The Fall: A Ceremony Of Losses - Mack is Back

I like to say I have a linear mind, I like to know the beginning before the middle, or even the end. I even went back to watching Deep Space Nine in anticipation of reading this.

I have read series books from the end, or even the middle, previously. You can always tell proficient writers from experienced writers by reading non-linear – truly experienced writers have the ability to draw you in from any point in their story, even half-way through a particular book. This is especially true when writing about characters you already know, or have grown up getting to know.

Such is the case with this book – A Ceremony of Losses. I had no idea what to expect, nor what to write about, it being my first review. So let me start, at the beginning, of the middle...and be warned I might drop some of those pesky SPOILERS in along the way.

Perseverance is the key to this story's start. For someone starting on this book, David Mack does a admirable job of filling in the blanks. Not so much to believe you know all the previous stories, but enough to make you want to explore the detail of them – a tricky balance to achieve, to be sure.

The negative here being that with so many Andorian names, references, titles and terms to grasp so early on, you actually have to be Andorian just to make it through the first chapter without a headache, or the literacy version of brain-freeze.

memory-beta.wikia.com

As a newcomer to the non-canon series of novels, I have to admit, a little catch up was necessary in order to put the novel into perspective. For example; the new Deep Space Nine space station, a new 'Frontier Class' station. Another addition is the USS Aventine; a rather impressive new Vesta class starship equipped with slipstream technology. I was however unaware of precisely how much I'd missed ...

Mack's use of characters – Dr Bashir, to name one of many old faces, is done well. Capturing Julian's childish demeanour whilst keeping his suppressed ego has been done remarkably well. This should come as no surprise to those who know the author though, as history recalls, he did have a writing hand in two interesting Deep Space Nine episodes - season four's Starship Down and season seven's It's Only a Paper Moon. 

I did have a puzzling moment with one Captain Ezri Dax, I first picked up on it from +Clive Burrell's review. I struggled to see how Dax has gone from a jittery councillor, to a commanding, confident captain, without a massive personality change. I do not wish to dwell on this though, as after catching up a little background reading (no spoilers), Ezri's character actually has gone through an extreme makeover.

Beyond the old faces, there are some very well defined characters alongside and supporting. With moderate access to certain characters' features and a background or two, it serves to understand them, but not emphasise them. One who I'm sure will catch your attention, and who has already been made known to us of the 'TV series only' bunch - Sarina Douglas (Deep Space Nine - Statistical Probabilities, Chrysalis). I'm sorry, a little spoiler alert here... Again, another person who has undergone a huge transformation. Here we had a reclusive, socio-phobic person - turned Section 31 super spy! It's the Trek version of 007 starting off in the loony bin, asking for his medication to be 'shaken, no stirred'...

Away from familiar faces, and for spoilers sake I won't dwell on this, but if you're looking for clues to forthcoming installments - pay close attention to Admiral Akaar, especially towards the end. I won't say much but I would say it is definitely David Mack's clear nod to the starting of book four.

The plot, without giving too much information away, centers around a major upheaval in the Federation, contemplating the extinction of the Andorians. The politics within this story can at times, make for tough reading. Again, perseverance is the key here. If you were after a book to 'settle in bed' with - this is not it. There is too much detail and too many (multi-layer) political plots to grasp. Try speed reading through this and I guarantee you'll spend twice as long having to reread the last paragraph, only to forget what happened previously. Or, as my colleague eloquently put; a "Thinking Man's Star Trek". After looking over book one's review, plus a few group discussions, it does seem that this is going to a common theme along the entire series. They all give you the impression you're in way over your head, that you don't have the attention span of a nuclear physicist and you're going to be brutally brow-beaten for not having so.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not condemning the detail throughout the whole book; most is quite relevant and informative. I especially like the build up near the end; everything balancing on a whim, an entire species hanging in the balance, a beautifully described orbital action scene. I was quite gratified at that moment to find I had, for the first time in the book, suspended all of my other senses, just temporarily until I was confident it had passed.

Only one terrible grievance remains from this whole experience - but it's as big as Bajor itself. As I mentioned before, the plot focuses around the Andorians and their cessation from the Federation. After this, the Federation interim President has declared an embargo of Andor. No food, medicine, commerce or communication to or from the Federation. 

To be quite frank - I just cannot see this. I understand that from a story perspective, it is a key plot line and there are the political aspects that give it cause, but the Federation is by nature a peacekeeping force. I just can't imagine the democratic processes allowing for such an action, even with a despotic President at the helm. There are too many allies and political elements within the Federation that would resist such a move. It is as if David Mack has thrown much politics into this, but failed to grasp the true nature of Federation politics.

That being said, if you can overlook this flaw (if it is indeed one at all for you), the rest of this book is very well thought out, structured and written. Yes, there are some moments that really test you, but you are rewarded for your persistence at the end. Pros and cons considered, here's my conclusion:

The story as a whole is actually quite riveting - a medical mystery, wrapped up in political turmoil, lightly sprinkled with well played espionage, finished with a good side helping of action.

I'll be having a ceremony of loss if I don't read them all, but I won't stand on ceremony over this – until I've read them all. Is it fundamentally flawed? Too political? Perhaps, but also perhaps that's just me, and I'd happily read it again. In fact, I intend to. Whilst I'm doing that - you decide!

Next up in The Fall we have The Poisoned Chalice. Time to head back aboard the USS Titan.

Image by Tobias Richter

A Ceremony of Losses is available now from Simon and Schuster priced £6.99; ISBN 9781476722245.

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Ezri: The Killer Counsellor

So there we were at SKoST Towers, drumming our fingers on the oak desk in Clive's 25th floor penthouse, trying to decide what we could do to mark Nicole de Boer's birthday when we came up with this.

So for the first time we're going head to head, human against human (debatable in both cases) to discuss the wonders of Mark's third love after wife and child. So; was Ezri Dax a pretty decent counsellor or, as Clive suggests, was she just a horrific psychological bomb waiting to go off?

For - Mark

We certainly had a good debate over Ezri/Nicole. I confess to a certain defensiveness over 'my little Ezri', to such an extent that we nearly went from throwing opinions... to throwing objects back and forth!

My esteemed colleague makes some very good points (below), a very solid argument. However, let me point out the flaw in his logic – she did make it.

Whilst Ezri Dax (nee Tegan) certainly was jittery from day one, I wouldn't have thought she was much worse than that. In retrospect, I think she handled eight lifetimes being thrust upon her quite well given the circumstances! They could have done much worse, like putting the Dax symbiote into Deanna Troi? She'd have crashed Deep Space Nine... and I'm not even sure how that's possible!

In fact, she made it to such an extent, that the non-cannon authors thought well enough to develop her even further. It's almost as if they knew what I knew. I'd always had a thought of what the character could have become, if Nicole was given more than just one season to define her character. Let's face it, even Kate Mulgrew required more than a single season to develop Janeway's persona.

Speaking of Nicole, I could imagine there was a heated exchange between her and her agent, when she was told of her next 'assignment'. "So let me get this straight, you want me to effectively replace a well-loved but recently deceased main character, becoming her but not quite, maintain a very weak facade amongst so many strong, established characters, AND develop this character in ONE season?"

To her credit, she did it, brilliantly.

My only gripe with this would be that bringing Dax back was risky to begin with, not to poke too many holes, but there are clear rules for Trills and interaction with their past lives, and here we have a newly joined Dax, effectively resuming her old life (with a few twists of course).

Oh, we could go on having our war of words, throwing dictionaries at each other. But the simple fact remains... If the fans didn't want Ezri there, she wouldn't be there. If they wanted Jadzia back, they'd have done it (Micheal Shanks/Daniel Jackson, Stargate SG1?). This is the lovely convenient thing with sci-fi – anything is possible.

As much as I hate to end my argument with a non-Trek reference, I shall hand you over to my counter, as he will likely de-construct all of my comments in great detail, with references, and pictures, and possibly a slideshow with bullet-points, graphs marking the point in time my argument became invalid! Be kind Clive!

Against - Clive

Nahhhh. She was a liability from the second she inherited the symbiont and that's the truth isn't it? That's just all flouncy stuff, Mark!

Let's look at this more objectively. Ezri (sadly) happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time to receive the Dax symbiont. Instead of getting her back to Trill, the psychological damage just keeps coming - and for a counsellor you'd think she would have some understanding of this but alas...No.

Not only does she turn up to see a less than happy Sisko in New Orleans but then goes off on a cross-galactic adventure with him. This in turn results in her being back on the front lines at Deep Space Nine with her last host's ex-husband. None of that can be good for your mental stability surely? Add into that the point that her first "patient" is former spy/assassin/devious gent Garak who is always game for a challenge and it's as though her card is marked from Image in the Sand. Garak was never going to be easy to handle with the intricate web of deceit and slight of hand especially for such a young, inexperienced and messed up individual.

If Starfleet were genuinely concerned for their officers would this be a good move? That's a lot of change for anyone to go through - but killer counsellor? OK - let's just think about what we've got here.

You're placing a fairly inexperienced officer into a war zone after a life-changing "operation" and even better, with people that knew her previous incarnation including still-mourning husband Worf. As time progresses I really do fear for her patients especially when we have one installment which hands her a kick-ass phaser rifle as part of a murder investigation. Now for those people in the counselling profession I don't think this would be allowed? Aren't all the situations she's being placed in just going to help tip the scales of sanity? Handing her loaded weapons and trying to understand a killer must be the last thing that anyone should be suggesting here!

As if that wasn't enough she ended up in even more intense action at AR-558 confronting the Jem'Hadar face on rather than from the security of the Defiant or Deep Space Nine. Ok so if we're comparing counsellors then she's definitely more of a tough nut than Deanna Troi and has avoided doing serious damage to any starships however the learning curve is more like a straight vertical line as Starfleet Medical effectively washed their hands of the situation once the joining process had been completed. So much for help in the advanced 24th Century.

This makes her an extremely complex character which is fantastic to watch but at what point was she going to go all Falling Down? Best ask a counsellor to - oh - good point. After that she attempts to help Nog recuperate but that falls flat - now with all the memories, emotions and the like flowing through her surely that role of counsellor is a bit redundant as she can't deal with her own challenges? Let's just remember that when Troi lost her Betazoid abilities in The Loss she became quite ineffective for a while.

Oh - and so we don't forget how about having some "interaction" with your previous host's husband to play on the mind - and then get it together with the doctor that Jadzia turned down?  Some of it was probably involuntary emotions left over from the last host but I certainly would be choosing someone else if I needed some personal guidance. In some ways Ezri seriously puts others and herself in danger while acting

In my own defence I'd like to add that I liked Ezri and de Boer and there had to be a way of continuing with the Dax character but at times it did seem strained. In the expanded universe we know that Ezri eventually makes it to captain the USS Aventine so it sort of works out but here on Deep Space Nine she's totally out of her depth and I don't think she's every quite right. Yes, it makes her a little quirky and multi-layered like a confused regenerating Doctor (Who) but from a health and safety point of view it's not too far akin to handing Garak a phaser rifle on Empok Nor...

So that's our viewpoints - what do you think? Was Ezri just a time bomb waiting to go off (and would had we seen an eighth season) or was she in control of it all? Drop your comments below!

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The Fall: Revelation and Dust - Previously on Deep Space Nine

Oh my god, is this a breath of fresh air after the Enterprise novel. The Fall kicks off in style - a style I hope it maintains for this five book run.

I've said it before and I'll say it again now; I missed a whole chunk of non-canon fiction in the last few years but have managed to catch up thanks in no small part to Memory Beta and the works of authors such as David R George III and David Mack.

The opening move of this series ensures you won't be left in the dark for very long. I had a whole heap of questions from page one; where's the old Deep Space Nine? Why is Sisko back? Ro is commanding what? Ezri's a CAPTAIN?! Kira's dead?!

Ok, the last one's not strictly true but Revelations and Dust manages to get new readers up to speed as well as giving that refresh to anyone who's not been out this far for a while. Remember that it's been 2012 since we saw any deep space action with the slew of The Next Generation and The Original Series novels in particular which have packed out 2013. 

So onwards we go and while there's not much in the way of Hollywood-style action, David R George appears to have aimed for a much more solid character piece which echoes something of the focus of his last Star Trek effort, Allegiance in Exile which we reviewed back in March. That same style is here and while we're not looking at the world from the eyes of Kirk and Sulu we are seeing events unfold from, mainly, a quartet of characters; Captain Ro, Captain Sisko, Vedek Kira and Captain Ezri Dax. As one of my erstwhile colleagues has also noted the transformation of Ezri from reluctant host to Starfleet super-captain is amazing and still doesn't hold that true in my mind although the author of this book cannot be held to account on that front. Nor am I massively convinced by Ro's Starfleet-court-martial-Starfleet-Maquis-Starfleet career jumping but hey, that's all in the past so let's move on.

Then there's an entire thread that seems unattached to some degree dealing with a land-based story of freedom fighters which is linked with the "missing" Kira. Now that's a line which takes some reading to find out what it's all about. It seems a random segment to keep returning to and did lose me a little however as with everything there is a purpose. Stick with it.

Kira does indeed feature from page one and her story is almost a separate piece to the rest of the book, placing us back into events both seen and unseen that took place during the initial discovery of the wormhole and first contact with the Prophets. Action from Emissary is replayed word for word but David R George III also weaves in some new bits which make perfect sense and could easily have been lost scenes. I'd go as far to say that while it's a nice twist on past events and keeps us grounded with the Prophets even though the wormhole is gone, Nerys actually has the least to do here, being stuck in one place for a fairly long time...and also seemingly not involved in any way - but there is a point and a payoff to it and no doubt will be continued within the quintet of novels

While there is a lot here which is about looking to the future and also about rebuilding, it's definitely acting as a bridge to the rest of the series; it's a beginning, a beginning and a beginning all rolled into one; most certainly as it should be. Revelation and Dust heavily emphasises the loss that occurred in the destruction of the first Deep Space Nine and never really revels in the commissioning of the second. While you can see the grandiose is there, the assembled heads of empires in attendance, each of the main viewpoint characters are in some way facing a difficulty, making this less than a celebratory occasion. Whether it be family, relationships or assignments, there are a lot of demons to be confronted although David R George III seems to keep them concealed within the psyche of each player, no doubt to be unuravelled and revealed as we go through The Fall. 

In relation to the rest of the series there are one or two line drops in there which are signposting the stories we are due; the first however does take a sizable 200 plus pages to appear and nods to Picard and that starship of his - guess we know where he'll be going in Book Two then! How the rest of the show will intertwine is going to be fascinating as this isn't Cold Equations and a single author - there are five different styles and personalities combined here to cover the events of a window in Star Trek time. I'm guessing there will be numerous cross-references and I'm 99.9% certain these will be essential to hold the reader. David R George III probably gets the hardest job setting out the plan but it's done exceptionally well.

For a fair chunk of Revelation and Dust I didn't know where the heck this was going. I was pointed one way, directed another, introduced to X, spent a bit of time in Y but then I had to pause when the "moment" came because I wasn't quite expecting it nor was I expected it to be at that point in the story. It's all about understanding the relationships and the nature of our characters here and as with his previous effort, David R George III has captured them as we remember them from the TV series. There is a little wisening here and there but we can still see the childishness and exuberance of Bashir especially when he's paired with O'Brien or Ezri's awkwardness when she meets the doctor for the first time in a few years. 

I'm glad in a way that Sisko is back because it wouldn't be Deep Space Nine without him but he seems to be a different man since his time with the Prophets. His Emissarial role is almost insignficant and Ben's place is firmly as a starship captain and nothing more. There is almost a calm about the character that we only saw maybe in the early evolution of the role. I actually found Sisko's parts here among the most enjoyable alongside Ro's preparations for the commissioning. Oddly, while he does share a good portion of the narrative pre-commissioning, his story, for once is not the main focus of the show but a part which forms the whole. I don't doubt it will all be significant but at the moment this is one series which is playing its cards close to its chest.

That goes in particular when discussing the Romulans, the Gorn and the Cardassians to some extent. For thoose of you who have been following the series through Destiny, Typhon Pact and Cold Equations you'll be glad to know that the hissing Gorn imperator is back - must be one of my favourite literary Star Trek creations thus far and means there is a good deal of continuity being retained which adds a factor of "belivability" to proceedings if only to point out that there is a level of acceptance for all that has gone before.

With Odo's return/enforced Alpha Quadrant exile I might even hasten to add the even more mysterious and reclusive Founders into that mix - but that's just me thinking out loud and because the author has managed to drop an awful lot of stones into the pool. There are a lot of splashes and ripples and something tells me that a few of them might, just might, be attempts to take the reader off the main scent so we can be hit with the big guns over the course of the next four tales. 

Yes, it does seem a bit of a fluky excuse to have all the main characters including Kasidy, Nog, Rom and Martok all back in the same place (I waited for Odo to turn up and wasn't disappointed by his returning no-nonsense character) but could we do Deep Space Nine new or old without them? I'd argue not. Sadly though Martok gets almost nothing to say while Rom manages to at least get a typically nervy speech at the dedication ceremony. They could have done with a bit more page time but then I would note that having anything more would have detracted from the story.

There does however seem to be a more personal feel to some points here. As I was reading the section where Dax and Bashir view the memorial to the original station I couldn't help but think about the tragedy of 9/11. The perseverance of those who survived to push on in life; the rebuilding and refusal to be stopped are all here but so is the anguish and mourning that will always be present. Perhaps it's best in that respect that this is a more sombre and retrospective start to the series. It could have easily have fired off a volley of quantum torpedoes and set sail for the sea of high octane action but with this slower, more "talky" start I think David R George III establishes that this is going to be a more "diplomatic" series delivering a few classic twists and turns along the way.

Let's close this off with a bit of personal opinion. As I said back at the start it's a breath of fresh air after the last Enterprise novel but then I've become a fan of this author since Allegiance of Exile. This is definitely slower in pace. Don't expect action all over the shop and use your time here to get to know the characters once again. It's Thinking Man's Star Trek; you do wonder where it's heading for a long time but I would thoroughly recommend sticking with it to the end because you will be rewarded. 

One thing that is made clear here is the significance of the 60 day arc in which this set of stories is placed. I had wondered what the relevance of that was when I saw the press releases. It won't be an over-riding factor in the plots of the upcoming novels but does act as a point to tie them all together subtly. If this is the quality we can expect from The Fall then this could well be one of the strongest Star Trek novel series there has been to date.

Next up we'll have the review of Book Two, The Crimson Shadow....Picard and crew are back for the first time since Cold Equations! We're a little bit excited about that you know....