F/SF

There are several things about this novel that don't chime with later DS9 canon - Odo consumes liquid; the political situation on Bajor is more fraught; the Redemptorists aren't mentioned again. But all in all I liked the way that it dealt with galactic politics and thought the existence of a "quarantine module" made good sense, and while it didn't stand out as having particularly great characterization, I'm not mad at it.

Hmm, it looks like nobody really liked this book all that much, particularly since the common thread through the reviews (both of them – though there are more now) is that the characters in the novel behave nothing like the characters in the series, and that the author obviously did not follow the guidelines in the Writer's Bible (a book, I suspect, that outlines a number of rules to follow when writing for the series). There is also a suggestion that they have decided to throw another killer onto the spacestation that Odo has to catch, and on top of that the Cardassians are trying to establish a space station on the other side of the wormhole to pretty much control who uses it.
Well, that is all I will say about the novel because I really cannot remember much about it and it was a long time since I actually read it. I am not a huge trekkie, and in many cases only watch it to get a dose of science-fiction. It did enjoy the series tough, especially when the story arc about the Dominion began to develop. In a way it was better that the other series, particularly Voyager where the only goal was to get home. However I have noticed that the writers try to be as politically correct as possible, and that does get somewhat annoying (a Black Vulcan, woah, we really have come far).
As for the series itself, I have begun watching them again (though how far I will get through them is yet to be seen), and though I am only up to episode six of the first season, there are a few things that stand out. First and foremost is the acting, it is quite annoying. While I would not necessarily call it bad, I would not call it outstanding either. I have also been watching the first season of Rome, and the acting in Rome is outstanding, though in parts the writers seem to switch between a more modern rendering of the dialogue and a Shakespearian form. That is something that does take a lot of skill, and I must say is completely absent from many of the other series that I have seen. In this series, and while it is only the beginning, it really does come across that the actors have not fully fallen into their roles yet, though it was also something noticeable in the first season of The Next Generation.
One of the things that I do like about the series though is the relationship between Quark and Odo. In a way they are complete opposites but simply cannot exist without each other. They actually do develop a very strong relationship even though they tend to be a foil to each other. In fact I do like how the writers ended up developing the Ferengi through bringing Quark into the series. We get a much better idea on how they operate. In the Next Generation they were little more than traders who would always be out to earn a quick buck even at other people's expense. Obviously they really did not like the Federation's idea of equality and growing one's own character. To them the most important thing is money and making a profit. In a way it seems as if the writers are attempting to externalise human failings into other races to leave us as an enlightened and wise race.
Babylon 5 was so much better in how they developed and explored human evolution, as does George Bernard Shaw in Back to Methusela. This series just seems to be humanity suddenly waking up one morning and saying, 'gee, we have been really bad, I think we need to change our ways or people (the Vulcans) won't like us'. I also pretty much despise the idea of tossing religion out of the window and blaming it for all our failings. To be honest, who has the right to determine that one religion (scientific materialism) is any better, worse, or more advanced, than any other religion. By determining that the only true religion is scientific materialism then you are doing exactly the same thing that you are accusing all of the other religions of doing, and that is being exclusive and insisting that the other person is wrong. When you then ban another religion in place of your religion, well, you have now become a persecutor, something that you objected against back during the Scopes Monkey Trial. How things come full circle (oh, and yes, Christians are also guilty of this). ( )

As with the other early DS9, Voyager and TNG novels as a reader you have to expect a bit of stuff that's wrong because the series is still in its infancy.

Still, this book had a lot of errors, even compared to the Siege. They got Bashir's characterization entirely wrong. I'm not sure what was going on with the Wormhole Aliens. And even the relationship between Sisko and Kai Opaka seemed totally off.

There also wasn't nearly enough Dax in the book, and she too seemed to be treated like a living breathing extension of the computer instead of her character, which in some ways is much more of Sisko's right hand woman than Kira is.

I guess that the plot, and Bajoran religious intrigue was interesting at points, but it couldn't overcome the glaring mistakes. Not the worst Star Trek novel I've read, just not the best either. ( )

Även om boken tar sig mot slutet, så är de första två tredjedelarna alldeles för mycket. Det är så ofta för mycket detaljer sammankopplat med överdrivna beskrivningar och jag har svårt att känna igen mig i karaktärerna såsom de var i första säsongen av TV-serien Deep Space 9. Nej, KW Jeter gör mig mycket besviken. ( )