0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent book., 2008-05-15
Well-plotted, well-written, with excellent characterizations, this is one of the best Star Trek books, of any generation, that I've ever read. Set in the post-TV series Deep Space Nine era, it continues the story in a very interesting and well-integrated way. Well worth reading for any fan of the series, and probably not a bad read even for someone unfamiliar with the series.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Long winded author is BORING!, 2007-06-06
I'm not sure why there are so many reviews praising this book. I find this book very boring and long winded. Now I like authors describing the setting to paint a picture of where we are at, but goddamn, this author takes at least 2 or 3 (small print) pages worth to describe every scene, every thought, every action. I just want to shake David and tell him to get to the bloody point already! Most the time people ask a question, by the time we get to the answer, I've forgotten what the question is because this author feels the need to fill you in on the whole life history on the character, his thoughts and why he's about to answer the way he will. It's freakin annoying and this is one of the most longest winded star trek books I've ever read. The only downside is that you have to read it to appreciate the full scope of the Unity build up. Damn. I could have dropped about 200 pages easily from this book and made it a hell of alot shorter and better read in my opinion. If you read this book, skip alot of the descriptions and just read mostly the dialog, and it'll feel somewhat closer to watching the show.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
A book of confrontations, 2004-08-03
This is a book about confrontations between characters, and for some, within them as well. It makes for somewhat unpleasant reading. The book is better written than it is enjoyable. The characterisations are very vivid, and usually very well done. The descriptions are generally also very good, but the author has a tendency to go on at slightly greater length than necessary or useful. The main issue here is the acceptance of Bajor into the Federation, and correspondingly the acceptance of the non-Federation characters into the Federation - or not. The book lays out all the issues the characters have. Unfortunately, the style left me feeling edgy about the characters' fates, rather than looking forward to seeing them resolved, and this is on my second reading and after reading Unity. Also, in the Gamma Quadrant, Commander Vaughn is forced to relive the worst experiences of his life. He has a lot of them, and for my taste the author takes us through a few too many, in too much detail. The climax for his section was also a bit over the top emotionally. With all that said, this is like one of the hard-hitting DS9 episodes: you won't go back to it anytime soon, but if you skip it, you have missed some worthwhile. It is also sets a good foundation for the series as a whole.
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
the best I've read so far, 2004-05-29
Upto this point, mission Gamma part 1 is this best I've read in the relaunch series.Although like the series in general, this book is mostly character driven, it still has all of the elements of a good sci fi novel. Stumbling upon strange new worlds and beings, making new discoveries and learning of infinite possibilities beyond the realm of what we experience every day is the stuff of good science fiction. This book has all of that
The Mission Gamma part 1 revolves around three main plots which are:
Vaughn and a crew from DS9 go on a mission of exploration into the Gamma quadrant.
The crew stumbles upon two new worlds and three different kinds of alien species. One of these species communicates by changing epidermal colors and patterns. The other two species are not not of corporeal form and live in a different realm. Not much is known about them (or it) other than something called the thoughtscape is the most prominent part of its existence and has the ability to establish communion with others rather then to communicate.
Quark's relationship with Ro (security officer)
A Romance develops between the two. I was a bit skeptical that anything would come of it at first and did not like the idea. As I read more about their relationship however, I've become more interested in seeing how far it would go.
Elias Vaughn's relationship with his daughter
Before this story a was puzzled as the way Prynn resented her father. This story clarifies everything nicely
Bajor's future as it moves closer to joining the United Federation of Planets and how this may effect Ro and Quark's future as well.
Quark is concerned that when the federation takes over the station, he will be out of a job because the Federation is essentially a moneyless organization. Ro is concerned because she and starfleet don't have good relations. So what will be her new place on a federation controlled space station (assuming she is even allowed to stay)?
While new relations are forged, others face an uncertain future, and some explore uncharted territory in the Gamma Quadrant; Taranatar continues to explore and observe humanity on the space station. Some parts involving Taranatar are very funny. A Jemhadar would be the last I would think to be in a holosuite studying partial differential equations. That's the beauty to this entire genre, just when you think you've read it all you find something that takes you by surprise. Star Trek is so full of surprises.
I also would like to add that the writer (David R. George III) is one of the best I've read so far. The character development is superp and he brings things together well with no inconsistentcies while writing a relatively complex plot.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Deep Space Nine gets back to exploring, 2004-04-25
One of the draws to the television show Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was the fact that the wormhole passage that was right next to the station enabled exploration to a completely uncharted area of space, the Gamma Quadrant. While the show had its fair share of episodes exploring this area, they spent more time with Bajor, and, subsequently, with the Dominion War. In fact, in later seasons, the wormhole was closed and the Gamma Quadrant was unreachable.
Now that the series is over and the books have taken over the grand Deep Space Nine story, it's time to open up the exploration again. Twilight, by David R. George III, is the beginning of a four-part story which details this. It's a huge novel with a very large story to tell, one which it tells effectively for the most part. However, it's a bit bloated with so much information, and George's occasionally heavy prose and repetition make this problem worse. Still, it's a great read for any DS9 fan.
I have never seen a 500 page Trek novel before, but George has a lot of ground to cover. I'm glad to say that he doesn't waste much of it, though the book could have been trimmed a bit here and there. George's style is very workmanlike and enjoyable. One thing it is not is boring. However, he does repeat himself at times, seemingly to emphasize points that he thinks the reader should definitely remember. Kira's attainder against practicing her religion gets mentioned many times. Other times, repetition is not the problem, but heavy-handed prose is. George allows his characters to get very introspective, but sometimes he goes a bit too far, with pages going by with nothing but a character thinking. I really loved the book, but I found it dragging at times because of this.
The main place where this happens is on the planet where the pulse originated. George does a wonderful job examining his characters, especially Vaughn. Vaughn has a lot of soul-searching to do. His relationship with his daughter is non-existent, as she blames him for her mother's death and for abandoning her afterward in his own guilt. He has always dreamed of exploring, but most of his career has been spent fighting various menaces. He has a lot of regrets in his past, and he ends up reliving a lot of them on the planet. While this was fascinating stuff, it began to get tedious as the pages roll by. Sometimes, I just wanted Vaughn to shut up and get on with it. There are some passages for Dax like this as well, and each character has just a bit too much introspection for my taste. The book just feels a bit bloated because of this.
George captures the other characters wonderfully, getting to the heart of the various conflicts between them. The ongoing tension between ch'Thane and his family is beautifully drawn, finally extracting a promise that he never wanted to make to his fellow Andorians. Ro and Quark tap dance around their feelings, making a wonderful contrast with Quark's relationship with Odo in the series. Kira, and Kassidy are both equally well-done. Taran'atar, the Jem'Hadar warrior who has been assigned by Odo to observe the Alpha Quadrant and learn something, has some wonderful scenes as he moves out of the Operations area and tries to observe the rest of the station. The only characters who are given short shrift are Bashir and Nog (who does get a wonderful scene with Taran'atar), but that's to be expected. George has already tried to pack the book full. However, if the book had to be this big, it would have been nice to chop some of the bloat and give it to these two.
Twilight is a wonderful beginning to the "Mission: Gamma" series, and a wonderful addition to the Deep Space Nine mythos. I'm loving the continuation of the television series, and there hasn't been a bad book yet. I'm hoping the other three books in the series are just as good, if not better.
David Roy