We all know Gul Dukat is an irredeemable monster, and that’s why we love to hate him, but somehow I never give enough thought to the fact that he straight-up murdered a Cardassian politician’s wife and kidnapped his son, just in the off chance that he might need political leverage at some point in the indeterminate future. And everyone on DS9 knows it, but he just hangs around all the time anyway and they’re all like, “ugh, this fucking guy,” and they just roll their eyes and fix his ship for him. This is why DS9 is the best Star Trek.
It’s only because they can’t pitch him out of an airlock due to the Political Ramifications. But you know they sit around talking about how they could maybe, possibly figure out how to make it look like an accident.
Not all of them at once, mind you. This is definitely a regular topic of conversation between Kira and Dax when they are having girl’s nights, especially after that episode where Garak called Dukat out for having a crush on Kira.
Julian and Miles talk about it while playing darts, and occasionally get drive-by advice on why their ideas suck by Quark.
Odo is much too Law & Order to have these conversations, though when he happens to overhear a particularly viable plan he casually mentions a convenient hole in the terrible, unfixable Cardassian-made security system to relevant persons.
Sisko pretends these discussions do not happen and makes his Space Dad face whenever Dax tries to engage him in this fun game (It’s just a thought experiment, Benjamin!). A few times, maybe two or three, Dax has been able to get him just tipsy enough to stop being Space Dad and instead be Mentee Benjamin again. That’s when she realizes that he has not only thought out a good half dozen deeply intricate and highly possible scenarios, but that there are encrypted holosuite programs involved and an isolinear chip hidden in his quarters that is mysteriously almost full, yet the only file on it is a jazz album from the late 2200s.
In the end, Dukat falling into the chasm of the Pagh Wraiths was him getting off light.
As we all recover from winter holidays I’m back with a new work.
Just imagine Dr. Parmak who has just returned to Cardassia after being released from the labour camp. The tension between Cardassians and Klingons is getting stronger, there is less confidence in their common future as well as his own.
January 2021: This cover is bad (like so many Star Trek books for some reason), but The Lives of Dax is a rad anthology. It’s fans-only for sure and the insight into each of Dax’s lives is a cool idea.
S.D. Perry knocked her two stories out of the park. (“Rad” and “cool” surely capture the essence of these authors’ work.)
February 2021: Left Hand of Destiny is an epic on the scale of Lord of the Rings featuring Martok, my favorite Klingon (sorry, Worf). For that reason alone it’s worth reading, but the authors do good work in further poking the bear that is Klingon politics.
April 2021: And A Stitch in Time is a Godfather-like exploration of the devout man’s fall from grace. It removes the vale that is central to Garak but it’s worth exploring after watching the TV show.
July 2021: Taking a side road through short fiction (my favorite trips) with Prophecy and Change. I like that these books open the tracks for more philosophical and metaphysical exploration of these characters.
January 2022: The Avatar duology from S.D. Perry is phenomenal! I love the focus on Kira as commander of the station and that Bajoran faith and religion continue to play a vital role.
As a post-war trauma narrative, it’s also fascinating to see them deal with their feelings in the aftermath.
March 2022: Millennium:
The Fall of Terok Nor – Classic setting aboard DS9, I’m with you.
The War of the Prophets – Holy shit, that’s dark.
Inferno – Fun time travel shenanigans. Wraps up too neatly after traumatic events but these characters do have to get back to season 6 of the show.
June 2022: This cover for a collection of short stories makes me deeply uncomfortable. Beyond that, I really have to look at the publication year of 2004 to try and understand why they thought this would be a good idea. It may be intriguing to see what various characters were doing during the Dominion War arc of Deep Space Nine, but this book’s jingoism is rough.
August 2022: The Nexus is a fascinating artifact of 90s Star Trek, written by actors of a TV show and performed as their characters from that show, but not official in any way. But I liked it, a kind of resolution to unresolved moments from the TV show.
August 2022: A neat little adventure, although it’s part of a series and many characters lack development that I’m sure is doled out over the course of several of these short novels. Focusing on a crew of mostly engineers gives this that lower decks vibe, a definite plus.
November 2022: Okay not a Deep Space Nine-branded book, but I read all of these Myriad Universes collections because some of them are centered around Deep Space Nine and I couldn’t just skip over some stories. They’re all worth the read even if the first thirds of most stories are weirdly consistent at dragging before the pace picks up. The DS9 story in this book is the third and final novella, Seeds of Dissent. All of these books present “what if?” scenarios and this one focuses on an alternate history in which Khan creates his own version of the mirror universe with genetically augmented humans ruling the alpha quadrant with an iron fist. It’s centered on Bashir and Dax (Ezri), but they bring in elements from ENT, TOS, and even a flashback character from Voyager. It’s also funny to see someone like O’Brien as a meathead augment. I don’t know if I buy Bashir’s turn in the story but it was a nice romp where the good guys put on their evil goatees for a while.
December 2022: DeCandido’s story, A Gutted World, is the only reason I started reading these books, because it presents the most compelling question: "What if the Cardassians discovered the Bajoran Wormhole?“ And let me tell ya, it gets rough. Expect copious death. I didn’t appreciate jamming Picard and crew in as the central figures when you had a perfectly good Sisko in the mix as well, but still an interesting look at how all the factions of the Dominion war might’ve gone about things if the Cardassians had lucked upon the wormhole first.
January 2023: Honor in the Night is the final story in this book and of all of the Myriad Universes series. It starts out with TOS events centered around the “The Trouble With Tribbles” episode, but unlike most stories in this series, you’re not following one of the captains around. Instead, it plays like a century-long mystery, dipping in and out of an alternate history that explores how a change in that TOS episode could elevate minor characters to critical players in galactic politics. (Imagine Citizen Kane but Star Trek.) The early bits can get confusing as the story skips around between different dates and characters, but it eventually gets very intriguing and does wind its way onto DS9 and Bajor. This may actually be my favorite of the Myriad Universes stories, precisely because we get to hang out with characters who aren’t one of the main cast of the TV show. But as much as I enjoyed all these alternate histories, I’m glad to wrap it up and get back to the DS9 relaunch books.
January 2023: I grabbed Seven Deadly Sins on a whim while browsing at the library because I’m a sucker for a short story anthology. This one’s not entirely about DS9 and its characters, but three of the seven stories do focus on characters and situations that spin off from DS9. David A. McIntee’s "Reservoir Ferengi” focuses on the post-show exploits of cousin Gaila, ex-liquidator Brunt, and forlorn Pel; an intriguing look into Cardassian politics in “The Slow Knife” by James Swallow; and another trip to the Mirror Universe in “Freedom Angst” by Britta Burdett Dennison. All of these stories present compelling writing and characters and it’s another solid entry in the “let’s follow some characters who aren’t just the main cast of a TV show” side of Star Trek.
February 2023: These DS9 novels spend a lot of time with Bashir and Dax as a couple, working out their couple stuff. I suppose they’re really the only couple available in these early releases of the relaunch, but I hope we get to see other perspectives on romantic relationships. But otherwise, it’s a neat and tidy little adventure, and I like the scenes in which a Jem’Hadar ally has to observe these weird humans and basically ask them “what the hell are you doing?”
March 2023: A journey of catastrophe after catastrophe. The Gateways series appeared to be focused on bringing together characters from across the entire Star Trek universe, but then ending each novel with a cliffhanger. I don’t think that worked as well as it might’ve seemed on paper. It also really felt like I should have read all of the Gateways books, but I’m sticking to just reading the DS9-centric stories for the sake of having limited time on this planet. I did enjoy spending all this time with Nog and Kira, which leads us to…
April 2023: Kira’s journey is concluded in the Horn and Ivory novella from this anthology that concludes six different novels that each ended with a cliffhanger. It was once again tempting to read them all, but I stuck to just the one featuring a DS9 character. And whaddaya know, I loved it! It takes Kira into a completely different setting and provides a bit more historical info about Bajor in their middle ages. I guess this would have made for a weird ending to the novel but I still really wish it had been bundled together.
August 2023: This was a very hefty novel but it was good to go back to the old style of dealing with incomprehensible beings from other dimensions. It was a welcome respite from the more action-oriented stories from earlier in the year, since Star Trek is really at its Trekkiest when the protagonist has to dive into some deeply personal and philosophical waters. It was also good to spend time with Vaughn, a character propped up as the important new guy but who hasn’t had much going on since the Avatar duology.
December 2023: I like that I can hop around between DS9 stories that are part of the post-show timeline and the various stories that just take place at some point during or prior to the show. Also good to see the designers stepping up that cover art! And let me tell ya, this story delivers on that cover. Half of it is a Jadzia and Kira adventure with mysteries, heists, danger, and a lot of really good background on the Dax symbiont. Loved that! Then Kira tagged out for Worf and Bashir, and that was alright. I wish it had been Jadzia and Kira all the way though.
December 2023: Whoops, one more before the end of the year. I’d been meaning to read it for about a year and finally found some time with the digital copy from Open Library. Like the other SCE stories, it’s a short and sweet little tale. The thematic elements about a civilization’s collapse and hope for the future were just what I needed after reading some more downbeat stories.
January 2021: This cover is bad (like so many Star Trek books for some reason), but The Lives of Dax is a rad anthology. It’s fans-only for sure and the insight into each of Dax’s lives is a cool idea.
S.D. Perry knocked her two stories out of the park. (“Rad” and “cool” surely capture the essence of these authors’ work.)
February 2021: Left Hand of Destiny is an epic on the scale of Lord of the Rings featuring Martok, my favorite Klingon (sorry, Worf). For that reason alone it’s worth reading, but the authors do good work in further poking the bear that is Klingon politics.
April 2021: And A Stitch in Time is a Godfather-like exploration of the devout man’s fall from grace. It removes the vale that is central to Garak but it’s worth exploring after watching the TV show.
July 2021: Taking a side road through short fiction (my favorite trips) with Prophecy and Change. I like that these books open the tracks for more philosophical and metaphysical exploration of these characters.
January 2022: The Avatar duology from S.D. Perry is phenomenal! I love the focus on Kira as commander of the station and that Bajoran faith and religion continue to play a vital role.
As a post-war trauma narrative, it’s also fascinating to see them deal with their feelings in the aftermath.
March 2022: Millennium:
The Fall of Terok Nor – Classic setting aboard DS9, I’m with you.
The War of the Prophets – Holy shit, that’s dark.
Inferno – Fun time travel shenanigans. Wraps up too neatly after traumatic events but these characters do have to get back to season 6 of the show.
June 2022: This cover for a collection of short stories makes me deeply uncomfortable. Beyond that, I really have to look at the publication year of 2004 to try and understand why they thought this would be a good idea. It may be intriguing to see what various characters were doing during the Dominion War arc of Deep Space Nine, but this book’s jingoism is rough.
August 2022: The Nexus is a fascinating artifact of 90s Star Trek, written by actors of a TV show and performed as their characters from that show, but not official in any way. But I liked it, a kind of resolution to unresolved moments from the TV show.
August 2022: A neat little adventure, although it’s part of a series and many characters lack development that I’m sure is doled out over the course of several of these short novels. Focusing on a crew of mostly engineers gives this that lower decks vibe, a definite plus.
November 2022: Okay not a Deep Space Nine-branded book, but I read all of these Myriad Universes collections because some of them are centered around Deep Space Nine and I couldn’t just skip over some stories. They’re all worth the read even if the first thirds of most stories are weirdly consistent at dragging before the pace picks up. The DS9 story in this book is the third and final novella, Seeds of Dissent. All of these books present “what if?” scenarios and this one focuses on an alternate history in which Khan creates his own version of the mirror universe with genetically augmented humans ruling the alpha quadrant with an iron fist. It’s centered on Bashir and Dax (Ezri), but they bring in elements from ENT, TOS, and even a flashback character from Voyager. It’s also funny to see someone like O’Brien as a meathead augment. I don’t know if I buy Bashir’s turn in the story but it was a nice romp where the good guys put on their evil goatees for a while.
December 2022: DeCandido’s story, A Gutted World, is the only reason I started reading these books, because it presents the most compelling question: "What if the Cardassians discovered the Bajoran Wormhole?“ And let me tell ya, it gets rough. Expect copious death. I didn’t appreciate jamming Picard and crew in as the central figures when you had a perfectly good Sisko in the mix as well, but still an interesting look at how all the factions of the Dominion war might’ve gone about things if the Cardassians had lucked upon the wormhole first.
January 2023: Honor in the Night is the final story in this book and of all of the Myriad Universes series. It starts out with TOS events centered around the “The Trouble With Tribbles” episode, but unlike most stories in this series, you’re not following one of the captains around. Instead, it plays like a century-long mystery, dipping in and out of an alternate history that explores how a change in that TOS episode could elevate minor characters to critical players in galactic politics. (Imagine Citizen Kane but Star Trek.) The early bits can get confusing as the story skips around between different dates and characters, but it eventually gets very intriguing and does wind its way onto DS9 and Bajor. This may actually be my favorite of the Myriad Universes stories, precisely because we get to hang out with characters who aren’t one of the main cast of the TV show. But as much as I enjoyed all these alternate histories, I’m glad to wrap it up and get back to the DS9 relaunch books.
January 2023: I grabbed Seven Deadly Sins on a whim while browsing at the library because I’m a sucker for a short story anthology. This one’s not entirely about DS9 and its characters, but three of the seven stories do focus on characters and situations that spin off from DS9. David A. McIntee’s "Reservoir Ferengi” focuses on the post-show exploits of cousin Gaila, ex-liquidator Brunt, and forlorn Pel; an intriguing look into Cardassian politics in “The Slow Knife” by James Swallow; and another trip to the Mirror Universe in “Freedom Angst” by Britta Burdett Dennison. All of these stories present compelling writing and characters and it’s another solid entry in the “let’s follow some characters who aren’t just the main cast of a TV show” side of Star Trek.
February 2023: These DS9 novels spend a lot of time with Bashir and Dax as a couple, working out their couple stuff. I suppose they’re really the only couple available in these early releases of the relaunch, but I hope we get to see other perspectives on romantic relationships. But otherwise, it’s a neat and tidy little adventure, and I like the scenes in which a Jem’Hadar ally has to observe these weird humans and basically ask them “what the hell are you doing?”
March 2023: A journey of catastrophe after catastrophe. The Gateways series appeared to be focused on bringing together characters from across the entire Star Trek universe, but then ending each novel with a cliffhanger. I don’t think that worked as well as it might’ve seemed on paper. It also really felt like I should have read all of the Gateways books, but I’m sticking to just reading the DS9-centric stories for the sake of having limited time on this planet. I did enjoy spending all this time with Nog and Kira, which leads us to…
April 2023: Kira’s journey is concluded in the Horn and Ivory novella from this anthology that concludes six different novels that each ended with a cliffhanger. It was once again tempting to read them all, but I stuck to just the one featuring a DS9 character. And whaddaya know, I loved it! It takes Kira into a completely different setting and provides a bit more historical info about Bajor in their middle ages. I guess this would have made for a weird ending to the novel but I still really wish it had been bundled together.
August 2023: This was a very hefty novel but it was good to go back to the old style of dealing with incomprehensible beings from other dimensions. It was a welcome respite from the more action-oriented stories from earlier in the year, since Star Trek is really at its Trekkiest when the protagonist has to dive into some deeply personal and philosophical waters. It was also good to spend time with Vaughn, a character propped up as the important new guy but who hasn’t had much going on since the Avatar duology.
December 2023: I like that I can hop around between DS9 stories that are part of the post-show timeline and the various stories that just take place at some point during or prior to the show. Also good to see the designers stepping up that cover art! And let me tell ya, this story delivers on that cover. Half of it is a Jadzia and Kira adventure with mysteries, heists, danger, and a lot of really good background on the Dax symbiont. Loved that! Then Kira tagged out for Worf and Bashir, and that was alright. I wish it had been Jadzia and Kira all the way though.
When I get back to watching DS9 and wonder when that happened.
