DS9 Relaunch lit
- Thread starter Janos
- Start date
So, that would make me believe that the intent of ZSG was to advance the stories of the key players in the DS9 relaunch? Is Sisko in it at all despite being in the other TP book with Spock?
Thanks. But, if I wanted to get "caught up" on DS9 relaunch lit, I could forgo LHOD and read it at a later time when, for example, I read the 3 Lost Era books I picked up, but have still to read (Art of The Impossible, Catalyst of Sorrows, and Christopher's the Buried Age)?
I want to get caught up on DS9, then read Q&A, Destiny, Singular Destiny, and Typhon Pact. Once I get caught up to TP, I'd read my Lost Era Books, LHOD, and Mirror Universe: Sorrows of the Empire (the next chapter there I think is out in 2012).
I may slip NF: Blind Man's Bluff and ST: Department of Temporal Investigations in here when they come out since I'm excited to read both.
I want to get caught up on DS9, then read Q&A, Destiny, Singular Destiny, and Typhon Pact. Once I get caught up to TP, I'd read my Lost Era Books, LHOD, and Mirror Universe: Sorrows of the Empire (the next chapter there I think is out in 2012).
I may slip NF: Blind Man's Bluff and ST: Department of Temporal Investigations in here when they come out since I'm excited to read both.
Agreed. While not vital to the Relaunch continuity, The Left Hand of Destiny duology is well worth your time.
No, Sisko isn't in ZSG. It mainly focuses on Bashir and Dax. The only character thread that Rough Beasts of Empire and Zero Sum Game have in common involves Elias Vaughn.
I don't see why not.
I should point out that my Greater Than the Sum is essentially a prologue to Destiny. And Bill Leisner's Losing the Peace is an important part of the Destiny-aftermath narrative.
Thanks.
Cool. I think I'm going to be having a "period piece" few months when I finally get to the Lost Era and LHOD books.
$$$$
I just read the solicits they both seem interesting. What I'm sensing, is that Destiny was set up in TNG proper books, but Destiny focuses on more that TNG crew. How insular (TNG Enterprise crew) are the following:Q&A
Greater than the Sum
Destiny
Singular Destiny
Losing the Peace
I believe Destiny and TP (with all the caveats that have already been discussed), for the most part include/mention (in some fashion) the Enterprise (and in 1 or 2 cases focus on it), but in other cases the focus (depending on the given novel) is on key series/ships/characters/whathaveyou from the TNGnovelverse.
These event series including set-up, actual event, fall-out, and continuing event can get pricey, but if you spread it out over a few years (which has been the case) its more reasonable dollar-wise than someone stepping into it now.
That said, luckily, I have all the key books over the last few years with only the 4 TP books and Greater than the Sum + Losing the Peace to pick up. I really just want to get a sense of what the status quo is and has evolved from in the TNGnovelverse.
Again, I have only really read DS9, NF, MU and a few other "period" pieces like select Lost Era, etc. regularly over the years. I haven't followed TNG to any great degree unless a fave author of mine might be penning the book.
However, it seems all these books are inter-related now and luckily seem interesting.
^ Janos, it seems like you're still a bit confused about all the interlocking 24th century books, so here's the whole list. There are a few other books referenced, but this should cover all of the crucial references, and this is the order they should be read in:
First of all, here's the pre-Nemesis stuff:
1) Optional: Battle Of Betazed, A Stitch In Time, Lost Era: Serpents Among The Ruins, Lost Era: Art of the Impossible (these give random bits of backstory, mostly referenced in the DS9 relaunch, and aren't essential)
2) DS9 Relaunch from Avatar > Soul Key; optional: Never-Ending Sacrifice, Left Hand Of Destiny
3) VOY Relaunch from Homecoming > Spirit Walk (you could actually probably skip these too)
Then, all these books in this order:
A Time To Kill
A Time To Heal
A Time For War/A Time For Peace - the last 3 books of a 9 book series setting up Nemesis; the first 6 are not really important.
(Nemesis falls here)
TNG: Death In Winter - crew reorganization post-Nemesis
Titan: Taking Wing - first adventure of Riker's crew
Titan: The Red King
Articles Of The Federation - a year in the life of the Federation president
Titan: Orion's Hounds
TNG: Resistance
TNG: Q&A
TNG: Before Dishonor - these last three TNG books are unfortunately inconsistent; the only real weak point on the list
Titan: Sword Of Damocles
TNG: Greater Than The Sum
Destiny: Gods Of Night
Destiny: Mere Mortals
Destiny: Lost Souls - epic crossover trilogy about the Borg invasion, following 4 crews. AMAZING.
TNG: Losing The Peace
A Singular Destiny
VOY: Full Circle - re-relaunches VOY, starting after the Spirit Walk books and covering the next 3 years, through and past Destiny
VOY: Unworthy
Titan: Over A Torrent Sea
Titan: Synthesis
Typhon Pact miniseries - this just finished being published, and catches DS9 up to the rest of the 24th century books.
And, just so it's all in one place, here's what's forthcoming in the 24th century, too:
TNG: Indistinguishable From Magic (April)
Department Of Temporal Investigations: Watching The Clock (May)
VOY: Children Of The Storm (June)
First of all, here's the pre-Nemesis stuff:
1) Optional: Battle Of Betazed, A Stitch In Time, Lost Era: Serpents Among The Ruins, Lost Era: Art of the Impossible (these give random bits of backstory, mostly referenced in the DS9 relaunch, and aren't essential)
2) DS9 Relaunch from Avatar > Soul Key; optional: Never-Ending Sacrifice, Left Hand Of Destiny
3) VOY Relaunch from Homecoming > Spirit Walk (you could actually probably skip these too)
Then, all these books in this order:
A Time To Kill
A Time To Heal
A Time For War/A Time For Peace - the last 3 books of a 9 book series setting up Nemesis; the first 6 are not really important.
(Nemesis falls here)
TNG: Death In Winter - crew reorganization post-Nemesis
Titan: Taking Wing - first adventure of Riker's crew
Titan: The Red King
Articles Of The Federation - a year in the life of the Federation president
Titan: Orion's Hounds
TNG: Resistance
TNG: Q&A
TNG: Before Dishonor - these last three TNG books are unfortunately inconsistent; the only real weak point on the list
Titan: Sword Of Damocles
TNG: Greater Than The Sum
Destiny: Gods Of Night
Destiny: Mere Mortals
Destiny: Lost Souls - epic crossover trilogy about the Borg invasion, following 4 crews. AMAZING.
TNG: Losing The Peace
A Singular Destiny
VOY: Full Circle - re-relaunches VOY, starting after the Spirit Walk books and covering the next 3 years, through and past Destiny
VOY: Unworthy
Titan: Over A Torrent Sea
Titan: Synthesis
Typhon Pact miniseries - this just finished being published, and catches DS9 up to the rest of the 24th century books.
And, just so it's all in one place, here's what's forthcoming in the 24th century, too:
TNG: Indistinguishable From Magic (April)
Department Of Temporal Investigations: Watching The Clock (May)
VOY: Children Of The Storm (June)
Q&A is part of a post-NEM TNG narrative that begins with Resistance and continues in Q&A, Before Dishonor, and Greater Than the Sum. All of those books except Q&A deal with a multi-part Borg crisis, but Q&A introduces characters who figure into the subsequent books. Greater Than the Sum wraps up that Borg crisis, but then reveals that it was just a warmup for the big event in Destiny. GTTS was commissioned specifically to be a bridge between Before Dishonor and Destiny, to tie up the loose ends of what came before and put the pieces in position for Destiny.
So yes, the setup for Destiny is pretty much solely in the TNG books, but Destiny itself crosses over TNG, Titan, and Ezri Dax (and a few other minor DS9 post-finale characters) aboard her new ship, the Aventine. There's also a small role played by the Voyager characters, but their part in the events of Destiny is covered primarily in the VGR novel Full Circle. And Federation President Bacco and her staff, introduced in TNG: A Time for War, A Time for Peace and featured in Articles of the Federation, feature heavily as well.
After DES, the crews go off in their own separate directions again and their individual stories continue in their respective series. The TTN and VGR entries are pretty independent of one another and of the main "aftermath" thread. The TNG novel Losing the Peace, on the other hand, does focus on how the Federation copes with the aftermath of DES. Then comes A Singular Destiny (which actually came out first), which isn't tied to any single series but does feature Dax and the Aventine as well as Bacco. And ASD sets the stage for Typhon Pact, which includes one book that's largely about Spock and Sisko, one TTN book, one Bashir/Dax-centric DS9-ish book, and one TNG book.
Have you tried the library?
Not all of them. A lot of them. But as I remarked before (maybe not in this thread), only four of last year's books (the Pact books) were part of the interconnected narrative.
Thanks Thrawn. I'm going to be judicious about what I pick up. I have a lot of what you had on your lists. However, I don't plan on reading Titan or Voyager with any regularity. My decision may just be based on what the back cover blurb.
Does everyone on this board read / purchase all ST lit that comes out? Am I the only one that selectively follows series (for me - NF, DS9, MU) with other one-offs / events as per my mood (for me [recently] Q&A, Destiny, Singular Destiny)?
Thanks. Very informative.
Luckily, I have most of the books I wanted over the last few years (even though I'm not caught with reading them). It seems that I can pick up whichever TP books interest me (since they are independent of one another) as well as grab Greater than The Sum and Losing the Peace. I have the other integral books from those cited around Destiny.
While TP is interconnected, if a reader was to pick up one or two, instead of all four, would the reader get a good sense of the TNGnovelverse's "current" status quo?
Thanks again everyone.
I pick up the DS9 and TNG books as they come out, and picked up Full Circle from the Library because the back cover sounded interesting and it had gotten good reviews. Less than halfway through, I went out and bought it at the bookstore.
I really dislike the NF books, found the Mirror Universe and Myriad Universes books boring and not to my taste, and have not been able to get into the Titan books at all.
I've picked up all four Typhon Pact books, and plan to get the VOY book coming this summer, and the DTI book (depending on reviews). Otherwise, it's usually a make-it-up as I go thing.
Not everyone, but I would guess quite a few. I buy/read all of them for example since I review them for a website (I'm a bit lazy at the moment, so I still have to write reviews for all TP books
).I'm pretty sure Therin and Steve Roby buy all of them as well and there are most likely some others, too.
Thanks Sulfur/Defcon. I'm not alone. 
I haven't tried Myriad Universes, but I do pick up the MU stuff.
In addition, I also follow a few authors, so in addition to NF/DS9/MU I probably sample most of the ST lit by KRAD, PAD, and others. MJF doesn't appear to do a lot of ST anymore (I was surprised how much of his non-Stargazer stuff I had). I also pick up others based on the interest factor like the upcoming DTI.
For those that have read Destiny and TP, if I was to read all 3 Destiny books would I be at loss if I didn't read any of the set-up books? Even though I have most, I am just curious about their accessibility (again, I haven't read Destiny yet). Same goes for TP. If I read none of the post-Destiny TP set-up books, will I be lost if I read only 1 of TP and/or all 4 TP? Again, I have a lot of the intervening books, but am curious.
In the past, it has been my experience that the opening part of a given book catches readers up on what they need to know and then gets right into the new story. Is this still the case with ST lit?
I haven't tried Myriad Universes, but I do pick up the MU stuff.
In addition, I also follow a few authors, so in addition to NF/DS9/MU I probably sample most of the ST lit by KRAD, PAD, and others. MJF doesn't appear to do a lot of ST anymore (I was surprised how much of his non-Stargazer stuff I had). I also pick up others based on the interest factor like the upcoming DTI.
For those that have read Destiny and TP, if I was to read all 3 Destiny books would I be at loss if I didn't read any of the set-up books? Even though I have most, I am just curious about their accessibility (again, I haven't read Destiny yet). Same goes for TP. If I read none of the post-Destiny TP set-up books, will I be lost if I read only 1 of TP and/or all 4 TP? Again, I have a lot of the intervening books, but am curious.
In the past, it has been my experience that the opening part of a given book catches readers up on what they need to know and then gets right into the new story. Is this still the case with ST lit?
Well, I think books should be chosen on the basis of how enjoyable they are in and of themselves, not on the basis of how informative they are about some bigger picture. After all, it's not like these are study materials for an exam on Federation history.
That said, I'd say the two that are most pivotal where the bigger picture is concerned are Rough Beasts of Empire and Paths of Disharmony. Both feature significant developments in the status quo. And I'd say RBoE has the broadest scope. But each of the TP novels, by design, is focused on a particular facet of the current situation -- a particular species (or two) within the Pact and a particular crew dealing with a particular crisis -- rather than showing an overview. Remember, it was A Singular Destiny that introduced the Typhon Pact, that defined the new status quo. The TP books are simply telling individual stories about that new astropolitical environment.
Every novel, unless it's part of an actual duology or trilogy, is written to be accessible on its own. We all understand that any book may be a given reader's first book, so it's not like we actually try to make things confusing for people who haven't read everything. So no, you shouldn't be "lost." If anything that happened in the past is relevant to the book you're reading, it will be explained in the book you're reading, at least enough for you to follow the story -- just like "The Cage" explained enough about the Rigel VII mission that the viewers could understand why Captain Pike was so affected by it even though they never actually saw it happen.
The goal of the continuity among books is not to create a confusing, inaccessible narrative. Each book (or duology or trilogy) is designed to be able to stand on its own as a complete, comprehensible story. The continuity among books is a bonus, an added extra for people who want to explore it. But the accessibility of each individual book is still the priority.
Coming from a writer, I really appreciate that sentiment as a reader.
Thanks. That's very helpful.
Err, I edited my post above to respond to another of your questions while you were evidently replying to it. I wouldn't want you to miss my response.
Seems that we were posting simultaneously.
Thanks for the additional commentary on accessibility and your overall kindness and patience me in particular.
You appear very much to be a writer who thinks about the readers as part of your process. That is very much appreciated as a reader.
To elaborate a little more...
The continuity is not the point of Trek Lit. The point is to tell individual stories that are satisfying. The continuity is just a backdrop, a source of material and context that can generate stories. A rich continuity allows for a diverse range of different stories. But people only need to read those stories that interest them.
Typhon Pact is a good example of that. The Typhon Pact was introduced as a way of prompting further exploration of underdeveloped alien cultures like the Breen, Gorn, and Tzenkethi. Each book is about a particular civilization and situation, and each can stand entirely on its own. So the novels aren't a means to the end of understanding the continuity; rather, the continuity is a means to the end of generating diverse and interesting individual novels.
The continuity is not the point of Trek Lit. The point is to tell individual stories that are satisfying. The continuity is just a backdrop, a source of material and context that can generate stories. A rich continuity allows for a diverse range of different stories. But people only need to read those stories that interest them.
Typhon Pact is a good example of that. The Typhon Pact was introduced as a way of prompting further exploration of underdeveloped alien cultures like the Breen, Gorn, and Tzenkethi. Each book is about a particular civilization and situation, and each can stand entirely on its own. So the novels aren't a means to the end of understanding the continuity; rather, the continuity is a means to the end of generating diverse and interesting individual novels.
Hmm. And on the other hand I found it as riveting as an episode of the series.
