At the Prophet's Door - new DRGIII TNG novel?

[cdgodin]

generally if it's been three years with no word of the next book, the series is dead.

In what universe? Tell that to Harlan Ellison or David ("Chtorr") Gerrold . Or any number of SF sagas with gaps much bigger than three years between cliffhangers.

Using ATimson's examples, both Vorkisogan and Honor went with gaps longer than three years. Also off the top of my head, Uplift, Xeelee, Blackcollar, Cobra, Spin, Culture...come to think of it, it's almost harder to come up with long-term sci-fi series I like that HAVEN'T had at least one three-year gap in them.

Star Wars is another example. There was some books released around the time of the original trilogy in 1983, and then the next one was in 1991.

 

[Sjaddix]

Raise the Dawn's blurb specifically mention Sisko, Ro, and Picard. So I would assume we'll probably see them and at least a few of their crew in Plagues of Night too.

Seeing is not really enough. Seeing Picard is fine we get plenty of development for him most of it positive. Sisko not so much and Sisko is far more important to Bajor and The Wormhole then Picard. Ro makes sense, she is a Bajoran.

Anybody got a link to this blurb.

It does seem to imply in that they are the main focus, at least of RoD.

Plagues of Night:
The first novel in a two-part Typhon Pact adventure set in the universe of Star Trek: The Next Generation! In the wake of the final Borg invasion, which destroyed entire worlds, cost the lives of sixty-three billion people, and struck a crippling blow to Starfleet, six nations adversarial to the United Federation of Planets – the Romulan Star Empire, the Breen Confederacy, the Tholian Assembly, the Gorn Hegemony, the Tzenkethi Coalition, and the Holy Order of the Kinshaya – joined ranks to form the Typhon Pact. For almost three years, the Federation and the Klingon Empire, allied under the Khitomer Accords, have contended with the nascent coalition on a predominantly cold-war footing. But as Starfleet rebuilds itself, factions within the Typhon Pact grow restive, concerned about their own inability to develop a quantum slipstream drive to match that of the Federation. Will leaders such as UFP President Bacco and RSE Praetor Kamemor bring about a lasting peace across the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, or will the cold war between the two alliances deepen, and perhaps even lead to an all-out shooting war?

Raise the Dawn:
The second novel in a two-part Typhon Pact adventure set in the universe of Star Trek: The Next Generation. After the disastrous events in the Bajoran system, Captain Benjamin Sisko must confront the consequences of the recent choices he has made in his life. At the same time, the United Federation of Planets and its Khitomer Accords allies have come to the brink of war with the Typhon Pact. While factions within the Pact unsuccessfully used the recent gestures of goodwill–the opening of borders and a joint Federation-Romulan exploratory mission–to develop quantum slipstream drive, they have not given up their goals. Employing a broad range of assets, from Romulus to Cardassia, from Ab-Tzenketh to Bajor, they embark on a dangerous new plan to acquire the technology they need to take control of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. While UFP President Bacco and Romulan Praetor Kamemor work feverishly to reestablish peace, Captains Sisko, Jean-Luc Picard, and Ro Laren stand on the front lines of the conflict... even as a new danger threatens the Bajoran wormhole as it once more becomes a flashpoint of galactic history.

Thanks certainly sounds promising I suppose but have to read it first .

 

[Sci]

generally if it's been three years with no word of the next book, the series is dead.

What part of "THE SAGA OF STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE WILL CONTINUE" at the end of Zero Sum Game (published a mere 14 months ago) did you not understand?

 

[F. King Daniel]

^Not necessarily. The components for such a shell could be easily enough fabricated by industrial replicators, and then just pieced together. And they'd already be a perfect match for the tech you'd put inside them, whereas fitting them into a decades-old alien spaceframe might be a tougher job.

Anyway, it seems to me that the most likely interpretation of that cover is that it's a Federation outpost being built on the Gamma Quadrant side of the wormhole. Obviously DS9 isn't going to be destroyed/replaced; it's in the title of the goshdarn series.

Voyager continued with a new captain after Janeway died. They could tow or build any old thing next to the wormhole and rename it "Deep Space Nine" with much less effect on the stories themselves (less so in novels than a TV show, where there would at least be new sets)

 

[Christopher]

Anyway, it seems to me that the most likely interpretation of that cover is that it's a Federation outpost being built on the Gamma Quadrant side of the wormhole. Obviously DS9 isn't going to be destroyed/replaced; it's in the title of the goshdarn series.

Voyager continued with a new captain after Janeway died.

But that show isn't called Star Trek: Janeway (despite what the BBJers seem to think). It's called Star Trek: Voyager. So that doesn't work at all as an analogy for what I'm talking about here. I'm talking about the unfeasibility of continuing a series after getting rid of the thing that the series is named after.

Granted, such a thing has occasionally happened, as for instance in the Thin Man and Pink Panther movie series, Blake's 7, Red Dwarf, Laverne and Shirley (after Shirley left), etc. But I don't see any reason to expect it here. Deep Space 9, the station, is a visual icon of Star Trek nearly as much as the Enterprise is, and has always been a core "character" in the series. It's not just the designation for any generic space station. That particular space station has a unique character and presence that helps define the series, even as the characters change.

 

[Sjaddix]

^Not necessarily. The components for such a shell could be easily enough fabricated by industrial replicators, and then just pieced together. And they'd already be a perfect match for the tech you'd put inside them, whereas fitting them into a decades-old alien spaceframe might be a tougher job.

Anyway, it seems to me that the most likely interpretation of that cover is that it's a Federation outpost being built on the Gamma Quadrant side of the wormhole. Obviously DS9 isn't going to be destroyed/replaced; it's in the title of the goshdarn series.

Voyager continued with a new captain after Janeway died. They could tow or build any old thing next to the wormhole and rename it "Deep Space Nine" with much less effect on the stories themselves (less so in novels than a TV show, where there would at least be new sets)

Exactly. I mean how many Enterprises have their been. You build a new one and slap the same old name on it problem solved.

 

[DS9forever]

I think people would miss Quark's, Vic's, Bashir's Infirmary etc.

 

[Sci]

^Not necessarily. The components for such a shell could be easily enough fabricated by industrial replicators, and then just pieced together. And they'd already be a perfect match for the tech you'd put inside them, whereas fitting them into a decades-old alien spaceframe might be a tougher job.

Anyway, it seems to me that the most likely interpretation of that cover is that it's a Federation outpost being built on the Gamma Quadrant side of the wormhole. Obviously DS9 isn't going to be destroyed/replaced; it's in the title of the goshdarn series.

Voyager continued with a new captain after Janeway died. They could tow or build any old thing next to the wormhole and rename it "Deep Space Nine" with much less effect on the stories themselves (less so in novels than a TV show, where there would at least be new sets)

Exactly. I mean how many Enterprises have their been. You build a new one and slap the same old name on it problem solved.

Is there any particular reason to think that the station seen in the DRGIII book is meant as a replacement for Starbase Deep Space 9?

 

[Christopher]

Is there any particular reason to think that the station seen in the DRGIII book is meant as a replacement for Starbase Deep Space 9?

Not that I can see. I think some people just saw it next to the wormhole and forgot that the wormhole has two ends.

 

[T'Ressa Dax]

generally if it's been three years with no word of the next book, the series is dead.

In what universe? Tell that to Harlan Ellison or David ("Chtorr") Gerrold . Or any number of SF sagas with gaps much bigger than three years between cliffhangers.

Like Lisanne Norman, who had very good personal reasons for not writing her Sholan Alliance Series for 7 years..
Or Elizabeth Moon, who recently returned to a universe she'd set up decades ago.

 

[ATimson]

Aren't you forgetting a couple of books called Zero Sum Game and Rough Beasts of Empire? Even without the label, those were definitely continuations of the DS9 saga (just as the other three Typhon Pact entries to date were entries in the Titan and TNG continuities).

I don't really consider them continuations of the DS9 saga. Yes, they borrowed elements from DS9, but they did so in the context of being "a sequel to A Singular Destiny", not "the next story in the saga of Deep Space Nine".

Using ATimson's examples, both Vorkisogan and Honor went with gaps longer than three years. Also off the top of my head, Uplift, Xeelee, Blackcollar, Cobra, Spin, Culture...come to think of it, it's almost harder to come up with long-term sci-fi series I like that HAVEN'T had at least one three-year gap in them.

Vorkosigan and Culture I put in a different category from DS9 and the Honorverse - the latter are telling a single story serially, the former don't. And I'm only attempting to categorize books in the later category. (The others series mentioned I'm not familiar with, so don't know which bucket to slot them in to.)

Honor did have one four year gap with no release - but we did at least have word of the next books, which was what I believe I said was the key factor.

What part of "THE SAGA OF STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE WILL CONTINUE" at the end of Zero Sum Game (published a mere 14 months ago) did you not understand?

The presence of any actual followup to that? Just because the credits say "James Bond Will Return" doesn't mean that everything is in place for the next one and it's a sure thing to go ahead. (If it did, Bond 23 would be out on disc already, instead of having been delayed by MGM's financial difficulties and having just started shooting. Or if we were talking last summer, quite possibly cancelled.)

 

[Sci]

Aren't you forgetting a couple of books called Zero Sum Game and Rough Beasts of Empire? Even without the label, those were definitely continuations of the DS9 saga (just as the other three Typhon Pact entries to date were entries in the Titan and TNG continuities).

I don't really consider them continuations of the DS9 saga.

Then you didn't actually read them.

Yes, they borrowed elements from DS9, but they did so in the context of being "a sequel to A Singular Destiny", not "the next story in the saga of Deep Space Nine".

Please. It was both. Just like Seize the Fire was clearly a continuation of the Star Trek: Titan series and Paths of Disharmony was clearly a continuation of Star Trek: The Next Generation (and, arguably, DS9 too!).

Vorkosigan and Culture I put in a different category from DS9 and the Honorverse - the latter are telling a single story serially, the former don't.

Is the DS9 Relaunch telling a single story?

What part of "THE SAGA OF STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE WILL CONTINUE" at the end of Zero Sum Game (published a mere 14 months ago) did you not understand?

The presence of any actual followup to that?

Dude, it's only been a year. You might as well complain that a TV series has been cancelled if two days go by after its latest episode aired. And it's obvious that the new DRGIII books are going to be continuations of the DS9 saga.

 

[JD]

Yeah, even if the books aren't marketed specifically as DS9 books, they are still continuing to stories of the DS9 characters, and IMO that's enough for me to consider them DS9 stories. Everybody seems to associate the series with it's namesake, but weren't there episodes of the series that were set entirely on the Defiant and Planet ___ of the week.

 

[Sjaddix]

Is there any particular reason to think that the station seen in the DRGIII book is meant as a replacement for Starbase Deep Space 9?

Not that I can see. I think some people just saw it next to the wormhole and forgot that the wormhole has two ends.

True But I would sink money into a new base on the more defensible side of the wormhole first before u build a new base on the weaker side.

 

[Christopher]

Aren't you forgetting a couple of books called Zero Sum Game and Rough Beasts of Empire? Even without the label, those were definitely continuations of the DS9 saga (just as the other three Typhon Pact entries to date were entries in the Titan and TNG continuities).

I don't really consider them continuations of the DS9 saga. Yes, they borrowed elements from DS9, but they did so in the context of being "a sequel to A Singular Destiny", not "the next story in the saga of Deep Space Nine".

That's illogical. The current approach to Trek Lit is blended to the extent that one series' storylines can be advanced in books that don't carry that series' banner. For instance, Destiny was an integral part of both the TNG and Titan series continuities, and TNG: Before Dishonor was pivotal to the Voyager continuity.

As for the Typhon Pact books, you're reading too much into a title banner that was chosen for marketing purposes. The sales department wanted it to be called just Star Trek: Typhon Pact with no individual series titles to give the impression that it was a crossover epic like Destiny, but it's really more in the vein of the loose crossovers of the past like Invasion! or Captain's Table: not one integral story, but multiple independent stories in various distinct series that share a loosely unifying theme. Despite the labeling, Seize the Fire was the next Titan novel and Paths of Disharmony and The Struggle Within were TNG through and through. By the same token, Zero Sum Game is a pure DS9 story. Yes, it only focuses on a few characters and elements from DS9 rather than the whole cast, but the same goes for the various installments in Worlds of DS9, and indeed for quite a few episodes of the series. Rough Beasts of Empire is the only "hybrid" entry, blending a DS9 thread with a Spock/Romulan thread, but it is definitely a direct and crucial continuation of the DS9 narrative, providing long-awaited answers to what happened to the cast after The Soul Key and setting up the new status quo for the series going forward. RBoE is as indispensable to the DS9 novel continuity as Destiny is to the TNG or TTN continuity.

And calling any of them "the sequel to A Singular Destiny" doesn't make sense. ASD set up the new political status quo; the various TP novels are entries in the various series that are informed by that broad status quo. It's not a single storyline, it's a backdrop for storylines. For instance, TNG's "Journey's End" introduced a new astropolitical status quo with the Cardassian treaty and the Demilitarized Zone, and DS9's "The Maquis" revealed the consequences of that status quo, and then numerous episodes of TNG, DS9, and VGR made use of the political elements introduced there. But does that mean that, say, VGR's "Worst Case Scenario" was a direct sequel to "Journey's End" and therefore shouldn't be considered a VGR episode? Of course not, any more than a DS9 episode about Romulan intrigue should be counted as a sequel to TNG's "The Neutral Zone." The Typhon Pact isn't a single storyline, it's an overall astropolitical backdrop that can drive or influence many independent stories, just as the existence of the Maquis or the Romulans informed many otherwise unrelated stories in the various TV series. (Yes, Typhon Pact is labeled as an ongoing series, but that's a matter of marketing strategy.)

Vorkosigan and Culture I put in a different category from DS9 and the Honorverse - the latter are telling a single story serially, the former don't. And I'm only attempting to categorize books in the later category.

DS9 literature has never been telling a single story. It's always had multiple threads, some of which only overlapped to a limited degree. Remember Rising Son? Jake had his own story that proceeded independently of the rest for quite a while. And Mission: Gamma had the Defiant in a variety of episodic adventures virtually unconnected to the more serialized storyline back home. Then you had Worlds of DS9, which told six distinct stories at the same time.

Not to mention that DS9 is one facet of the larger Trek continuity and should not be treated in isolation, particularly in the context of the current, more interconnected Trek Lit universe. As I said, a given series can be substantively advanced even in books that don't bear its logo.

Honor did have one four year gap with no release - but we did at least have word of the next books, which was what I believe I said was the key factor.

Look upward in this thread and you'll find plot descriptions for DRGIII's upcoming duology that specifically mention Sisko, Ro, and the Bajoran system and wormhole playing crucial roles in the story -- not to mention cover art showing Deep Space 9 and the wormhole. I'd say that's pretty obvious word of the next books in the saga.

I think some people just saw it next to the wormhole and forgot that the wormhole has two ends.

True But I would sink money into a new base on the more defensible side of the wormhole first before u build a new base on the weaker side.

If you've already got a base on one side, then the natural next step is to build a base on the other side so that it won't be the weaker side anymore.

 

[Turtletrekker]

^Not necessarily. The components for such a shell could be easily enough fabricated by industrial replicators, and then just pieced together. And they'd already be a perfect match for the tech you'd put inside them, whereas fitting them into a decades-old alien spaceframe might be a tougher job.

Also, ever since Nog and the SCE towed Empok Nor to the Bajoran system in SCE: Cold Fusion and DS9:Section 31: Abyss, they should have all of the spare parts that they need for a loooooong time.

 

[Christopher]

^Right, they've got a whole backup station.

 

[nickyboy]

I am sure we will get hints of what happened in the missing 5 years in DRG's books this year to tease us even more. I hope that behind the scenes they are planning a trilogy or something to tell the story of the missing 5 years which will be released in 2013 to celebrate 20 years of Deep Space Nine

 

[Sjaddix]

Aren't you forgetting a couple of books called Zero Sum Game and Rough Beasts of Empire? Even without the label, those were definitely continuations of the DS9 saga (just as the other three Typhon Pact entries to date were entries in the Titan and TNG continuities).

I don't really consider them continuations of the DS9 saga. Yes, they borrowed elements from DS9, but they did so in the context of being "a sequel to A Singular Destiny", not "the next story in the saga of Deep Space Nine".

That's illogical. The current approach to Trek Lit is blended to the extent that one series' storylines can be advanced in books that don't carry that series' banner. For instance, Destiny was an integral part of both the TNG and Titan series continuities, and TNG: Before Dishonor was pivotal to the Voyager continuity.

As for the Typhon Pact books, you're reading too much into a title banner that was chosen for marketing purposes. The sales department wanted it to be called just Star Trek: Typhon Pact with no individual series titles to give the impression that it was a crossover epic like Destiny, but it's really more in the vein of the loose crossovers of the past like Invasion! or Captain's Table: not one integral story, but multiple independent stories in various distinct series that share a loosely unifying theme. Despite the labeling, Seize the Fire was the next Titan novel and Paths of Disharmony and The Struggle Within were TNG through and through. By the same token, Zero Sum Game is a pure DS9 story. Yes, it only focuses on a few characters and elements from DS9 rather than the whole cast, but the same goes for the various installments in Worlds of DS9, and indeed for quite a few episodes of the series. Rough Beasts of Empire is the only "hybrid" entry, blending a DS9 thread with a Spock/Romulan thread, but it is definitely a direct and crucial continuation of the DS9 narrative, providing long-awaited answers to what happened to the cast after The Soul Key and setting up the new status quo for the series going forward. RBoE is as indispensable to the DS9 novel continuity as Destiny is to the TNG or TTN continuity.

And calling any of them "the sequel to A Singular Destiny" doesn't make sense. ASD set up the new political status quo; the various TP novels are entries in the various series that are informed by that broad status quo. It's not a single storyline, it's a backdrop for storylines. For instance, TNG's "Journey's End" introduced a new astropolitical status quo with the Cardassian treaty and the Demilitarized Zone, and DS9's "The Maquis" revealed the consequences of that status quo, and then numerous episodes of TNG, DS9, and VGR made use of the political elements introduced there. But does that mean that, say, VGR's "Worst Case Scenario" was a direct sequel to "Journey's End" and therefore shouldn't be considered a VGR episode? Of course not, any more than a DS9 episode about Romulan intrigue should be counted as a sequel to TNG's "The Neutral Zone." The Typhon Pact isn't a single storyline, it's an overall astropolitical backdrop that can drive or influence many independent stories, just as the existence of the Maquis or the Romulans informed many otherwise unrelated stories in the various TV series. (Yes, Typhon Pact is labeled as an ongoing series, but that's a matter of marketing strategy.)




DS9 literature has never been telling a single story. It's always had multiple threads, some of which only overlapped to a limited degree. Remember Rising Son? Jake had his own story that proceeded independently of the rest for quite a while. And Mission: Gamma had the Defiant in a variety of episodic adventures virtually unconnected to the more serialized storyline back home. Then you had Worlds of DS9, which told six distinct stories at the same time.

Not to mention that DS9 is one facet of the larger Trek continuity and should not be treated in isolation, particularly in the context of the current, more interconnected Trek Lit universe. As I said, a given series can be substantively advanced even in books that don't bear its logo.




Look upward in this thread and you'll find plot descriptions for DRGIII's upcoming duology that specifically mention Sisko, Ro, and the Bajoran system and wormhole playing crucial roles in the story -- not to mention cover art showing Deep Space 9 and the wormhole. I'd say that's pretty obvious word of the next books in the saga.

I think some people just saw it next to the wormhole and forgot that the wormhole has two ends.

True But I would sink money into a new base on the more defensible side of the wormhole first before u build a new base on the weaker side.

If you've already got a base on one side, then the natural next step is to build a base on the other side so that it won't be the weaker side anymore.

Sure assuming your base on the strong side was made out of up to date federation technology and not almost 50 year old cardassian tech and retrofitted Federation tech.

 

[Relayer1]

I am sure we will get hints of what happened in the missing 5 years in DRG's books this year to tease us even more. I hope that behind the scenes they are planning a trilogy or something to tell the story of the missing 5 years which will be released in 2013 to celebrate 20 years of Deep Space Nine

That is assuming that it has been planned out what happened during the gap.

We know a few of the results of the events but not exactly what happened or when, or what else was going on. It could all still be undecided !