Rating: 
Summary: "Unity" has give me reason to like DS9
Review: Although I never liked the DS9 television series and leaned more toward the other Star Trek incarnations (having first been a huge fan of the Original Series, then and now), I have to admit that this book was genuinely exciting and made for great sci-fi in general. I now proudly add it to my collection of sci-fi and space opera that includes: "Stranger in a Strange Land", "Puppet Masters", "Foundation", "2001", "2010", "Rendezvous with Rama", "Ringworld", all the "Star Wars" books and, of course, "Star Trek" books, as well as books as new to the genre as "Advent of the Corps" and others.
Rating:
Summary: A must-read for DS9 fans
Review: DS9 first aired in 1993 and hooked me from the beginning. Its seven years put both the characters and the viewers through a lot. Then, in 1999, it was over. Fortunately, in 2001, Pocket Books restarted the series in book form, acknowledging the major changes made in the series finale, putting familiar faces in new positions, adding new characters, and carrying on the Deep Space Nine saga. After two and a half years and a number of superb novels, the saga reaches something of a climax in Unity. It's not the end of the series (for which I'm very glad), but a number of major plot lines are resolved.Although there's a very helpful timeline summarizing the events in the previous novels, I don't recommend starting here. Too many events will lack the resonance they should have if you haven't read what's been building up over the course of the previous books. But if you have been reading the books and you haven't read this yet... what are you waiting for? Don't wait for the paperback. It's worth buying the hardcover. If you were ever moved by past Star Trek stories like The Wrath of Khan, The Inner Light, All Good Things..., The Visitor, or What You Leave Behind, well, Unity packs the same kind of punch. Action, suspense, great character moments, major developments in the ongoing storyline... all here. Some developments that we've hoped for and expected happen, but never in a predictable way. And there's so much more yet to be told... some storylines aren't resolved, and others will be generated by the changes made here. Consider this the end of the first phase of the DS9 relaunch and the beginning of the second phase.
Rating:
Summary: Tightening the relaunch
Review: Due to two pregnancies (editor Marco Palmieri's wife and Perry herself), "Unity" was pushed back from its initial release of February. As such, fans of the relaunch have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of "Unity," which promises to deliver many of the answers fans have been waiting for. Indeed, it proves to wrap up old plot lines and create more, making for an extremely fast read (three hours); however, fans of Perry's previous work in the Trek universe already know of her fast-paced, well-written prose and deft characterization. One can almost hear the actors delivering their lines with customary inflection; from O'Brien to Kira to Opaka, the characters come alive on every page. If anything, the 330 or so pages are barely enough to contain the energy, development, and anticipation that build up through the entire novel. At the center of "Unity" is, of course, the parasite crisis; Bajor and DS9 are under seige and the Bajoran sector is under lockdown. Cardassian warships surround both planet and station, a communications blackout in effect. Gul Macet, previously seen clawing at his throat when a parasite launches itself at the Dukat-esque Cardassian, is in charge of the Cardassian contingent. This is the scene that Vaughn and the crew of the "Defiant" find themselves entering. Without revealing anything too much, "Unity" gives us more of the inner turmoil Vaughn finds himself facing after shooting the Borg-Ruriko in sickbay, the anger Prynn holds for Vaughn, the deep-seeded Trill desire for privacy in all matters internal, and, of course, Kira's Attainder. Ro and Quark are given a lot of face time, and not just towards their romance; each have their own demons to face: if Bajor joins the Federation, Ro fears she will be turned over to Starfleet for prosecution and Quark fears he will be forced to leave DS9 for more profitable pastures. Taran'atar bonds with Wex, the stowaway whom Jake Sisko encountered when fulfilling his part of the Avatar prophecy. While not everyone is who they appear, one person holds true to her nature; the former Kai, Opaka Sulan.
It is she who finds a Bajor in spiritual crisis, telling Vedek Yevir it is not the texts Kira uploaded that have caused the split in faith; it is the Attainder the Vedek Assembly placed upon the colonel that has lead to Bajor fractured. The former Kai does not step up to retake her mantle, instead opting to allow spiritual politics to play out as they will, acting instead as a spirtiual counselor to the lost Elias Vaughn. She exposes him to the Orb of Unity, allowing for Vaughn to come face to face with the man he first encountered in the Badlands after opening the Orb of Memory. His role is significant to the novel, and while he is not completely healed at the conclusion of "Unity," the centenarian commander is well on his way, thanks to the Prophets. Ultimately, we discover the fate of Sisko and Kasidy, see the true face of evil (read: parasite), and relish the return of the O'Brien's to the fore. We leave the novel with an Andor in a peril of its own creation and an Andorian alone, a Bajor redefined and a faith still fractured, a son coming to terms with his father's place in the universe, and, as the cover shows, a former Bajoran freedom-fighter trying out a new uniform. Sometimes frightening, sometimes funny, sometimes bittersweet, and always breathtaking, "Unity" establishes Perry as the chancellor of the relaunch, leaving the reader satisfied yet wanting more.
Oh, I almost forgot; "somewhere on Bajor...a child long awaited is born."
Rating:
Summary: Deep Space Nine at Its Best
Review: I cant recommend this book more strongly for DS9 fans in particular and for Star Trek fans in general. For those of us who missed DS9 when it left the air several years ago Editor Marco Palmieri has performed a minor miricle. He gathered a stable of excellent authors together and continued DS9 in novel form just as if it were an eighth season and improved on the series. Danelle Perry's Excellent two parter Avatar started the season and Unity completes the season. For those who missed some of the books or can't remember what transpired in them she provides a synopsis of the "season" up to Unity. The book, as Jackie Bundy says in her review, is mesmerizing. It is something one doesnt want to put down. It brings characters back into the fold and wraps up some of the threads that have been developing and opens up new possibilities for the "ninth" season of DS9. Did Unity live up to my expectations. No it didn't. IT EXCEEDED MY EXPECTATIONS. There was something for everyone in this book and it definately left me wanting more. Danelle Perry is an awesome writer and I look forward to seeing more DS9 stories by her. ...this series has been planned out and isnt just a bunch of authors randomly writing stories. There is a plan to what you see. This book is a must read.
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT BOOK
Review: I finished reading STAR TREK DS9:UNITY two days ago and it was great. It was good to see the old crew back in action. And was great to have Captain Sisko return. And it was definately great to have Odo return, even if for a visit. I just wish that they ended the Television Series differently Kira & Odo were definately made for each other and they both deserve some happiness, even if Odo is not a solid. But they didn't. I was hoping though that Odo was coming back to stay in the book. I was also glad to see Bajor finally join the Federation, even though it should have happened at the end of the series even if they needed a few more episodes to do it. And I am very pleased that Starfleet has rewarded Kira for her Loyalty by making her a Starfleet Captain.
But from what I understand, if it doesn't happen the T.V. shows or in the movies then it doesn't happen in the Star Trek Universe. Which I think is stupid, but all I can hope is that Paramount makes at least one STAR TREK DS9 MOVIE to fix all the mistakes it make at the end of series.
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT BOOK
Review: I finished reading STAR TREK DS9:UNITY two days ago and it was great. It was good to see the old crew back in action. And was great to have Captain Sisko return. And it was definately great to have Odo return, even if for a visit. I just wish that they ended the Television Series differently Kira & Odo were definately made for each other and they both deserve some happiness, even if Odo is not a solid. But they didn't. I was hoping though that Odo was coming back to stay in the book. I was also glad to see Bajor finally join the Federation, even though it should have happened at the end of the series even if they needed a few more episodes to do it. And I am very pleased that Starfleet has rewarded Kira for her Loyalty by making her a Starfleet Captain.
But from what I understand, if it doesn't happen the T.V. shows or in the movies then it doesn't happen in the Star Trek Universe. Which I think is stupid, but all I can hope is that Paramount makes at least one STAR TREK DS9 MOVIE to fix all the mistakes it make at the end of series.
Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful continuation of the DS9 saga!
Review: I waited a very long time for this book, and I must say it was worthy of the wait. S.D. Perry began the relaunch of DS9 with the "Avatar" duet, and since then, I've been avidly watching the series unfold.
First off, the book captured the ensemble feel of the show excellently - the main characters - including the new characters written into the storyline to replace characters gone or lost at the show's end - all shine in their own way with their own interesting stories. The new plot-arc of the invading parasitic aliens - as we've seen on screen in TNG, and read about in the superb "Lives of Dax," short story collection - continues with a great deal of suspense and solid prose work.
Best of all, the internal minds and emotional states of the characters are both valid and consistant. Shar, especially, gets a lot of work in this book, as does Lieutenant Ro, who is definitely at a loss as to what she should choose, now that Bajor might merge with the Federation and her job would become a Starfleet one.
Granted, the purchase of a Star Trek hardcover often makes me flinch (it's quite expensive), but this one was worth it - even if I did tear through it in a single evening.
The only part of the book I have a caveat for is the 'Benny' storyline - I never quite liked Sisko's insane asylum plotline in the series, and having Elias Vaughn go through something similar grated on me a little - though, if you enjoyed the various visions Sisko had at the hands of the prophets in the show, you'll likely enjoy this also.
Very well done.
'Nathan
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful continuation of the DS9 saga!
Review: I waited a very long time for this book, and I must say it was worthy of the wait. S.D. Perry began the relaunch of DS9 with the "Avatar" duet, and since then, I've been avidly watching the series unfold.
First off, the book captured the ensemble feel of the show excellently - the main characters - including the new characters written into the storyline to replace characters gone or lost at the show's end - all shine in their own way with their own interesting stories. The new plot-arc of the invading parasitic aliens - as we've seen on screen in TNG, and read about in the superb "Lives of Dax," short story collection - continues with a great deal of suspense and solid prose work.
Best of all, the internal minds and emotional states of the characters are both valid and consistant. Shar, especially, gets a lot of work in this book, as does Lieutenant Ro, who is definitely at a loss as to what she should choose, now that Bajor might merge with the Federation and her job would become a Starfleet one.
Granted, the purchase of a Star Trek hardcover often makes me flinch (it's quite expensive), but this one was worth it - even if I did tear through it in a single evening.
The only part of the book I have a caveat for is the 'Benny' storyline - I never quite liked Sisko's insane asylum plotline in the series, and having Elias Vaughn go through something similar grated on me a little - though, if you enjoyed the various visions Sisko had at the hands of the prophets in the show, you'll likely enjoy this also.
Very well done.
'Nathan
Rating:
Summary: A Fit Ending and New Beginning for Trek's Best Series
Review: I won't waste time rehashing what others have already said about the book, other than to agree that S. D. Perry knows and feels these characters better than any other writer working with Deep Space Nine. The ending might seem a bit too neat, even contrived for some, nevertheless, it FEELS like Deep Space Nine, which is the goal, right? The final two chapters alone were worth the price of the book. In my opinion, "Unity" should have been the final episode of the series. It'd make a great feature film. Here's hoping Pocket Books signs S. D. Perry on to write more Deep Space Nine novels.
Rating: 
Summary: WHY?!?!?!
Review: I'm a lifelong "Star Trek" fan, but as such, I've grown very critical of this mind-numbingly brilliant franchise. I've long contended that DS9 was the epitome of the Star Trek Universe, incorporating the "Horatio Hornblower in Outer Space" mantra that director Nick Meyer adopted with Gene Roddenberry's original vision of exploring different humanoid species and the depths of humanity itself. DS9 also did something that TOS and TNG couldn't even touch and that Voyager and Enterprise have blundered miserably: issues of science, faith, and reason. Finally, the show ended on one of the greatest notes of any television program since "The Prisoner," especially because the audience was able to deal with the fallout (for better or worse) of every beloved character--something TNG and (especially) Voyager didn't even come CLOSE to doing. Capt. Sisko, Col. Kira, Chief O'Brien, Rom, Lt. Nog, Quark, and most especially Worf and Martok were the most vibrant characters I've ever seen on a television show, and the ending left me pondering the same thing Captain Kirk pondered about Khan Noonien Singh at the end of the Original Series episode "Space Seed": what will they be up to five, ten, twenty years down the road?
Unfortunately, we will never find that out, at least not in any Star Trek gospel; we've got ex-castmembers like J.G. Hertzler (the most impressive guest actor any Star Trek has ever had) and Andrew J. Robinson (who doesn't love Garak?) penning what essentially are "The Continuing Tales of the Characters We Portrayed," though (and I mean no offense to either Hertzler OR Robinson) the people who truly understood those characters, even moreso than the actors, were Ira Steven Behr, Ronald D. Moore, and Robert Hewitt Wolfe, the three incredible writers for the majority of DS9's best episodes.
When most of the cast of TNG actively advertised that "Nemesis" was to be the last big screen adventure of that cast, I was incredibly hopeful that finally DS9 would get to answer all the questions with which we were left. But as I started to go through the canonical and semi-canonical books, I found myself still captivated by the TNG novels, mainly because the best of them did more for characterization than many episodes of that series did. Yet the DS9 canon has made the Trekiverse collapse in on itself.
Back in the early '90s, Peter David redefined the Trek Novel genre by crafting ingenious tales that dealt with the characters as they were in TNG as well as explaining why they were what they were--examples include "Imzadi" and its less-brilliant but equally entertaining sequel; "Q-in-Law," which was the truest use of both Q and Lwaxana Troi in any novel while also crafting a brilliant (and what could have been a double-episode) story arc involving two warring races of the same species; and "Q-Squared," which is simply the most creative Star Trek novel of them all, dealing with alternate universes, TOS-lore, Jack Crusher, and (most importantly) the relationship between Q and Picard (and who doesn't love some well-timed Q-uips at Worf's expense?).
But all these novels worked because it wasn't trying to explain "what happens next?" Moreso, it had the spirit of "what happens now, and how can we make it so that this doesn't mess up what's going to come for the series?" These DS9 Relaunch series do NOT do that.
We get few explanations in "Unity," about as many as we do in the rest of these Relaunch books. That's good. But there are so many problems with these novels that it's hard to know where to begin. But hey, I've come this far; I may as well try:
1) Lt. Ro Laren. WHAT?!?!? This is the biggest excuse for bringing back a character in history. When DS9 began, it made sense--O'Brien wasn't going to get a promotion to Chief Engineer on the Enterprise; that was better for LaForge. When Worf was added later, it also made sense; we always knew that a) Riker and Troi were going to end up together, and b) Worf and Troi were in a relationship at the end of TNG. Why did they end up breaking up, besides for usual plot conventions? This was a question DS9 was (partially) able to explain (and it was further explained when we realized that Jadzia {not Dax, mind you, but Jadzia} was Worf's soulmate). But Ro Laren's plot was not congruent to Bajor's. It had nothing to do with anything on DS9, save the ridges on her nose. She should not have been brought in; she was more important to Picard and has no place in Starfleet, as her appearances in Next Gen explained.
2) In the beginning, DS9 was brilliant at showing, but not delving too far into, races outside of those immediately impacting the show--we'd see Morn, a big and mouthy but silent pug, and we'd meet several other species along the way. But the only species we really cared about--honestly--were ones to which we'd already been introduced: the Ferengi, Cardassians, Klingons, Romulans, and Bajorans. But adding another old species about which we know very little--the Andorians. S.D. Perry and these other imbiciles need to leave the race explanations to those who can really handle them--Peter David, Michael Jan Friedman, and the Reeves-Stevenses.
3) S.D. Perry simply was not able to hold my attention for this book. I've read Star Trek books that are much less engaging and deal with much greater scopes--"Federation," "Best Destiny," "Q-Squared." Perry is not that type of writer. His characterization isn't bad--especially that of Ro Laren and Kira Nerys--but it's just not an engaging story. Kassidy Yates and Jake Sisko are hammed-up versions of the interesting characters they became, and there's practically no mention of the most interesting kids from the show--Worf and Martok. In addition, seeing Bashir relegated to Ezri's boyfriend (which is already a crappy concept, as well as it worked on DS9) is just depressing. O'Brien does nothing for me as a character (he's really just a charicature), and we lose that interesting relationship between him and Keiko (a brilliant holdover from TNG to DS9 in concept, but here absolute crap).
This series should never have existed. Think if novelists had written the sequel to "Space Seed" before Nick Meyer et. al.; we'd be left with a few descent books, certainly, but nothing comparing with "Star Trek II." Or think if authors had decided to resolve the Federation-Klingon Empire by themselves; the masterpiece that was "Star Trek VI" would never have existed. If anyone out there is a TRUE fan of DS9, you will write your own fanfic and publish it on the web. As it stands, having S.D. Perry as our savior is simply frightening.
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