New Bashir stories?

[DrBashir]

Are there any plans for a follow up to the lateast Bashir story? I thought the twist was awesome and can't wait to see more of Bashir and Sarina, super spies.

It was great that there wasn't the whole "people are perfect" that we got a lot in the earlier shows. They both made mistakes but still completed their jobs and took out the enemy. I'd like to see them on missions against all the other Typhon pact members doing everything from simple survellence to full on assassinations. Doing the jobs that have to be done but that nobody else in the Federation will do.

 

[MagGu]

After reading the end of Zero Sum Game, I'm super psyched for a new Bashir story! Bring it on!

 

[MatthiasRussell]

Agreed. I'm not a Bashir fan but Zero Sum Game left me longing for a follow on Bashir/Section 31 story. Last I heard from David Mack, he has no current plans for a follow up.

 

[JD]

Me too. I still want a conclusion to storyline about the anti-31 Cabal introduced in at least the DS9 S31 miniseries book.

 

[DrBashir]

I hope they keep S31 and keep Bashir and Sarina as agents. Think "Mr & Mrs Bond" or "True Lies", a hot, sexy couple of intergalactic spies. The possibilites are endless.

Spoiler: Very broad story ideas-not for authors

Sabotaging biological weapon research and releasing it against it's makers, the Breen. Or assisnating the family of a pro-Federation member of the Andorian government in order to pin the blame of the anti-Federation forces.

There's a whole world of spy vs spy and espionage stories to be told. Making the two agents genetically augmented is the icing on the cake. Imagine what happens as they begin to follow in Khan's footsteps but this time working for the Federation. Bring in Admiral Ross as their handler in S31 and sign me up!

 

[DonIago]

DrBashir, my understanding is that specific story ideas should -not- be mentioned in this forum, because a number of TrekLit authors come here and it can create complications if they come across something that closely resembles anything they might be developing.

Thanks.

 

[DrBashir]

Sorry, I thought that those were broad enough to not be a problem.

Story ideas now in spoiler mode.

 

[DonIago]

I might suggest putting the text behind a spoiler tag and then unspoiling it if the mods don't feel it's a problem. Better to err on the side of caution.

 

[DrBashir]

I might suggest putting the text behind a spoiler tag and then unspoiling it if the mods don't feel it's a problem. Better to err on the side of caution.

Done. Thanks

 

[Shatinator]

DrBashir, my understanding is that specific story ideas should -not- be mentioned in this forum, because a number of TrekLit authors come here and it can create complications if they come across something that closely resembles anything they might be developing.

Thanks.

Is this really true, you can't talk about a a story outline in a public forum dedicated to literature, because some other may read it ? Really?

The
S H A T I N A T O R

 

[Sci]

I'd like to see them on missions against all the other Typhon pact members doing everything from simple survellence to full on assassinations. Doing the jobs that have to be done but that nobody else in the Federation will do.

Sabotaging biological weapon research and releasing it against it's makers, the Breen. Or assisnating the family of a pro-Federation member of the Andorian government in order to pin the blame of the anti-Federation forces.

Bold added.

You clearly did not understand the entire thematic point of Zero Sum Game -- which was deeply skeptical of the idea that black ops is justifiable thing -- or of Star Trek in general, which is deeply antithetical to ideas like unleashing biological weapons or murdering innocent people for political gain.

 

[Christopher]

Is this really true, you can't talk about a a story outline in a public forum dedicated to literature, because some other may read it ? Really?

This board is frequented by people (like myself) who actually write Star Trek fiction profesionally. We're obligated to avoid unsolicited story ideas because of the risk of lawsuits. There are a lot of people out there who file nuisance lawsuits against authors that they claim to have plagiarized their ideas, and that costs authors and publishers a lot of money to fight them off in court, even though the suits are almost always dismissed. So for our own defense, we have to adopt a zero-tolerance policy toward hearing story ideas from the public. There have been cases where authors have had to abandon works already in progress because some fan online happened to suggest a similar story idea to the author. Sure, 99% of the fans out there mean well and would never sue, but because of that other 1%, we just can't take the chance.

You're perfectly free to discuss your own story ideas on the Fan Fiction board, because the pro writers know to avoid visiting that forum. But the Trek Lit forum is where the pro writers come to interact with the fans, and all we ask in return is that the fans respect our boundaries and avoid proposing story ideas where we might stumble across them.

 

[Relayer1]

I was disappointed with the first two Typhon Pact novels, partially because they weren't that great, but also because they didn't really take the larger story forward - they read more like 'stand alones' connected only in the background by the Pact.

Although I have no real issue with more Bashir / Sarina stories I would much prefer any TP books to be more deeply about the Pact, and any Bashir stories to be DS9 continuations.

In fact, lets just have more DS9 stuff...

 

[Christopher]

I was disappointed with the first two Typhon Pact novels, partially because they weren't that great, but also because they didn't really take the larger story forward - they read more like 'stand alones' connected only in the background by the Pact.

Well, that was the whole idea. It wasn't meant to be an overarching saga like Destiny, but more of a loose umbrella like Day of Honor or Section 31 (in other words, like most of the Trek miniseries Pocket has ever done). It was meant to be four separate stories, each focusing on a different member or members of the Pact. Like Worlds of Deep Space Nine but for different, mostly more obscure worlds. Indeed, one of the main reasons for creating the Typhon Pact was as a vehicle for telling stories about alien cultures like the Gorn, Tzenkethi, and Breen that have been underexplored in the past, a way to move them out of the periphery and into the spotlight.

And it's not like Trek Lit has ever had a single "larger story" anyway. It's a whole broad universe with a lot of different things going on. Destiny told a great big story that affected most of the series, but that was exceptional, a one-of-a-kind event, and since then the various series have gone back to doing their own distinct things again. The Typhon Pact wasn't supposed to be a story, but a foundation on which many different stories could be built.

 

[Relayer1]

I was disappointed with the first two Typhon Pact novels, partially because they weren't that great, but also because they didn't really take the larger story forward - they read more like 'stand alones' connected only in the background by the Pact.

Well, that was the whole idea. It wasn't meant to be an overarching saga like Destiny, but more of a loose umbrella like Day of Honor or Section 31 (in other words, like most of the Trek miniseries Pocket has ever done). It was meant to be four separate stories, each focusing on a different member or members of the Pact. Like Worlds of Deep Space Nine but for different, mostly more obscure worlds. Indeed, one of the main reasons for creating the Typhon Pact was as a vehicle for telling stories about alien cultures like the Gorn, Tzenkethi, and Breen that have been underexplored in the past, a way to move them out of the periphery and into the spotlight.

And it's not like Trek Lit has ever had a single "larger story" anyway. It's a whole broad universe with a lot of different things going on. Destiny told a great big story that affected most of the series, but that was exceptional, a one-of-a-kind event, and since then the various series have gone back to doing their own distinct things again. The Typhon Pact wasn't supposed to be a story, but a foundation on which many different stories could be built.

The problem seems to lie at least partially with my expectations then - I was certainly thought with four titles linked by the Typhon Pact banner that they would be more of an 'overarching saga' like Destiny. As the Typhon Pact exists I would have expected it to be a presence in the background of the ongoing Next Gen, DS9, Titan and Voyager novels anyway - by actually titling the books Typhon Pact I expected more 'arc'.

Having said that, I really liked Rough Beasts and Paths, and not JUST because the Pact 'big picture' was featured more.

I suppose all of the current post relaunch (can you follow 'current' with 'post' and still make sense ?) novels could be classed as Typhon Pact stories to some degree...

 

[Christopher]

The problem seems to lie at least partially with my expectations then - I was certainly thought with four titles linked by the Typhon Pact banner that they would be more of an 'overarching saga' like Destiny.

But why? Look at most of the other Trek miniseries under a common banner: Invasion!, Day of Honor, Captain's Table, Section 31, Double Helix, Gateways. Usually, these things consist of standalone stories in different series, loosely unified by a common element. Sometimes it's different crews dealing with the same problem or antagonist at different places and times. Sometimes it's just a number of otherwise unconnected stories with a common theme. That's the way the majority of Trek Lit crossover miniseries have been done, and this is one more example.

I suppose all of the current post relaunch (can you follow 'current' with 'post' and still make sense ?) novels could be classed as Typhon Pact stories to some degree...

That is neither true nor desirable. The Typhon Pact is just a new thread in the tapestry. It wasn't meant to take over the whole darn universe, just to be another potential source of story ideas alongside all the others. There's still plenty of stuff going on in Star Trek that doesn't revolve around the Pact. The Pact has nothing to do with what's going on in Voyager, and it's had no bearing on Titan except for the single most recent novel in that series. It didn't even exist until the epilogue of Losing the Peace. It played a very, very minor role in DTI: Watching the Clock, no greater than the role played by, say, Cardassians or Klingons. The post-Destiny Trek universe is not exclusively defined by the Typhon Pact any more than the post-first-season TNG universe was exclusively defined by the Romulans.

 

[Rush Limborg]

But surely there's going to have to be a sequel, sooner or later--preferably sooner? A cliffhanger ending by its very nature screams for one.


Now, on the "Sarina/Bashir" thing...I'm reiminded of a little lecture Alfred Hitchcock, Grand Wizard Of Suspense, gave to AFL on how to properly channel suspense:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPFsuc_M_3E

In this case, the "bomb that must not go off" is Sarina. At the end of ZSG, as most of us know, it is revealed that--

Spoiler: Sarina....

she's working for Section 31, to manipulate Bashir into a state where he becomes an effective dupe, working for them without his realizing it.

For much of the book, we are pleased to see Bashir and Sarina together (well, unless you're an Ezri/Julian shipper, as I am, in which case we were immensely frustrated, almost as much as Ezri was in that "dinner" scene...). They work so well--their relationship is well-crafted--but then, when you-know-what is revealed...

Well, for any sequels, whenever we see Bashir with her, our reaction will be completely different. Like Hitchcock's "baseball conversation", any romantic feelings Bashir displays suddenly become very vital. "No! Don't be rediculous--stop associating yourself with her--she's playing you for a FOOL!"

(Gotta hand it to Ezri--regardless of how uncalled-for her lashings-out were in that scene, she was right about Julian's relationship with Sarina not being under ideal circumstances....)

But as Hitchcock said, the bomb must not go off--Bashir must find out, eventually--and he must find out soon enough so that his character integrity will not suffer. He is not an idiot--but the longer he acts unawares, the more he will look like one. He must find out soon--or at least develop the appropriate suspicion, soon.

 

[DonIago]

Frankly I was surprised he didn't develop...or at least didn't express...any suspicions in the course of ZSG. I was frankly disappointed by his puppy-dog love for Sarina, though at least he acknowledged that the first time around it was completely inappropriate.

I'd like to see Bashir develop a romance that didn't seem to be "love at first sight", though I guess right now that would be a conflict in terms of where the overall story seems to be going.

That being said, overall I rather liked ZSG, especially the window it provided into Breen culture.

 

[Rush Limborg]

Frankly I was surprised he didn't develop...or at least didn't express...any suspicions in the course of ZSG.

Well, again, going back to Hitchcock, his first "baseball conversation" sceneario involves the audience not knowing about the bomb until the big "ka-boom". Because we don't know about the bomb, we don't mentally scream at the people to Get The Heck Out. Thus, we are every bit as shocked as the people are--or as they would be, whatever....

Since we didn't know about Sarina's True Intent until the very last scene, the lack of suspicion seems more "justified" in the reader's eyes--as it was a lack we took part in.

I was frankly disappointed by his puppy-dog love for Sarina, though at least he acknowledged that the first time around it was completely inappropriate.

I'd like to see Bashir develop a romance that didn't seem to be "love at first sight", though I guess right now that would be a conflict in terms of where the overall story seems to be going.

Funny, that's kind of how Bashir/Ezri developed. The feelings didn't happen overnight. It took a whole 4/5 of a season before they admitted their respective feelings.

Of course...we all read how that turned out. *sigh*

 

[Relayer1]

The problem seems to lie at least partially with my expectations then - I was certainly thought with four titles linked by the Typhon Pact banner that they would be more of an 'overarching saga' like Destiny.

But why? Look at most of the other Trek miniseries under a common banner: Invasion!, Day of Honor, Captain's Table, Section 31, Double Helix, Gateways. Usually, these things consist of standalone stories in different series, loosely unified by a common element. Sometimes it's different crews dealing with the same problem or antagonist at different places and times. Sometimes it's just a number of otherwise unconnected stories with a common theme. That's the way the majority of Trek Lit crossover miniseries have been done, and this is one more example.

I suppose all of the current post relaunch (can you follow 'current' with 'post' and still make sense ?) novels could be classed as Typhon Pact stories to some degree...

That is neither true nor desirable. The Typhon Pact is just a new thread in the tapestry. It wasn't meant to take over the whole darn universe, just to be another potential source of story ideas alongside all the others. There's still plenty of stuff going on in Star Trek that doesn't revolve around the Pact. The Pact has nothing to do with what's going on in Voyager, and it's had no bearing on Titan except for the single most recent novel in that series. It didn't even exist until the epilogue of Losing the Peace. It played a very, very minor role in DTI: Watching the Clock, no greater than the role played by, say, Cardassians or Klingons. The post-Destiny Trek universe is not exclusively defined by the Typhon Pact any more than the post-first-season TNG universe was exclusively defined by the Romulans.

You are quite correct in that the Pact shouldn't take over the whole universe, and in that Destiny type series are not likely to happen every time there is a crossover.

I expected the four books to make up a bigger story and move the TP into a new position that would inform and colour the ongoing novels. The Pact need not be a big presence in all releases, but will be there in the background of many.

I just (wrongly) thought that the TP series would be more of an 'event' release like Destiny.