I think it would be cool to just fill the gap with an anthology, like Tales of the Dominion War, the Myriad Universe books, etc. Or maybe another Worlds of DS9. Since most of the rest of the 24th Trek universe seems to be based in the post-Destiny timeframe, I don't see why DS9 should have to lag behind too much. An anthology could answer lingering questions and perhaps set up more storylines.
Getting annoyed by the DS9 Relaunch... (spoilers)
- Thread starter Danoz
- Start date
I think you're right in a sense. My personal opinion, which is perhaps shared to a certain degree by some others, is that the DS9-R was quite involving and entertaining through Unity (give or take the Worlds books and Warpath), but that it has laid an egg since.
To the extent this bleeds over into dissatisfaction with the direction as a whole, that is because the sluggishness of the most recent arc seems to risk neutering the promise of storylines to come that was taking form in Worlds. Also, there is the fact that the Ghemor/Mirror Universe arc brought a change of style and focus that I (and possibly others) would rather not see continue.
Of course the whole landscape of Trek lit has changed since the heyday of the DS9-R, and in fact it has changed to be more like the DS9-R, i.e. more cohesive and anchored in ongoing story arcs. Under those conditions, I can only share the sense of anticipation expressed by some for the upcoming time jump.
It would be nice to have some fill-in material for those five years if possible, but at one DS9 novel or so per year, I'd like to see characters such as Kira, Odo, Quark, Sisko and Vaughn in the thick of galactic affairs first and foremost. The Typhon Pact comes across as especially DS9-like in its sense of political intrigue and inter-species alliances. It seems only fitting to see the DS9 crew involved in it.
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I think you misinterpreted my comment, I didn't mean that TRBOE would explain the five intervening years.
To give an example, inspired by Flash Forward a British soap called Hollyoaks just transmitted an episode that is set six months into the future (taking advantage of having six episodes this week instead of five) and we'll then build up towards that over the intervening time.
I was suggesting that TRBOE could be like this - a snapshot, so to speak, of the future. But future novels could then return to charting the timeframe the preceeding novels had begun exploring - eventually catching up to the TRBOE timeframe.
Just an idea, but it would solve some criticisms of the time jump we're getting in TRBOE. Of course, we have no idea what the new editors approach to the timejump is going to be yet (correct me if I'm wrong and we do).
In comparing it to RS, I merely meant that it wouldn't really continue the thread of the preceeding 'Arc Event' (MG in 'Season 8', the MU Arc in 'Season 9').
^The thing is, when the books were being kept in their own timeframe, there was criticism of not jumping them forward. And now that they're being jumped forward, there's criticism of not keeping them in their own timeframe. No matter what you do, somebody's going to be unhappy with it. So going back wouldn't really "solve" the criticisms, it would just change which criticisms the books were getting.
This is exactly my only concern about a jump.
I for one really do want to see DS9 in the same time frame as the other trek novels, just not at the expense of these great dangling plotlines (which I have exhaustedly enumerated in other threads).
I find it frutrating that these two goals - putting DS9 in synch with the rest of the universe and continuing the great set-ups in warpath, wolrds, and soul key (I even wanna see what happens with the "crisis on infinte Kiras" [nice one]) - have to be at odds somehow.
^ They don't have to be at odds at all. The stories will just continue 5 years later.
I can't imagine a Trek editor inheriting an ongoing story that ended with such an obvious setup as Iliana appearing before the Ascendants, and then saying "well, since we're skipping 5 years, we're just going to ignore this completely."
As *I* have exhaustively enumerated in other threads, every dangling thread can be carried on perfectly reasonably after the time jump. And as Christopher says, it's not like these are real events that we're just chronicling. If the authors decide that those stories will continue after a jump of five years, then they will.
At the very least, I think we should stop complaining about the dangling threads being dropped until we read TRBOE, hear what's next for DS9, and actually see if the threads are dropped or not. Because there's no reason at all that the 5 year jump necessitates dropping them; none whatsoever.
I can't imagine a Trek editor inheriting an ongoing story that ended with such an obvious setup as Iliana appearing before the Ascendants, and then saying "well, since we're skipping 5 years, we're just going to ignore this completely."
As *I* have exhaustively enumerated in other threads, every dangling thread can be carried on perfectly reasonably after the time jump. And as Christopher says, it's not like these are real events that we're just chronicling. If the authors decide that those stories will continue after a jump of five years, then they will.
At the very least, I think we should stop complaining about the dangling threads being dropped until we read TRBOE, hear what's next for DS9, and actually see if the threads are dropped or not. Because there's no reason at all that the 5 year jump necessitates dropping them; none whatsoever.
I don't see any reason not to continue discussing the issue. Granted, no one other than the writers and editors have any control over the actual course that is taken, but most of the discussions on this board would be pretty futile by that estimation.
Your points about the five year jump not posing any continuity problems (made in another thread) are valid to a degree, I think. Theoretically they are sound. Perhaps there was just a five year calm before the storm, however odd that may seem in light of the normal level of activity around the station.
In practice, I think the jump does pose some obvious problems, however, the main one being that the whole purpose of the jump is to allow the DS9 crew to be involved in Typhon Pact, and presumably whatever plotlines are to follow. At one DS9 novel a year (or so), it will be difficult to keep the crew involved in galactic affairs in a substantive way, while at the same time following up on the plotlines originally planned for the DS9-R. Then there is the fact that, as time goes by, the market for those increasingly dated stories will presumably shrink.
The original concept for the DS9-R was pretty ambitious, but then a bunch of things happened at once. Pocket restructured its line of Trek tie-ins, so fewer books are released each year. Fearful Symmetry had all kinds of problems getting finalized. And a big chunk of the rest of the Trek tie-ins took a big step forward due to the trauma of Destiny.
It's quite possible that, given the new landscape, some of the original DS9-R story arcs will just have to be dropped in order to keep DS9 involved in the rest of what's going on. A big exception should be the story involving Laas, Odo and the Dominion, though, since it's too important to drop and should basically be unaffected by Destiny.
I am looking forward to the jump personally, but it does strike me as plausible that some of the storylines set up since Unity may fall by the wayside. Those who care might as well express themselves now, while future plans for DS9 may still be up in the air.
But I like complaining! Actually, I don't really, but I do feel genuinely disappointed that they couldn't have written a novel before TRBOE dealing with the end of Soul Key and all these Ascendant/Dominion/Emissary/Evoq stories that are so rich for mining, before we get to Destiny and Typhon Pact. That's what I mean about their being at odds. Of course, that's life, can't always get what you want, etc. But that is how I feel.
And at the risk of fanning old fires, Christopher's invocation of "its not like these are real events" is totally besides the point -- If Captain Kirk suddenly wore women's dresses and spoke with an Irish accent I think the fact that "its not like these are real events" would hold any water with anybody. The point being - at a certain point, you can't just "write anything" and maintain the cohesive reality that all of the post-Nemesis and DS9 relaunch books have remarkably achieved.
I agree many of the plot elements have the possibility, without violating that sense of "audience objection", of being put on pause within the logic of the story-world for a while, Illiana, the Ascendants, even the Dominion's new state, etc. But not all, at least not without being a rough fit, and without stretching at least this reader's sense of credibility.
My concerns, which I like to come on these boards and commiserate with fellow readers over, is twofold: In the worst case scenario for me TRBOE will pick up after these story lines have already concluded or had some major action occur in some way and then possibly refer to them as having happened, reflecting (I should hope) some kind of major change or aftershocks and asking us to catch up on the run, and to come back to a flash-back book or books to learn what happened. This doesn't appeal to me in the abstract (of course, allowing for myself to be again wowed by the amazing stable of Trek writers!) since I would have liked to have 'been there' for these events.
Second and less-undesirable possible scenario would be that we'll be asked to believe - again, within the established logic of the story and its needs (which I believe is, at heart, what those who disagree about the value of the jump are debating - ie just what those needs are) - that nothing of import has happened affecting the world of DS9 much in five years. On the face of it, this is pretty unbelievable since, well, its DS9 we're talking about! Again, straining the limits of what we might be asked to imagine (yes, imagine!) is a real world that behaves according to its own laws.
Anyway, since the DS9 relaunch has happened we haven't been asked to do anything like either of these two scenarios and so this is why I'm just slightly annoyed by the DS9 relaunch -- not because of the MU stories, I was willing to go there! Just because of what I perceive to be the vicissitudes of commercial publishing and editorial staff changes impacting, hopefully not too greatly, the otherwise rich, magnificent, and finely-wrought world of 24th century Trek that has been established.
But I hear you, Thrawn, I'm pulling for the best! But misery loves company, too!
And its a long way until TRBOE! Gotta stay fresh on the details until then and chatting with you guys is a fun way to do that.
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Yeah, but I'm pretty sure that the TPTB have said that after Typhon Pact, there won't be any more crossovers like this for a while. At least I hope there aren't, these kinds of things get real old real quick.
^Keep in mind that those plans were made by editors who are no longer in charge of the direction of Trek novels. What happens beyond the 2010 books is still unknown, and is still being figured out.
I just hope TRBOE is a good read. Whether or not we ever get back to what's been happening between Soul Key and the appearance of the Typhon Pact, I'm just please we're finally getting new stories, and there won't be a period of multiple years between TN-ES and the Typhon Pact miniseries.
I guess I'm an anomaly, because for the most part, I really enjoyed the MU arc, though I think it went slightly off the rails by Soul Key. I would be quite happy if they just let that particular branch of the TrekLit-verse lie fallow for a while. I'd be much happier seeing what's going on with our characters in the Alpha and Gamma Quadrants.
I guess I'm an anomaly, because for the most part, I really enjoyed the MU arc, though I think it went slightly off the rails by Soul Key. I would be quite happy if they just let that particular branch of the TrekLit-verse lie fallow for a while. I'd be much happier seeing what's going on with our characters in the Alpha and Gamma Quadrants.
Me too! And I like your attitude.
^ That's very generous. Thank you. I'll do my best to live up to expectations.
Personally I'm looking forward to the next DS9:R book a lot, the mirror universe stuff is thankfully done with, and I am interested in what role DS9 and the characters will play in the Typhon Pact storyline.
However I simply was really interested in the Ascendant stuff too and it is a disappointment that nothing has come of it so far and that it will be at least 2011 before we see anything of that, if not later or at all.
I LOVE the Mirror Universe. I also loved the DS9 Mirror episodes. However, I have found that the DS9-R books have become mired in the Mirror Universe plotline -- I just simply don't care about Ghemor. The recent DS9-R books have been a huge letdown; the television series was so much better than this rubbish.
Let's jump ahead 5 years and re-launch the re-launch!
As far as TV went, the only MU episodes I liked were on ENT and TOS. I didn't like the MU DS9 eps much at all. I enjoyed Fearful Symmetry but mostly because I felt the author handled Cardassian culture so well, not to mention doing such a great job fleshing out Ghemor, who was only referenced in the show.
Quite true. If nothing else, I'd have more opportunity to trot out some Eav'oq jokes.
