I did find that it overextended itself trying to tie up the Emissary mytharc
Oh, agreed! I felt like it was remarkable that the Dominion War plot resolved in such a satisfying way, and then jumping straight from the celebratory-night-at-Vic's that should have been the final scene, we get the whole Pah-Wraith thing out of nowhere. That's my main beef with the finale.
And some of the montage stuff really just felt like emotional blackmail.
I agree - it seemed like a bit of a self-indulgence on the part of the writers. And I'm definitely agreed that TNG had a more emotionally powerful finale! Subtlety is key.
What's attractive to me about the relaunch novels is the prospect of some kind of restoration of that balance that we seemed to lose in the finale.
Personally, I think they've managed to do a very good job of just that: taking even the most convoluted bits and pieces of the finale and running with them in a way that makes sense.
Quark and Ro really caught my eye, half WTF and half swoon.
I have no idea how the writers pull it off. None whatsoever. I still boggle when I catch myself wanting to write fic.
And I'm sorry to hear that Kira's not so present
Keep in mind that this is one miniseries in the midst of the entire relaunch - in the other books, she has been much more present, and even in these, she's still the main character station-side. It's like the sixth-season opening arc - I enjoyed what was going on with the Starfleet people, but I was most interested in what was happening back at the station, so I wanted more scenes back there.
That's not where anyone's interest in DS9 lies, so why even go there?
Yeah, agreed. It was a shame, considering the novels are otherwise very good at introducing more unconventional characters, which is way more in keeping with how DS9 operates. At least there are so many characters that Vaughn's time in the spotlight is limited!
Could you maybe say a bit more that's not too spoilery about the quality of the writing?
Of course! This is always my main concern with any kind of writing - I have ridiculously high standards when it comes to reading prose (I love murder mysteries, but there are only a handful of authors I can stomach without wanting to fling the book across the room). That said, I'm always willing to give tie-ins a bit more latitude, mostly because I read them as fanfic. And for the most part? Prose-wise, these novels are up to the standards of really excellent, rec-worthy fanfic. The first novel in the Mission Gamma miniseries is the most glaring exception, I think - it's the only case where the prose really detracted from the story for me. But otherwise, the writing is very good, and considering some later stories are written by folks like altariel, I can safely say that the prose is up to snuff.
If you decide to go for them, I hope you share your thoughts! It's cool that there seems to be a bit of a renaissance of the fandom recently, and I'm looking forward to having more people to discuss the novels with. :)
no subject
Oh, agreed! I felt like it was remarkable that the Dominion War plot resolved in such a satisfying way, and then jumping straight from the celebratory-night-at-Vic's that should have been the final scene, we get the whole Pah-Wraith thing out of nowhere. That's my main beef with the finale.
And some of the montage stuff really just felt like emotional blackmail.
I agree - it seemed like a bit of a self-indulgence on the part of the writers. And I'm definitely agreed that TNG had a more emotionally powerful finale! Subtlety is key.
What's attractive to me about the relaunch novels is the prospect of some kind of restoration of that balance that we seemed to lose in the finale.
Personally, I think they've managed to do a very good job of just that: taking even the most convoluted bits and pieces of the finale and running with them in a way that makes sense.
Quark and Ro really caught my eye, half WTF and half swoon.
I have no idea how the writers pull it off. None whatsoever. I still boggle when I catch myself wanting to write fic.
And I'm sorry to hear that Kira's not so present
Keep in mind that this is one miniseries in the midst of the entire relaunch - in the other books, she has been much more present, and even in these, she's still the main character station-side. It's like the sixth-season opening arc - I enjoyed what was going on with the Starfleet people, but I was most interested in what was happening back at the station, so I wanted more scenes back there.
That's not where anyone's interest in DS9 lies, so why even go there?
Yeah, agreed. It was a shame, considering the novels are otherwise very good at introducing more unconventional characters, which is way more in keeping with how DS9 operates. At least there are so many characters that Vaughn's time in the spotlight is limited!
Could you maybe say a bit more that's not too spoilery about the quality of the writing?
Of course! This is always my main concern with any kind of writing - I have ridiculously high standards when it comes to reading prose (I love murder mysteries, but there are only a handful of authors I can stomach without wanting to fling the book across the room). That said, I'm always willing to give tie-ins a bit more latitude, mostly because I read them as fanfic. And for the most part? Prose-wise, these novels are up to the standards of really excellent, rec-worthy fanfic. The first novel in the Mission Gamma miniseries is the most glaring exception, I think - it's the only case where the prose really detracted from the story for me. But otherwise, the writing is very good, and considering some later stories are written by folks like
If you decide to go for them, I hope you share your thoughts! It's cool that there seems to be a bit of a renaissance of the fandom recently, and I'm looking forward to having more people to discuss the novels with. :)