Nana Visitor was pretty displeased over this decision too, apparently: https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/nana-visitor-says-no-to-vedek-kira.283434/
It was especially disappointing for me because Kira looked FANTASTIC in a Starfleet uniform. Then she showed up as a Vedek and I had to imagine her in those unflattering robes; even her voice in my head changed to sound more haughty and pretentious. Everything she says now has an inflection in it that makes everything sound like a question. Damn this wild imagination!
Before Dishonor having veteran all-the-way-back-to-2364-launch Enterprise officer Miranda Kadohata taking part in a mutiny against Picard. But that's Before Dishonor for you.
Ditto this. It feels like it was done entirely for shock value, or even this idea of 'okay, DS9's stuck in limbo, let's just blow it up and- Wait, now we're going to tell DS9 stories again? Aw, fu-!' Especially with the 'new' DS9 being built within the same duology. Despite the claims in the successive books about how this is a new station with a new design and everything is different, I'm still picturing everything happen on the Cardassian station. It's a change that is making no impact for me as a reader.
But it's not just stated or claimed, it's also described many times It's got that huge open park area with the holographic projected sky; where do you see those scenes happening?
I like the new DS9, it's the only change in the DS9 books that I actually really like. I also do like Ro as a captain, but the fact she ended up in that position because Vaughn and Kira aren't around anymore does take a little bit away from it for me.
Bringing characters back from the dead. If you're gonna kill 'em, make it because their arc is over. If the TV series or movies killed them, leave them dead.
The new park area, sure, that's one thing. But whenever the characters are in areas equivalent to the old station - Ops, Quark's, crew quarters, I don't see a shiny new Starfleet facility, I see the weathered Cardassian station. Hell, even Sector General still looks like the infirmary for me. I know the new station's design has been described and talked about, but it just doesn't stick for me. Those descriptions slip away and I'm left picturing the old station. Maybe it's just a consequence of seven years of on screen depictions versus a handful of books over the last few years, but the change of station design has effectively played as a difference that makes no difference and everything could be taking place on the same old station.
There's a lot I like about the post-TV/Movie novels, and I do find most of them an enjoyable read, but the general direction of DS9 i don't like at all. The characters they introduced in the relaunch books were integrated well, developed and felt like they could have been on the actual show. The newer ones I can't even remember their names between chapters. They're just lifeless, and are sidelining the actual characters you care about. There is almost nothing recognizable from the show left.
One of the new ds9 characters who was introduced the books I don't like was Starfleet officer Blocker who served as Security Chief in several of the books Under Ro Laren. Odo ran circles a round this character when it came to solving crimes on Ds9. I was glad this character wassn't made First officer of the new Ds9 . He acted like a arrogant bully and was a jerk.
I wish somebody would do some images of the interiors for the lit original ships and stations. I still don't have a real clear image of the interiors for Titan, Vanguard, Aventine or the new DS9.
I'd like to see some pictures of the ships docked at the new station. I still don't get how the Aventine and the other ships dock at the station.
I think those clampy-looking things on the arms are docking ports, so that would work for the kind of ships that would park at the arms on old station. Smaller ships (like the Defiant?) would land in the large bays on the rim. I also like to imagine the two big hooks that are intended to be Galaxy-class specific are compatible with multiple ship types (we've also seen the E-B and E-E docking from the neck in that way), just because there are only supposed to be a handful of Galaxies around, and they're supposed to spend years on end in deep space, so why would you give a massive amount of infrastructure to being able to dock two of them at once? How often could that come up? Of course, one of the issues is that it's a little ambiguous how big the station is. The covers seem to show it being twice the size of the design sketches.
What "clampy-looking things"? I've looked at the covers that are out, and the rings appear pretty smooth. I also like to imagine the two big hooks that are intended to be Galaxy-class specific are compatible with multiple ship types (we've also seen the E-B and E-E docking from the neck in that way), just because there are only supposed to be a handful of Galaxies around, and they're supposed to spend years on end in deep space, so why would you give a massive amount of infrastructure to being able to dock two of them at once? How often could that come up?[/quote] Only a handful of Galaxy-class ships in service? Really, during the Dominion War Starfleet was pumping those ships out like crazy. And from what I understand, the Galaxy was suppose to take over from the Excelsior-class and become Starfleet's go-to ship. And I still don't get how exactly the Galaxy's are suppose to connect to the station! The one cover made it look like the ship had somehow backed up to the station and the connector was possible hooked up to the shuttle bay on the saucer! Not to mention that the Excelsior-class ship on the one cover seemed to be about as big as the station!
Yeah, at first I didn't like Ezri suddenly switching to command, it didn't seem in her nature even with the memories of her previous lives exerting influence. However, the way she's written works and I like it now. Picard should have married to have Rene, but it would have been better if it weren't Beverly, cuz then they could maybe have killed the character off at some point making for a more interesting story line for them both.
These things I was probably unhappy about too at first, but I've spent so much time rewriting the stories in my head and filling in the gaps, mostly precisely to make these seemingly weird diversions actually make sense, that I tend to see them in those terms now and so I am okay with them. Spoiler coding for story ideas: Spoiler: My rewrite of what happened Kira: She quit Starfleet in protest over them refusing to get involved in the Ascendant situation. She joined the church to help her deal with what she had done in the Ascendant conflict. Then she got promoted to vedek so quickly because of how she had helped Bajor come together in planet-wide prayer vigils during the Borg invasion, and forced the Assembly into opening up all their monasteries to house post-invasion refugees. Ro: She hasn't become religious per se, she's just not quite so anti-religious as she was. She's willing to accept there are other points of view. Again it goes back to the Borg invasion - she was curious how all of Bajor could thank the Prophets for saving them when as far as Ro could see the Prophets had nothing to do with it, so she asked Major Cenn to explain it her. And it got her opening her mind a bit. Taran'atar: He's not dead. Laas ordered his execution in spite at Kira and Odo, and everyone thinks he's dead, but actually Meera (the girl changeling from "Lesser Evil") saved him and he's out there as part of the Even Odds' crew. This part I absolutely unquestionably agree with, though. These new characters are absolute zeros, it's like DRG3 has lost any ability to create compelling characters, which is weird because it was his work in "MG: Twilight" that made Vaughn such a compelling character that we still miss him now. Again, I've explained that away in my own rewrites, as follows: Spoiler: My rewrite of what happened After Kira left because of the Ascendant incident, Vaughn had a Prophet experience that reminded him of why he came to DS9 at all - exploration, not conflict. Given that exploration into the Gamma Quadrant seemed to have fizzled out at the time, he applied for a transfer so he could follow that desire. Also he started to realise that Ro was actually much better suited to command a Bajoran station than him, so he stepped aside voluntarily so as not to be in her way. Here you go: https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/vesta-class-bridge.147672/ .