Season 3: The Expanse

Season 4

Season 5 Plans

• The origins of the United Federation of Planets and the establishing of the Romulan War were to be the main focus of season 5.

• The episode-arc style of show that was established in season 4 would have continued into season 5.

• Shran was to join the cast as a series regular.

• Revisiting the Mirror Universe; Manny Coto mentioned that he planned to have four or five episodes in season 5, spread throughout the season, to feature a continuing Mirror Universe story, having established what was happening in "In a Mirror, Darkly".
  Manny Coto 2009 Q&A

• Stratos, the city from TOS "The Cloud Minders", was the be introduced
  Manny Coto 2005 "Connect Four", Star Trek Magazine

• T'Pol's father is revealed to be a Romulan spy, and still alive, lending significant complexity to the upcoming Romulan War (according to Mike Sussman)

• During the audio commentary for 4th season episode "Terra Prime", show runner Many Coto discussed the possibility of Martian colonial independence as an allegory for the Cuban Missile Crisis.

• A campaign for a new Star Trek: Enterprise season 5 on Netflix is underway, which has tacit support from both Johnathan Archer actor Scott Bakula and Star Trek writer, co-creator, and executive producer Brannon Braga. Facebook link

^(by Willravel)

Season 7

E03S07. Drive: Downtime with Paris, Torres, and Harry Kim. Totally inconsequential, but I like all three of these characters, so I enjoyed it.

E07S07. Body and Soul: Voyager flies through a region of space whose aliens have banned holograms, so the Doctor has to hide in Seven's body. Deeply contrived (they could just turn him off until they leave that area), but the point is to give us another episode featuring Jeri Ryan's acting chops. On that score, it delivers.

E09S07. Flesh and Blood: Holographic rights telemovie. The Hirogen have started producing sentient, self-aware holograms, because they want more challenging prey. The holograms form a resistance movement, led by a psychopathic holographic Bajoran. Robert Picardo is reliable as always, with some decent action, but the Bajoran character was annoying, and I enjoyed seeing him get shot.

E11S07. Lineage: We first learn about B'Elanna's pregnancy with Miral Paris, and B'Elanna gets another character study show when she wants to use gene therapy to remove Miral's Klingon DNA.

E14S07. The Void: This episode is essentially a self-contained summary or mission statement for Voyager as an entire series. If you want to know what Voyager is about, but don't want to watch any other episode, watch this one. This episode's storyline is also a less extreme and violent version of the storyline of the first person shooter computer game, Elite Force. Said game is also well worth playing, if you can get hold of it.

E15-16S07. Workforce. Voyager's crew are kidnapped and their memories altered, after which they are put to work on an alien planet. We're given another strong sense here of the kismet/star-crossed nature of Tom and B'Elanna's relationship.

E19S07. Author, Author: Another "Doctor comedy" episode, this one focusing on the Doctor's holonovel about holographic rights. Some decent comedy here as usual.

E22S07. Homestead: This episode is Neelix's curtain call, although we also see him briefly in Endgame. Not what it could have been, but still decent, and quietly poignant; and I always liked Neelix as a character sufficiently that I enjoyed it. The Baxial is shown leaving Voyager, and Neelix is otherwise given a dignified sendoff.

E24S07. Endgame: Voyager's controversial last episode; although, truthfully, I'm inclined to believe that the only real reason why it is controversial is because it only shows the ship getting home, but doesn't show anything about them being home. Aside from that, however, I liked this episode. I thought Kate Mulgrew's acting was good, and the storyline was unusually clear and easy to understand, for a time travel story. Again, it's probably not what it could have been, but it was decent.

Endgame contains a silent tribute to the generous nature of Neelix' actor Ethan Philips, as well. Philips had to spent five hours to put on the makeup required for him to play Neelix, and in the episode, he appears for less than thirty seconds.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I've realised that season 6 was actually Voyager's weakest, for me. While season 2 had the most episodes which were truly, offensively bad, almost half of season 6 was just bland, mediocre filler that I really didn't care about at all. Seasons 3-5 are by far Voyager's strongest, although seasons 1 and 2 have some episodes which I consider highly watchable, as well.

Season 4

E01S04. Scorpion, Part 2: Species 8472 gradually get beaten. The Borg try and fail to assimilate Voyager, and we get a new regular character, Seven of Nine. The production staff added Seven in an attempt to provide additional Fanservice, despite the fact that I was already more than happy with what had so far been available. Jeri Ryan still proved to be a fine actress, and her character provided the creative basis of most of the rest of the series, thus partly subverting the reason for her introduction.

E02S04. The Gift: Kes leaves, and Janeway continues work on disconnecting Seven from the Borg Collective.

E03S04. Day of Honor: Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres officially shack up. I become jealous of Tom.

E06S04. The Raven: Seven experiences post-traumatic stress disorder regarding her initial assimilation, and we thus learn more about her backstory.

E07S04. Scientific Method: A vintage Janeway moment. She demonstrates to a group of aliens why messing with her generally won't end well for anyone who tries it, as well as proving that her initials' similarity with Kirk's is more than mere coincidence. The rest of this episode is largely disposable, (other than the P/T scenes, of course) but Janeway's scene alone here is worth the price of admission.

E08-09S04. Year of Hell: Voyager's second two-part telemovie. This one was about the Krenim, who seem to be Star Trek's answer to the Time Lords. Voyager goes close to being destroyed, and is only saved as a result of Janeway's signature attitude. Tom also displays extraordinary restraint, by managing to avoid passionately kissing B'Elanna when he is leaning over her in Sickbay. He's a stronger man than I would have been.

E12S04. Mortal Coil: Neelix has a near-death experience, and is badly traumatised about the fact that he doesn't see anything, because one of the only things that has kept him going has been the belief that he would eventually be re-united with his family in the Afterlife, after they were killed by the Metreon Cascade. This episode marks the only time on screen when Chakotay effectively plays the role of "Ship's Shaman", or spiritual leader, which is something he did regularly in fanfic.

E15S04. Hunters: The first full episode of the Hirogen arc. The Hirogen are a low-budget, PG rated version of the Yautja or Predator race from the Predator franchise, and their culture is similarly based on hunting.

E16S04. Prey: The second Hirogen episode. This one has a fantastic sense of atmosphere. Two Hirogen are on a hunt for a member of Species 8472. Janeway wants to prevent them from killing the creature, while Seven hands it back to the Hirogen. This sets up some great dramatic tension between Seven and Janeway.

E18-19S04. The Killing Game: This was the Hirogen telemovie. The Hirogen take over Voyager, and subject the crew to being hunted in holographic simulations from various time periods, most notably WW2. Although not terribly well structured or edited, this does have some good moments, (particularly a fight scene with Janeway). This episode also serves as an example of the sorts of extreme situations which Voyager often found itself in, where the sort of diplomacy favoured in TNG only would have got the crew killed, and they instead had to resort to a simple, balls-to-the-wall fight for pure survival.

E21S04. The Omega Directive: Janeway is reminded of a secret Starfleet directive when the ship detects Omega particles, a substance capable of destroying subspace. Tension also results between her and Seven of Nine, when it is discovered that Omega is the focus of the closest thing the Borg had to a religion. Janeway is under orders to destroy the substance, but Seven has other ideas.

E2304. Living Witness: This episode takes place 700 years in the future, in which a backup copy of the Doctor must correct some aliens' historical record of Voyager's interaction with them in the past. In dramatic terms, this is a great episode, and also has a very humorous "evil" depiction of the Voyager crew, which Kate Mulgrew in particular clearly has fun with.

Season 5

E01S05. Night: Voyager travels through a region of space with no stars. This episode is notable for three main reasons. The first is that it provides a decent character study of Janeway's psychological complexity and moral ambiguity. The second is that it is the first episode to feature Tom's "Captain Proton" holodeck game, which will come up again later. The third is that it introduces the Malon, who get a couple of other episodes as antagonists.

E02S05. Drone: A great Seven/Borg episode, here.

E03S05. Extreme Risk: A B'Elanna episode, in which she has to deal with grief surrounding the deaths of the Maquis. This also gives us the second appearance of the Malon, and the first appearance of the Delta Flyer, a new shuttlecraft designed by Tom.

E06S05. Timeless: The one and only episode in which Harry Kim is given genuine, and significant, development and credibility. One of Voyager's greatest episodes in general terms, and a must-watch.

E07S05. Infinite Regress: A great example of Jeri Ryan's ability as an actor. Seven of Nine begins experiencing multiple personality disorder, after Voyager comes within range of a vinculum; the Borg device which is designed to filter out and repress the personalities of individual Borg drones.

E08S05. Nothing Human: An episode in which the Doctor needs to use research gained from the inhumane medical experiments which the Cardassians performed on the Bajorans during the Occupation, in order to save B'Elanna's life. Some good dramatic tension and acting, here.

E10S05. Counterpoint: Another study of Janeway's moral ambiguity and Machiavellian tendencies.

E13S05. Gravity: The series' main study of Tuvok as a character. If you want to understand Tuvok and know what makes him tick, this is the episode to watch. We get more backstory about him here than anywhere else.

E15-16S05. Dark Frontier: The first Voyager Borg telemovie, and the best of the three in my opinion. While this is a little shallow and formulaic, there is still a fair amount of substance here, and some great action and special effects. The Borg have never looked better, and we get more information about Seven's family, as well. For big boombastic entertainment, look no further.

E17S05. The Disease: Another "Harry Kim Butt Monkey" episode. Bad, but included for people who enjoy watching Harry get used as a punching bag, and/or the butt of various jokes.

E21S05. Juggernaut: More B'Elanna/Roxann Dawson fanservice. Yes please. A little too formulaic/gratuitous in terms of how early make-up makes her look "gritty", and her jacket gets taken off, but on the character side, this episode is also important in establishing that B'Elanna can control her temper and employ classic Trek sensibilities (only using violence as a last resort) when she needs to. Good general atmosphere here as well.

E22S05. Someone to Watch Over Me: Voyager attempts a romantic comedy. Ordinarily I would give this sort of material a pass, but Robert Picardo and Jeri Ryan are likeable enough that it works without descending into nausea. A good quality episode.

E2605-E01S06. Equinox: Another of Voyager's very best episodes. This one has a great TOS vibe atmospherically, and we get another strong example of just how dangerous Janeway can get, when she is sufficiently angry. Solidly recommended.

Season 6

E03S06. Barge of the Dead: Although Voyager gives us probably half a dozen episodes centered on B'Elanna Torres, this one is, for her, what Gravity was for Tuvok. It is her main character study, where we find out more about her backstory, and her internal conflict is really examined and resolved in depth. Well written, well acted, and a winner in general terms.

E04S06. Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy: The first of the major "Doctor comedy" episodes. Very silly, but good fun. Robert Picardo's acting ability, and sincerity in the role won me over.

E10S06. Pathfinder: Excellent acting from Dwight Schultz. Notable also because Voyager now also has live communication with the Alpha Quadrant.

E21S06. Live Fast And Prosper: A trio of con artists impersonate three of Voyager's crew. Comedy, and dumb at times, but also good fun.

E2406. Life Line: The Doctor gets beamed back to the Alpha Quadrant via the tech developed in Pathfinder when he discovers that his creator, Lewis Zimmerman, is terminally ill. Great acting from Robert Picardo as usual, and another cameo from Counsellor Troi, for people who liked her character.

E2606-E0107. Unimatrix Zero: Voyager does The Matrix. Not as bad as that sounds, and worth watching, but the weakest of the three Borg telemovies in my opinion, and yes, that includes Endgame. Cliches, some incoherence, and a major plothole concerning the fact that Janeway, Tuvok, and Torres all willingly allow themselves to be assimilated, and unlike literally anyone else who ever has been, they don't lose eyes or major organs in the process. Some of the tension with the Borg Queen and Tuvok, who starts to get mentally assimilated, is also good.

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

Post-series books

• Homecoming

• The Farther Shore

• Spirit Walk: Old Wounds

• Spirit Walk: Enemy Of My Enemy

• Full Circle

• TNG: Before Dishonor

• TNG: Destiny Trilogy

• Unworthy

• Children Of The Storm

• Protectors

• Acts of Contrition

• Atonement

The Dominion: Olympus Descending

This story started out with lots of promise, then went in a direction I did not like at all.

Firstly, unlike the other five stories in this series, this story is not set primarily on a single planet. But, then, the Dominion isn't a single planet. However, we follow three main threads here: Odo with the Great Link; a Vorta, Vannis, who has errands to run for the Dominion which take her to a few different places within the Gamma Quadrant; Taran'atar, the Jem'Hadar that Odo sent to the Alpha Quadrant. Taran'atar's story is set entirely in the Alpha Quadrant, but is still focussed on the Dominion. Having this story set across all these different locations doesn't feel like a flaw.

The flaws are with the plot itself. For one thing, the Founders have a religion. While they've genetically engineered the Vorta and Jem'Hadar to worship them as gods, they themselves worship a god. That's new. And not only do they have a religion and a god, but this story retcons their origins. There's a very metatextual moment in Chapter 3, when Odo is learning about the Founders' origins from another changeling he has named "Indurane" (Founders don't have names, but Odo is used to individuals having names so he made one up for this Founder): "Odo remembered questioning the changeling leader about whether the Founders had always been able to shapeshift, and her response that, eons ago, their people had been like the solids. Indurane's contentions did not contradict that." It's like the author is trying to convince us readers that he's not breaking the rules. Well, no, this new origin story doesn't contradict the on-screen origin story, but it surely does subvert it and change it beyond recognition. I found this new version of the Founders' origin to be gratuitous and awkward. It's one thing to change the future direction of a species, like the Trill story in this sextet did, but it's another thing to re-write the history we've learned on screen.

Then there's the whole chapter that turns out to be a dream sequence (unfortunately, not the aforementioned chapter with the Founders' new origin story). That felt cheap. Very cheap and gimmicky. After the fact, I understood what the author was trying to do, but it still felt like cheating the reader.

The Ascendants, a species we encountered in 'Rising Son' (Jake's adventures in the Gamma Quadrant) take on a more ominous role in this story and are obviously being set up to become important in future stories.

Finally, the resolution of this story was a game-changer: not only for the Dominion, but for the whole DS9 post-television series. I found it a bit shocking, and I suspect it was intended to be. Whether this massive change is worth it will depend on future books.

Summary: Worlds of Deep Space Nine

Apart from a couple of major plot points, like: the staff changes on Bajor; the new direction on Trill; the shocking changes in the Dominion; this series is not necessary reading. Some of the stories are enjoyable, such as the Cardassian one and the Ferengi one, but they're not needful. They're also not excellent reading material in and of themselves. The only one of this sextet of novellas I would rate "Engage!" is the Dominion story - and that only because of the significant event at the end of the story. Other than that, these are all "Just for fun" or "Meh" stories. Read them if you've got some time to kill.

Andor: Paradigm, by Heather Jarman

This story continues the Andorian-related plot lines from 'Mission Gamma: This Gray Spirit' - both the species-wide issue and the personal issue. And, our Ensign Thirishar ch'Thane ("Shar") is dead-centre of both of these issues: he's the one who discovered something on the Yrythny planet which might help the Andorians, and there's a family event involving his family that he was conspicuously not invited to (but ends up attending anyway, due to requirements of the plot). Shar is accompanied on his trip to Andor by Station Counsellor Lieutenant Phillippa Matthias (who was invited to that family event) and Ensign Prynn Tenmei. The story is told through these three characters' viewpoints.

There's some unnecessary adventure and derring-do in this story, which at times felt like action just for the sake of it. I found the family-related plot quite interesting - which was lucky, because it was front and centre of the story. The species-related plot mostly happened in the background, which was a little disappointing; I would have liked to have seen more discussion about the implications of Shar's Yrythny discovery and what it meant for the Andorians.

It was good to be on Andor and see this four-gendered culture up close and personal. We even get a glimpse, through Prynn's eyes, of the indoctrination young Andorians face in order to keep breeding more Andorians and stave off the extinction of the whole species. It's little touches like this, and like meeting the young zhei and talking to "her", which show us the life of Andorians. Although it was a little bit too coincidental that the zhei also just happened to be married to some key plot-drivers - umm... characters - in the story. This felt forced.

Overall, it's an interesting read.

Trill: Unjoined, by Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels

This is the third 'Worlds' novella in a row to feature terrorists as a plot point. Even though I'm sure each story's writer(s) could justify their own terrorists for their own reasons, I think a watchful editor could have (should have?) avoided this repetitiveness. By the time you get the third scenario involving a terrorist attack, or the threat of a terrorist attack, it just feels like lazy writing: using the same trick over and over again to excite interest in readers. I'll have to be honest and say that the outcome of the terrorist attack in this story was probably the most interesting and most necessary to the plot.

That's not to say I liked the plot, though - especially the massive changes to the Trill species which occur as a result of this story. I felt cheated and betrayed. The background we learn about the Trill species - humanoids and symbionts - is fascinating. I'm not sure I like the retcon about how they're involved with the antagonists in 'Unity', though. And, the outcome of the story simply changed the Trill species forever (to the same degree as if we learned that Vulcans had given up logic, or if the Klingons turned into a race of artists). It was certainly dramatic, but it felt wrong.

This story was told primarily through the eyes of Lieutenant Ezri Dax and Doctor Julian Bashir - with some random chapters from other Trills' viewpoints. This included two chapters from a totally irrelevant character, two from a relevant character, and one from someone who had a secret... which made for some very awkward writing while we were talked through this person's thought processes while the writers dodged around the secret at the centre of those thought processes.

This was an uneven story: strange points of view, some awkward moments, a lot of fascinating backstory, thoughtful conflict between Bashir and Ezri, and a resolution that changed the Trill species.

Bajor: Fragments and Omens

There were two big flaws with this story.

First, while the previous stories had been told from only two or three characters' points of view, this story has eleven protagonists, seven of whom are the viewpoint character for only one chapter each. At the other extreme, one character is the central voice for seven chapters - a whole third of the novella. This switching between multiple characters' points of view has some benefits, such as being able to follow a particular plot from the surface of Bajor to Deep Space Nine to the Defiant on a deep-space chase. However, it makes for very disjointed reading, jumping from one character to another to another to another...

The other main flaw doesn't become apparent until late in the novella, when I realised that the action plot (the one which starts on Bajor and goes via DS9 to the Defiant) actually had no resolution. I'm not sure if this loose thread will be resolved in a future 'Worlds of Deep Space Nine' novella, or a different novel, or never at all - but it was frustrating to not even have a clear idea of the implications of this unresolved plot. It just petered off into nothing about three-quarters of the way through.

In the meantime, the character whose viewpoint we follow for seven chapters is basically just having a romance with one of our main characters. It's an interesting trick: following the romance from the other character's point of view, rather than from the main character's point of view. It allows us to learn how other people see this main character - which, surprisingly, works quite well.

And, in the background, all these other characters popping in and out of the narrative spotlight are basically just setting the players in place for future stories: a new Liaison Officer on Deep Space Nine between the Bajoran and Starfleet, and a new Bajoran representative on the Federation Council.

This story feels like a prologue, rather than a story in and of itself. I didn't like it.

Ferenginar: Satisfaction is Not Guaranteed

Here's a disclaimer up front: I like the Ferengi. Let me rephrase that: I dislike the Ferengi themselves, but I like episodes about the Ferengi. I know many people disliked the Ferengi episodes of DS9, but I enjoyed them. And, if you disliked the Ferengi episodes of the show, you'll probably dislike this story, because it feels just like a Ferengi episode.

It has almost every Ferengi character we've ever seen - Quark, Rom, Zek, Ishkar, Nog, Brunt (of course: what's a Ferengi episode without Brunt?), Nilva, Gaila - plus a couple of new ones. There's also Maihar'du, and Leeta (she's pregnant with Rom's child!), and even Ro Laren. It has scheming and plotting and sneakiness. It has humour, and lightheartedness, and silly Ferengi being silly Ferengi. It feels just like a Ferengi episode.

That said, not much actually happens. The plot is foiled (of course), and the status quo is maintained. But, it's fun. Just like a Ferengi episode.

I liked it. Just like a Ferengi episode.

Mission Gamma: Cathedral, by Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels

This is the third of four books in the 'Mission Gamma' series. This book continues the two threads of the Defiant's exploration of the Gamma Quadrant with Commander Vaughn in charge and the events on Deep Space Nine.

The book opens with the consequences of the surprise event at the end of the previous book. However, despite the fact that this event involved Shar's family on the station, after this brief appearance, we never see them again in this book. These people are deeply affected by this event, yet we never see (or even hear) how they react to it or deal with it. The only outcome is that Shar, on the Defiant, learns about what happened and has some emotional reactions to the news. This makes it feel like his family were disposable characters: introduced only for the purpose of giving Shar something to react to. I felt bad for these characters being treated so badly.

Anyway, this book is about Bashir and Nog and Ezri (these Defiant-based characters haven't had their turn in the spotlight yet), who are exposed to something mysterious which causes them all to regress to earlier versions of themselves: Ezri loses Dax, Nog regains his leg, and Bashir loses his genetic enhancements. As a massive fan of the story 'Flowers for Algernon', I saw the similarities between Bashir's journey and Charlie's journey - and Bashir's story suffered for the comparison. Especially when we read some of his personal journal entries, in full esoteric and eloquent style. I've seen this story done so much better that it was quite jarring to see it done again, wrongly. In fact, even though Bashir's story was given more focus than Nog's or Ezri's, I would have preferred to see more of Ezri and Nog; I felt Bashir's story wasn't done very well here.

Meanwhile, back on the station, Kira and Ro and company are still preparing for this big event. It's been nearly three whole books - how long does it take to organise this? It just felt, again, like events on the station were being deliberately delayed to ensure that the right dramatic moments happen at the right time - like the surprise cliffhanger at the end of this book.

The writing style of this book was good. It's definitely not a chore to read. I felt that its main internal flaw was its treatment of Bashir. And, the major flaw is more an editorial direction than the fault of these authors (or of any of the authors): to keep dragging things out on the station so that things don't happen too early. It makes everything on the station feel like filler.

Mission Gamma: Lesser Evil, by Robert Simpson

This is the fourth and final book in the 'Mission Gamma' series. This book continues the two threads of the Defiant's exploration of the Gamma Quadrant with Commander Vaughn in charge and the events on Deep Space Nine.

And, finally, we're getting to the good stuff! The cliffhanger ending of the previous book is the event we've been waiting for. Finally, the plot on the station gets underway - and it's a rocking one. Intrigue, invasion, a long-standing feud between two alien species, this has it all.

The Gamma Quadrant story was also exciting: the Defiant finds a Borg ship crashlanded on a Gamma Quadrant planet. Vaughn and his daughter Prynn are confronted with their past, and it affects their current actions and their relationship.

All in all, I found this book to be quite a page-turner. This is what I'd been waiting for the whole time: exciting stories, interesting character interactions, events that actually matter.

Rising Son, by S.D. Perry

And, here is where we finally find out what Jake Sisko has been up to while he's been missing from the other novels. This book is 100% Jake, from start to finish: there's no Defiant, no station, just Jake off on his grand adventure. And, adventure it is. This is the story of "Jake Sisko, fortune hunter" (that's how he wrote it in his journal!).

Jake randomly finds himself flung a hundred parsecs across the Gamma Quadrant, far from the Anomaly (as the locals refer to the wormhole - they also call the Dominion War "the Quadrant War"). He's so far away from home that it will take him months to get back. But he's rescued by a motley and kindly crew of scavengers and fortune hunters, and goes on adventures with them. This really is a Boys' Own Adventure^TM book. As Jake thinks to himself later: "It wasn't fair. He'd been out with friends, having fun, having a life, and things had changed. Now he was faced with a responsibility that he didn't want, and couldn't ignore."

And, what is this responsibility? Well... have a look at the cover of the book to get an idea: it's not really a surprise!

However, before he gets to that, he does enjoy himself with his new friends. He grows especially close with the captain of the crew, Dez, who tries to become a kind of father-figure for the young man. I have to compliment the author on the character of Dez: here is a shallow selfish man who you can't help but be fond of. He's the anti-hero who you root for. You know he's doing the wrong things, for the wrong reasons, but you want him to succeed. Actually, I can extend this compliment to the whole crew: they're a motley crew of many different species and types (one of the crew isn't even biological!), and each one has their own different qualities.

Overall, it's an enjoyable book, and fun to read. It's just... not related to the main story-arc. Until Jake meets his mysterious surprise responsibility - who's on the cover of the book! Way to spoil the surprise twist, Mr Marco "The Editor" Palmieri. However, you won't miss much if you don't read this book: you can get all the relevant information you need from the cover, and skip to the next book in the series.

Unity, by S.D. Perry

Finally, all the threads come together. The "unity" of the title refers not only to the ending of this book, but also to the unifying of the various threads of the series until now. This is the season finale of these books.

The Defiant returns from the Gamma Quadrant at the end of its three-month mission of exploration, with its crew older and wiser - only to find Deep Space Nine in total lockdown. All ships arriving at and leaving the station must be approved and their crews scanned. After the Defiant crew boards the station, they find out what's been going on in their absence. And, the re-integrated crew of DS9 devotes their full efforts to tracking down the enemy.

This is an enemy we've seen twice before: on-screen in TNG, and mentioned in one of the stories of 'The Lives of Dax'. The stakes are high: the enemy is out to destroy a whole planet and exterminate the entire species on that planet.

This is an excellent book. Finally, we have the exciting plot we've been waiting for. Our crew is back together, and working against a common enemy. The stakes are high. And, the writing is good, to support this story. This book is what makes the rest of the series worth reading (except maybe 'Rising Son'!). The pay-off is definitely worth waiting for.

I do have one complaint, though. I didn't like the ending. Well, I did: I loved the final chapter. It was an excellent ending to the story-arc, and a suitable resolution for the characters. Then, the very last scene of the book has an emotional moment between two central characters which literally brought a tear to my eye. I was satisfied. Then there was an epilogue. It also was touching and sentimental and sweet (it wasn't a new cliffhanger, or anything like that). It just felt like someone tacked a second, worse, ending on to a book that already had one of the best endings I've ever read. The epilogue was unnecessary and jarring.

'Worlds of Deep Space Nine' sextet

There is a group of six novellas collected in three volumes under the title "Worlds of Deep Space Nine", all set after the culminating events of 'Unity'. They don't share a single plot thread: they're each stand-alone stories. Also, they all happen individually and separately, at about the same time; they're not sequential (you don't have to read them in order). However, even though these six stories are independent of each other, each of them is a direct sequel to the preceding series (up to 'Unity') - you need to read the pre-'Unity' series in order to follow what's happening in these stories. In fact, a better name for this series, instead of "Worlds of Deep Space Nine" might have been "What Came After": each novella in this sextet follows up the continuation of a plot thread from the main series.

I'll treat them here as six separate books.

Cardassia: The Lotus Flower, by Una McCormack

This is basically just a character study of post-Occupation Cardassia. There's not a lot of plot; the whole story takes place in the space of only one day. There is a big event which happens in that day, but this event is mainly just a device to explore the various political, religious, and social problems facing Cardassia. And, it's good.

For one thing, McCormack really knows how to capture her characters' voices. The story is told from the viewpoints of Garak, Miles O'Brien, and Keiko O'Brien. For the chapters told from Garak's and Miles' point of view, it really did feel like I was getting inside their heads and seeing things as they would see them. I didn't notice this as much for Keiko, but she doesn't have as strongly developed a character as the other two. McCormack extended this to the spoken dialogue; I was reading a conversation between Garak and Miles, and I found I could almost hear the actual actors speaking these words, and it sounded right. McCormack is good at finding the characters in her story.

And, seeing as Cardassian society is basically the main character in this story (the story being a character analysis of Cardassia), this story works well. I found it a good read, and very interesting.

Mission Gamma: Twilight, by David R. George III

This is the first of four books in the 'Mission Gamma' series. The set-up of this book involves Commander Vaughn taking the Defiant, along with many of the Deep Space Nine crew, on an exploratory mission in the Gamma Quadrant. The books therefore follow two main threads: the Defiant's exploration; events on Deep Space Nine.

Vaughn takes with him: Ensign ch'Thane as Science Officer, Doctor Bashir as Medical Officer, Lieutenant Nog as Chief Engineer. He also takes Lieutenant Ezri Dax along - as his First Officer. Because Dax has changed the direction of her career in Starfleet following events in 'Avatar', and is now in the Command stream. Finally, and most importantly for this book, Vaughn takes his daughter Ensign Prynn Tenmei as helmsman. Because this book, no matter what else might happen, is Vaughn's and Tenmei's story.

The book opens with Prynn lying dead on the bridge of the Defiant, while Vaughn desperately tries to save the ship from its attackers. Of course, being a main character, Prynn isn't really dead, but Vaughn sincerely believes she is, and that he has killed his daughter just like he killed her mother. This is the issue that this father and daughter have to deal with: their estrangement since Vaughn's actions led to Ruriko Tenmei's death while they were on a Starfleet mission together.

The first few chapters deal with the aftermath of Deep Space Nine's and the Defiant's involvement in the events in the DS9 installment of the 'Star Trek: Gateways' books - 'Demons of Air and Darkness'. It takes a while for the main action of the book to start.

The only characters left on Deep Space Nine seem to be: Colonel Kira (station commander), Lieutenant Ro (Chief of Security), and Quark (still running his bar). Vaughn took everyone else with him.

There's a mysterious summit coming to Deep Space Nine that Kira and Ro have to prepare for. There's an antagonistic Starfleet Admiral who keeps interrogating Kira and pissing her off. Quark has a troublesome dabo girl to deal with. There's also a budding romance between... two very unexpected characters. There's a brief appearance by a character we met earlier in the 'Allegro Ouroboros in D Minor' story in 'Lives of Dax' (but, don't blink, or you'll miss it!). There's even a huge change in things at the end of the book. However, the focus of the book is very much on Vaughn and Prynn, and how the mission they're currently on makes them realise some key things about their relationship.

With so many plot threads, there's a lot of switching between characters: each chapter follows a different character and plot point (I lost count of how many different plot threads are running in this book!). However, the author has a tendency to end chapters on cliffhangers, which means you have to wait a few more chapters to come back to the outcome of that cliffhanger - with the intervening chapters also ending on cliffhangers of their own. It makes for very disjointed reading, but it's not too bad.

I will say that the decision (not by this author, but by the editor of this series) to shift Ezri Dax to Command is both annoying and understandable. Leaving her as the Station Counsellor would make it difficult to involve her in a lot of storylines. However, the character we're reading just doesn't feel like the Ezri we saw in the final season of the TV show.

There's a final event on Deep Space Nine which changes everything. However, because of the strong focus on Vaughn and Prynn in the Gamma Quadrant, and because the plots we've been following on Deep Space Nine have been unrelated to the final reveal, it makes the station-based plots feel like filler, to keep the characters occupied because the reveal has to come at the end of the book and we're not supposed to be able to suspect what it is. I almost feel like I would have preferred this book to do with the station-based personnel what 'Avatar' did with Jake - only revisit their situation once or twice, to remind us they're still around - rather than fill pages with pointless activity by the station-based characters. Oh well. It wouldn't be a Deep Space Nine series without things happening on Deep Space Nine itself.

It's definitely a better book than 'Avatar'. The writing style is much better, and there's more depth to it.

Mission Gamma: This Gray Spirit, by Heather Jarman

This is the second of four books in the 'Mission Gamma' series. This book continues the two threads of the Defiant's exploration of the Gamma Quadrant with Commander Vaughn in charge and the events on Deep Space Nine.

For starters, this book feels more equal in its treatment of the separate DS9 and Defiant storylines. I was actually interested in what was happening on-station as well as in the Gamma Quadrant. I found myself turning pages quite quickly and enthusiastically.

The focus of this book is on Shar (Ensign ch'Thane) and Ezri in the Gamma Quadrant, and Kira on Deep Space Nine. And, the Cardassian pictured on the cover of the book with Shar, Ezri, and Kira is not Gul Dukat - it's his cousin on his mother's side, Gul Macet (who was the first Cardassian we ever saw on screen, in the TNG episode 'The Wounded'). We already re-acquainted ourselves with Macet in the Gateways book 'Demons of Air and Darkness'; he's now become a recurring character in the novels. Macet has an unfortunate resemblance to his cousin (because, on-screen, they were played by the same actor), which means most Bajorans have trouble dealing with him because they're continually reminded of their oppressor, Dukat (there are even those who wonder if Dukat didn't really die...).

The on-station drama involves Kira dealing with various Federation officials, including Admiral Akaar who doesn't seem to like her, and Federation Councillor Charivretha zh'Thane (the zhavey of Ensign ch'Thane - equivalent to "mother"). The Cardassians have sent a negotiating team led by Ambassador Natima Lang (who we first met as a political dissident in the episode 'Profit and Loss'), and accompanied by Gul Macet, to negotiate a peace treaty with Bajor. However, the talks aren't going well, and Colonel Kira needs to find out why, leading her to question Bajoran Second Minister Asarem Wadeen's motives in the negotiations.

Meantime, Shar's bondmates (remember that Andorians marry in groups of four) are staying on the station, awaiting Shar's return from the Gamma Quadrant. However, his bondmate Thriss (Shathrissia zh'Cheen) is having emotional issues, which are causing problems on the station, and lead to her seeing the station's new Counsellor, Lieutenant Phillipa Matthias.

Out in the Gamma Quadrant, while Commander Vaughn is off trying to acquire materials to build a new defence for the Defiant, against a new weapon they encountered, Lieutenant Ezri Dax gets herself involved in an internal civil dispute of the Yrythny, and allows herself to be co-opted as a mediator between the two factions. Ensign ch'Thane is aiding Ezri, but is also following his own agenda - he thinks he's found something here which might help his own Andorian people with their population issues.

We spend a lot of time seeing the Yrythny through Ezri's and ch'Thane's dealings with them. However, despite the fact that they have a very different reproduction method to most Alpha Quadrant humanoids - which forms part of the basis of the civil dispute, and is linked to the solution that ch'Thane is looking for - these aliens never feel alien. They talk like Humans and act like Humans. There's nothing alien about them, except the fact of how they reproduce. It's a flaw of the book that the aliens don't feel like aliens.

However, this is one of few flaws of this book. There is another flaw at the end of the book, where some of the climactic events happen "off screen", and all we see are the consequences. I would have liked to have seen Ezri's presentation of her solution to the Yrythny, for example, rather than just read about the Yrythny's reaction to it.

But, overall, it's an easy and engaging read. The plots are evenly balanced between on-station and Gamma Quadrant events. The events are interesting, the characters work. It's an enjoyable read.

A Stitch In Time, by Andrew Robinson

This is another "honorary" relaunch novel. It was originally written as a stand-alone Star Trek novel, but some of the elements introduced in this book were incorporated into the relaunch storyline, thereby making this part of the relaunch continuity.

The book is framed by a letter from Garak to Doctor Bashir, a short while after Garak returned to Cardassia after the Dominion was defeated. Garak explains to the doctor that he started writing his memories of his younger days while exiled on the station, and is now sending them to the doctor for him to read. The book is told mostly in flashback, focussing on Garak's experiences at "the Institute" (the Cardassian equivalent of university), his early days at the Obsidian Order, his relationship with Enabran Tain, and the events leading up to his exile on Terok Nor. There are some interspersed passages written in the present day, about Garak's experiences in post-Dominion Cardassia, and the efforts of some people to rebuild their world, but the main focus is Garak's past.

Andrew Robinson, who wrote this book, was also the actor who played the character of Garak. As he said in this interview with 'Inside Star Trek', he started this book as a series of notes in the form of diary entries, to provide himself with some backstory to the character he was portraying. Over time, the notes become a book. And, Robinson was the first - and, to date, the only - Star Trek actor to write a novel without a professional writer co-writing or ghost-writing.

To Robinson's credit, the lack of a professional writer has not hurt this novel at all. It's an excellent read, well-written, and nicely detailed (in the book's endnotes, he thanks Denise and Michael Okuda for their 'Star Trek Companion'!). There are times when you can hear Garak's voice saying the words on the page; he's captured the character quite well - as you'd expect from an actor who was "inside the character's skin" (pun intended!) for seven years. He's also built a solid background for Garak, as well as shown us a side of Cardassia that's only hinted at in the TV shows.

I highly recommend this study of Garak, even if you don't intend to read the relaunch series.

"Season 8"

Avatar, by S.D. Perry

This is the official start of the DS9 relaunch. It starts three months after the events of 'What You Leave Behind'.

It was released as two separate books, Book One and Book Two, but I'll review them as a single book. In fact, these two books combined have fewer words than the next book in the series (Mission Gamma: Twilight) - and, if you take out the additional text at the start of Book Two to recap events from Book One, that word count drops even more. There was no good reason to publish them as two books.

At the start of this book, we get re-introduced to some old friends, and familiar faces:

• Colonel Kira is now in command of Deep Space Nine.

• Dr Bashir is still DS9's Chief Medical Officer.

• Lt. Ezri Dax is still the station's Counsellor.

• Quark is still in his bar.

• Kasidy Sisko is four months into her pregnancy with Ben's child.

• Jake Sisko has taken a break and gone to work in the archaeological digs of B'hala on Bajor.

• Lt. Ro Laren is now the Head of Security on the station.

... and some new faces:

• Commander Tiris Jast (a Bolian female) is the second-in-command on DS9, reporting to Col. Kira.

• Ensign Thirishar ch'Thane ("Shar") (an Andorian chan) is the newly assigned Science Officer on the station.

• Commander Elias Vaughn (a Human male) is a Starfleet Operations officer, temporarily assigned as an advisor on the Enterprise-E.

The author writes with very little introduction to these new characters. Ro and Shar and Jast have already been assigned to DS9, and there are glancing references to events involving them which happened a few weeks ago, or a couple of months ago. Vaughn is an old acquaintance of Picard's (Vaughn reflects at one point that Picard knows him as well as anyone does). It's supposed to give the reader the sense that these people aren't new, but are embedded in the milieu. However, it also leaves the reader wondering what they missed. I kept thinking there was another book I should have read before starting this one - but no such prequel exists. We're simply mid-continuity when the book starts.

In fact, this lack of introduction is an ongoing flaw of the book. Whenever the point of view shifts from one character to another, we usually get a full paragraph describing the new surroundings or situation from the new character's point of view - without our knowing who this new character is. It's just "She watched...", "They were gathered...", "He wondered..." without telling us who watched or gathered or wondered. It's not until the second paragraph of the new section that the different character is referred to by name - which then makes the reader have to go back and re-assess the previous paragraph with this knowledge. And, there are sections of the book where the point of view shifts every page or two. It's quite frustrating. (Although, this problem does seem to improve as the book continues.)

We also spend a whole chapter getting to know characters who get killed off shortly afterward. It's supposed to make us feel sympathy for these people who die in war, but it also leaves a bad impression of having wasted our time. We didn't really need to waste a whole chapter on these people who have no influence on the story or any interaction with the other characters.

A good thing the book does is to switch points of view between the various characters. This helps us get to know the characters (especially the new ones), and shows us different perceptions of the same events. Occasionally, these characterisations are a bit too heavy-handed and clumsy, but it's still a positive.

The events of the novel start with an attack on an unprepared Deep Space Nine and Defiant. The next main event is the discovery of a previously unknown Orb of the Prophets. Then, two old prophecies surface which seem to relate to the first-born son of the Emissary, and the unborn child of the Emissary (the Avatar). An unexpected messenger turns up on the station with a surprising message.

One of the prophecies is dismissed by the Vedek Assembly as heresy, but the reasons for this are never really made clear in the book. The conflict about whether this is a true prophecy or heretical drives some of the events of the book, but I never really felt like there was a good reason for this, beyond the author simply reporting that the prophecy was of a "secular" nature - because every other prophecy in the same book has come true. This doesn't make sense. Surely a prophetic text which is clearer and more accurate than all other prophetic texts should be welcomed by the Vedeks as proof of the Prophets' involvement. But no, they reject it as being "secular" and "heretical", purely to generate some conflict in the novel. This doesn't feel right.

Jake goes missing for large portions of the book. The prologue involves him finding the first of the two prophecies and deciding to take action as a result of reading it. However, he turns up only once or twice during the remainder of the book. He achieves almost nothing while everyone else is busy, busy, busy.

All in all, it's a good book. Not great, but good enough. There are definitely flaws, as I've already mentioned. However, the events are interesting (if a little slow at times). It definitely feels like a set-up book, arranging the characters and circumstances for the events to come; a "pilot episode", as it were. And, like all pilots, we have to allow it some leeway, because the pay-off comes later. There are even loose threads left dangling, to tie up - including a cliff-hanger ending!

Audrid: Sins of the Mother

This story is in the form of a letter from Audrid Dax, to her estranged daughter Neema. In it, Audrid confesses the truth about Neema's father's death eight years earlier, in the hopes of rebuilding the relationship with her daughter. The estrangement and re-acquaintance is mentioned on-screen in Deep Space Nine, although the reasons for it aren't made clear.

As a letter, it doesn't work; people just don't write personal letters which read like fiction stories. Because that's what most of this letter is: a story told in the first person, complete with detailed descriptions of the environment and events (details that Audrid supposedly remembers eight years later). As a story, it's interesting. It introduces something new to the Star Trek universe and, in particular, to Trill lore. There's a tie-in to something seen in an episode of The Next Generation (not 'The Host'!), and this plot point is then brought into the relaunch novels (which is one reason this book is given honorary "relaunch" status).

Audrid and her husband are sent out as Trill experts to investigate something that Starfleet has discovered, which they recognise as being somehow connected to Trills but don't understand (we are reminded here that Trill is keeping the symbionts a secret from other species, as mentioned in TNG: 'The Host'). The leader of the mission is Captain Pike (our canonical character).

It's an interesting story, but I'm not sure that a letter is the best form for this.

Torias: Infinity

Torias Dax is a test pilot, and this story is about the 24 hours leading up to his test of a brand-new "transwarp" drive, installed in a shuttle. It's also being installed in the new 'Excelsior' starship, to be commissioned in two days' time and commanded by Captain Styles. Torias is also working with a Cadet Saavik. Plus, a certain Admiral will be showing up to the ceremony... And, of course, he's working with his wife, Nilani Kahn - who we met in the TV episode 'Rejoined', through Kahn's later host, Lenara. This points out one of the main flaws of this story: we already know how it's going to end, because Lenara Kahn and Jadzia Dax discussed these events extensively in that episode. Like Emony's story earlier in this book, this is just another fleshing out of a scenario we already know, rather than a new story.

That said, it's not bad. Not great, but not bad. It's a simple, solid story.

Joran: Allegro Ouroboros in D Minor

Here we get an insight into the mind of a serial killer - and the mind of the Symbiosis Commission agent who has to track him down. This story follows Joran Dax as he selects and kills his victims, and Verjyl Gard as he tracks the killer. The point of view shifts between Dax and Gard throughout the story.

Unlike other stories in this book, this is not merely fleshing out a line from an episode, but is a new story. This story is set on Trill itself, and is the only story in this anthology which does not include a reference to any existing Star Trek characters or events.

It's a good story. We see some hints of the dark side of Trill joinings. We see the psychology of a serial killer. We learn how the Symbiosis Commission deals with events like this. It's good.

Curzon: The Music Between The Notes

This story is told as an after-the-fact reminiscence by Benjamin Sisko, remembering back to his days as an Ensign, and how Curzon Dax became such a pivotal figure in his life.

This story tells about a diplomatic mission Curzon Dax is involved in, with Ensign Sisko as his adjutant, to sign a treaty with the Bactricans who want to join the Federation. During this mission, a second alien species turns up and complicates everything. This second species is truly alien - something we wouldn't be able to see on-screen, and something very different to what we expect. There are things to learn everywhere: about the alien species, about the Bactricans, about Curzon's mysterious but attractive friend. Sisko learns a lot, and so do we. This is interesting science fiction.

The main fault is that the person telling the story doesn't sound very much like the Benjamin Sisko we see during the series.

Jadzia: Reflections

This story is set in the middle of the fourth season of 'Deep Space Nine', as the Defiant is returning to the station from Earth. Jadzia Dax gets a message about her sister on Trill, and Captain Sisko diverts the Defiant so that he and Jadzia can investigate.

We see the dark side of Trill joinings. We meet an old "friend". We learn about the relationship between Jadzia and her sister. It's a good story.

Summary

Like any anthology, some of the stories are stronger and some are weaker. I would recommend 'First Steps', 'Allegro Ouroboros in D Minor', and 'The Music Between the Notes' as the two best stories. 'Dead Man's Hand' and 'Infinity' are the two weakest stories - the first because it's just uninteresting, the second because it doesn't really add much to a single line of dialogue from the series. And, if you're going to read the rest of the relaunch novels, you need to read 'Sins of the Mother' for background information.

Season 6

Season 7

"Season 8"

If you're interested, you can also learn about the Deep Space Nine relaunch novels (affectionately called "Season 8").

Season 4

Season 5