DS9 Novels: A Question

Dentari · Posted Sat 19 Sep, 2015 4:11 PM

Hey,

I'm in need of assistance regarding the Deep Space Nine novels. I have, the night before last, finished Avatar books 1 & 2. Where now? The book indicates that Section 31: Abyss is the next in the "saga". Should I skip Section 31 and get straight into the Mission Gamma series?

I obviously don't want to miss any major plot points, so perhaps I should just read Section 31. My main concern is that it will be more of side story, rather than a direct continuation of the ongoing events in Avatar.

Thoughts?

Solace · Posted Sat 19 Sep, 2015 5:14 PM

I'd say read Section 31: Abyss because it continues on the events from Avatar book 2. Without giving anything away spoiler wise, the book is a direct continuation and well worth the read. I can't really say much else about it without giving away spoilers.

Christopher Halsey · Posted Sat 19 Sep, 2015 10:09 PM

In my opinion you can safely miss Section 31: Abyss if you want to without it really being detrimental to the rest of the books but it is probably worth a read. You can most definitely skip the Gateways books which take place after it but before Mission Gamma the Gateways series whilst an intriguing crossover event I found to be too much hard work for what you got out of it.

Dentari · Posted Sun 20 Sep, 2015 10:35 AM

Thanks for the advice. I've opted to pick up both Section 31: Abyss and the first book in the Mission Gamma series. If they're as good as Avatar I suspect I'll get through these just as quickly.

I was pleasantly surprised by how easily I came to enjoy the newly introduced characters who have joined DS9. Hopefully the rest of the books can keep this up.

Christopher Halsey · Posted Sun 20 Sep, 2015 2:05 PM

Personally I think the DS9 'relaunch' novels have been fantastic on the whole. Sadly there is a time jump due to the Typhon Pact crossover taking place which means some story arcs don't get properly resolved.

Dentari · Posted Sun 20 Sep, 2015 8:46 PM

I'm still unsure at what point I should break off from the DS9 books and work into Articles of the Federation, Destiny, Typhon Pact etc. It's exciting to know I have so much new Star Trek to work through though.

Christopher Halsey · Posted Sun 20 Sep, 2015 8:54 PM

Originally Posted by Dentari

I'm still unsure at what point I should break off from the DS9 books and work into Articles of the Federation, Destiny, Typhon Pact etc. It's exciting to know I have so much new Star Trek to work through though.

I *think* you want to break off after The Never Ending Sacrifice.

Then go with:
Articles of the Federation
Destiny
A Singular Destiny

Then you can go in to the Typhon Pact books and then back to DS9 starting with The Fall.

There are of course more you can read in the DS9 break but if your main focus is DS9 but you don't want to be left out of the main crossovers that should do you well.

Dentari · Posted Sun 20 Sep, 2015 9:23 PM

Awesome. Thanks for the help.

I've recently read the first of the first of the Star Trek: Titan series of books as well, which I really enjoyed. The focus on crew diversity has made it a very interesting read. Whilst waiting for Section 31 to show up I'll be tackling The Red King.

Articles of the Federation and Destiny are what I'm seriously excited for in the future.

Christopher Halsey · Posted Sun 20 Sep, 2015 9:39 PM

Originally Posted by Dentari

Awesome. Thanks for the help.

I've recently read the first of the first of the Star Trek: Titan series of books as well, which I really enjoyed. The focus on crew diversity has made it a very interesting read. Whilst waiting for Section 31 to show up I'll be tackling The Red King.

Articles of the Federation and Destiny are what I'm seriously excited for in the future.

Articles of the Federation and Destiny are amazing, I'm sure you will really enjoy them. As for Titan I really liked it at the start, I especially enjoyed Orion's Hounds, I found The Red King really hard going though but that might be because at the time I had not read The Sundered (from The Lost Era series) which introduces some things quite important to The Red King.

Christopher Halsey · Posted Sun 20 Sep, 2015 9:40 PM

By the way, speaking of DS9 books tell me you have read Millennium?

Dentari · Posted Sun 20 Sep, 2015 10:35 PM

I didn't realise I was meant to have read Millenium yet! Avatar was my first foray into DS9 novels. I started where the show left off to the best of my knowledge.

Christopher Halsey · Posted Mon 21 Sep, 2015 7:19 AM

Originally Posted by Dentari

I didn't realise I was meant to have read Millenium yet! Avatar was my first foray into DS9 novels. I started where the show left off to the best of my knowledge.

Millennium takes place before the end of DS9 so it isn't essential reading in terms of the re-launch it is just an awesome book.

Dentari · Posted Mon 21 Sep, 2015 9:21 PM

I'll be sure to pick it up at some point soon then! My priority at the moment is to pick up where Avatar left off. So many interesting characters and interactions. I'm impressed with Elias Vaughn so far, although Shar is very cool as well.

Christopher Halsey · Posted Mon 21 Sep, 2015 10:34 PM

Vaughn is a great character, if you like him he also appears in Cast No Shadow and a few of The Lost Era novels.

Dentari · Posted Fri 02 Oct, 2015 2:59 PM

Thanks for the advice in this thread! I finished Section 31: Abyss a couple of days back. It was a genuinely great book and left me impatiently awaiting the arrival of my copy of Mission Gamma: Twilight. It finally arrived today and it has been brilliant so far.

I realised earlier on today that I'd managed to skip ahead in the story more than I expected. Characters were referring to events which I hadn't read about, so it seems that I accidentally skipped Gateways: Demons of Air and Darkness. Hopefully this won't adversely effect how much I enjoy the books I'm currently working through.

On a side note though:

As I am concurrently reading Titan: Red King, I was pleasantly surprised by the appearance of Admiral Akaar aboard Deep Space Nine. This is obviously set prior to the events of Titan and I wasn't expecting to see him crop up at all. I kind of assumed he was a Titan specific character! Loving the unexpected appearance though.

DS9 Novels: A Question

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