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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Rising Son
by SD Perry
pub: Pocket Books/Simon and Schuster. 308 page paperback.
Price: £ 6.99 (UK), $ 6.99 (US), $10.50 (CAN). ISBN: 0-7434-4838-3
check out website: www.simonsays.co.uk
and www.startrek.com
Jake
Sisko has long lived in the shadow of being the son of the Emissary.
Ben Sisko has disappeared but Jake still clings to the idea that
he might yet be alive.
Jake wants to be the one who brings his father home. Following
the words of an old Prophecy leads him to the wormhole next to his
old home, the Federation space station Deep Space Nine. Something
goes badly wrong and Jake is far from home on the point of death.
He
is found by Dez and his band of assorted aliens. They are salvagers
and occasionally thieves, too. Dez sees something of himself in
Jake and would very much like him to stay aboard the good ship 'Even
Odds'. But events are in progress and will overtake them all. Once
again, Jake will feel he is part of something much larger than himself.
So what do the Prophets have in store for Jake and his new friends?
With a cast of characters that would make a CGI-er weep, this good
ship, itself a bit of a character, welcomes Jake and he is increasingly
drawn to his strange companions. Keeping a journal he records his
ideas and his conflicts that will ultimately lead him to a decision.
Should he go or should he stay? S.D. Perry has taken a sensitive
approach to a character underused in the DS9 Series. She has looked
at his underlying motivation and his relationship with his father
and spun it into a compelling tale that takes Jake and his new friends
into a series of adventures. Although an adventure story, it manages
to look at how people deal with death, changes and family relationships.
It examines the nature of friendship, compromise and having to
make awful decisions that will affect the rest of your life. Despite
all that, it is an optimistic book that believes ultimately in a
benign and positive universe. In this novel, people are capable
of change and redemption and if all that sounds too heavy, well
they get to have some fun, too.
There are some great characters here including Pifco, who looks
and behaves like a dog and Stessie, an empath of many parts. For
me, the most appealing part of the book is the creation of some
new characters and the interaction between human and alien. When
the book moves to the larger tale and starts to fill in back story
it becomes less interesting. This is probably because of the requirement
to complete the external story that ties it to the rest of the series.
Overall, though, it is an enjoyably short read and is a first-rate
addition to the ever increasing canon of 'Star Trek' novels. This
novel does not complete the cycle of books to celebrate the 10th
anniversary of 'Deep Space Nine' but runs in parallel with 'Lesser
Evil' previously reviewed on these pages.
The final book of the series is 'Unity' also by S.D. Perry.
Sue Davies
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OTHER REVIEWS - April 2004
Other reviews: April
2004
Lucifer's
Dragon by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
The
Companions by Sherri S. Tepper
Gridlinked
by Neal Asher
The
Matrix Comics
Beyond
Infinity by Gregory Benford
Sunshine
Patriots by Bill Campbell
Zulu
Heart by Steven Barnes
The
Skies Of Pern by Anne McCaffrey
Eight
Keys to Eden by Mark Clifton
The
Adam Strange Archives Volume 1
Wit'ch
Gate: Immortal Magic - Infinite Vengence by James Clemens
The
Knight by Gene Wolfe
Hound
by George Green
Dime
Store Magic by Kelley Armstrong
Deep
Space Nine: Rising Son by SD Perry
Absolution
Gap (The Inhibitors series book 3) by Alastair Reynolds
Alchymist
(The Well Of Echoes book 3) by Ian Irvine
Hal
Spacejock by Simon Haynes
Hal
Spacejock: Second Course by Simon Haynes
Dead
Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
Mothership
by John Brosnan
The
Dancers At The End Of Time by Michael Moorcock
Newton's
Wake by Ken Macleod
The
Crow: The Story Behind The Film by Bridget Baiss
White
Devils by Paul McAuley
British
Summertime by Paul Cornell
The
Year Of Our War by Steph Swainson
April
2004: Hardback to Paperbacks
The
Chesley Awards: A Retrospective by John Grant and Elizabeth Humphrey with Pamela
D. Scoville
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