Spoilers DS9: Ascendance by David R. George III Review Thread
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Voted above average on this one. A solid novel that I enjoyed reading, but not spectacular.
It was good to get the Ascendants' story finally, and I liked how the two halves of the book connected with each other. In the end, though, I felt that we knew enough about the final resolution of the Ascendants' assault on Bajor that some of the suspense was undercut. As a couple others have remarked, it also doesn't feel clear how these events led to the decisions we know Sisko and Kira subsequently made. (Sisko's decisions also explicitly were based on more than just the results of the Ascendants' attack.)
For me the revelation about the true nature of giant shapeshifter was a great touch. I always like it when an ST villain turns out to be not so much evil as simply alien to our experience or alien in terms of motives.
It was good to get the Ascendants' story finally, and I liked how the two halves of the book connected with each other. In the end, though, I felt that we knew enough about the final resolution of the Ascendants' assault on Bajor that some of the suspense was undercut. As a couple others have remarked, it also doesn't feel clear how these events led to the decisions we know Sisko and Kira subsequently made. (Sisko's decisions also explicitly were based on more than just the results of the Ascendants' attack.)
For me the revelation about the true nature of giant shapeshifter was a great touch. I always like it when an ST villain turns out to be not so much evil as simply alien to our experience or alien in terms of motives.
So, I finally got a physical copy of this book. B&N procured only a single copy for my reserve. There were no copies shelved in the Trek section, new copies in New Sci-Fi, etc., etc. Very strange. They still show the book as in stock, even though their Point of Sale system insists that there are 5 copies on order that never arrived. It's very strange and I don't appear to be the only one in this situation.
I do not that B&N's website lists the book as just Ascendance by DRGIII, searching for it via Star Trek or DS9 doesn't net any results. Just odd. I normally wouldn't get worked up about getting a book, but as I have every single DS9-R book as a physical copy...
I do not that B&N's website lists the book as just Ascendance by DRGIII, searching for it via Star Trek or DS9 doesn't net any results. Just odd. I normally wouldn't get worked up about getting a book, but as I have every single DS9-R book as a physical copy...
Quick question, is it necessary to have read Sacrements of Fire before this one?
Thank you for the prompt reply, Thrawn! I'll buy them both, then.
Best way to read them really. I had SoF but held off until I had Ascendance.
Very difficult to judge this one for the poll... I ended up voting Above Average. Review below.
In essence, Ascendance felt very much like two stories in one for me, which is why I had such a hard time judging it. The resolution of the Ascendant crisis in the 2377 portion came much quicker than I expected. This was probably a good idea, given how this had to be a balance between 'real threat' and 'comparatively few consequences' for the already-established status quo. It's a pity that it sometimes caused the story to feel a little rushed, as many characters only got a few pages of 'screen time' before this part ended. While I struggled a bit with visualizing Taran'atar's final actions in this part of the story, I did appreciate how it set in motion some of the events we now take for granted in the 2380's. For example, I always questioned what might prompt Kira leaving the station and the fleet, but her discussion with Raiq about faith during the camping scene felt like a natural first step on that road. Likewise, I appreciated the short section where Ezri questions her feeling of unease with her assignment.
As for the "current day" portion of the story, the final resolution with the "shapeshifter" ended up surprising me a lot. I will admit I had some trouble with the "bomb that turns people into shapeshifters", but after the final scene in the wormhole, to quote Sisko, "I think I can live with it". For one moment there I actually thought the Ascendants were going to end up being the Prophets, what with the non-lineair time and all. When I stop reading to consider such things, it's a sign of a good story! Ro's farewell to Taran'atar in that scene is by far my favorite part of the book. Those two characters meshed so well in the past, it was nice to see them get a proper send-off. And speaking of send-offs: I can live with Cenn leaving. I've stated before that the "relaunch cast 2.0" characters weren't growing on me as much as the first group, and to me it seems perfectly logical that he'd no longer want to live and work so close to the beings he believes lied to him his entire life. Likewise, I have no problems with Ro rediscovering her faith - witnessing one of her closest friends physically enter what must have been the closest thing to the Bajoran afterlife must have had a profound impact on her. I understand people might lament Ro losing one of her defining characteristics, but to me this is a prime example of DS9 at its best: characters that evolve and grow over time. Her romance subplot didn't resonate as much with me, but that might be due to not having re-read the preceding novel first and thus missing the insight into Altek's character it provided. Although... poor Quark. He really has a lousy record with women, right?
I'll close with saying I'm looking forward to the next book - looking forward to spending more time with Nog and Vic (always a great duo). Oh yes, and there was that cliffhanger too, of course.
As for the "current day" portion of the story, the final resolution with the "shapeshifter" ended up surprising me a lot. I will admit I had some trouble with the "bomb that turns people into shapeshifters", but after the final scene in the wormhole, to quote Sisko, "I think I can live with it". For one moment there I actually thought the Ascendants were going to end up being the Prophets, what with the non-lineair time and all. When I stop reading to consider such things, it's a sign of a good story! Ro's farewell to Taran'atar in that scene is by far my favorite part of the book. Those two characters meshed so well in the past, it was nice to see them get a proper send-off. And speaking of send-offs: I can live with Cenn leaving. I've stated before that the "relaunch cast 2.0" characters weren't growing on me as much as the first group, and to me it seems perfectly logical that he'd no longer want to live and work so close to the beings he believes lied to him his entire life. Likewise, I have no problems with Ro rediscovering her faith - witnessing one of her closest friends physically enter what must have been the closest thing to the Bajoran afterlife must have had a profound impact on her. I understand people might lament Ro losing one of her defining characteristics, but to me this is a prime example of DS9 at its best: characters that evolve and grow over time. Her romance subplot didn't resonate as much with me, but that might be due to not having re-read the preceding novel first and thus missing the insight into Altek's character it provided. Although... poor Quark. He really has a lousy record with women, right?
I'll close with saying I'm looking forward to the next book - looking forward to spending more time with Nog and Vic (always a great duo). Oh yes, and there was that cliffhanger too, of course.
I almost think that the book might read better if you were to read the 2377 segment between "The Soul Key" and "Destiny" if you were running through the 24th century novelverse as a whole. As Tirius pointed out, the back-filled motivations for Kira and Dax (and was there one from Vaughn, too?) would help make new status quo in "Destiny" and the Typhon Pact novels go down a lot easier, and aside from Taran'atar's off-hand mentions of meeting a duplicate Kira, apparently from the future, there isn't anything in that section that's out of place if you read it chronologically.
It might also help to have more of a gap between that story and the resolution. As soon as the second part of the novel mentioned the large changeling was found in an asteroid field filled with subspace anomalies, I realized that it was the Wa, and that Taran'atar was probably part of it. If there had been more of a gap, it might've been a bigger surprise (not unlike the reference to "Serpents.")
It might also help to have more of a gap between that story and the resolution. As soon as the second part of the novel mentioned the large changeling was found in an asteroid field filled with subspace anomalies, I realized that it was the Wa, and that Taran'atar was probably part of it. If there had been more of a gap, it might've been a bigger surprise (not unlike the reference to "Serpents.")
I am really ready to see DS9 and it's story line move on. Hopefully Sisko is not done as Emissary, having him be just another exploring captain is not all that interesting to me, hopefully they will not take away all the things that have set him apart and made him different from all the other captains we have seen.
I enjoyed this one but felt there was a bit too much recapping in places. In fact once or twice I found a recap of what happened a few pages previously. Sometimes I felt the DS9 characters spend all their time thinking about the past.
I also felt again O'Brien was a bit short changed. It seems there is little point in him being there based on the last few books. I am really looking forward to Jeffery Lang's book coming out later this year.
Overall I did enjoy this book but not as much as the Voyager or Titan novels.
I also felt again O'Brien was a bit short changed. It seems there is little point in him being there based on the last few books. I am really looking forward to Jeffery Lang's book coming out later this year.
Overall I did enjoy this book but not as much as the Voyager or Titan novels.
Dan and I had a great time talking to David about this book and the wrap-up of the Ascendants arc on Literary Treks.
Just finished Ascendance, (and Sacraments of Fire before it) and I loved them. My biggest complaint would be that I wanted more Sisko-as-Emissary, as I am not really a fan of The Sisko as run-of-the-mill starship captain, but that's not really a huge knock against the book. There's a big difference between a book not telling the story you wanted, and not telling its story well.
I would have more to say, but I read Enterpriserules post above mine and followed the link in his signature to Trek.fm and how did I not know all these podcasts existed!? Guess I know what is going to be eating my free time for the next while!
I would have more to say, but I read Enterpriserules post above mine and followed the link in his signature to Trek.fm and how did I not know all these podcasts existed!? Guess I know what is going to be eating my free time for the next while!
I just listened to 'Literary trek's discussion of Ascendance . This was a great discussion of the book. . I really wish Benjamin Sisko was still the Emissary too. I liked his interactions with the Wormhole aliens. It's one of the reasons he's one of my favorite Star Trek Captains. That's why he stood out from the different Star trek captains. I hope in future Ds9 books we'll see Ben Sisko have more of a major storyline in the future.That would deal with these questions. I really liked how this book filled in the blanks though.
I do wonder what the dramaturgical use is of having Sisko commanding a ship with a crew we don't know having adventures we barely see. For all his involvement with the stories, he may as well still be retired on Bajor.
I have sort of the opposite issue with O'Brien. He so rarely pops up in DS9 novels (and mostly in meetings, and when the narration gets to his part, it's basically, "And O'Brien was there, too") that I keep forgetting he's back on the station. I feel similarly about Prynn. We get regular check-ins with Sisko not really doing anything interesting, but aren't seeing much of important characters in the main ensemble.
I have sort of the opposite issue with O'Brien. He so rarely pops up in DS9 novels (and mostly in meetings, and when the narration gets to his part, it's basically, "And O'Brien was there, too") that I keep forgetting he's back on the station. I feel similarly about Prynn. We get regular check-ins with Sisko not really doing anything interesting, but aren't seeing much of important characters in the main ensemble.
I would appreciate it if someone could clear up exactly how Taran'atar stops Ghemor's initial plan. My understanding - and I somewhat expect this to be wrong - is that Taran'atar opened up sustained phaser fire on the wa and somehow catalyzed a reaction that ran along the tears. But what is shooting the wa supposed to accomplish? And is it part of the giant shapeshifting mass, or is that simply Ascendants and Taran'atar merged somewhat with the Progenitor's essence 0 in which case, what became of the wa?
I think the point is that
He didn't know perse, but he took a leap of faith. In Sacraments, Taran'Atar spoke of dreams involving him and the wa. He told Kira that he had considered stepping into one of the 'bad zones'. Somehow, Taran'Atar believed that he was supposed to be there, supposed to do something, and that the dreams and his feelings might be telling him more. He took a leap of faith.
voted Above Average.
the novel tied up the Ascendants missing story line quit nicely, but for me the "present" segments were slightly off.
As for the Ascendants themselves,
the novel tied up the Ascendants missing story line quit nicely, but for me the "present" segments were slightly off.
for one, I still don't feel any sort of connection to the new cast, so any developments with Cenn, Stinson et al just felt flat. Cenn's decision in particular felt rushed and a bit flat. Also, the Altek / Ro pairing took up space from what interested me personally - solveing the "mystery" of Altek
I kept hoping for any revelation tying them not to the Prophets, but to the Pah Wraiths ("The Fire"? "burned by their gaze"? seemed like Pah-Wraiths to me).. oh well..
Altek's plot line has a bit of something that frequently bothers me in technical or puzzle-based stories (I'm not sure of a better way to narrow down the genre, but it's not just science fiction; I've also seen it in all sorts of stories): A lack of investigation of the nuts-and-bolts of the mystery. It doesn't have to go anywhere, but if I have obvious questions or ideas none of the characters are bringing up, it frustrates me.
In this story, we once again had the "man lost to history" thing brought up in his meeting with the Kai. He has no idea was a "Kai" is, and the Kai has never heard of any of the names or places he references. Well, break out a damn globe! The continents are all going to be in pretty much the same place. Have him point to wherever his home town is on a map. Take him on a holodeck tour of B'hala, show him pictures of pottery or whatever Bajoran archeologists have dug up. Show him images of constellations and time-shift them back if all else fails, that'll at least give you a clue. It's like no one cares when he's from or why he's there, because they know that the resolution of the mystery isn't due yet.
Even if they were all blind alleys because the plot wasn't ready to develop, they could at least say they tried all the obvious paths of investigation and got only tidbits, with nothing helpful.
In this story, we once again had the "man lost to history" thing brought up in his meeting with the Kai. He has no idea was a "Kai" is, and the Kai has never heard of any of the names or places he references. Well, break out a damn globe! The continents are all going to be in pretty much the same place. Have him point to wherever his home town is on a map. Take him on a holodeck tour of B'hala, show him pictures of pottery or whatever Bajoran archeologists have dug up. Show him images of constellations and time-shift them back if all else fails, that'll at least give you a clue. It's like no one cares when he's from or why he's there, because they know that the resolution of the mystery isn't due yet.
Even if they were all blind alleys because the plot wasn't ready to develop, they could at least say they tried all the obvious paths of investigation and got only tidbits, with nothing helpful.
I knew it was a long-shot, but I was hoping that it would tie in with the "Millennium" trilogy, with their second group of Pah-Wraiths who made their own, red wormhole. I mean, I suppose it still could, kind of. The Ascendants could've conflated the Prophets and the Pah-Wraiths in the distant past, but how would we ever find out about it?
