From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference

Contents 1 Hello 2 Star Trek 2.1 Favourite Actors 2.2 Favourite Actresses 2.3 Favourite Characters 2.4 Favourite Episodes 3 Contributions 4 Novels 4.1 DS9 "Relaunch" 4.2 Other novels 4.3 More stories 5 Timeline 6 Real Life

[edit] Hello

I have been using the nick tkhobbes for almost 10 years now - in various chat-rooms, forums etc. In fact, it has become my second identity... You may call me Thomas, if you like, but tkhobbes is just fine.

[edit] Star Trek

My all-time favourite is DS9. I liked TNG when it first aired, but DS9 is the only show I can watch over and over again. Guess it must be the soap-opera-effect... :)

[edit] Favourite Actors

Patrick Stewart - Especially love the Picard-manoeuver...

Avery Brooks - The calm but strong presence that DS9 needed

Armin Shimerman - the best and the worst of all the Ferengi out there...

[edit] Favourite Actresses

Terry Farrell - "The spots go all the way down..."

Suzie Plakson - A pity K'Ehleyr had to die so soon

[edit] Favourite Characters

Jean-Luc Picard - Everything the Federation is about

Quark - Everything the Federation is NOT about

Ro Laren - Some things the Federation is about, some things it is NOT about...

[edit] Favourite Episodes

• "Trials and Tribble-ations" (DS9)
• "Little Green Men" (DS9)
• "What You Leave Behind" (DS9)
• "All Good Things..." (TNG)

[edit] Contributions

[edit] Novels

I started reading the DS9 relaunch novels, but recently turned towards others as well.

[edit] DS9 "Relaunch"

I am enjoying the "series" of novels very much up to now. I have provided summaries for the first couple of novels here on MA - here's the full list of novels I own, in order of supposed reading, including a short rating:

	Title	Rating (out of 5)*
	The Lives of Dax	3 (some good, some not so good stories); note that this is not, by definition, a "Relaunch" novel, however, as the frame-story around Ezri Dax plays after DS9: "What You Leave Behind", I have included it here, and also because at least one of the stories, "Sins of the Mother", has a close tie-in to some of the later relaunch-novels
	Avatar, Book One & Avatar, Book Two	5 (the "pilot" - matches the DS9 feeling absolutely!)
	Abyss (part of the Star Trek: Section 31 mini-series, but great to read stand-alone)	5 (thrilling)
	Demons of Air and Darkness & the DS9-part of What Lay Beyond (part of the Gateways mini-series)	3 (ok, nothing special with the exception of the Quark / Ro episode)
	Twilight (part 1 of the Mission Gamma mini-series)	3 (if not for the "Alpha Quadrant" stuff, this is not a very interesting novel - the aliens are too... alien, and there is no familiar stuff to work with in the Gamma quadrant; however, some important relationships are explored, so this is still a "must-read")
	This Gray Spirit (part 2 of the Mission Gamma mini series; here, I only reformatted the existing summary and added some bits and peaces)	2 (terrible - the Gamma quadrant parts were really "painful" to read, I have to say, and again, if not for the Alpha quadrant parts, this can be skipped (although the Yrynthy eggs play an important role later)
	Cathedral (part 3 of the Mission Gamma mini-series)	3 (better again; some interesting explorations of the personalities of Julian, Nog and Ezri; also, there is important stuff about Bajor and Joseph Sisko in here)
	Lesser Evil (part 4 of the Mission Gamma mini-series)	4 (the best of the Mission Gamma series - the Trills, Bajoran at the edge of being a Federation members, the Borg and the changelings - great!)
	Rising Son	3 (better than anticipated, but a lot of stuff that has only Jake Sisko as a familiar character in)
	Unity ("season 8th's finale", I suppose)	5 (wow - what a big bang!)
	Worlds of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Volume 1: Cardassia and Andor	3 (Cardassia - good in terms of "the arc" and the O'Briens, but weak in terms of the story itself) / 1 (Andor - my god, not even the Shar / Prynn story is... romantic...)
	Worlds of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Volume 2: Trill and Bajor	5 (Trill - I just LOVE the parasite story arc!) / 5 (Bajor - great, loads of stuff develops and the picture is set for future novels!)
	Worlds of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Volume 3: The Dominion and Ferenginar	4 (Ferenginar - a fun novel, just as you would expect from any Ferengi "episode" - maybe a little too light-hearted) / 5 (The Dominion - WHOA, what a story! A lot about the changelings is revealed, and the end of this story leaves nothing as it used to be - no Dominion any more, Kira and Ro both lethally hurted.... what next??)
	Warpath	3 (I was eager to know what happened next; but the Kira part is dull, and the story sometimes confusing - nevertheless, a thrilling novel with another cliffhanger at the end...)
	Fearful Symmetry	3 (there are two parts in this novel; while both parts are thrilling and good to read, I decided to give only a "3" here - as the storyline does not really advance: the first part is all about "what to do next", and while there ARE some relevations, it's basically only some orb-experiences and some talking; the second part is all flash-back)
	The Soul Key	3 (well - the story finally advances, and if not for the long wait and for continuity, I'd probably give this a 2... but at least, some of the story elements are driven forward...)
	The Never-Ending Sacrifice	not yet available

[edit] Other novels

There is also kind of a "TNG Relaunch" which I start to like. I include "Taking Wing" here, as it clears a lot of questions regarding Romulus, Spock and the events following Nemesis directly. In addition, I read some other stories which do not form part of any of the relaunches - I included them here in chronological order.

	Title	Rating (out of 5)*
	The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh, Volume 1	3 (some neat ideas and a good overall story that explains why we never heard of the Eugenic wars - but despite some references to Star Trek, none of the usual main characters appear. Also, the explanations with Gary Seven did not fully satisfy me...)
	The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh, Volume 2	3 (similar to volume 1, although this one is probably a little weaker...)
	Star Trek: Terok Nor - Day of the Vipers	not yet read...
	Star Trek: Terok Nor - Night of the Wolves	not yet read...
	Star Trek: Terok Nor - Dawn of the Eagles	not yet read...
	Crossover	4 (ties in a lot of open ends and questions, and the idea of bringing TNG-era Spock, Scotty and McCoy together is really good, however, McCoy is described a little odd...)
	Taking Wing	4 (a lot of open ends are taken up here, Riker's assignment, the state of Romulus after Nemesis, Spock's unification movement... in sum a great novel, a good launch to the new series)
	Resistance	3 (story is ok, but a little forseeable. It's nice having old characters in new roles, and a lot of references to old stories are made, but overall, the resolution is a little "deus ex machina"...)
	Before Dishonor	4 (slightly better than Resistance and not so much stuff that shouldn't be there; also, it is good to see that even major characters are not spared if it comes down to the Borg)
	Greater than the Sum	4 (well, let's say "Resistance" is 3, "Before Dishonor" is 4 and "Greater than the Sum" is 3.5; very well written, a little too much sex, maybe, and a little too much talk and pages of characters looking inwards... but a good amount of references to other stories and episodes and good stuff on alien life-forms)
	Star Trek: Destiny: Gods of Night	5 (although there are a LOT of characters and LOTS of different places where things happen, this is a great story. It's dark, possibly not as Star Trek as it should be, but - thrilling from the first to the last page)
	Star Trek: Destiny: Mere Mortals	3-4 (the Destiny storyline is intriguing and dark, but there are some bits and parts of this book that are a little lengthy)
	Star Trek: Destiny: Lost Souls	4 (Whoa - Destiny is just - HUGE! The only reason why I gave this novel a 4 is because many lovable characters are killed off - as well as one of the biggest threats ever posed to the Federation now vanished forewer, which is kind of sad...)
	Losing the Peace	still reading
	A Singular Destiny	4 (great story, with a big bang finale - again, the world of ST is shattered...)

[edit] More stories

Finally, some other stories - set in alternate universes or otherwise not connected to the prime timeline:

	Title	Rating (out of 5)*
	Infinity's Prism	3-4 (story about Bashir and the Eugenics is great; the one about Pike and T'Pol is neat; the one about Voyager is less intriguing (and, unfortunately, it's the longest....)
	Echoes and Refractions	3-4 (story with Kirk and Genesis is neat, but a little too many characters die; story around Kira is very dark, but enjoyable; story around the androids is probably the weakest)

*Key: 1 = you have been warned; 2 = you can mostly forget about it; 3 = neat; 4 = great; 5 = a must-read, terrific!

[edit] Timeline

I am currently working on a (personal) version of a Star Trek Timeline, as I started to read other novels apart from the DS9 relaunch ones, and as I wanted to fit them into the right context. The timeline is currently within a spreadsheet, but I am thinking of good ways in how to share it. Maybe I'll put together a simple PHP script...

[edit] Real Life

I life in Switzerland; have a look at www.hobbes.ch for some more stuff about me.