Pre-Relaunch DS9 Novel Question

[BritishSeaPower]

Hey there,

So I'm currently making my way through the DS9 Relaunch novels (about to start Mission Gamma: Cathedral tonight) and was struck with the idea that there are about 25 books before the relaunch set during the series that might be interesting to look into. I've heard word of mouth and through Amazon reviews that by and large the main brunt of those books are, well, not so good, with the exception of Armin Shimmerman and David R. George's "34th Rule" and Andrew J. Robinson's "A Stitch in Time". (The later of which was retroactively pulled into the DS9 Relaunch.) I already have the Millennium Trilogy and count that in with the Relaunch, as well.

Am I missing anything, some random stand out or is that pretty much it? (Also looking for opinions on "Hollow Men" released during the Relaunch period of DS9 but set during the series. In general I've heard very mixed things.)

Thanks for any help.

 

[Christopher]

The first original DS9 novel, The Siege by Peter David, and #5 Fallen Heroes by Dafydd ab Hugh are both widely acclaimed as must-read novels, although they have some continuity glitches arising from being written before the show premiered. Actually The Siege has surprisingly few continuity glitches, but there is one slightly significant one at the end. The main continuity issue with Fallen Heroes is that it gives the station a 28-hour day instead of 26 -- which is a bigger deal than it sounds, since time and timing are essential to the book's story. But it's still a hell of a novel.

 

[Turtletrekker]

...with the exception of Armin Shimmerman and David R. George's "34th Rule" and Andrew J. Robinson's "A Stitch in Time". (The later of which was retroactively pulled into the DS9 Relaunch.)

Actually, both of them have been pulled into relaunch continuity. Quark thinks back on the events of The 34th Rule in Mission Gamma: Twilight, not coincidentally both written by DRG3.

 

[BritishSeaPower]

Chris, thank you for the suggestions.

Turtle, I see. I've already gotten 34th rule for my Kindle, so I hope to fit that in somewhere in my reading list.

 

[bok2384]

My exposure to the Pocket DS9 area of Treklit isn't as covered as my in-depth exploration of TOS and TNG, but I second (third, etc.) the suggestions of The Siege, The 34th Rule and A Stitch in Time. One other numbered novel I remember reading and enjoying was Objective: Bajor by John Peel.

 

[Defcon]

(Also looking for opinions on "Hollow Men" released during the Relaunch period of DS9 but set during the series. In general I've heard very mixed things.)

I really liked it. You an find the review I wrote in 2005 here.

Another non Relaunch story (it has been released recently, though) I would recommend is The Never-Ending Sacrifice (link to my review), also written by Una McCormack.

Beside the ones already mentioned by you or Christopher, one pre-Relaunch novel I really liked wasObjective: Bajor by John Peel (link to the Memory Beta page of the novel).

(ETA: Somehow I missed that bok2384 has already mentioned Objective: Bajor)

 

[F. King Daniel]

I enjoyed the old, numbered DS9 novels more than I did the first two seasons of the show. I don't get the supposed "not so good".

Adding to everyone else's lists: "Devil in the Sky". Hortas on DS9!

 

[Christopher]

I recall liking Objective: Bajor too, but with the caution that it's really more a story about the guest alien characters, their culture, and their internal conflicts, with the DS9 regulars serving as supporting players and observers. The alien culture is quite interesting, though.

 

[Relayer1]

As I am not particularly fond of the 'hit the reset button at the end' type of stories that make up most of the numbered novels, and had not enjoyed a couple of other books by the author I was surprised by the good press Fallen Heroes got, but thought I'd try it anyway.

It was a great read - not exactly deep, but a cracking page turner. The only proviso I have is that the author does not have the characters quite down pat in places - they say and think things that are slightly off from how they were in the show and O'Brien does become a bit of a comedy Irishman at one point. This can all be forgiven when you realise that it was written before the author would have been able to actually see the show.

Give it a go - I enjoyed it !

 

[Thrawn]

Yeah. The Siege and Fallen Heroes are both must reads. Aside from that, a few of the numbered books are fun - aside from Objective: Bajor, I also have a fondness for Station Rage, which kind of reimagines DS9 as an epic myth, it's pretty wild - but none of them are as good as those two.

 

[Warp Coil]

I think Fallen Heroes is the only Trek novel that I have read in one sitting. I remember getting it when it was originally released, and I lounged on my bed reading it all afternoon. I just couldn't put it down. I re-read it once, and I still enjoyed it, but IIRC some of the characterizations seemed a little "off" because it was written so early on. I still have the book and should give it a re-read again some day, just to see how it holds up all these years later.

 

[BritishSeaPower]

Awesome. Thank you all so much.

Looks like I'll be adding The Siege, Fallen Heroes, Objective: Bajor and Station Rage to my list. I have also heard good things about The Invasion X-Over Time's Enemy.

I already have Never Ending... and the Terok Nor Lost Era material listed in my reading order.

Are the Day of Honor tie-in novels of interest?

 

[Sho]

L.A. Graf's Time's Enemy (part of the Invasion crossover miniseries) treats some DS9 characters exceedingly well in my opinion.

 

[Christopher]

Oh yes, I can't believe I forgot to recommend Time's Enemy, a novel I like so much that I incorporated one of its characters into my DTI cast. I guess I overlooked it on my skim through Voyages of the Imagination because, despite being a numbered novel, it's covered in the Crossovers section along with the rest of Invasion!

 

[21Spike65]

^I remember the reference to the temporal incident from Time's Enemy involving the wormhole, but which character did you use? I really enjoyed that book too, but it's been a while since I've read it so I probably didn't remember the name when I read your book.

 

[Christopher]

^I remember the reference to the temporal incident from Time's Enemy involving the wormhole, but which character did you use?

Heather Peterson, who's in Time's Enemy as a wunderkind cadet who helps Dax with the sciencey stuff, and in DTI ends up serving on the crew of the Bozeman and later the Everett.

 

[21Spike65]

^I remember the reference to the temporal incident from Time's Enemy involving the wormhole, but which character did you use?

Heather Peterson, who's in Time's Enemy as a wunderkind cadet who helps Dax with the sciencey stuff, and in DTI ends up serving on the crew of the Bozeman and later the Everett.

Ah, that's right. I do remember the character from Time's Enemy now, just didn't remember her name...and I remember both her character and her name from Watching the Clock.

Now this makes me want to go back and read Time's Enemy again...

 

[Sho]

Nifty, I never made that connection - I forgot her name, too. And that's despite re-reading Time's Enemy only a few years prior to reading Watching the Clock!

However, I'm pleased to report that I found the parts of Time's Enemy that I liked so much during the original read to still hold up well ten years later, so have at it 21Spike65 .

 

[tomswift2002]

I've found "The Big Game" and "Warchild" to be good books as well. Just don't read "The Laertian Gamble". I just read that one recently and I found that it felt like some one was constantly slamming the brakes on.

But with "Fallen Heroes", you need to hear the audio adaptation since while it tells the same story, it has been completely rewritten to where only a few sentences here and there match the book.word for word.

"The Heart Of The Warrior" (aka "The Trojan Starship") is also a great story that actually fits into the Dominion War arc better than "Last Full Measure" fits into the Xindi arc.

 

[DS9forever]

Another of the numbered DS9 novels I think is quite good is The Long Night, where a starship is found with a planet's leader from centuries ago in cryogenic suspension.

I also like Saratoga by Mike Friedman as well. It would be nice if he returned to those characters again.