Skipping The Worlds of DS9 and Spirit Walk

[DigificWriter]

Hi all. I have a question: Is it possible to skip The Worlds of DS9 and the Star Trek Voyager duology Spirit Walk without detrimentally affecting my ability to understand the plot of the novels that follow (Warpath and Fearful Symmetry for DS9 and Full Circle and Unworthy for Voyager)? I'm doubtful of my ability to get my hands on either the WoDS9 or SpW novels, but would really like to get back into either the DS9 or Voyager 'relaunches'.

P.S.: Quick responses to this question would be greatly appreciated, as I'd like to make a trip to my local bookstore later this evening, and, if they have either Warpath or Full Circle, I'd really like to pick one or both of them up. However, doing so really hinges on my having an answer to the above question, since I really don't want to be 'lost' if I do pick one or both novels up.

 

[Therin of Andor]

The WoDS9 stories are each enjoyable in their own way, but each one throws some very significant plot changes at the ongoing DS9 Relaunch arc. You're choosing to ignore six novel-length branches of the main arc.

I haven't been able to face the "Spirit Walk" duology, but I'm assured I'm missing nothing. I didn't mind "Homecoming"/"The Farther Shore". Many people ignored both VOY Relaunch duologies and put their faith in Kirsten to catch them up, which she does most elegantly with "Full Circle".

But "affecting my ability to understand the plot" shows a bit of a lack of trust in the current authors. They are fans as well, of course, and almost every ST book provides everything you need to know to enjoy the book at hand, even in an ongoing saga. What you're missing is the experience of enjoying previous instalments.

 

[Christopher]

A lot of people assume Worlds of DS9 is a side story because of its format, but that's not true at all. It's an integral and important part of the whole. And Warpath is a direct continuation from the massive cliffhanger at the end of WoDS9 Book 3.

 

[DigificWriter]

Therin, I really didn't mean to convey a lack of trust in Kristen Beyer and David Mack; my worry over being able to follow the plots of Warpath/Fearful Symmetry and Full Circle/Unworthy was based very much in my knowledge of just how serialized the DS9 Relaunch - and the ST novel-verse in general - is. Ideally, I really don't want to skip the WoDS9 and/or SpW novels, but I'm also desperate for something to read and have gotten to the point where I'm considering just 'biting the bullet' and getting back into the DS9 and Voyager relaunches without having read the novels in question, which is something I've really tried to avoid.

Christopher, I didn't mean to imply that the WoDS9 novels were 'side stories'; I know that they're part of the main DS9 Relaunch arc, and the part of my question that concerns them was aimed more towards trying to figure out just how much information about the books is provided in Warpath and Fearful Symmetry, since, like I mentoined above, I'm getting to the point where I'm kind of tired of having to keep putting off foraging ahead in the DS9 Relaunch without having read them, especially since I really can't seem to find them anywhere.

 

[Christopher]

It's really only the first half of Full Circle that continues on from Spirit Walk, and it's not hard to catch up with the plot elements that are important to the book. After all, there was a gap of several years and a change of authors between them, so FC was designed to work as a reintroduction. So it's probably easier to follow FC without its preceding installments. But Warpath is one chapter in a very serialized narrative, and as I said, it's an immediate continuation of a cliffhanger, so let's just say it's not ideal as a jumping-on point.

 

[kkozoriz1]

Just stop reading DS9-R after Warpath and skip to Destiny.

 

[DigificWriter]

^ It's funny you should mention the Destiny trilogy, because I was also contemplating the possibility of reading that series instead of trying to get back into the DS9 or Voyager relaunches.

Speaking of Destiny, what's the actual level of connectivity to/dependence on the TNG Relaunch and Titan novels, JOOC? What about Full Circle and Unworthy?

 

[kkozoriz1]

Everything and everyone comes together in Destiny and then continues on after. It's pretty much the pivot point of Trek lit these days.

 

[Thrawn]

Full Circle comes after Destiny, as does Unworthy. Don't worry about those.

There are a bunch of books before Destiny, but I wouldn't worry too much about them either; unlike Warpath, it WAS designed as a jumping-on point. Two of the crews are completely new creations (aside from Ezri being Captain being a fulfillment of her arc begun 5 in-universe years earlier in the Relaunch, but everything in the intervening gap is still new, and explained thoroughly in Destiny.)

I think you should:

1) Definitely get the Worlds books before progressing in the DS9 relaunch. Amazon.com used is key.

2) Whether you do #1 or not, skip Spirit Walk, but read Destiny before Full Circle.

Cheers.

 

[kkozoriz1]

ABEbooks.com can also help. Just watch the prices. Some of them can gat a little crazy.

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&tn=worlds+of+deep+space+nine&x=0&y=0

 

[Christopher]

Full Circle comes after Destiny, as does Unworthy. Don't worry about those.

Well, Full Circle takes place before, during, and after Destiny. But it's best read after.

TNG-wise, at the risk of self-promotion, the only one that's closely linked to Destiny and precedes it is my own Greater Than the Sum, which was designed as a bridge between the previous TNG post-Nemesis novels and Destiny, and thus leads right into it. The epilogue of GTTS is really more like the prologue to Destiny.

As for Titan, there aren't any installments of that series set less than eight months before Destiny, so you don't really need to read any TTN books before the trilogy. As for afterward, Over a Torrent Sea is kind of a followup, but loosely so, more on a character level than a plot level.

 

[kkozoriz1]

But Over a Torrent Sea is a great story that should be read no matter what.

 

[vegaslover62]

Yeah the ending of Spirit Walk was kind of weird.

Moset: "Forget the evil shapeshifter who's wreaking all kinds of havoc with Federation allies a couple of rooms away. Let this old war criminal diddle with your DNA for the sheer heck of it."

Chakotay: "Okay. Your lab or mine?"

 

[DigificWriter]

I just got back from a trip to my local Hastings store; they didn't have either of the first two books in the Destiny trilogy, but did have Full Circle and Unworthy, which I picked up since I'd already started re-reading Homecoming.

You guys mentioned that I should probably read Destiny before I read FC, but since that's not going to be possible, is there anything that is specific to FC that won't completely make sense without having read the Destiny books beforehand?

 

[Christopher]

You guys mentioned that I should probably read Destiny before I read FC, but since that's not going to be possible, is there anything that is specific to FC that won't completely make sense without having read the Destiny books beforehand?

Not really. FC brings you up to speed on what you need to know, and the Destiny material is a fairly small portion of the book. Really, the most significant event that affects the latter half of FC is something that happened in the TNG novel Before Dishonor. But, again, the book brings you up to speed on what you need to know.

In general, even if a book is following up on some earlier story, it will still inform you of whatever's relevant to the book itself, so you should never actually need to read the earlier story in order to understand what's going on. It's not like the author would deliberately avoid explaining things so that only insiders would have a clue. Basically, if you haven't read the preceding works, the effect should be like, say, watching "The Cage." We didn't get to see the dangerous mission on Rigel VII that preceded the episode, but we were told and shown everything we needed to know about its consequences. Or like "Errand of Mercy." When the episode opened (assuming you were watching it in 1967), suddenly you're told out of nowhere that the Federation has crossed over the brink of war with these aliens called the Klingons that you've never heard of before. You're dropped in on the middle of a long-building story. But even though you never get told anything about what led up to the events of the episode, you still have no trouble following the episode itself.

So it's not a question of comprehension. You don't "need" to read the books in any given order just to know what's happening in them. It's just that there's a certain optimal reading order if you were going to read them all anyway.

 

[Thrawn]

DigificWriter - did you ask the bookstore to order you the other books? Have you ever used amazon.com? You make it sound like it's hard to buy Trek books, but it's really not!

 

[DigificWriter]

In this particular case, it really came down to me really wanting to find something brand-new to read and not wanting to wait in order to do so. If I hadn't been so desperate for something new to read, I more than likely would've waited until Monday and taken a trip out to Barnes and Noble (which is about a 30-minute trip via public transporation) to see what they had in terms of ST books and, if necessary, put in an order for a book or two. I do want to head out there soon, though, and will probably make a trip out there once I'm able to earn some more money from mowing our lawn.

I probably could've asked the people at Hastings to see if they might not be able to order the WoDS9 or Destiny books, but the last time I tried to get them to find and order me a book, it was a really big hassle; they're not nearly as friendly when it comes to ordering or finding books as the people at Barnes and Noble are.

 

[Thrawn]

^ Fair enough. And in all fairness, you probably won't get Worlds of DS9 that way either, they're getting out of print now too.

But Destiny... Destiny is essential.

 

[JoeZhang]

Spirit Walk is garbage and you'll not miss anything important skipping it.

 

[F. King Daniel]

^Good to hear, since I'd already decided to skip it owing to my hatred of Chakotay.

Then again, I thought the Homecoming books were alright when other loathed them .