Anyone Else Unhappy With the Post Nemesis Novels & Direction of ST?

[Sci]

Re: Anyone Else Unhappy With the Post Nemesis Novels & Direction of ST

But since DS9 Relaunch is pretty much dead in the water (we get a new book once every ... couple of years? whenever someone gets around to it?), I'm happy with TNG, TTN, and all of KRAD's stuff.

That's not fair at all. It took a while for Fearful Symmetry to come out because the first author selected for it ended up leaving the project, and then, of course, it takes a while to actually write the book. No one was intentionally planning on there being three years between Warpath and Fearful Symmetry, it just happened that way -- and there are two DS9R novels coming out this year, The Soul Key and The Never-Ending Sacrifice.

Now, the future of the Relaunch is as yet unclear to the public because of Marco's having been laid off by Pocket, but that doesn't mean that the Relaunch is dead in the water.

 

[Steve Roby]

Re: Anyone Else Unhappy With the Post Nemesis Novels & Direction of ST

I am mostly happy with the new direction, and looking forward to the Typhon Pact being fleshed out properly, but ... I really, REALLY cannot wrap my head around Captain Dax.

In a very short amount of time, she went from the crappiest counselor in Trek history to a supposedly capable commanding officer.

It's not a very short period of time, it's several years. It's not like we ever saw Ezri Dax (who was a Starfleet officer, not some random kid off the street) at her best in her one year on TV; suddenly finding yourself joined to a hundreds-years-old being and also working with people who knew that being's last host and on some level expect you to be her -- that would take some time to deal with.

But since DS9 Relaunch is pretty much dead in the water

No more than any other Trek series. There are two DS9 books coming this year, and last year we had Fearful Symmetry and the Terok Nor prequel trilogy. Not only was the relaunch slowed down by the author situation on Fearful Symmetry that Sci points out, there were a lot of other factors... a few years back, an editor and a writer both found themselves parents at the same time and learned that babies aren't conducive to meeting deadlines; Pocket decided to cut back the number of Trek novels published without eliminating any of the individual series, meaning there are fewer slots for DS9 books...

Anyway, 2009 should be a good year for DS9.

 

[JD]

Re: Anyone Else Unhappy With the Post Nemesis Novels & Direction of ST

Now, with the Typhon Pact, I'm wondering if they're going to drop the Ascendant thing altogether.

The Ascendants are mostly just a Bajor/DS9 issue taking place 5(?) years before the Borg Invasion, so I really don't see how the TP would really have any impact on them.

 

[Thrawn]

Re: Anyone Else Unhappy With the Post Nemesis Novels & Direction of ST

Yeah, the Typhon Pact isn't in the DS9 books; they're taking place many years earlier. I'm hoping that next year's DS9 will start the Ascendant(s?) arc. This year, we're finishing the current mirror arc and spending some time on Cardassia, both of which will be quite welcome.

 

[JoeZhang]

Re: Anyone Else Unhappy With the Post Nemesis Novels & Direction of ST

I got bored with the DS9 books, they seem to be spinning their wheels, I don't think I even finished the last book.

 

[Natural]

Re: Anyone Else Unhappy With the Post Nemesis Novels & Direction of ST

I was unhappy with the direction until the Destiny trilogy, which I just finished. Before Dishonour and the novel before that were just a mess frankly. It just got to the point where the characterization was terrible and the Borg plot was getting ludicrous. I picked up the Destiny trilogy impulsively while not knowing anything about it, and I have to say it's the best Trek literature I've read since Vendetta. I plan to start A Singular Destiny tonight. I'm hoping it's able to keep the momentum going.

 

[captcalhoun]

Re: Anyone Else Unhappy With the Post Nemesis Novels & Direction of ST

what was wrong with Q&A?

 

[ATW]

Re: Anyone Else Unhappy With the Post Nemesis Novels & Direction of ST

^ This. I really enjoyed Q&A. I didn't expect to as the summary didn't hook me but I loved it. Didn't put it down, and finished the book in three days. While the average time for any novel for me - well the ones I enjoy as I have some still going after a year or so - last at least a week

 

[Wally]

Re: Anyone Else Unhappy With the Post Nemesis Novels & Direction of ST

I still don't think I've read the entirety of the "flip" side of the last DS9 novel, but mainly because I'm not at all interested in Ghemor's backstory.

That's how I went into it too. But honestly, read the Ghemor backstory, I found it far more interesting than Kira's side of things. It starts out pretty slow and boring, but is riveting towards the end, plus it helps explain the end of Warpath much better.

 

[Natural]

Re: Anyone Else Unhappy With the Post Nemesis Novels & Direction of ST

what was wrong with Q&A?

Sorry, I should have been more specific. I was actually referring to Resistance. I haven't read Q&A. If A Singular Destiny turns out to be good, I'll probably pick it up.

I'm a fairly casual trek lit fan. I check out the section at the book store every so often, but beyond that I don't follow the whole re-launch thing very closely. I picked up Resistance, Before Dishonour and Greater Than the Sum in order because the Borg are usually entertaining (with exception of some Voyager meddling) and thought it might be fun. Unfortunately, I thought the quality ranged from average to terrible. The characters (old and new) didn't seem believable, and the notion of Borg absorbtion didn't go over well with me. As a sci-fi fan you have to have the ability to suspend disbelief, but it got to the point for me where enough was enough and I started to laugh out loud at what I was reading. As a Trek fan, you want to laugh with it, not at it.

Needless to say I was getting fairly disheartened with Trek lit and figured I'd be done with it if the trend I'd found in those novels would become the norm. Fortunately I picked up the Destiny trilogy impulsively and became hooked very quickly. Though I thought the previous novels dropped the ball in changing the Borg philosophy from assimilation to destruction, I thought the Destiny writer rolled with it pretty well and managed to make the Borg menacing again. There were brief mentions of absorbtion and *shudder* Voyager, but both were swept under the rug nicely. I also appreciate that someone had the balls to write about the Borg origins and actually make it pretty believable. Maybe I didn't have my thinking cap on, but I didn't expect the novels to go there until it was practically happening.

Anyway, that's my take. Excellent trilogy and I'm much more open to continue exploring the relaunch than I was not even a week ago.

 

[David Mack]

Re: Anyone Else Unhappy With the Post Nemesis Novels & Direction of ST

^ Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the trilogy and that it's persuaded you to continue giving the new TNG books a chance.

 

[LapsedTrekkie]

Re: Anyone Else Unhappy With the Post Nemesis Novels & Direction of ST

That's not fair at all. It took a while for Fearful Symmetry to come out because the first author selected for it ended up leaving the project, and then, of course, it takes a while to actually write the book. No one was intentionally planning on there being three years between Warpath and Fearful Symmetry, it just happened that way -- and there are two DS9R novels coming out this year, The Soul Key and The Never-Ending Sacrifice.

Now, the future of the Relaunch is as yet unclear to the public because of Marco's having been laid off by Pocket, but that doesn't mean that the Relaunch is dead in the water.

No, I'm pretty sure it wasn't an intentional thing to have the entire DS9 line end up lying fallow for 3 years, but I can't help but wonder if it is going to seriously damage future DS9 sales. I'm very sorry about Marco being let go, and it pretty much makes me concerned that the DS9 relaunch isn't ever going to get as good as it was before.

That being said, I'm pretty much a lock to buy the next two DS9 novels (I didn't know 2 were coming out, only The Soul Key).

But during those three years, it pretty much felt to me like I'd been given up on, as a DS9 relaunch fan ...

 

[LapsedTrekkie]

Re: Anyone Else Unhappy With the Post Nemesis Novels & Direction of ST

Anyway, 2009 should be a good year for DS9.

I really hope you are right. Certainly it's better than it has been for a few years now, with the lack of anything.

I remember reading about the lessening of Trek books coming out (less slots a year), but none of the series being set aside ... definitely a bummer, but I can understand it.

 

[Dark Gilligan]

Re: Anyone Else Unhappy With the Post Nemesis Novels & Direction of ST

I've tried to read the TNG books but just can't get through them. I think I've been done with Jean-Luc Picard for quite a while now, and I'm fine with walking away from TNG. To be honest I skimmed over the Picard sections of the Destiny trilogy but enjoyed the Titan and Aventine adventures very much. (LOVE the Titan books). I'm looking forward to the new direction for Voyager as well now that life has been breathed into the old girl again. (And no, that wasn't a reference to the other old girl who is no longer breathing.)

 

[CommanderTroi]

Re: Anyone Else Unhappy With the Post Nemesis Novels & Direction of ST

I dislike the current direction of Star Trek quite a bit. I think I said it in the Over a torrent sea Review thread, but Star Trek lost some of it's former strengths for me.
Especially the Destiny-Trilogy is entirely not my cup of tea, so much death and destruction. I could barely bring myself to finish those...if I wanted war and destruction I would only read the newpapers and not bother with fiction.
I like the old Next Gen style from the TV show way better, more calm...made me think. That's the Trek with which I grew up and I miss it thoroughly!
But that's only my understanding of being entertained, other people like action to calm down, so

Maybe I should add that there were some really good books in the relaunches, I really loved the A time to...series (ok, not really relaunch) or most of the DS9 relaunch and Titan books are really fantastic. Articles of the federation will always be among my fondest Trek Lit memories as well as Q and A!!

 

[neogothboy74]

Re: Anyone Else Unhappy With the Post Nemesis Novels & Direction of ST

I still don't think I've read the entirety of the "flip" side of the last DS9 novel, but mainly because I'm not at all interested in Ghemor's backstory.

That's how I went into it too. But honestly, read the Ghemor backstory, I found it far more interesting than Kira's side of things. It starts out pretty slow and boring, but is riveting towards the end, plus it helps explain the end of Warpath much better.

Um...the above quote that is attributed to me is NOT by me. I finished both sides of 'Fearful Symmetry' in record time, and then read it again I was so happy with the book.

The only thing I dislike about the DS9 Relaunch is the infrequency of the installments - but I loved the most recent entry and I eagerly await the 2 DS9 books this year. I also loved seeing Jadzia, Ezri & Tarsis in Destiny (plus all the other fun references therein), and the Terok Nor Trilogy were basically retro-relaunch entries.

And while I don't love Destiny as much as many people seem to, I thought the good far outweighed the bad and I love the new cohesive direction of Trek Lit.

 

[Vestboy]

Re: Anyone Else Unhappy With the Post Nemesis Novels & Direction of ST

Cohesive-- that's the key word with where things have been going. There's been a few books I didn't care for (most of the TNG ones), but I like that there is a unified sense of the Trek Universe. It's really made each new book something I've looked forward to.

 

[K-Star]

Re: Anyone Else Unhappy With the Post Nemesis Novels & Direction of ST

I generally avoid post-Nemesis because I did NOT like the fact that they killed off Data then, and I wanted to see him alive and well in the TNG post-Nemesis stories. And TNG's the only era I really care about.

(It's for this reason that I love Countdown )

 

[neogothboy74]

Re: Anyone Else Unhappy With the Post Nemesis Novels & Direction of ST

I generally avoid post-Nemesis because I did NOT like the fact that they killed off Data then, and I wanted to see him alive and well in the TNG post-Nemesis stories. And TNG's the only era I really care about.

That's interesting. It's similar to what I've been reading in threads about Voyager fans avoiding books without Janeway (or in some instances Kes or Neelix). I've never followed a television series and then stopped following that series (in whatever format) because a character I liked was written out or because of the death of a beloved character. In fact, usually the episodes in which those characters die prove to be favorites of mine (Nemesis would be one of the exceptions - I think it sucks), and I enjoy reading about the aftermath of such events. I thought others were like this too, but perhaps I'm just morbid. lol

Cohesive-- that's the key word with where things have been going. There's been a few books I didn't care for (most of the TNG ones), but I like that there is a unified sense of the Trek Universe. It's really made each new book something I've looked forward to.

Exactly. I didn't care for "Death in Winter" or "Resistance", and I didn't drool all over my copies of the 'Destiny' trilogy the way most people seemed to have, but I like the way all the pieces fit together and build on one another. It adds a depth to the books that outside of the DS9 Relaunch and some of the Books Only Series was somewhat lacking.

 

[flandry84]

Re: Anyone Else Unhappy With the Post Nemesis Novels & Direction of ST

I'm very sorry to say that I've fallen out of love with TNG.The newer characters IMO,(repeat IMO)just haven't hit the mark for me.All just a little too, well,samey and not very forceful.And if I'm to be totally honest,the place for Buffy-like characters is Buffy-lit.
I think I'll stick with Vanguard,which I'm loving and DS9r(if it ever gets on the rails again).
STVoyager -pass the Valium.