excerpt from A Singular Destiny

[KRAD]

Thanks a lot KRAD!! I can't wait for this! Any chance you'll write more books concentrating on the Federation, like AotF and SD, in the future?

Dunno.

 

[Marie1]

I'm a DS9 person. Was Picard viewed as rational for those actions, were they completely successful and everyone else is just not seeing clearly what he knew? Or was he just running off in frustration after an enemy that needed to be stopped?

That's my point. They both did basically the same things; it's just a matter of how you choose to interpret it based on your pre-existing biases. Those who trusted and respected Picard believed the former, while those who didn't (like Admiral Jellico and Lt. Leybenzon) probably believed the latter. You're choosing to interpret Dax's actions in a negative light because that's how you want to see her.

Thats probably true- for that matter, if Sisko was the Captain, not Dax, I wouldn't have the same problem with whats going on. I'm not sure its possible to interpret without bias. I truly think that given Ezri's advantage of having Dax, her time in SF with people like Kira and Sisko... her actions rarely equal the potential she could have, regarding her attitudes and choices, even if she makes it in the end. I'm not going to support her just because she's Dax, or a Captain, or gloss over/excuse what I consider to be valid character flaws. Worst case, if I read future Trek Lit where she's a Captain and continuing her behaviour... I'll just pretend Dr. Ree has eaten her and Councilor Mathias... and "Ezri" is... someone else...

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Ezri's behavior isn't that much more assertive or disrespectful than Jadzia's, but somehow Jadzia's mischeviousness was acceptable and Ezri's is not. I suspect that it's also a matter of body type -- Ezri seems much smaller and more girlish than Jadzia, so, with many fans, they expect her to behave more submissively than Jadzia.

Agreed. Also, when we first met Jadzia, she was already a full Lieutenant. That also had something to do with it. It's hard to see Ezri as anything other than an Ensign, because that's what she was when *she* first showed up.

 

[Rowan Sjet]

^ And this being Star Trek, we've gotten used to our Ensigns being either a) Annoying, or b) Never, ever getting promoted.

 

[JD]

^That comment just reminded me of something Chris said earlier in the thread:

...no matter how old Dax is, Ezri only made the switch from a councillor to the command track 5 years ago or so.

Picard took command of the Stargazer only 6 years after graduating the Academy. Riker was offered his first command only 7 years out of the Academy, though he turned it down to be first officer of the Enterprise.

Picard and Riker were both either given command or offered command quicker than poor Harry Kim made Lt.

 

[CaptainDonovin]

A little Christmas present for y'all: an excerpt from A Singular Destiny. Please note that this excerpt contains significant spoilers for David Mack's Destiny trilogy (and a bunch of other recent books besides). So don't come bitching to me if you're spoiled.................

Enjoy!

I am spoiled. I enjoy reading about Bacco & Co. so I am really looking forward to this book.