Typhon Pact

[Janos]

A quick question on these 4 books. From the covers, they seem to be a mash-up of various Trek characters.

I am predominantly a follower of PAD's New Frontier and the DS9 relaunch novels.

Do any of the 4 Typhon Pact novels continue story threads from the 2 series I mentioned.

I read, here I think, that the Rough Beasts of Empire with DS9's Sisko on the cover isn't really part of the DS9 relaunch narrative, but does feature Sisko. I'm not sure what that means since he returned in he lit and is part of the DS9 relaunch, isn't he? Wouldn't that novel carry on his personal story the way, it appears, that the old Worlds of DS9 did with the characters featured in those 3 novels?

If that is the case, that these books don't fit into or continue any of the current series narratives, my follow-up Q would be which of the 4 novels feature characters from either NF or DS9? Paths of Disharmony seems to have Ensign Thirshar ch'Thane ("Shar") of DS9 in it, and Zero Sum Game seems to have DS9's Dax and Bashir in it.

Also, is Seize the Fire a "Titan" book or just features Titan characters?

Thanks.

 

[Defcon]

No NF characters in either of the books.

While there's no "true" DS9 novel in the TP series it does move DS9 forward to catch up with the other 24th Century series by leapfrogging roughly five years. So Rough Beasts of Empire (with Sisko, Vaughn and a Kira cameo) and Zero Sum Game (Bahir and Dax) represent the new status quo for DS9 fiction to come.

And Seize the Fire is a full blown Titan novel.

 

[Dancing Doctor]

None of the Typhon Pact books deal with New Frontier or characters from it, AFAICR.

Rough Beasts of Empire, Zero Sum Game, and Paths of Disharmony feature characters from DS9, but apart from the suddenly syncing, don't really "continue" any DS9 story threads.

Rough Beasts of Empire *does*, however, fill us in on Sisko and the goings on since we last saw him, kinda.

Seize The Fire is, like all the others, primarily a Typhon Pact novel, but I would argue that it's the closest to being considered a series' entry as it is a Typhon Pact novel.

 

[Christopher]

I'd say that Seize the Fire is unambiguously a Titan novel and Paths of Disharmony is unambiguously a TNG novel (although it guest stars a former DS9 character, Shar). Yes, they deal with the same political entity, the Typhon Pact, but in the same way that, say, "Pre-emptive Strike" on TNG and "For the Cause" on DS9 both dealt with the Maquis.

On the other hand, Rough Beasts of Empire doesn't belong to any specific series. It's a novel about Spock, Sisko, and Romulan/Pact politics, in three parallel threads that have some degree of overlap. As for Zero Sum Game, I'd say it's kind of a DS9 novel, but along the lines of one of the DS9 episodes that focused overwhelmingly on one or two characters (in this case, Bashir and Sarina Douglas) and had little to do with the rest of the cast. It's kinda like Worlds of Deep Space Nine: Breen, so to speak.

 

[Janos]

No NF characters in either of the books.

While I love PAD's ST work for the most part, it is a blessing that the NF is his playground, but it would also be nice to see the characters "pop" up in books like Typon Pact or even the Destiny 3-parter (which I haven't read yet, but I assume has no NF appearances).

While there's no "true" DS9 novel in the TP series it does move DS9 forward to catch up with the other 24th Century series by leapfrogging roughly five years. So Rough Beasts of Empire (with Sisko, Vaughn and a Kira cameo) and Zero Sum Game (Bahir and Dax) represent the new status quo for DS9 fiction to come.

Cool. I imagine though, if the book doesn't have the DS9 banner, than the next DS9 proper book would indicate where we are in in the new 5YL timeline.

And Seize the Fire is a full blown Titan novel.

.....interesting.....

 

[Janos]

Seize The Fire is, like all the others, primarily a Typhon Pact novel, but I would argue that it's the closest to being considered a series' entry as it is a Typhon Pact novel.

Can you elaborate, please? Not sure what you mean. Isn't this Seize the Fire the second book not the entry book?

 

[Janos]

I'd say that Seize the Fire is unambiguously a Titan novel and Paths of Disharmony is unambiguously a TNG novel (although it guest stars a former DS9 character, Shar).

Thanks. I wonder when I check out the next listing of Trek novels in my next purchase, whether they will be listed under Titans or TNG. In the old days, and not sure if its still done, the novels used to end with a list of the books by series. Nowadays, I think, you only get a list of the series your're purchasing, e.g. you buy DS9, you get a list of the DS9 relaunch books on the inside cover.

On the other hand, Rough Beasts of Empire doesn't belong to any specific series. It's a novel about Spock, Sisko, and Romulan/Pact politics, in three parallel threads that have some degree of overlap. As for Zero Sum Game, I'd say it's kind of a DS9 novel, but along the lines of one of the DS9 episodes that focused overwhelmingly on one or two characters (in this case, Bashir and Sarina Douglas) and had little to do with the rest of the cast. It's kinda like Worlds of Deep Space Nine: Breen, so to speak.

Thanks Chris. Very helpful.

 

[Dancing Doctor]

Seize The Fire is, like all the others, primarily a Typhon Pact novel, but I would argue that it's the closest to being considered a series' entry as it is a Typhon Pact novel.

Can you elaborate, please? Not sure what you mean. Isn't this Seize the Fire the second book not the entry book?

Seize the Fire is the second book (interestingly it was originally supposed to be the first Typhon Pact).

What I meant was that it was the closest to being considered a Titan series entry as much as it is also a Typhon Pact, more so than Rough Beasts of Empire or Zero Sum Game.

 

[Janos]

Thx Valeris.

 

[Dancing Doctor]

Thx Valeris.

No problem.

 

[rfmcdpei]

None of the Typhon Pact books deal with New Frontier or characters from it, AFAICR.

Paths of Disharmony does feature Geordi reminiscing about Selar, who had died two years before PoD, but yes, that's it.

 

[Janos]

None of the Typhon Pact books deal with New Frontier or characters from it, AFAICR.

Paths of Disharmony does feature Geordi reminiscing about Selar, who had died two years before PoD, but yes, that's it.

Thanks. I guess we won't be seeing her in Blind Man's Bluff... unless Kally channels her...

 

[JD]

No NF characters in either of the books.

While there's no "true" DS9 novel in the TP series it does move DS9 forward to catch up with the other 24th Century series by leapfrogging roughly five years. So Rough Beasts of Empire (with Sisko, Vaughn and a Kira cameo) and Zero Sum Game (Bahir and Dax) represent the new status quo for DS9 fiction to come.

There are several other DS9 characters is ZSG too.

 

[KHAAAN!]

I really liked this series and I hope to see more like it. Unfortunately, I read Typhon before Destiny, so now I'm having to go back and read that.

 

[Janos]

Does anyone know if the plan is to have these 4 issues collected in trade paperback form? Hopefully in the order that makes sense for the story and not how it was actually realeased... I'm debating about reading my current ST lit backlog and getting the Typhon Pact tpb in 2012 if there is such a plan.

 

[Christopher]

Does anyone know if the plan is to have these 4 issues collected in trade paperback form?

Probably not, since previous TPB omnibuses haven't done so well.

Hopefully in the order that makes sense for the story and not how it was actually realeased...

But they're not telling one story. They're telling four separate stories that happen to involve members of the Typhon Pact in some way. They can be read in any order. (The last one I read was the chronologically earliest one, and I didn't have any problems.)

 

[OverlordSpock]

While I love PAD's ST work for the most part, it is a blessing that the NF is his playground, but it would also be nice to see the characters "pop" up in books like Typon Pact or even the Destiny 3-parter (which I haven't read yet, but I assume has no NF appearances).

Spoiler: NF and Destiny

I believe Captain Calhoun and the Excalibur are mentioned in one of the Destiny novels (as having saved a planet from a Borg attack), but there was no direct appearance.

Hopefully in the order that makes sense for the story and not how it was actually realeased...

I'm not sure what you mean by this. The four books are not a "mini-series" in the sense of telling one continuous story the way Destiny did. They are four independent stories that all just happen to feature, to varying degrees, the Typhon Pact.

Spoiler: Typhon Pact books mentioning each other

The only direct tie I remember between any of the four books was that Rough Beasts of Empire explains why Vaughn is in a coma in Zero Sum Game. But even then, that doesn't mean you have to read RBoE before ZSG. In fact, I enjoyed not knowing the backstory when I read about Vaughn in ZSG and then having it filled in later.

 

[Christopher]

^I agree about reading ZSG before RBoE. That way you start with a mystery and get the answer later, which works perfectly well.

Anyway, let's see, the chronological order for the four books would be...

Rough Beasts of Empire: Spans February 2381 to February 2382.
Seize the Fire: Claims to be a year after Destiny, which would be Feb. '82 (although there are inconsistent references to being a year after Synthesis, which would be August '82).
Zero Sum Game: First two chapters in April '82, the rest in August '82.
Paths of Disharmony: Given that Picard's son is just over a year old, probably October '82. (The boy was conceived 2 weeks before Christmas 2380, thus presumably born in September '81.)

 

[Janos]

Looks like I'll be grabbing the TP books. They'll be added to my pile and read after Destiny.

From what I am reading here, it appears that the TP sets up the new status quo for the TNGnovelverse under the new editorial regime. I wonder if NF's Blind Man's Bluff will "catch up" as well or whether that will be in its own slower timeline due to the sequential nature of the series (what TP "fixes" for DS9).

I also seem to recall Destiny also established a new status quo (haven't read it yet), but I imagine that was under the previous editorial team while TP is under the new editorial team?

 

[JD]

NF kind of takes place in it's own little bubble. Other authors and series have referenced it, but PAD has never mentioned anything about any of the books that he didn't write.
As for TP and Destiny, I'm not sure if it really has anything to do with the editorial regime, as much as just setting up a new status quo. I'm not sure, but I think the set up for TP might have even been done under a different editor than the actual miniseries. I'm not an author or involved with the book other than reading them, so I could be totally off on all of that.