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The Lives of Dax (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

The Lives of Dax (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

List Price: $6.99
Your Price: $6.29
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An excellent book focusing on an excellent character
Review: "The Lives of Dax" is by far the best Trek book I've read in well over a year. Not only because Jadzia was my favorite DS9 character. The selection of talented authors really bring to life the other hosts; about whom we learned relatively little in the series. Among the best are Torias, Joran, Curzon and of course Jadzia. I hope to see a sequel sometime in the future. There is many more stories to be told about these fascinating characters.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Daring and Original Concept
Review: An absolutely splendid book that goes against the current trend of Star Trek books. A fine example of a Star Trek book that is to be recommended to fans and non fans alike. One does not need to be familiar with Star Trek or its characters to enjoy this gem. While it is loosely associated with the traditional Star Trek venues, it doesn't stray too far off with the help of appearances by familiar names and faces from many eras of Star Trek. That in itself makes for a fresh approach to the world of Star Trek. Kudos to editor Marco Palmieri for this.

An anthology of stories that spans hundreds of years of the Star Trek universe. We see Spock's grandfather, a young Dr McCoy, Ensign Benjamin Sisko and more.

The strength of the anthology is its stories' diverse styles and approaches. No two stories are even remotely similar in their execution. As an earlier reviewer stated: 'Not a bad story in the bunch'.

Some really strong efforts from Steven Barnes and S.D. Perry (who is slated to write some original DS9 novels for 2001)

Hopefully Marco Palmieri and the gang at Pocketbooks can come up with some more brilliant concepts like THE LIVES OF DAX.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Dynamic "Dax" Anthology Raises the Bar for Trek Books
Review: As Trek fan that also loves to read, I've been frustrated that Pocket's offerings rarely reflect the progressive, dynamic Trek vision I fell in love with. No longer! "Lives of Dax" is a bold step toward more character-oriented, risk-taking Trek fiction. Instead of conforming to the stretch-an-episode template, "Dax" gleans guest stars, scenarios and events from canon and then takes those elements where episodes can't go. Each multi-faceted host is written in the unique style and voice of a different author. Consequently, "Dax" becomes a rich, tapestry of interwoven stories that never succumbs to homogenity. The authors have imbued their stories with affection for the characters and for the Trek universe.

My three favorite stories were Kristine Rusch's "Lela," the Reeves-Stevens' "Ezri" and Jeffrey Lang's "Tobin." While Rusch's vision of Dax's first host has an idealistic, almost regal tone, Lang's "Tobin" is smart, wry and clever. "Ezri" convincingly picks up where DS9 ended last year and provides much need backstory for Dax's ninth host.

Though the "Curzon" story had a few clumsy moments (pre-Academy grads are *never* called ensign), the sci-fi elements were intriguing. I wasn't as enamoured of S.D. Perry's "Audrid" as I was of her collaborative effort, "Joran," with Robert Simpson. Suprisingly, I thought L.A. Graff's "Jadzia" was the anthology's weakest offering.

Unlike many Trek books, "Dax" continues to yield treasures after multiple readings. The reader can selectively sample stories or enjoy the subtly crafted, cohesive narrative that the stories create when combined. The anthology works as both in indivdual parts or as a novel utilizing different voices.

"Dax" is a book for fans to get behind. It's fun, intelligent and thoughtful; it deserves to be read by fans of all Trek series. If the future of Trek fiction can be as luminous as this anthology, we can only hope the franchise continues to "live long and prosper."

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Never a dull moment
Review: Even a devoted Trekkie as I am finds some parts of Star Trek books that seem to drag. Taking too long to set up plot lines and leaving too little action to excite the reader. The Lives of Dax avoids that problem wonderfully. Each life is covered in it's own short story that flows swiftly and cleanly through some major contribution of that Dax's lifetime intersecting with our well known historical Star Trek figures from T'Pau as a young Vulcan up to 'current' times. The chapters (lives) flew by.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Lives of Dax is one amazing anthology!
Review: Ezri - "Second star to the right..." by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens

This is a wonderful short story about Ezri running into Vic Fontaine in the holodeck, when she was expecting Julian; unfortunately he's called away for emergency surgery. She breaks down somewhat and tells Vic about the circumstances surrounding her becoming the current Dax host. She then begins to impart the stories of all the previous Dax hosts.......

Lela - "First Steps" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

This fantastic short story is, of course, about Lela, the first Dax host. This is an excellent story, which recounts Lela's experience as a junior member of the council. It covers her meeting T'Pau of Vulcan. The story beautifully covers how Trill finds that it must overcome their desire for isolationism and embrace the knowledge that the Vulcan's are more than willing to impart upon them about their neighbors in the galactic neighborhood. This is a wonderfully well written story.

Tobin - "Dead Man's Hand" by Jeffrey Lang

Tobin, Dax's second host is kind of unsure of himself and a little nervous. He's is on a human ship, the Heisenberg. The ship is mostly manned by humans, but has one Vulcan, Skon. He befriends Skon. This story takes places during the Romulan, Terran war. The Romulans seize control of the ship, Tobin and Skon set out to free the rest of the crew and save the ship. This is a great short story that adds some interesting lore to the Dax character. SPOILER - The author makes it such that Tobin/Dax were the first to be transported and also that Skon and Tobin are the ones that suggest to Starfleet the idea of being able to separate the engineering and primary hulls. Great story!

Emony - "Old Souls" by Michael Jan Friedman

"Old Souls" is another extremely well written story by one of Star Trek's top authors. Emony is a champion gymnast who is now a judge for interstellar competitions. She happens to be on Earth for one held at Ole Miss, where a certain young man by the name of Leonard McCoy happens to be attending college. A great story that sets the non canonical back story that Emony Dax and the circumstances of this story are what inspires Leonard McCoy to take up his father's profession as a Doctor. Great read!

Audrid - "Sins of the Mother" by S.D. Perry

"Sins of the Mother" is a heartfelt and somewhat frightening story that heralds S.D. Perry's debut in the world of Star Trek. This wonderful story is written in the form of a letter from Audrid Dax to her daughter, detailing the events of her father's death after several years of estrangement between the two of them. A truly well written story and I'm certainly looking forward to S.D. Perry's future endeavors in the world of Star Trek and the Deep Space Nine relaunch series!

Torias - "Infinity" by Susan Wright

Susan Wright as usual, does a wonderful job of giving depth and feeling to what we already knew of Torias having been killed in a shuttle accident. She skillfully entwined a lot of emotion and depth of character into such a short and tragic story. Another great piece of "Trek" fiction by this author!

Joran - "Allegro Ouroboros in D Minor" by S.D. Perry & Robert Simpson

This is a wonderfully well written story detailing how Joran, the murderous sixth Dax host was stopped and Dax's memories suppressed. S.D. Perry is obviously going to be one of the top Trek/DS9 writers and I believe this is Robert Simpson's first foray into the world of Trek. This story could've easily been expanded into a full length novel. It would be very nice to see these two fine authors team up for a murder/mystery Trek novel.

Curzon - "The Music Between the Notes" by Steven Barnes

From the author of the wonderful novelization of "Far Beyond the Stars," we are treated with another fine story! This short story is about Ambassador Curzon Dax and a young Ensign Sisko being in the middle of a trade negotiation and Curzon educating that young Ensign in the ways of the universe. My only minor complaint about this story is that this anthology is written in the format of Ezri Dax telling the stories of all of Dax's hosts to Vic Fontaine. This story is written from Benjamin Sisko's perspective, therefore making this story somewhat out of context. Who cares though, great author and a great story!

Jadzia - "Reflections" by L.A. Graf

I have in the past found the L.A. Graf writing teams efforts somewhat hit or miss. They score a huge hit with this effort. "Reflections" is a wonderfully well thought out and scripted tale about Jadzia being forced to go home to Trill because her sister is in huge trouble. Her sister Ziranne, a school teacher, never wanted to be a joined Trill, yet she shows up in a hospital with an implanted symbiont. Absolutely great story!

Ezri - "... and straight on "til morning." by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens

This is a poignant closer to this outstanding anthology about "The Lives of Dax." It also, as with the episodes, leaves you wondering what Vic Fontaine is all about along with leaving you with that feeling that Ezri has worked out her emotional distress about not wanting to be joined.

Marco Palmieri and all of the authors deserve a huge round of applause for their efforts on this Star Trek masterpiece. I would recommend this to any and all Star Trek/Deep Space Nine fans.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Lives of Dax
Review: For those who are familiar with DS9 Trill are a race of humanoids who are actually two species,a host and symbiont. This book gives brief episodes from the lives of each of the hosts of Dax. Each tale gives the reader a better understanding of how Dax came to be the being it is today. It is a charming way to peak into the lives of nine different people, the memories of whom are all contained in Dax. I enjoyed it very much.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Incredible Collection of Stories
Review: I have always been interested in Dax, but this book blew me away! Some of the stories were really interesting, especially Dax's first life. Highly recommended!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Lives of Dax
Review: I have read all the previous reviews before posting my own. Since each of these reviews tells you what the book is about, I will tell you how I feel about the book without the details of the book which is covered in other reviews.

When I bought this book, I had expected more. Although each story gives an insightful detail of the different lives of Dax, I cannot help ending each story a bit disappointed. I had hoped for more details on each one of those lives. I suppose this cannot be helped as there is only one book to take in all the details. There is no real build up of tension. They are just stories of each of the lives of Dax. There are a number of excellent stories and I agree with most of the review. I posted an average rating because I feel the book tries to do too much with so little space and came up lost.

I would still strongly recommend this book to anyone who would like to read more about Dax.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Absolutly wonderful, but could have been longer...
Review: I love Dax, that's why I picked up this book. Jadzia is my favorit, noone can beat that smile... I loved getting into the different lives the symbiont has lived, my only complaint was that the book was to short. They could have easily done seperat books on each Dax life... One book for each life would have been more appropriate. My favorit stories were those of Lela, Emony, Audrid, Curzon and of course Jadzia. The story of Erzi was really good as well, gave good insight into how she really got the symbiont and how she felt about it. I expected more from Jorans story though, I have to say... But overall a wonderful book. A MUST for any Dax fan and a great read for any Star Trek fan... Also gives great insight into Trill history. Check it out...

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: an anthology for ds9 fans
Review: i received this book for christmas. i was able to read this in a day. i think that gene roddenberry would have approved the development of a race such as the trill. this is a society of literal haves and have-nots. one tiny segment, guaranteed of virtual eternal life; the rest like ourselves. of course this is by necessity s there are very few symbionts. this anthology does show the dissent of the selection process in the trill society as a whole. it was very interesting to read how very different people are able to stay together as one character. they are as varied as a government parliamentarian to a serial killer to of course our two starfleet officers. it was an enjoable read.


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