TNG Relaunch Question Regarding Picard's XO

[Smellincoffee]

I'm starting the TNG relaunch, but I've only read one book (Death in Winter) so far. My current read is Greater than the Sum, which is... apparently, books beyond Death in Winter. Fortunately the author (Christopher Bennett) provides background information on the Einstein and its attack on the Borg cube to catch me up on the basics. I'm wondering about Commander Worf as Picard's XO, though: was he posted there immediately following Nemesis? If so, what happened to the naive guy Riker played a joke on in the extended scenes? Did he die or transfer to another ship -- or was he never "really" there to begin with, existing only as a character in the deleted scenes?

Also, has there ever been an explanation for why Worf returned to active duty from his post as ambassador to the Klingons following DS9, beyond "Paramount wanted Worf in the TNG movies"?

 

[Thrawn]

The novels chose to ignore that deleted scene, mostly because it was stupid.

Worf's return to active duty is described in A Time For War, A Time For Peace, the 9th and final book in the A Time To... series that chronicled the year just before Nemesis. Other books in that series explained a lot of the other weirdnesses of that movie as well (unemotional Data, Riker and Troi's remaining parents not at their wedding, Wesley's appearance at the wedding, Riker deciding to take command of the Titan, etc.)

And yes, the TNG relaunch goes:

Death In Winter
Resistance
Q & A
Before Dishonor
Greater Than The Sum

...but most people seem not to like them that much, so you may have done a wise thing by skipping the ones in the middle. The Destiny Trilogy immediately follows Greater Than The Sum, and if you don't know about that you should check it out. It's amazing.

Memory Beta - http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page - is a good place for getting lists of book series in order.

 

[JD]

You should really check out at least the last three A Time To books. They play a big role in setting up the TNG Relaunch and Titan, and they (in my and alot of other people here's opinion) some of the best Trek novels ever.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I thought the Nemesis Picard/Madden/Seatbelt deleted scene was amusing. Bizarre/WTF amusing and not ROFL amusing, but amusing nonetheless. I did laugh when Trip warned Archer about "the button" when the chair mysteriously travelled back in time 200 years at the start of Enterprise's last season.

Madden seemed dull as ditchwater, and was seemingly only there to be someone vaguely similar to Jonathan Frakes circa 1987. I'm glad he's not XO of the Enterprise but I've never quite warmed to Worf in the role.

IIRC (and this is second-hand and may be misremembered) Madden had a brief cameo in one of the pre- or post-Nemesis books.

 

[Defcon]

IIRC (and this is second-hand and may be misremembered) Madden had a brief cameo in one of the pre- or post-Nemesis books.

There was a version of him in an alternate reality in Q&A IIRC.

 

[captcalhoun]

^correct.

Picard slips betwixt alternate universes ala Worf in Parallels and one features Madden as his XO and the Kirsten Dunst character from "Dark Page" now grown up as Counselor.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I guess Starfleet has forgiven Worf for what happened in "Change of Heart".

OTOH, what about Martok? Would *he* forgive Worf for bailing on his position as ambassador? Now Martok has to find someone new to go targ hunting with.

 

[Dayton Ward]

^ The bit from "Change of Heart" was really just Sisko offering his opinion, and nothing more was ever said about it. Besides, I can't imagine anyone at Starfleet HQ giving Picard any static over his choice of XO, even if he'd picked me for the job.

 

[21Spike65]

^Besides, Sisko didn't say "Your career is doomed to never move beyond the point it's at right now." He said "You probably won't be offered your own command after this." Which he hasn't been. Not saying Sisko won't be proven wrong at some point, but he hasn't been yet.

 

[Starbreaker]

That part of the books really made we want to scream. I felt like I was being beat over the head with that information.

I read all the relaunch books over the span of a week earlier this year. They get progressively better up to Destiny.

 

[Smellincoffee]

The novels chose to ignore that deleted scene, mostly because it was stupid.

Worf's return to active duty is described in A Time For War, A Time For Peace, the 9th and final book in the A Time To... series that chronicled the year just before Nemesis. Other books in that series explained a lot of the other weirdnesses of that movie as well (unemotional Data, Riker and Troi's remaining parents not at their wedding, Wesley's appearance at the wedding, Riker deciding to take command of the Titan, etc.)

Ahhhh, thanks. I imagine I'll pick the others up, anyway. I had been planning on giving the Q book a miss, but captcalhoun's description has picqued my curiosity. By the way, is that Mal in your avatar?

You should really check out at least the last three A Time To books. They play a big role in setting up the TNG Relaunch and Titan, and they (in my and alot of other people here's opinion) some of the best Trek novels ever.

I've only read the first "A Time to..." book, but it seems I should try to find the other books some this year. I thought they only set up Nemesis, but looks like there's more to them than that.

That part of the books really made we want to scream. I felt like I was being beat over the head with that information.

I read all the relaunch books over the span of a week earlier this year. They get progressively better up to Destiny.

TNG, or the Voyager/DS9 stuff as well? I've not read much into Voyager...just "Home" and "The Farther Shore". All I remember is something about Torres giving birth, and holograms going on strike.

Thanks, everyone...l've got some reading to do.

 

[Thrawn]

No, you want to start Voyager after you read Destiny, with the novels Full Circle and Unworthy. They're amazing, even if you don't like Voyager, but they do come after Destiny. (Well, Full Circle starts before Destiny, but ends afterwards, so you still need to read Destiny first.)

And yes, that's Mal in the avatar

 

[Smellincoffee]

I'm thinking after I finish "Greater than the Sum" -- which, by the way, I'm enjoying tremendously. I didn't like Chen at first, but her interactions with Picard are hilarious -- I'll read the Voyager anthology "Distant Shores", then maybe read Resistance and Q&A. I've never been able to get into a Peter David novel, and the reviews on Amazon are fairly severe.

(I just "discovered" Firefly this year; I'm currently watching the series through on DVD. )

 

[Thrawn]

No, really, read Destiny. Really.

And I'm glad; Firefly is still my favorite show ever. I was lucky enough to see Serenity at fan-screenings three times before it ever hit theaters, with totally obsessive costumed fans and everything. I even got to meet Morena Baccarin. It was so fantastic, as a fan movement and as a piece of entertainment; some of my best memories.

 

[Starbreaker]

TNG, or the Voyager/DS9 stuff as well?

All the stuff about Worf thinking he wouldn't be fit for command because of the whole Jadzia thing. I just thought it was silly and out of character.

 

[DarKush]

I wish they had put Madden as XO for a little while at least. He would've made great fodder for the Borg. I think Worf is the logical choice for XO, and I always thought the mark on his record for the Jadzia thing was overblown. It was his wife for goodness sakes, and almost every Trek captain at some time has bent the rules for someone close to them. I can see maybe the incident delaying his rise to a command chair but not preventing it. So I'm glad the TNG Relaunch decided to get Worf closer to the command chair. I think he deserves one.

 

[JD]

Oh, I agree with you there. Capt. Worf would be awsome, but Worf has been one of my favorite Trek characters pretty much my whole life, so I guess I'm a little bias.

 

[flandry84]

Well,as a Worf-hater,I simply don't think he should be XO of the Enterprise(and yes I know I'm in the minority).
As for Madden,I don't buy that the character was too compromised to rehabilitate,maybe with some creative thinking he could have been made into an interesting character (maybe a scarred veteran of the Dominion war)but now we will never know.
It seems strange to me that Madden was discounted as lightweight but then we were offered up characters like Chen and Kahadota and Elfiki(who?).

 

[F. King Daniel]

I think I would have preferred Madden to die quickly in a book (at the hands of the Borg, or whatever), and thus give Worf a trial-by-fire battlefield promotion rather than the Wimpo Worf, mired in self-doubt over his ability to command, that we got.

 

[Christopher]

Madden wasn't "compromised" or "discounted." He simply didn't exist in the first place. Deleted scenes do not count as part of the story. They're like the leftover bits of marble on the sculptor's floor after the statue is completed. I think the modern tendency to include deleted scenes on every DVD creates a misleading impression that they're somehow an equal part of the whole.

As for Chen and Kadohata, they both have things the hypothetical character of Madden (who, remember, never existed canonically) manifestly lacked: personality and backstory. As for Elfiki, maybe she hasn't emerged as a major character yet, but she's in a supporting role, not the first officer. It doesn't seem like a valid comparison. She's a better analogy for O'Brien in early TNG, say.