Ok. A lot to say for once. Forgive me. And I guess I should say there are minor Destiny spoilers in here.
How has the MU part of the DS9-R "dragging" or "taking too long to resolve"? Or the Ascendant story line for that matter?
MU has been around for a whole two books. The Ascendants was started in what? the Bajor Worlds story? Making that 4 books?
I mostly agree with you, in that if you look at the number of books it's not dragging per the actual stories. I think the difference for people isn't the number of books, but the perception of time and how long the stories have been with us because of that. And in my opinion, I don't think people are thinking that there's some conspiracy to drag out the storylines; just annoyance that they have been, no matter the understandable circumstances. For the record, the Mirror Universe story in the Relaunch started as early as "Worlds of DS9: Bajor: Fragments and Omens" (February 2005), while the Ascendant storyline began in "Rising Son" (January 2003), so people have been waiting over 4 years to find out where the Mirror Universe storyline is going, and over 6 years to find out where the still embryonic Ascendant storyline is headed. To make the Mirror Universe storyline even more pronounced we've also had 3 Mirror Universe collections that are meant to be in continuity with the DS9 Mirror Universe (including 2 DS9 stories) so the Mirror Universe has appeared in more novels (4 + the 3 collections - not to mention that the MU has appeared in at least 8 actual Trek episodes before the books) in less time, while people who were hyped about the Ascendants have waited longer and seen them less (4 books, but with far more muted appearances or references). If people could have read all the recent books, plus the next few to come out all at once, it probably wouldn't seem that bad - but it didn't work out that way, so I think it's understandable that people are a bit miffed, even while it's understandable that truly, the story itself hasn't dragged; just the way it's being percieved as a result of the release schedule.
The parasite stuff was around for what like 5 or 6 books? Was that dragging too?
If I'm not mistaken (and I could be) the parasite stuff started being set up in "Mission Gamma: Book One: Twilight" (September 2002) and came to a head in "Unity" (November 2003) - so a little over 1 year. after it started (and in that time we got the 4 Gamma books, Rising Son, & Unity - far more to keep the story fresh in peoples' minds than the current lineup). Though I suppose there's the coda to that story in "Worlds of DS9: Trill: Unjoined" (February 2005) - though the latter felt more like an epilogue than an active storyline; just as the stories that spawned this series of tales in "The Lives of Dax" (December 1999) didn't feel like the start of something to me at all; I wasn't waiting with baited breath for those plot threads to pop back up; in fact I was surprised that they did - so I wouldn't include those either.
What about the Andorian reproduction problem? That's been around since the first Mission Gamma book and still isn't "resolved."
No it hasn't been but the main thrust of the story was Shar's life and Shar's bonding group, and that story has resolved itself to some extent (in "Worlds of DS9: Andor: Pardigm", June 2004), which felt like the end of that story to me. If it comes back, I'll welcome it (I loved Shar!), but we at least got some amount of closure on that front. And even the slightest bit more followup to it in one of the "Destiny" books.
Jake Sisko went missing in Avatar that wasn't wrapped up until 6 books later.
Jakes went missing in "Avatar, Book Two", May 2001. The story of what happened to Jake was told in "Rising Son", January 2003; less than 2 years later. And in that time, the loss of Jake was referenced several times (in the 7 books we got in between) to balance the tale we waited for.
Ben Sisko went missing before Avatar and pretty much everybody knew he'd be back, but he didn't reappear until 9 books later.
I don't think this is the same thing really; at least not for me. I never really expected him to return. So...I wasn't waiting for that to happen at all. I hoped he would return, but there wasn't a storyline in the books that promised he was coming back soon to keep me wondering over the course of those books (however many it was), so it didn't aggrivate me that he hadn't returned yet.
Then there's the Cardassia situation started before Avatar followed up once 10 books later then not again until another 4 books after that.
Again, this feels different to me. It feels far more like a side story, that doesn't need to be focused on all that often; maybe because it doesn't seem like one that's going to be resolved in the near future. I'm not dissing it; it just doesn't feel as central to DS9 as some other storylines. Having said that, they've managed to bring that storyline into several titles. And while it might have been center stage '10 books' later in the first run of books, they referenced it in several of the volumes in between. I've not read those books in years, but I have strong memories of Natima Lang visiting the station during 1 or 2 of the Mission Gamma books, and the Bajorans helping Cardassia as being seen as key to Bajor joining the Federation (another recurring thread that found fruition in that same set of books). We've also seen the Cardassian storyline revisited in "Prophecy and Change" & the recent "Destiny" trilogy. That storyline remains active. I just don't think it's a storyline that's dragging, as it's a storyline that pretty much screams that it's going to last a very long time.
See, I don't think it's fair or accurate to claim that the DS9-R is stalling due to the amount of time that has passed because books aren't TV shows and don't/can't come out as often.
I think fans aren't so much annoyed in the difference between episodes of television and publishing of books; more saddened that a few years back we used to get far more titles every year, allowing multiple storylines to progress in far less time than today. Every Trek forum I belong to has a thread about this every once in awhile. While the reality of the book publishing time frame is understandable and irrefutable, it's also understandable that the change in frequency will be less satisfying for many fans (I know it has been for me), and will have unforseen (sometimes negative) effects on storylines that were being fleshed out far more quickly in the past.
And because there was an unexpected (key word here being unexpected) delay between Warpath and Fearful Symmetry does not count as any sort of stalling or dragging or any other delaying tactic synonym.
I know there are some uninformed fans that believe that DS9 is being given the short end of the stick intentionally, but I'm not one of those fans. The reasoning behind the limiting of the Trek releases, and the unexpected delay of "Fearful Symmetry" is completely understandable; completely human; completely inocent and well intentioned. Having said that, even knowing the reasons for the unexpected delay, did not make waiting for it any more fun. The delay for that book also came after they'd slowed the frequency of Treks that we get any given year, meaning that even after we got the book that we'd waited forever for, we'd have to wait again, and it was frustrating to know that the entire series was set back years because of that problem. Going from 4-6 DS9 books a year to ZERO was a bit frustrating. It didn't make the unexpected problem any less understandable, but it also didn't make the experience any more pleasurable. Thankfully it's not an experience we've had to relive. And future fans (who can track down all the books) will get to enjoy them with no delay whatsoever.
I'm for one also waiting to see the end of the Mirror Universe arc and move on towards getting DS9 lined up with the other 24th century era series, so they can align and have some crossovers again like old times.
I can't express how much I don't want this to happen. I'm fine with them telling stories that feature the DS9 characters in the 'future' with the Enterprise and Voyager and stuff, but I don't want them to have a 'Full Circle' book that covers the years between what we've been given so far and what's going on in that timeframe. I want my DS9-R to unfold as it has been (though more frequency would be great!). I don't think having the characters in 2 eras has to ruin the DS9 storylines unfolding for us if it's written well. They can use those 'future' stories to build suspense for the DS9-R, and the DS9-R to reference things that pop up in the 'future' novels. I'm hoping that's the direction they go in. Then we can have both going on, making everyone happy.
They kind of already do with Captain Dax and her crew, many of them from DS9 itself. I see it as the best of both worlds. Able to have crossovers with the 'current' timeline and still tell stories at their own pace.
Exactly. And they could even bring in other DS9 characters. Sure it means we know they aren't going to die in the main DS9-R titles, but they can use those later appearances to set up stories still to come in the DS9-R. Like, Ezri in the Destiny books - they reference her in relation to the current Mirror Universe stuff, saying she had an important role to play - and now I'm dying to know what that's about!!! ;-0)
I'm just curious if Elias Vaughn made Captain and still have the Defiant or Starfleet send another Defiant class for him to take over and leave the Defiant still under Kira's command.
Sorry, but I don't believe for a second that's Vaughn's fate. I have a pretty clear idea of what's going to be happeneing to Vaughn in the next book, and that ain't it.
Ditto that. I have very strong theories (based on "Fearful Symmetry") on what's in store for Elias Vaughn, and while I could be wrong, I don't think I am - and I don't think Elias as Captain is the way it's headed.
Thanks for reading my ramble. lol
)" arc. It seems like kind of an unnecissary break in the Ascendants storyline. IMO it seemed like we were slowly building up to something big with the Ascendants, and then suddenly we split off into this stuff. Now if it turns out that all of this relates to the Ascendants and we just don't know it yet, I will apologize in advance.
