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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Pocket)

The Deep Space Nine relaunch

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine has been published in novel form by Pocket Books since 1993 in the USA, the UK, and the Republic of Ireland under license from Paramount Pictures. Beginning with Revenant in December 2021, Simon & Schuster started releasing Star Trek: Deep Space Nine novels under its Gallery Books imprint.

Summary

Pocket Books was the first publisher given license by Paramount to produce a series of original novels and episode novelizations based on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. All DS9 novels, technical publications and adaptations have been part of this ongoing series. Most of the numbered novels take place during the first four seasons of the series.

The novels published during the run of the series sometimes found themselves quickly contradicted by the serialized nature of the series. Marco Palmieri commented: "Book publishing is not a fast process. From the time an idea for a novel is approved by Paramount to the day you actually see the book on a store shelf, an average of eighteen months has gone by. There are exceptions, but that's the average. Now factor in the fact that DS9 developed a evolving story with more character development and plot twists that any other Star Trek series. Given the speed at which those changes were taking place on screen, and the sheer scope and number of those changes from one episode to the next, it simply wasn't possible to for the books to keep up. An example: a novel that was approved during the middle of Season 3 probably wouldn't get published until the end of Season 4. Think of all the changes the characters and situations underwent in that time. That's the irony: one of the things that DS9 fans enjoyed most about the series actually worked against the novels!" [1](X)

Post-finale novels

Twist of Faith
Twist of Faith, a collection of the first five stories from the post-finale novels

The majority of novels being written now form part of the so-called "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine relaunch", which picks up the story after the end of the filmed series and has become extremely popular with readers. Michael Okuda created the new logo for the post-"What You Leave Behind" novels, which began in 2001. The original DS9 logo is used for literature that is set during the series, such as the 2003 anthology Prophecy and Change and the 2005 novel Hollow Men. The Lives of Dax anthology was originally published in 1999 with the classic DS9 logo, but was republished in 2003 with the relaunch logo.

The idea of continuing the story of Deep Space Nine in novel form came from Pocket editor Marco Palmieri, who discussed its conception and development in Voyages of Imagination. Palmieiri considered the task of the post-finale series to be "an amazing opportunity for the fiction to continue where a show had left off – to offer its fans a vision of what happened next. We wanted it to be a true continuation, chronicling events that, like those on the TV series, would be fraught with consequences and free of resets" (Voyages of Imagination, pp. 256-257). He was supported in his efforts by Paramount, in particular Paula M. Block in the Paramount licensing division.

Palmieri first developed what he terms the "metastory", the narrative framework for the stories to be told in, which would give what he called "a shared creative direction, but roomy and flexible enough to accommodate sudden inspirations or unexpected twists". He was keen to ensure the novels stayed close to "the tone and texture of the TV series while still presenting the audience with something new," (Voyages of Imagination, pp. 256-257) and while he was concerned that what was developed might eventually be contradicted by a future TV episode or movie, he considered it a worthy gamble. After two years of development, the series began with the two-part Avatar.

As well as featuring the characters from the television series and bringing Ro Laren into the series, the post-finale novels introduced brand new characters, such as Elias Vaughn, Taran'atar, Thirishar ch'Thane, Prynn Tenmei, and Sam Bowers, among others. Palmieri felt it important for the series to deal with the loss of characters who had moved on from the station at the end of the televised narrative, and to introduce these new arrivals, noting that "it was a great opportunity to create a new group dynamic where we could explore and learn about the new kids on the block, and explore the old ones in new ways" (Voyages of Imagination, pp. 256-257).

Palmieri was also keen to develop different authorial voices through the relaunch: "The work is definitely more challenging that way, but ultimately more rewarding, I think. With that in mind, I reached out to authors I thought would get the new novels off to a good start." (Voyages of Imagination, pp. 256-257)

Palmieri added: "It's not an undertaking for the timid. DS9 was a very complex, tightly written, character-driven serial with, I think, a well-deserved reputation for excellence in storytelling. You need to be crazy or arrogant to think you can transition that sort of entertainment experience from television to novels. It's probably fair to say I'm two out of two". (Voyages of Imagination, pp. 256)

The post-finale novels became known to Ira Steven Behr, who commented in 2002: "I believe that the future [of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine] lies in these books that I hear they are doing to continue it". ("Deep Space Memoirs", TV Zone, issue 50)

Christie Golden commented: "From what I hear, the DS9 relaunch is getting some big thumbs up from the readers." [2]

Releases

Novelizations

Numbered

  1. Emissary
  2. The Siege
  3. Bloodletter
  4. The Big Game
  5. Fallen Heroes
  6. Betrayal
  7. Warchild
  8. Antimatter
  9. Proud Helios
  10. Valhalla
  11. Devil in the Sky
  12. The Laertian Gamble
  13. Station Rage
  14. The Long Night
  15. Objective: Bajor
  16. Invasion! #3: Time's Enemy
  17. The Heart of the Warrior
  18. Saratoga
  19. The Tempest
  20. Wrath of the Prophets
  21. Trial by Error
  22. Vengeance
  23. The 34th Rule
  24. Rebels #1: The Conquered
  25. Rebels #2: The Courageous
  26. Rebels #3: The Liberated
  27. A Stitch in Time

Unnumbered

Relaunch

This represents editor Marco Palmieri's recommended reading order for the relaunch, until Unity.

Omnibus releases

Related stories

Post-Picard novels

Young adult

This was a series of young adult books based around the adventures of Jake and Nog published between 1994 and 1998. They were produced by Minstrel Books and published with the Pocket Books imprint.

  1. The Star Ghost
  2. Stowaways
  3. Prisoners of Peace
  4. The Pet
  5. Arcade
  6. Field Trip
  7. Gypsy World
  8. Highest Score
  9. Cardassian Imps
  10. Space Camp
  11. Day of Honor: Honor Bound
  12. Trapped in Time

Characters

Pocket/Gallery releases
The Original Series • The Next Generation • Deep Space Nine • Voyager • Enterprise • Discovery • Picard • Strange New Worlds • Alternate Reality
New Frontier • Starfleet Corps of Engineers • Stargazer • Titan • Vanguard • Klingon Empire

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