Star Trek: Deep Space Nine #27: A Stitch in Time

Rating:
Summary: More than a plain, simple Star Trek novel......
Review: I remember hearing word that Andrew Robinson was going to write a DS9 novel, and experienced a very mild reaction. Thoughts of an actor just trying to earn an extra paycheck by letting someone else fill in every piece for him except for some creativity here and there filled my head. I picked up this book at the bookstore, read the back cover, and my emotions still didn't overflow with anticipation.

But there was something that snatched me and persuaded me to buy it. Call it curiosity, call it Deep Space Nine withdrawal, whatever it was gave me the needed "oomph" to purchase it. And it was one of the biggest surprises in not only Star Trek history for me, but fiction writing in general.

Plain and simple Garak evolves in this novel, and fills in all the pieces of Garak's past and personality like a well-placed collar. You can feel Andrew Robinson's connection with this exiled and lonely man, and in watching Deep Space Nine episodes after reading this book - particularly "Improbable Cause," "The Die is Cast," "In Purgatory's Shadow," "By Inferno's Light," and "Empok Nor," it causes a ripple of understanding and fascination with Garak, even stronger than by watching the series alone.

All in all, this book was fantastic. From Garak's childhood, through his adolescent years, his relationship to Enabran Tain as both protege and son, his experiences with love, politics, death, and heartbreak, and the reasons behind his exile from Cardassia, this book will have you latched onto it like a vole on an electrical conduit.

The VERY few negative comments I could even possibly make are just some omissions. A lack of character interaction between Garak and Gul Dukat slightly hurts the explanation for their series-long feud and leaves that area too unexplored, and references to the Romulan/Cardassian fleet that attacked the Dominion in "Improbable Cause"/"The Die is Cast" were nearly non-existent to provide some more insight to the Tain/Garak relationship.

These points pale in comparison to the elaborate and perfectly designed situations Andrew creates for Garak's tapestry; you can truly see how his experiences and adventures correlate to the personality you see on the screen in the series. The reasons and foundations for Garak's mysterious ways, blind ambition, thirst for acceptance and companionship, fondness for philosophy and vicious circles, are all explored and presented here. What you read is what you get in the timeline of things. The one thing that's hard to do is mentally visualize the fictional Cardassian characters, and Garak as a young man. But other than that, Andrew does a beautiful job of utilizing explosive and vivid imagery in his descriptions.

I can say little more to persuade you, you will just have to do yourself a favor and purchase this one as soon as you can. Don't be hesistant on the actor/author situation, Andrew Robinson brings Garak to life one stitch at a time.

"A stitch in time saves nine...."

Rating:
Summary: More than a plain, simple Star Trek novel......
Review: I remember hearing word that Andrew Robinson was going to write a DS9 novel, and experienced a very mild reaction. Thoughts of an actor just trying to earn an extra paycheck by letting someone else fill in every piece for him except for some creativity here and there filled my head. I picked up this book at the bookstore, read the back cover, and my emotions still didn't overflow with anticipation.

But there was something that snatched me and persuaded me to buy it. Call it curiosity, call it Deep Space Nine withdrawal, whatever it was gave me the needed "oomph" to purchase it. And it was one of the biggest surprises in not only Star Trek history for me, but fiction writing in general.

Plain and simple Garak evolves in this novel, and fills in all the pieces of Garak's past and personality like a well-placed collar. You can feel Andrew Robinson's connection with this exiled and lonely man, and in watching Deep Space Nine episodes after reading this book - particularly "Improbable Cause," "The Die is Cast," "In Purgatory's Shadow," "By Inferno's Light," and "Empok Nor," it causes a ripple of understanding and fascination with Garak, even stronger than by watching the series alone.

All in all, this book was fantastic. From Garak's childhood, through his adolescent years, his relationship to Enabran Tain as both protege and son, his experiences with love, politics, death, and heartbreak, and the reasons behind his exile from Cardassia, this book will have you latched onto it like a vole on an electrical conduit.

The VERY few negative comments I could even possibly make are just some omissions. A lack of character interaction between Garak and Gul Dukat slightly hurts the explanation for their series-long feud and leaves that area too unexplored, and references to the Romulan/Cardassian fleet that attacked the Dominion in "Improbable Cause"/"The Die is Cast" were nearly non-existent to provide some more insight to the Tain/Garak relationship.

These points pale in comparison to the elaborate and perfectly designed situations Andrew creates for Garak's tapestry; you can truly see how his experiences and adventures correlate to the personality you see on the screen in the series. The reasons and foundations for Garak's mysterious ways, blind ambition, thirst for acceptance and companionship, fondness for philosophy and vicious circles, are all explored and presented here. What you read is what you get in the timeline of things. The one thing that's hard to do is mentally visualize the fictional Cardassian characters, and Garak as a young man. But other than that, Andrew does a beautiful job of utilizing explosive and vivid imagery in his descriptions.

I can say little more to persuade you, you will just have to do yourself a favor and purchase this one as soon as you can. Don't be hesistant on the actor/author situation, Andrew Robinson brings Garak to life one stitch at a time.

"A stitch in time saves nine...."

Rating:
Summary: One of the most enjoyable Trek books in a long time!!!
Review: I was resistant at first. I wasn't a huge DS9 fan and I was skeptical about an actor's ability to write about his own character. This book was such a pleasant surprise. It was enthralling and insightful and made me wish DS9 had done more "Garak" episodes. Easily one of the top 20 Trek books published. I hope that Andrew J. Robinson writes more about Garak.

Rating:
Summary: Garak Speaks!
Review: To be perfectly honest, until Deep Space Nine went off the air I scorned Star Trek books. However, not only was DS9 my favorite "Trek" series, it just got better and better and ultimately became my all-time favorite program. I consider it the most admirable, well-written and well-acted long-running TV series--EVER. Since it went off I haven't bothered to turn on my TV except to watch tapes and DVDs. After being spoiled by the quality of DS9, there's nothing worth watching. So, since I prefer reading to watching the idiot box anyway, I started buying the DS9 books and have a fair collection of them.

Who better than the intelligent actor-writer-playwright Andrew Robinson to perform some intricate self-analysis and produce this history of the life of his own character on the show, Elim Garak, DS9's fascinating, morally ambivalent Cardassian tailor-spy? Motivations, characterizations and descriptions are right on the mark. This book would stand on its merits had DS9 never been produced, but it brings special joy to someone who misses the TV program as much as I do.

If Robinson wrote this with only minor editorial help, then let's have more from his pen, please!

Rating:
Summary: Garak Speaks!
Review: To be perfectly honest, until Deep Space Nine went off the air I scorned Star Trek books. However, not only was DS9 my favorite "Trek" series, it just got better and better and ultimately became my all-time favorite program. I consider it the most admirable, well-written and well-acted long-running TV series--EVER. Since it went off I haven't bothered to turn on my TV except to watch tapes and DVDs. After being spoiled by the quality of DS9, there's nothing worth watching. So, since I prefer reading to watching the idiot box anyway, I started buying the DS9 books and have a fair collection of them.

Who better than the intelligent actor-writer-playwright Andrew Robinson to perform some intricate self-analysis and produce this history of the life of his own character on the show, Elim Garak, DS9's fascinating, morally ambivalent Cardassian tailor-spy? Motivations, characterizations and descriptions are right on the mark. This book would stand on its merits had DS9 never been produced, but it brings special joy to someone who misses the TV program as much as I do.

If Robinson wrote this with only minor editorial help, then let's have more from his pen, please!