DS9's 20th Anniversary

[ryan123450]

Yeah I guess so.

[Spocky8492]

I rewatched in a row the first three DS9 episodes of the mirror universe which was fun. Then I rewatched a few episodes of the season 3, particularly the one about the Dominium. Then I started a complete rewatch from the season 4. Maybe after the rewatch I'll start the DS9 relaunch novels which I never read.

[ryan123450]

You won't regret it.

[Spocky8492]

ryan123450 wrote:

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You won't regret it.

Do you mean the DS9 relaunch novels?

Maybe I will start reading them before finishing the re-watch because this week I watched Rejoined and it makes me want to read The Lives of Dax. Is it good?
And also, I thought that The Lives of Dax is listed as part of the relaunch novels but chronologically speaking, the short stories of this anthology do not happen after the last episode of DS9, like it is the case for Avatar for example.

[Christopher]

Spocky8492 wrote:

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And also, I thought that The Lives of Dax is listed as part of the relaunch novels but chronologically speaking, the short stories of this anthology do not happen after the last episode of DS9, like it is the case for Avatar for example.

Chronologicaly, no, they aren't post-finale, but the events of one or two of the stories (particularly the Audrid one) do come into play in the post-finale DS9 storyline.

[Spocky8492]

Christopher wrote:

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Chronologicaly, no, they aren't post-finale, but the events of one or two of the stories (particularly the Audrid one) do come into play in the post-finale DS9 storyline.

Ok thanks for the explanation, now I understand why it's listed in the post-finale novels.

But I'm starting to be lost When is it better to read The Lives of Dax?
Sometimes it is listed between Mission Gamma, Book Four and Rising Son like in http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/DS9_Relaunch, sometimes it is listed at the beginning of the post-finale novels like in http://www.trekbbs.com/showpost.php?...06&postcount=8
With what I read on Memory Beta about the Audrid short story that you mentionned, I guess I have to read it at least before Unity.

Do I need to wait re-watching all the DS9 series? Ok you will tell me, it's a rewatch, so no spoiler problem, but honestly I first watched DS9 in 1998 so I don't remember it very well.
I read on Memory Beta that the Torias short novel explains events mentionned in the Rejoined episode, it's why I thought to read The Lives Of Dax. But if it's better that I watch at least to a specific episode/season, I can wait.

[Christopher]

The Audrid story should ideally be read before Trill: Unjoined, but otherwise I don't think it matters much.

[MvComedy]

Spocky8492 wrote:

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But I'm starting to be lost When is it better to read The Lives of Dax?
Sometimes it is listed between Mission Gamma, Book Four and Rising Son like in http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/DS9_Relaunch, sometimes it is listed at the beginning of the post-finale novels like in http://www.trekbbs.com/showpost.php?...06&postcount=8
With what I read on Memory Beta about the Audrid short story that you mentionned, I guess I have to read it at least before Unity.

To clarify:

The Lives of Dax anthology was first published in 1999, shortly after DS9 ended. It was a trade paperback novel (with a cream-colored cover, incidentally). It was not until Avatar a year and a half later that the major relaunch story got rolling. For the 10th anniversary of DS9, The Lives of Dax was reprinted, with a new, gold cover that included the relaunch logo. It was at this point that the books in the relaunch began including LoD in the reading list in the inside cover, along with A Stitch in Time which did not receive a reprint.

Memory Beta lists the relaunch books in print order, but goes by the 2002 reprint date for LoD. So in terms of print order it is the first book in the relaunch. It was just that it was not explicitly identified with the relaunch until the reprint was issued, which seems to be what the list on Memory Beta goes by. Indeed, the relaunch itself did not really exist at that point, although the Ezri story coda in LoD makes it clear that the publishers were planning to continue the DS9 storyline.

As has been mentioned, several of the stories in LoD are referenced at various points although the Audrid and Joran stories are the critical ones to the relaunch saga. I think it helps to read LoD first since the anthology is referenced as early as in Avatar but you will not be lost if you don't read it first or even if you skip it altogether (not that you'd want to).

[Christopher]

MvComedy wrote:

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The Lives of Dax anthology was first published in 1999, shortly after DS9 ended. It was a trade paperback novel (with a cream-colored cover, incidentally).

Rather, it was a trade paperback anthology. The term "novel" refers to a single fictional work at least 40,000 words in length. An anthology is not a novel, because it's a compilation of multiple shorter works. (Although there is such a thing as a "fix-up" novel which is essentially a collection of multiple stories by the same author, rewritten to form a loose story arc or connected by a framing structure. Asimov's original Foundation trilogy and I, Robot were fix-ups, as was Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles. Granted, The Lives of Dax does have a framing structure tying the stories together, but since they're by different authors, I think it lands on the anthology side of the line and not the fix-up side.)