I’m appreciative of his advice. I finished Twist of Faith; and happened upon that giant flow chart that shows the proper reading order of the novels that looks like a giant knot. So far with Twist of Faith I’m following it. It and you recommended Mission Gamma next. Question, if I want to stay with DS9, what do I do with Typhon Pact and Destiny? Destiny came very highly rated but I want to do the proper order.
As you can see by the variety of different lists that Ryan linked, there are a lot of different answers to this question!
Once you read Unity, you’re at a good stopping point if you’d like to move on to other things. If you want to keep going, your first decision is how much you’re interested in the Mirror Universe. If you want to go deep there, read the MU stuff that links up with the DS9 narrative around Warpath. If not, skip it, and you can get what you need from context clues. Up to you. Either way, you’ll read the Worlds of DS9 series, then Warpath and Fearful Symmetry and The Soul Key. The Never Ending Sacrifice is an amazing side story that is optional but so beautiful, and would slot in just after Soul Key.
At that point, it’s important I think to know that there was a change in editorial regime (still great, but different priorities). Up to that point, the editor was happy to have DS9 going at its own pace. The new editor wanted DS9 to be up to speed with the rest of the series, so there’s a time jump and then the DS9 narrative starts to become more intertwined with the rest. You can still focus on DS9, but you’ll need to be aware that some stories will go in and out of books in other series.
Destiny was a huge crossover event that happened at the end of the prior editor’s time. It’s arguably the best thing in TrekLit, certainly one of the best, and I recommend it on its own merits. It doesn’t actually feature DS9 characters much and it does bring together a bunch of other TrekLit storylines but it’s extremely good at being a starting point on its own (I’ve given it to several friends in total isolation with no prior knowledge and all have loved it.) It also makes some big swings that set the stage for a lot of future plotlines. All in all, I think it’s not to be missed.
After that, you’ll want to read the Typhon Pact novels with the exception of Seize the Fire which has no bearing on the DS9 storylines. (Paths of Disharmony does, though, even though it’s a TNG book otherwise. This is also true of Brinkmanship later.) Then comes The Fall, which has a bunch of storylines crossing over each other, and which is probably easiest to read as all five novels start to finish even if you’re mostly focused on DS9. After that, DS9 goes back off on its own for a while. One big plot thread spins off into the pair of Section 31 novels and then Enigma Tales, which also features a couple storylines from elsewhere (once again the Mirror Universe and also a big thing that happens in the TNG Cold Equations trilogy and The Light Fantastic), so if you read those you’ll either want to check out those other novels for the backstory or skip them and just be aware you’ll be getting some important events summarized on the way to those stories taking off. (Like I said: a bit tangled.)
Finally, the litverse is coming to an end right now in Coda, which does feature some endings for DS9 characters as you might expect from a big crossover, though fair warning not all the plot threads are carried to fruition. The arrival of new Trek TV shows means that some of the ongoing DS9 stories had to just sort of peter out; nothing to be done for it. That said, I still enjoyed the whole journey and I found the stories satisfying on their own even with a couple loose ends. This is emphatically not a reason to avoid the project.
I think that’s more or less the answer to your question. It does kind of come in clumps though, and you can sort of re-figure your plan at each clump based on what you’re enjoying or not enjoying. The first arc up through Unity, Worlds of DS9 through The Soul Key (plus maybe mirror universe and plus maybe The Never Ending Sacrifice), Destiny, Typhon Pact, The Fall, the DS9 narrative after that, the Section 31 narrative after that (plus maybe Cold Equations / The Light Fantastiv and plus maybe the rest of the mirror universe), Coda - each clump can be taken individually as you prefer, with other excursions mixed in or not. There really isn’t one right way to do it; if you pick up any novel it’ll explain what you need. Just might be more satisfying with a few threads explored first.
