Spoilers DS9: Revenant by Alex White - review thread
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Ive been looking forward to your interview with Alex White. Thanks for posting it here.
Thanks for listening! Had a lot of fun!
I just finished this book this morning and I have to say that I found this to be an outstanding breath of fresh air!
As someone who really loved the TrekLit continuity and has been mourning its demise, I found this book to a wonderful reminder that in-series stories can still be engaging, riveting, exciting and emotional. Jadzia definitely goes through extreme trials and tribulations in this book, but she has the support of her friends and colleagues from DS9 to lean on, even though she still has to do things on her own as well.
The mystery of what was going on was fun to watch unfold, with many of the revelations at various stages of the book being satisfying (even though I had already figured a few of them out). I found the concept of a symbiont going all "body snatcher" on someone to be fascinating and unsettling. It was a great twist and expansion on the idea of joined Trill and, I though, mostly executed very well. I was a bit disappointed by the idea that all the symbionts in question were clones of Vess, but that was mostly a minor quibble for me.
My biggest problem with the book is actually a me-problem, not a book problem: If Nemi was so influential on Jadzia at such a harrowing time of her life, why is it that we've never heard her mentioned before? Of course, the reason why is her character hadn't been thought up at the time we saw Jadzia in Deep Space Nine, but those types of "inconsistencies" do sometimes take me out of the story. Again, that's a me-problem and I can eventually get back in the "groove".
I do have to say that I loved the idea of Jadzia going undercover as a Vulcan. I would love to see Terry Farrell playing Jadzia attempting to impersonate a Vulcan. I think the author did a good job of bringing her mischievous mannerisms through in that scene.
I really loved Alex White's A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe and its sequels, so I was very excited to hear they would be writing a Star Trek novel, and I was not disappointed. I sincerely hope they write more in the future!
As someone who really loved the TrekLit continuity and has been mourning its demise, I found this book to a wonderful reminder that in-series stories can still be engaging, riveting, exciting and emotional. Jadzia definitely goes through extreme trials and tribulations in this book, but she has the support of her friends and colleagues from DS9 to lean on, even though she still has to do things on her own as well.
The mystery of what was going on was fun to watch unfold, with many of the revelations at various stages of the book being satisfying (even though I had already figured a few of them out). I found the concept of a symbiont going all "body snatcher" on someone to be fascinating and unsettling. It was a great twist and expansion on the idea of joined Trill and, I though, mostly executed very well. I was a bit disappointed by the idea that all the symbionts in question were clones of Vess, but that was mostly a minor quibble for me.
My biggest problem with the book is actually a me-problem, not a book problem: If Nemi was so influential on Jadzia at such a harrowing time of her life, why is it that we've never heard her mentioned before? Of course, the reason why is her character hadn't been thought up at the time we saw Jadzia in Deep Space Nine, but those types of "inconsistencies" do sometimes take me out of the story. Again, that's a me-problem and I can eventually get back in the "groove".
I do have to say that I loved the idea of Jadzia going undercover as a Vulcan. I would love to see Terry Farrell playing Jadzia attempting to impersonate a Vulcan. I think the author did a good job of bringing her mischievous mannerisms through in that scene.
I really loved Alex White's A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe and its sequels, so I was very excited to hear they would be writing a Star Trek novel, and I was not disappointed. I sincerely hope they write more in the future!
I reckon if you've been in the relaunch continuity (splinter one, or whatever it is now) the contents of novels occurring in-series is something that takes a minute to get your head back into. As I recall, TNG had over 30 numbered novels released during the show run and over 60 by the time we got to the relaunch. There were some pretty darn significant things that occurred during those novels that you'd think somebody would mention, and of course later episodes that contradicted stuff.. The one-shot episodes are particularly prone to it. Even moreso when we think that, for example, a Dax could show up in any of the TV shows currently airing (past, present or future if you consider the 24th century to be your reference point).
But then these one shots don't purport to be a major singular continuity, as the relaunch was. It was a unique project that came about due to Trek being at a place in time and with a lack of ongoing onscreen production. I enjoy these novels for what they are, and actually they make a touchpoint to go back and watch the episodes in question. And I don't mind sitting in my seat and dealing with the potential contradiction of Ezri sorting out a murder investigation without reference to the events of this novel, written several decades later. It's all good, and I loved the book enough to get me back to those episodes.
Plus it got meta and played on Farrell's sensitive skin. I imagine otherwise she may have gone undercover in one of the Klingon episodes or something.
I had completely not thought of that at all until you mention it. I seem to remember hearing something like that at some point in the distant past...
Oh, I enjoy them for what they are as well. I'm sorry if I wasn't clear in my original post. I want to be clear that I'm not blaming the author at all. It is, obviously, the nature of tie-in literature that they can describe events that would never be referenced in canon. I get it. It's just a foible I have that my mind gos to those sort of thoughts. I eventually work through it though.
Heck, even canon sometimes introduces things retroactively that make us wonder why they were never mentioned before. Like TWOK giving Kirk a son, or "The Wounded" saying the UFP had been at war with Cardassia the whole time that TNG seasons 1-2 portrayed a peacetime Starfleet. How come we never saw a Denobulan in TOS? That sort of thing. It's just the nature of series fiction that things get established retroactively and you have to shrug off the fact that nobody ever previously talked about them.
I just finished re-reading The Lives of Dax (well, I only skimmed the "conjuring for a Vulcan audience" bit a the beginning of "Dead Man's Hand"; Vonda did that trope much better in Enterprise: The First Adventure). And I stand by my assertion that Revenant doesn't irreconcilably contradict anything other than previous non-canon versions of Joran's backstory (and in so doing, it provides a much more satisfying backstory for him).
I voted “above average”. A very enjoyable read, even for a someone like me who isn’t a DS9 fanatic. I’ve posted a full review on my little website: https://scifibooks.club/reviews/star-trek-deep-space-9-revenant-book-review/
I thought the author covered the fears that would be natural for Trills quite well.
Also, I find it quite amusing that an author with experience writing for the chest-burstin' Alien franchise was given the task of writing a Trill-centered novel :-) Good fit!
Also, I find it quite amusing that an author with experience writing for the chest-burstin' Alien franchise was given the task of writing a Trill-centered novel :-) Good fit!
Pretty good story. Rather misleading saying it's a Dax and Kira story when Kira is only in the first half before Bashir and Worf take over. Story felt very Stargate/Mass Effect like to me with the way the villains operated. Calling them the Vess was funny as there is a Doctor Who alien race with the dame name. I knew that name sounded familiar so I had to look it up.
My only issue I have with the story is that it might clash with that Ezri/transporter gun story later on. There they make it sound like Joran is a skilled serial killer while in this story he just kills in self defence and in anger. It's been a while since I last watched the episode so I might be wrong.
My only issue I have with the story is that it might clash with that Ezri/transporter gun story later on. There they make it sound like Joran is a skilled serial killer while in this story he just kills in self defence and in anger. It's been a while since I last watched the episode so I might be wrong.
This novel was like a big hug from DS9, the Trek of my childhood: https://warpfactortrek.com/ds9-revenant-review/
In an interview, Alex White mentioned that they would be interested in doing another, but that they were working on a series right now. I hope they get invited back!
Not a criticism, but just letting you know for future reference: I believe Alex White uses they/them pronouns.
Yes, Alex came out as non-binary and uses they/them. It’s like a breath of fresh air to have some LGBTQIA+ representation amongst the Trek novelists.
