Allow me to apologize for any technical problems I've recently had! I tried doing a poll and ended up with two separate threads! 
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What is your favorite pre-relaunch DS9 novel? (With discussion)
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What is your favorite "pre-relaunch" DS9 novel? (with discussion)
Recently, I've been re-reading quite a few older Deep Space Nine novels, published during the series' run and predating the "Relaunch Era," including Peter David's The Siege (1993), K.W. Jeter's Warped (1995), L.A. Graf's Invasion #3: Time's Enemy (1996), Peter David, Michael Jan Friedman and Robert Greenberger's Wrath Of The Prophets (1997) (which marked the first appearance of Ro Laren in the DS9 universe) and Armin "Quark" Shimerman and David R. George III's The 34th Rule (1999).
What is your favorite "pre-relaunch era" Deep Space Nine novel? Personally, I'm rather torn between The Siege and The 34th Rule, but just because I'm a big fan of Peter David's Trek fiction I'm going with the former! Call me crazy...
(And in case anyone's wondering, I'm not counting adaptations and I'm not counting original novels set during the events of the series but written after the end of 1999 - such as Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens' Millenium trilogy and Una McCormack's Hollow Men.)
Recently, I've been re-reading quite a few older Deep Space Nine novels, published during the series' run and predating the "Relaunch Era," including Peter David's The Siege (1993), K.W. Jeter's Warped (1995), L.A. Graf's Invasion #3: Time's Enemy (1996), Peter David, Michael Jan Friedman and Robert Greenberger's Wrath Of The Prophets (1997) (which marked the first appearance of Ro Laren in the DS9 universe) and Armin "Quark" Shimerman and David R. George III's The 34th Rule (1999).
What is your favorite "pre-relaunch era" Deep Space Nine novel? Personally, I'm rather torn between The Siege and The 34th Rule, but just because I'm a big fan of Peter David's Trek fiction I'm going with the former! Call me crazy...
(And in case anyone's wondering, I'm not counting adaptations and I'm not counting original novels set during the events of the series but written after the end of 1999 - such as Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens' Millenium trilogy and Una McCormack's Hollow Men.)
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Probably Fallen Heroes or The 34th Rule. The Siege is also a favorite of mine.
I'm not sure if A Stitch in Time (which is awesome) would "count" for this discussion, as while it was published pre-relaunch, it has been "grandfathered" in. Hmm. For that matter, so has The 34th Rule...
I'm not sure if A Stitch in Time (which is awesome) would "count" for this discussion, as while it was published pre-relaunch, it has been "grandfathered" in. Hmm. For that matter, so has The 34th Rule...
Fallen Heroes (DS9 #5) was one of my favorites. Up until then, I'd never read anything as violent and catastrophic as that. It's a pretty quick read (at least for me it was, since I couldn't put it down), but I remember immediately reading it again.
I'm not such a fan of the author's other Trek work though. I remember buying a TNG novel of his after reading Fallen Heroes and absolutely hating it.
I'm not such a fan of the author's other Trek work though. I remember buying a TNG novel of his after reading Fallen Heroes and absolutely hating it.
Oh yeah. Fallen Heroes was soooo good that I was literally shocked at how bad his Rebels trilogy was.
Did some hunting...Balance of Power is the TNG book I was thinking of. Just God awful.
There are a number of good books on that list (and several absolute stinkers), but I've got to vote for The 34th Rule. It takes the characters and setting more seriously than the average pre-relaunch novel. It's a powerful book and sometimes disturbing, a forerunner of the relaunch style of storytelling.
With the exception of The Mist, I haven't read any of those books. However, because I absolutely hate The Mist, I won't vote.
That being said, I intend on reading Wrath of the Prophets and The 34th Rule...some day.
That being said, I intend on reading Wrath of the Prophets and The 34th Rule...some day.
A Stitch in Time should be on the list. It originally came out as a numbered book and was later folded into the relaunch. That would be my favorite.
As far the ones in the list go, three of them stand out for me, The Siege, Fallen Heroes and The 34th Rule.
EDIT: OK, I see why you're leaving out ASiT:
I think you mean "after 2000" as your reason for leaving out Millenium and Hollow Men since you're leaving them out and they were written in 2000 or later. ASiT was written in 2000.
As far the ones in the list go, three of them stand out for me, The Siege, Fallen Heroes and The 34th Rule.
EDIT: OK, I see why you're leaving out ASiT:
I think you mean "after 2000" as your reason for leaving out Millenium and Hollow Men since you're leaving them out and they were written in 2000 or later. ASiT was written in 2000.
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My actual favorite pre-relaunch DS9 novel is Far Beyond the Stars, but since that's based on an episode, it doesn't meed your criteria. IIRC, over 50% of the novel is new material, so it isn't a simple adaptation the way Trials and Tribble-ations is. (IIRC, TATA had about 1.3% new material.)
So I went with Time's Enemy, which was another exceptional read.
davidh
So I went with Time's Enemy, which was another exceptional read.
davidh
I have also voted for The 34th Rule, for all the reasons Steve Roby mentioned. (Fallen Heroes would have been my second choice.) I notice, however, that the three Millenium books are not on the poll. I really enjoyed that trilogy, although individually I don't think any one book would manage to unthrone 34th.
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
Yes, you're absolutely right. I goofed!
Every now and then, I get my tenses mixed up. What can I say?
Fixed!
Is that the one with the space pirate with the pimped out Constitution class ship?
You're thinking of Blaze of Glory. Balance of Power revolved around an auction of supposedly advanced technology.
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
Plus it'd win by a mile and this discussion would be less interesting. Went with The Siege, though haven't read 34th Rule yet.
Wrath of the Prophets was one of those unfortunate lessons in expectation management. Ro Laren and Kira Nerys, in action together for the first time? How could it not be great? Well, they found a way.
Ro and Kira are two of the most intense characters in Star Trek. Their backgrounds are grim and we see them go through a lot of dark times. So, what better idea could there be than to use the book of their first meeting for a long and dumb Cheers parody? I have my suspicions as to which of the authors was responsible for that bit (not that I'm mentioning Peter David by name), but the book suffered more than the other multi-author novels of its time from inconsistent tone. It was a major disappointment, imho.
Damn, now we'll never know who you suspect.
That's unfortunate to read. However, on the bright side, the two eventually got not just one good book together, but a whole series of them.
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