CAPTAIN Ezri Dax?! [Possible spoilers for DESTINY in replies]

[PGoodman13]

Okay, so I don't tend to read Star Trek novels. Got burned a lot in the past, so I just don't mess with them that much. So I'm in Barnes & Noble last night, getting a gift card for my nephew's birthday, and I find myself wandering the SF section. I pick up one of the Destiny novels, and see that it involves one Captain Ezri Dax.

WTF?

At the end of DS9, she was either an ensign or lieutenant j.g. I'm supposed to buy that she's in command of a starship only five years later? That takes some suspension of disbelief that's rough even for the likes of me.

Can someone who's read these tell me how they managed to pull this off?

[The Tatterdemalion King]

Can someone who's read these tell me how they managed to pull this off?

She killed a Vong with her mind.

[RaconteurX]

She killed a Vong with her mind.

So she's a canonical Mary Sue in the novels? Ah, the depths to which Trek fiction has sunk.

[The Tatterdemalion King]

So she's a canonical Mary Sue in the novels? Ah, the depths to which Trek fiction has sunk.

Hell if I know. I'm just not a huge fan of licensed EUs like this...

[Dan Gurden]

Well. It started with the DS9 relaunch reall. Ezri may have been happy with a life as a ships counsellor, but as she came to terms with being joined with the Dax symbiont she found herself unhappy in that role.

So she switched to the command track, and as a Lieutenant was the XO on the Defiant.

Now, the rest I am guessing a bit (as I stopped reading about here), but there were an awful lot of opportunities for promotion in post Dominion War universe due to the high level of casualties. And for an experienced front line officer (ie; Dax) to not find themselves propelled forward in a career at a high rate would actually seem a little odd really.

Does that help with helping define how a character can rise in rank in that time?

If not. Remember. Its fiction. The two together should do it.

[PicardX]

She was serving as the second officer when the captain and first officer were killed during the initial Borg attacks. She received a field promotion to captain.

[PGoodman13]

Thank you, Dan and PicardX. That explains a lot, and I can definitely accept that. I had, in fact, hoped it was something like that and not some lame-ass bullpoop.

[Tricky]

She killed a Vong with her mind.

Ok, I'll bite: are you kidding? And, what's a Vong (i mean, I know they have Vong in the Star Wars EU, but don't seem to remember which race that is.)

[The Tatterdemalion King]

Ok, I'll bite: are you kidding? And, what's a Vong (i mean, I know they have Vong in the Star Wars EU, but don't seem to remember which race that is.)

It's a joke that requires knowledge of the obscurities and criticism thereof of three different SF fandoms to make sense. Perhaps my sarcasm is a bit arcane sometimes...

[Ineti]

Thank you, Dan and PicardX. That explains a lot, and I can definitely accept that. I had, in fact, hoped it was something like that and not some lame-ass bullpoop.

No, no bullpoop. The series of post-TV series DS9 books have done a really nice job of continuing the character threads forward. Through the novels, Ezri finds she takes to command really well, and it eventually culminates in her getting a command.

And there's some precedent for young captains in Starfleet. JT Kirk for one.

[WarriorKnight]

No, no bullpoop. The series of post-TV series DS9 books have done a really nice job of continuing the character threads forward. Through the novels, Ezri finds she takes to command really well, and it eventually culminates in her getting a command.

And there's some precedent for young captains in Starfleet. JT Kirk for one.

Picard for another. He was born in 2305,entered the academy in 2322 & took command of the Stargazer in 2333.Making him 28 yrs old,a year or two younger than Kirk.

[Tricky]

But, don't forget, as a blended organisim, Ezri Dax has lifetimes more experience than the Ezri host. I'm sure, in a universe of symbiotic relationships, species with 8 year lifespans and super intelligent androids that know the sum total of all human knowledge in the first second of activation, that SF uses more than age to decide who's good to be a captain of a ship.

Although, I can't really see Ezri as a command sorta person. At times, she barely seemed sure of things in her chosen profession, let alone being the one in charge, imho.