiar's real mission. I don't believe they were intended to happen at the same time - it was basically bad luck. Either attack alone the station could have survived; both together it couldn't.

IIRC, it has a specific memorial area that contains both that and a piece of the actual bulkhead rescued from the wreckage.

.

 

I seem to recall that a starbase was destroyed in the Earth-Romulan War and later rebuilt with the same name. So there would be precident to keeping the name Deep Space 9 for a base in the exact same location at the previous station.

 

It's okay as just some space station, but without the station itself, hardly any of the characters associated with it, or anything even tangentially related to its storylines, there's no point in calling it "Deep Space Nine".