DS9: The Soul Key by Olivia Woods Review Thread (Spoilers!)

Re: The Soul Key Discussion Thread <Spoilers>

Agreed.

 

Re: The Soul Key Discussion Thread <Spoilers>

What I meant was, now that they have the Talarians on their side, will they be able to rebuild that fleet? It would be interesting if Smiley got blueprints for every Starfleet ship.

Yeah, you'd think being told that MU Sisko is still alive by the Prophets that he'd actually be alive.

 

Re: The Soul Key Discussion Thread <Spoilers>

Earth history suggests that people who claim to believe in the same god can have the occasional disagreement over doctrine. Sometimes these disagreements even get quite unpleasant.

 

Re: The Soul Key Discussion Thread <Spoilers>

I suppose it could be possible. Since O'Brien oversaw repairs to Starfleet vessels visiting the station he would, presumably, have access to their blueprints and data.

In one of the Shatnerverse novels the Klingon/Cardassian Alliance had specs for the Intrepid and Sovereign Classes. They built replicas of Voyager and the Enterprise.

 

Re: The Soul Key Discussion Thread <Spoilers>

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[FONT=sans-serif][SIZE=2][FONT=sans-serif][SIZE=2]Just finished the book tonight. Hard to be kind...it was a mess. Not the author's fault though -- the book is not badly written. She was just sadled with an inane plotline that commenced before she came onboard for the final two books of this three-book letdown, which included convoluted and uninteresting plots involving:

-an out of control Jem'Hadar (weren't we all expecting him to go out of control at some point?)

-a guest character (Illiana Ghemor) who originated from two average episodes of the television series. A character who, despite all of the characterization she received in these books (dull and uninteresting though it may have been), left me not caring about what was going to happen to her.

-the Mirror Universe (I am a fan of the MU, but PLEASE let this be our LAST visit there in the DS9 Relauch. It really has run its course in the DS9 Relaunch.)

I guess I am just so disappointed that the DS9 Relaunch, which began with such rich story arcs and character development, spent the past three books mired in this mess. For me, the Relaunch stalled after Unity.

Whenever we received a weak episode of the tv series, it only consumed one week of the DS9 saga. These three books have wasted several years of our "real time" -- years which could have been spent telling a much better story focused on the character exploration of the regular DS9 players --- rather than a dull persona like Illiana.

I am COMPLETELY ready for DS9 to be aligned with the post-Destiny time period in next year's Typhon Pact books. (In fact, the best moments in The Soul Key were when Dax was in command of the Defiant.) Let's leave the late 2370s behind as quickly as we can.

One final note...the cover for this book must rank up there as one of the worst all-time covers for a Star Trek book. It is laughable, amateurish, and underwhelming -- I guess it was actually a good cover for this book.
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Re: The Soul Key Discussion Thread <Spoilers>

Having read the synopsis and gone ahead and spoiled the ending...I will say I am disgusted with how the DS9 relaunch has taken two incredibly powerful episodes ("Second Skin" and "Ties of Blood and Water") and GUTTED them, absolutely cheapened them with this contrived, convoluted mess. And the MU was a mistake on the show except MAYBE the first episode--continuing it here was a waste. Good God. I've seen much higher-caliber, less contrived, more believable plots in the fan fiction arena. And I mean that as a compliment to the fanfic writers.

I am very glad I didn't spend money on it and put it right back on the shelf at Wal-Mart after I was done spoiling the ending, just as I've done for the other three books that have been part of this mess.

I am REALLY hoping that TNES will follow in the steps of Terok Nor and A Stitch in Time, not this turgid mess.

 

Re: The Soul Key Discussion Thread <Spoilers>

I really enjoyed this book myself. It's actually nice to finally see the end of this Mirror Universe arc that has gone on long enough. Like they said near the end, it was time that both universes focus on themselves.
What surprised me the most, was that Ben Sisko wasn't alive after all and dead. The other part of that was seeing that Elias Vaughn seeing his counterpart and his daughter. I still understand that part of the book and why Sisko send them there in the first place. Overall through, I was happy at how everything worked out.
The ending was interesting and how a certain someone returns too. Should be interesting to see what happens next month.

 

Re: The Soul Key Discussion Thread <Spoilers>

I just feel sorry for Vaughn, having to alienate his daughter in two universes, in one by killing her mother, and in another by killing her father...some things will always be the same.

 

Re: The Soul Key Discussion Thread <Spoilers>

Whoa, that does sound bad! Still I must confess that I will be getting the book as the MU is a guilty pleasure of mine and there are Cardassians in it (yep, I'm just that much of a fan)

The Vaughn storyline sounds absolutely pants IMO, not another 'estranged father' plot. What is this, DS9 or some made for TV movie?

I'll have to wait until I actually read this thing myself, which may take a few weeks as I'm over the pond.

 

Re: The Soul Key Discussion Thread <Spoilers>

Read it for yourself, it's hardly "absolute pants".

 

Re: The Soul Key Discussion Thread <Spoilers>

I just finished the book a few minutes ago. Loved it. I haven't read all the responses as I wanted to post my take on it first, but I managed to catch someone talking about how these DS9 Relaunch books have gutted the Ghemor episodes of DS9 and I have to disagree. Those episodes are some of my favorites and I think these books were extremely satisfying in providing a certain sense of closure to many lingering questions I had about those episodes.

I wasn't sure I'd like this book, but I thought the Prime Universe Iliana's storyline was very well told, and I was moved by many scenes. I loved how the flashbacks explained her hand in the events of the last few books. The twist with Iliana being the one who attacked Ashalla was cool. I thought the novel brought the Mirror Universe storyline to a close extremely well; same goes for the Taran'atar story. I liked the symmetrical closure of the Dakahna Vaas / Ataan Rhukal / Iliana storyline; a kind of closure / healing to the latter's splintered personality. All the continuity between the show and the other novels, with references to "The Sorrows of Empire", "The Art of the Impossible", and the various DS9-R titles was impressive. Also loved how this detour into the Mirror Universe is actually, apparently crucial to the long simmering Ascendant storyline. It was all very satisfying to this Trek fan.

There were a few dangling plot threads... The Sisko / Vaughn thing for one. The twist ending for another. And we didn't get to find out what happened between Kira and the Prophets, but these are all strands that can be picked up in other books. My only worry is that it seems we won't be getting any direct followup to these plots until 2011 at the earliest? That sucks. Still looking forward to all the DS9 themed Trek coming my way though.

 

Re: The Soul Key Discussion Thread <Spoilers>

The MU Sisko think was a mess, honestly. What was the point of even having Sisko's vision of the Prophets where they want him to convince his MU version to become the Emmisary (from Fearful Symmetry)? Did he know they were lying somehow, so he sent Vaughn instead? It was all very poorly done.

 

Re: The Soul Key Discussion Thread <Spoilers>

I wonder if maybe Sisko sent Vaughn over to BE Emissary, but it ended up being MirrorIliana instead?

It looked like the book was trying to imply that without Vaughn killing MirrorVaughn, that MirrorIliana wouldn't get to become Emissary, that it was some crucial link in the chain, but I just don't see how that works out at all.

 

Re: The Soul Key Discussion Thread <Spoilers>

Still, doesn't all of this mean that the Prophets LIED to Sisko's face? That's not right.

 

Re: The Soul Key Discussion Thread <Spoilers>

The Prophets told Sisko what they wanted him to do, he just interpreted it a little incorrectly.

It's possible that MirrorPrynn has a role to play in helping the MirrorEmissary and wouldn't have been able to do so if she died with her father, so Vaughn had to kill him.

The Prophets aren't always clear about what they want done, only talking in riddles and making vague threats.

 

Re: The Soul Key Discussion Thread <Spoilers>

Eh. I've followed the entire DS9 Relaunch so far, and the past 3 books have easily been the weakest. This whole MU bit was needlessly confusing and is really a story that could have been taken care of in a single book, IMHO. Alot of stuff going on with little resolution. Vaughn's trip to the MU seemed to serve next to no purpose. The whole thing was just weak.
Oh well, maybe it's just best have the multi-year jump coming up in 2010 to wipe the slate clean and start a new story arc from scratch. I'm just thankful the current one is over with.

 

Re: The Soul Key Discussion Thread <Spoilers>

I don't believe either of these were true.

I believe the Prophets told Sisko exactly the truth, and he understood them, but it was Sisko who lied to Vaughn, knowingly and deliberately.

 

Re: The Soul Key Discussion Thread <Spoilers>

I just finished reading Soul Key I was suprised at some of the events with Illiana Ghemor and the Ascendant story line. And Kira and the other Mu Illiana and the Prophets in the wormhole near the end of the book.It was very mysterious. And I wonder what's going to happen in the next book when it comes to Sisko knowing about the Ascendants and Illiana being The Fire means. and now that the Mu storyline is being wrapped up.I look forward to finding out what happens with tarantar and the Even Odds crew.

 

Re: The Soul Key Discussion Thread <Spoilers>

I am a huge DS9 fan, and I enjoyed the pre-Illiana Ghemor/MU Relaunch novels. I very much disliked the last three books. The end of Soul Key definitely sets up some new plot lines --- but I am honestly not interested in ANY of them. They just seem like more of the same ****** that comprised that last three books. I am hoping that the "hanging threads" from the current DS9 storyline are tied up quickly and effectively in the next book (much like "Full Circle" did for Voyager) and then we can move on to the post-Destiny DS9 period.

 

Re: The Soul Key Discussion Thread <Spoilers>

I think that's maybe exaggerating a bit, but it's certainly clear (and imo the weakest part of Soul Key) that Soul Key was intended to be the other half of Fearful Symmetry. Splitting the narratives between Iliana and everybody else, all the backtracking, etc. If this had all just come out as one book then, I think almost no one would be complaining, and the Ezri story would've perfectly led right into Destiny. It's a shame that the book ran so long they had to split it; it led to Fearful Symmetry and Soul Key both being substantially more mediocre (FS because of lack of content, SK because of formatting weirdness and backtracking) and screwed up the pacing.