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Spoilers So I finished The Soul Key... and now what?

voyager1

voyager1

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Last night I finished The Soul Key, what an awesome story, totally enjoyed it. I am not a fan of the Mirror Universe at all when it was on TV, but man were the last two books good with dealing with it. I keep thinking that the Asecendents have something to do with the Par Wraiths with all the references to fire. Anyway so my reading of the DS9r is pretty much done. But the Ascendent story is pretty much left hanging? I see David R George III wrote a book Asscendence dealing with the cliff hanger? But looking at the TrekLitBlog there are several books published afterwards (pub date) that take place about 5yrs after where Soul Key ends? Does George's book jump right where Soul Key ends? I am also guessing that Rise Like Lions deals with the Mirror Universe and the end or some kind of conflict with the Alliance that the Soul Key space battle hints at with Leeta's comment about Prime people staying in their universe?

So what should I read next?
 
If you enjoyed the Lit take on the Mirror Universe and are curious where that ends up I'd go to The Sorrows of Empire, which is really neccesary before you read the big finale Rise Like Lions. They are both really good.

Then if you have't read Destiny yet, read that. It's the best Treklit there is and sets up where all Trek, including DS9, goes afterwards. Then you can carry on with the Typhon Pact DS9 books.
 
I don't know what happened real world wise, but the Ascendent's storyline does get picked up again, with added time travel to link it up to what had happened in the mean time.

Also, make sure you check out The Never-Ending Sacrifice. It was published after Soul Key, but covers pretty much most of the series and relaunch from a Cardassian POV.
 
voyager1 said:
Last night I finished The Soul Key, what an awesome story, totally enjoyed it. I am not a fan of the Mirror Universe at all when it was on TV, but man were the last two books good with dealing with it. I keep thinking that the Asecendents have something to do with the Par Wraiths with all the references to fire. Anyway so my reading of the DS9r is pretty much done. But the Ascendent story is pretty much left hanging? I see David R George III wrote a book Asscendence dealing with the cliff hanger? But looking at the TrekLitBlog there are several books published afterwards (pub date) that take place about 5yrs after where Soul Key ends? Does George's book jump right where Soul Key ends? I am also guessing that Rise Like Lions deals with the Mirror Universe and the end or some kind of conflict with the Alliance that the Soul Key space battle hints at with Leeta's comment about Prime people staying in their universe?

So what should I read next?
Click to expand...
Ascendance does deal with the Ascendant storyline, but it also takes place after Destiny and I believe it follows up on plot threads from the Typhon Pact and The Fall books, so you might also want to read them. I haven't read it so I don't know the details, but I believe all of the Ascendants stuff is dealt with in flashbacks.
 
JD said:
Ascendance does deal with the Ascendant storyline, but it also takes place after Destiny and I believe it follows up on plot threads from the Typhon Pact and The Fall books, so you might also want to read them. I haven't read it so I don't know the details, but I believe all of the Ascendants stuff is dealt with in flashbacks.
Click to expand...

Well, Sacraments of Fire has flashback chapters that start telling the story of the Ascendant incident in 2377, but Ascendance devotes its whole first part to wrapping it up and the rest to continuing the 2285 storyline.
 
It goes:

The Soul Key
(big gap in which Destiny happens)
Rough Beasts of Empire
Plagues of Night
Raise the Dawn
Revelation and Dust
Sacraments of Fire
Ascendance
The Long Mirage

Sacraments of Fire and Ascendance are the ones that loop back around to finish off the Ascendant storyline, using a fairly clever device to make it seem almost as if the big gap was intended all along (which of course it wasn't).

You can jump ahead to those if you want to just see the resolution of the Ascendant storyline, but a LOT of stuff has happened in the meantime and you might find it difficult to catch up. Also, the author likes to serialise big-style, so there is stuff going on in those two books that is nothing to do with the Ascendant storyline at all but more about setting up or paying off stuff from other books.

Also, my customary plug for the storyline I came up with to answer exactly your question before the official Pocket version came out - please see the links in my sig (not Lit-canon of course, but hewing as close to it as I could get before I was out-canon'd, and the content of which cannot be discussed openly in this room because it counts as story ideas).

.
 
voyager1 said:
Well I bit the bullet and downloaded the Destiny triology. Just started it. So we will see if it lives up to the hype :)
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Well it is essential for Ds9-ness. to the list of DS9 lit, I'd add:

Before Destiny/2381

> The Never-Ending Sacrifice (follows on from A Stitch in Time, as well as other parts of Cardassia in the DS9 relaunch)
> Rise Like Lions (mirror universe direct sequel to The Soul Key, as well as other texts, most key, The Sorrows of Empire)
> A Time to Kill; A Time to Heal
> A Time for War, A Time for Peace & Articles of the Federation (your guide to how President Bacco works, and she is a major character)

After Destiny

> A Singular Destiny (immediate Destiny sequel, necessary for the rest)
Rough Beasts of Empire
> Zero Sum Game (Bashir)
Plagues of Night
Raise the Dawn
Brinkmanship

The Fall

Revelation and Dust (Fall 1)
> The Crimson Shadow (Garak) (Fall 2)
> A Ceremony of Losses (Bashir) (Fall 3)
> The Poisoned Chalice (Fall 4)
> Peaceable Kingdoms (Fall 5)

After the Fall

> Section 31 - Disavowed (continues stories of Ds9 in Fall, plus Rise Like Lions)
> The Missing
Sacraments of Fire
Ascendance
The Long Mirage
> Section 31 - Control
> Enigma Tales

there are other things, but ... this is a very good list.
 
Christopher said:
Well, Sacraments of Fire has flashback chapters that start telling the story of the Ascendant incident in 2377, but Ascendance devotes its whole first part to wrapping it up and the rest to continuing the 2285 storyline.
Click to expand...
Oh, I didn't realize that stuff was split up between the two books.
 
Christopher said:
Well, Sacraments of Fire has flashback chapters that start telling the story of the Ascendant incident in 2377, but Ascendance devotes its whole first part to wrapping it up and the rest to continuing the 2285 storyline.
Click to expand...

Spoiler alert, though:
All events depicted within these books are fictional, and do not represent actual events. This does not change with reading order.

TC
 
I consider the trio of Rough Beasts of Empire / Plagues of Night / Raise The Dawn to be an unofficial trilogy.

It's also a brilliant follow-through on what happens in Destiny.

Destiny was a great trilogy but the books went up a level in showing the consequences of it and how the Federation recovers from it. It wasn't quick nor easy and was very different due to that. Too often we get big bang stories, mass destruction, then time jump to it all being OK again for the next big boom, not this time.
 
So I have been reading up on Typhon Pact, is it best just to read them in published order book 1 to book 8?

I did finish A Singular Destiny last night too.
 
As I recall, Rough Beast of Empire technically happens first, but overall they aren't interconnected enough not to read in publish order. Reading Rough Beast of Empire doesn't really add anything except give some political background and to find out what happened to Sisko during the continuity gap. I read them in-universe chronological order but it didn't really add that much I feel. Go with publish order and anything out of chronological order is hinted at.

But if you are only reading the DS9 parts of Typhon Pact, you should read them as Rough Beasts of Empire, Zero Sum Game, Paths of Disharmony (if and only if you want to know what's going on with Shar who is no longer really part of the DS9 narrative :wah:), Plagues of Night, and then Raise the Dawn.

What did you think of A Singular Destiny?
 
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voyager1 said:
So I have been reading up on Typhon Pact, is it best just to read them in published order book 1 to book 8?

I did finish A Singular Destiny last night too.
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They're completely standalone up to Plagues of Night/Raise the Dawn, so you can read the rest in any order you want. Just make sure you save those two for last.
 
JD said:
They're completely standalone up to Plagues of Night/Raise the Dawn, so you can read the rest in any order you want. Just make sure you save those two for last.
Click to expand...
I'd like to add that if you read Rough Beasts of Empire, followed by Plagues of Nihgt & Raise the Dawn, it acts as a Sisko-trilogy. Don't get discouraged by RBoE like so many other did...it's just the first part of three by DRG3 ;)
 
So I am done with Typhon Pact 1 Zero Sum Game. Loved the Ezri/Bashir dinner scene. Also the ending was awesome. This story really felt a lot like Abyss from the DS9. Total grade A story.

I am about half way through Typhon Pact 2 Seize The Fire. Oh this one is tough reading. The Gorn characters are a little tough to keep straight because of their weird names. I am hopeful though.
 
voyager1 said:
...I am about half way through Typhon Pact 2 Seize The Fire. Oh this one is tough reading. The Gorn characters are a little tough to keep straight because of their weird names. I am hopeful though.
Click to expand...

Good luck with that :whistle:
 
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