In the months since DS9 left the airwaves, Pocket Books has published some first-rate novels in the timeframe of the series. Some, like the Rebels series, were set during the show's run. Others, like the Millennium trilogy and a Stitch in Time, took place in the aftermath of the finale. Now Pocket Books editor Marco Palmieri is talking about the new series of DS9 novels launching in May 2001, which up on the station where the series left off. The first book is set three months after the events of the television finale, "What You Leave Behind," and introduces the characters who have stepped in to replace O'Brien, Worf, and Odo in the vacant engineering, tactical, and security positions. Col. Kira remains in command following the loss to the Prophets of Capt. Sisko, so a fourth new character will be introduced as well.
Though Palmieri told me months ago that he wanted to create a major character who was gay - something none of the televised shows have ever done, though Pocket Books has introduced both gay and hemaphroditic officers - he told Cinescape recently only that they had "decided to create four new faces who will shake things up a bit." Each will come from a different planet - one a species that has been seen on Star Trek before, but not DS9.
The first pair of books, Avatar, are by S.D. Perry, who wrote two excellent stories in Palmieri's collection The Lives of Dax. The 3rd book, Abyss, involves the secret society Section 31 and was written by former DS9 writer David Weddle, who co-wrote the television episode that created Section 31. Late in the year, Pocket will release the much-anticipated two-volume Klingon postwar saga by J.G. Hertzler, who played General Martok on the show.
Palmieri, who has already planned DEEP SPACE NINE novels well into 2002, told me he sought continuity and told Cinescape that he wanted to bring a fresh perspective to the series. "For Deep Space Nine, the reset button has been dismantled," he promised. Presumably that means that, nlike the wonderful Millennium books, we won't be seeing Sisko in flashbacks about what might have been, nor will O'Brien and Worf decide they're bored on Earth and Qo'nos repectively and head back to the station. As for Odo, we may eventually find out what he has been teaching the Founders, but Palmieri says he wants the emphasis to be on the station and the new characters, not the folk who've left them behind.
I greet this news with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I'm very excited about seeing Kira in command, something I've wanted to see for a long time ... but not at the cost of Sisko's life or his presence on the station. This is the dilemma with first officers, solved brilliantly by Peter David in New Frontier by giving Mac and Shelby both their own ships. But the DS9 television writers have taken Sisko out of the Trek universe fairly decisively, so its not an option here. Sisko had much of his most interesting interaction with Worf and Jadzia Dax, characters who are also gone. Will that mitigate the loss or make it worse?
Kira's romance with Odo was something that fascinated me for years before the pair actually fell in love, so I did a lot of screaming when he announced that he was leaving for good. It still doesn't entirely make sense to me that he would do something so decisive, so close to the end of the war with the Founders - that is something I owuld like to see explored in a novel, Odo's through processes as the war neared an end. As for Kira, who took many months to realize Odo loved her and even longer to realize she reciprocated his feelings, how will she deal with his absence? They have been friends for many years, and in some ways he has served as her moral compass. She may command, but with Jadzia dead, Odo gone and Sisko out of reach, she's going to be very lonely.
No sooner did we have to contemplate Bashir dating Ezri Dax than we learned he would have to live without Miles O'Brien, his best friend and companion for virutally all his off-duty interests. That opens up possibilities for the lovers, since Ezri won't have to compete for Julian's attentions, but I'd still expect him to be sad for awhile. Their best mutual friend, Garak, is also gone. Ezri has never been confortable being a joined Trill, and Bashir has never been comfortable being an enhanced human, which gives them a certain amount in common - maybe not enough to keep them togther, though. I wouldn't mind seeing trouble in paradise.
Not only Garak but most of the supporting cast - Dukat, Damar, Rom, Leeta, Winn, Weyoun and many others - are far away from the familar settings of DS9. There's a lot of continuity disrupted, a lot of familiar faces missing, and with the war over, a lot of space to rebuild. I'm having a hard time believeing it won't be something of a letdown to revisit DS9 with so much lost, but I'd love to be pleasantly surprised. I appreciated the realism of the losses in the war story, so big changes became inevitable. I just hope what's left behind lives up to what was there in the first place.
-Michelle Erica Green
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"When they come, kill them. We're not here to make friends." -- Connor
"But you're my friend." -- Duncan
"Count yourself lucky." -- Connor
Highlander: The Element of Fire
[This message has been edited by JeffKardde (edited November 14, 2000).]
[This message has been edited by JeffKardde (edited November 14, 2000).]
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