^I've read the books so I don't care, but invariably someone will complain about the spoilers in your post. Might want to code them.
Odd - I liked the Trill and Dominion stories, but thought the Bajor tale was absolutely wretched. As for The Lotus Flower, eh...it doesn't really stick out in my memory.
Cool, thanks for clearing that up for me, Keith. I know this is completely off-topic, but I was wondering if IDW has been in touch with you regarding any possible trek comicbook projects for 2008? I'd love to see you pen another story in comic form. I first discovered you through the TNG series you wrote for Wildstorm, "Perchance to Dream." Great story.
You're welcome! Glad you liked Perchance, which was actually my first published Trek tale. As for IDW, I would love to work with them. Whether or not that will actually happen, I can't say.
We just had a turbulent discussion over at Psi Phi on the same issue. Sure, a few readers being behind on their reading is hardly the well-read poster's responsibility, but someone will always be finding the books anew, or will have fallen behind. It's not too hard to plant a spoiler warning if you're going to spill your guts on a major plot revelation in an older novel. I'd implore people feeling the need to state crucial happenings in their posts to show a little consideration. Maybe you wouldn't even need to code it if you say, "You'll never guess what happens to Bluey the Bolian", which is better than saying, "You'll love it when Bluey the Bolian gets turned inside out by the transporter" and forgetting to put in some spoiler code.
Context is important, too. In this case, we're in a Mission: Gamma thread, so spoilers about later entries in the series probably should be coded. If we were in a Warpath or Fearful Symmetry thread, however, then Worlds of DS9 spoilers would be fair game.
The Andor story is probably my least favorite in Worlds of DS9. Its still a good read, but I really can't get into all the Lord of the Rings style stuff. Fragments and Omens is probably my favorite.
I really enjoyed the Andor story, but that may be because they are a very under-utilised culture in canonical and literary ST (which makes no sense since they were one of the founding members of the Federation) and I enjoy world-building in my own stories. I enjoyed the Trill story too, for half the same reason, an under-utilised culture that we've only really seen hints of in canonical ST and which has been expanded slightly in the DS9R. The Ferengi and Bajoran stories were "meh" and the Lotus Flower was ok. Olympus Descending was very good and provided a nice insight into a previously unknown culture. We knew very little about the Dominion and why they behaved the way they did, until then of course.
I completely agree about the Dominion story. I thought the story did an amazing job of expanding the history and pyschology of the Founders. Spoiler I know some people didn't like it, but I though the idea of the Progenitor (I think that's what they called if) and the Founders' worship of it was a really cool, and unexpected concept.
Yeah, but I'm mixed on: Spoiler: Spoilers for "Olympus Descending" the Founders all scattered save for Odo and Laas. One of the most interesting races / powers in the Star Trek universe... crippled. And of course, who knows when we'll find out the resolution to that arc.