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The Mist:  The Captain's Table Book 3 (Star Trek Deep Space Nine)

The Mist: The Captain's Table Book 3 (Star Trek Deep Space Nine)

List Price: $6.50
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A Battle Taking Place in Two Spaces Manages to Go Nowhere
Review: I am reading the entire Star Trek: Captain's Table series in order, and I have to be absolutely honest about this ... so far, it doesn't have much to be desired. I mean, it's a great idea for a series, but the authors involved in the first three books, thus far, just seem like they aren't really trying as hard as they could be to make this a good series. And The Mist is, so far, the worst book out of the six. (I am hoping the next three will be much better.) As for the plot of the story being told in this book, I have to admit that it was a very cool idea to develop a race of outsiders living and expanding in an 'alternate' space. However, there are things about this plot that just irritate me when I think about them. For example, after reading this book, everytime you watch Deep Space Nine on television, you will have to live with the fact that there is an invisible race and various aliens all around the station that nobody can see, and only a few select people, including Sisko and Sotugh, know about them - yet they never mention it on television or even talk about it ... ever. I mean, if the Mist were located way out in space somewhere, I could buy it. But having the Mist exist so close to DS9 is just not believable in my eyes, due to the fact that is seriously conflicts with the television series, which is the strong point of DS9. Disregarding this fact, I also would like to state that Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch should spend a little less time writing about people arguing over the details of the story, and spend quite a bit more time tending to the importances of the actual story, such as the battles (which were very weak in this book, especially for a Star Trek title). And last, but not least, there are three final things that I have to downsize about this book. The first is a word that is incorrectly spelled throughout the entire book (I hate that). The second is a sentence in the book on page 235 where Sotugh "wiped the back of his mouth with his hand." Shouldn't that be "wiped his mouth with the back of his hand"? And third, I noticed that the Quilli gets into a fight with Sotugh at the end of the book ... about five pages AFTER Sotugh already left the Captain's Table. That made no sense. Now, with all of these complaints out of the way, I would also like to point out that the only reason I did not give this book one simple star is because it did manage to have a few upsides. For one, there were times where I found myself enjoying the constant squabbling between Sotugh, the Quilli, Prrghh, and the other pub patrons. I also rather enjoyed a few instances within the story which made me glad that I read the book in general. In my opinion, Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch are both decent writers, even though I think this book would have been better if it were based on unknown characters, instead of Deep Space Nine. This book deserves my two stars, and no more. Now, I would like to add a comment that does not really relate to this book, but I feel it needs to be said anyway. It is a shame that at the end of each Captain's Table book there is a preview into the next book, because from what I read of book four, I am not too excited to continue with this series. Captain Kathryn Janeway seems to have a disturbing way with describing things, and I find myself hoping that Fire Ship will be much better than the first three books in this series - but I doubt it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Very fun story
Review: I really enjoyed "The Mist". It was fun to read a story from Captain Sisko's point of view. And the story he told was very unique. The Mist society is really neat, if slightly unbelievable. I also found the Captain's Table bar interesting, and I enjoyed the bar story almost as much as the Mist story. The people in the bar really came alive and they were very funny. Although the Mist story was interrupted every few pages by the bar story, I didn't mind at all. I found the interruptions realistic because people would, and do, break in to comment and ask questions when a story is being told. The interruptions also added to the suspense of the Mist story because somebody would cut in with a remark right at a good part! "The Mist" is a good book and I'd give it a 9 out of 10.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Very fun story
Review: I really enjoyed "The Mist". It was fun to read a story from Captain Sisko's point of view. And the story he told was very unique. The Mist society is really neat, if slightly unbelievable. I also found the Captain's Table bar interesting, and I enjoyed the bar story almost as much as the Mist story. The people in the bar really came alive and they were very funny. Although the Mist story was interrupted every few pages by the bar story, I didn't mind at all. I found the interruptions realistic because people would, and do, break in to comment and ask questions when a story is being told. The interruptions also added to the suspense of the Mist story because somebody would cut in with a remark right at a good part! "The Mist" is a good book and I'd give it a 9 out of 10.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Definite page-turner
Review: I really, really felt like I was sitting at the same table as Capt. Sisko, listening to his tale with this story. The suspense is well-timed, the characters and plot are vivid, and the whole story *moved* with a pace that I found hard to put down -- even for the season finale of DS9. I even found myself craving some nachos and jambalaya when I finally put the book down...and feeling sorry for that little gecko...

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Pretty Good
Review: I thought the book was pretty good, there were lots of good plot twists. However the book was slightly marred by too many interruptions and typing errors (when was the wormhole between the Alpha and DELTA quadrants?)

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: There's a good story in here somewhere
Review: If you can get past the fact that the focus of the action changes on an almost page by page basis (from Sisko's story to the bar to his story to the bar), there's really a good story in here screaming to get out. However, it's quickly lost in Trek cliches and some weak prose. Sisko's reactions are good and the idea that the story is set during season four is a nice touch. But how many times do the authors have to remind us of that? Once is enough, thank you.

Beyond that, the shifting, which is amsuing at first, wears thing quickly and causes you to lose track of what exactly is going on in the action. If they'd confined the bar comments to the beginning or end of chapters it would make a whole lot more sense.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: It's Official, The Premise Stinks
Review: It took three books for an author to finally capture the true atmosphere of a bar story. That Rusch and Smith accomplished it redounds to their credit. Too bad for them that the feat is about as exciting as watching grass grow.

The interaction at the bar is the best so far in the series. The story told by Sisko is the weakest. And the constant (sometimes two or three times on a single page) interruptions become infuriating at times. Sisko's story, by itself, would fill perhaps 75 pages; thanks to the bar dialogue, it gets dragged out over 240 pages.

There are only two things preventing me from giving this book one star. First, I don't believe it would be gentlemanly to punish Rusch and Smith for fleshing out a bad idea as well as it could be. Second, there is one great moment at the end of the book. As Sisko leaves the bar, he sees in the darkness a woman that looks like . . . . but, no, he concludes. It can't be. She was killed in the Badlands, lost with her starship, years ago . . . .

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: It's Official, The Premise Stinks
Review: It took three books for an author to finally capture the true atmosphere of a bar story. That Rusch and Smith accomplished it redounds to their credit. Too bad for them that the feat is about as exciting as watching grass grow.

The interaction at the bar is the best so far in the series. The story told by Sisko is the weakest. And the constant (sometimes two or three times on a single page) interruptions become infuriating at times. Sisko's story, by itself, would fill perhaps 75 pages; thanks to the bar dialogue, it gets dragged out over 240 pages.

There are only two things preventing me from giving this book one star. First, I don't believe it would be gentlemanly to punish Rusch and Smith for fleshing out a bad idea as well as it could be. Second, there is one great moment at the end of the book. As Sisko leaves the bar, he sees in the darkness a woman that looks like . . . . but, no, he concludes. It can't be. She was killed in the Badlands, lost with her starship, years ago . . . .

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not earthshattering, but not bad, either!
Review: It's very interesting, this Captain's Table series, in that each book begins in the bar, but then basically goes the way of the author who wrote it.

I was at first annoyed with all the interruptions (both from 'beings' in the bar listening to Sisko tell the story and by Sisko's own thoughts), because that's not how the other books are written. Once I got over myself about it and just let myself fall into the story, I was fine. In fact, I found that one alien darned amusing.

There were a couple of editing rough spots, but I dismissed those because it's just silly to bother. This is a paperback novel, not brain surgery.

The Mist are an odd bunch, and you'll just never guess where they live.

Once again I can say, the Captain's Table bar is the perfect backdrop for fine Trek storytelling.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Fairly Enjoyable Read
Review: Nothing spectacular to be found here, but it is an enjoyable read. A few glaring inconsistencies: The Bajoran Wormhole to the Delta Quadrant, Gul Dukat's appearance as a Cardassian military adversary (this book happens during his fight with the Klingons), and the inaccurate back cover (the only Ferengi in the book is Cadet Nog). But overall, it is an enjoyable read. The parts in the Captain's Table are enjoyable and funny, especially the frequent interruptions. The flashback is all right, and gets better as the book progresses. Overall, a good read if you have the time.


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