Customer Reviews

Emissary (Star Trek - Deep Space Nine Series)

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While this does not exactly qualify as great literature, for a Star Trek book it's pretty darned good.

Based on the pilot Episode of DS9, it pretty much sticks to the plot of the episode, but it doesn't make the mistake so many do. The author doesn't try to stretch the episode to fit 275 pages, but instead fills in all the extra with background for the characters, both major and minor, so that we have a better idea of who we will be seeing through the series.

It is relatively well written, although a few scenes do fall flat on their face when the author fails to adequately convey sarcasm or humor, and the prophets just didn't make the transition from TV to novel very well.

All in all, if you are a DS9 fan, this is worth reading.

Deep Space Nine #1 "Emissary" brings forth the beginning of Star Trek's best and most controversial series to the franchise. I say controversial in that at times, this series whether when it was airing or on DVD and in print it seems to be treated as the red headed stepchild of Star Trek. This doesn't matter though, because in the end, the very principles that make up Star Trek Deep Space Nine; its character conflicts and its dealing with certain aspects not dealt with on the other series ultimately makes it the most beloved by the fans that have stuck with it.

For several years now, when Pocket Books and Paramount have needed an author to novelize a script for one of the movies or television episodes, J.M. Dillard has been the "go to" author for most of them and she has performed brilliantly in every effort. "Emissary" was her third novelization and one of her best. She perfectly captured the characterizations at this pivotal time in the series, the beginning.

As with all of her other novelizations, she does an outstanding and commendable job of not only bringing to print what was on screen but adding personal thoughts to and "between the scenes on screen" scenes.

Of course, beyond the great amount of praise and credit for J.M. Dillard for this novelization there is an even higher amount of accolades due to Michael Piller for the teleplay and basic story being written by himself and Rick Berman.

The cover art for "Emissary" is right on for this particular novel as it displays an entire cast picture which at the time of this novelizations release was very helpful.

The premise:

"Emissary" is of course the novelization of Star Trek Deep Space Nine's pilot episode. Here is where we meet the characters that will take us, the fans, through the entire gamut of emotions for several years to come.

Commander Benjamin Sisko who has been stationed on Earth since the tragic events of Wolf 359 in which his ship, the USS Saratoga, where he was serving on as first officer, participated in the defense of Earth from the Borg. As with most starships on that dreadful day, the Saratoga was destroyed and Sisko was able to escape with his son Jake, but his wife, Jennifer lost her life. As any man would, he's been suffering that loss since that day. As he has accepted the command of Deep Space Nine, he's also considering leaving Starfleet.

With that catalyst in mind, "Emissary" begins with Commander Sisko's arrival and the arrival of the rest of the cast to include introductions to Major Kira Nerys, Odo and Quark. Sisko also has a fateful meeting with Kai Opaka, the Bajoran spiritual leader.

What follows from there is nothing less than the best pilot episode of all of the series and one of J.M. Dillard's best novelizations. I highly recommend this novelization for your Star Trek collection. {ssintrepid}

It's great to get inside the heads of characters, that are seen on TV, and be privy to the way their minds work and see from where their attitudes stem. "Emissary" was a good book for that but -- boy! -- are those chapters long! Not wanting to put the book down until reaching the end of the chapter, you can easily finding yourself propping your eyelids open with matchsticks, if you're reading in bed. Like most film tie-ins, the book keeps faithful to the pilot episode but adds very little to the general story.

The story opens as Benjamin Sisko and his son Jake arrive at Sisko's new assignment on Deep Space Nine. Sisko is ambivelent about his new Star Fleet posting and what greets him at the station does not encourage him to stay. The Cardassians had stripped both the planet and station of everything of worth before their departure. As the DS9 crew began to assemble and attempt to restore order to the situation each was struck by the enormity of the problem(s) that faced them. Then, depending on your point of view, either the Celestral Temple (Bajoran heaven) or a stable wormhole was discovered near the station. Whatever it was called it was a pathway to the Gamma quadrant, a short cut that would place Bajor at the crossroads of major traderoutes. It would also make Bajor a highly coveted prize that many civilizations would be willing to fight over.

If this story sounds familiar it is because this is a novelization of the first episode of DS9. It follows the televised episode quite faithfully but also provides lots of background information and goes into much deeper into what each character is thinking during the action than is possible in a television program. For fans of the series it is great to get these backstories and for those new to the series who may have missed to pilot episode this provides the basic premises of the series.

This author is unquestionably the best at novelizing episodes or movies. The same author has done many Star Trek novelizations, and they've all been fine jobs. This one is no different; I admit that it's been a while since I saw the episode, but this certainly FEELS faithful to what I remember. The characters certainly come across well, and the storyline seems essentially unchanged.

Deep Space Nine is the best T.V. series of all time,(except for possibly Voyager), and this book was so good, I read it all in one night. Sisko is a dork but the plot was very interesting and this book was very well-written. I could see everything in my head, even though I never saw the episode. It also describes the characters well, especially Bashir and Dax. For this reason, If for no other, I reccomend this book to anyone, whether they know Deep Space Nine or not.

Eighteen years since it aired, Emissary is probably still the best of the five Star Trek pilot episodes. Based on Michael Piller's early draft of "Emissary", J.M Dillard does an excellent job of novelizing "Emissary", the pilot episode of DS9. Some of the scenes not in the episode is a flashback to the events of the Setlik III (TNG: "The Wounded") by O'Brien, Picard making a vow to be an anonymous benefactor to both Sisko and Jake, scenes featuring Keiko and Molly O'Brien, Bashir mentioning his error in confusing a postganglionic nerve with a preganglionic fiber in his exams (later mentioned in the series in "Q-Less"), Sisko contemplating about returning to Earth to teach and several scenes with Jake and Nog.

Great, fast-paced and quick read. Its from the first (pilot) episode from the DS9 series. Even if you have watched it on TV a million times, this page-turner will likely garner your interest. For DS9 and Star Trek fans alike, or even at good entrance point to the Star Trek universe. Characters are real and you can see them as if they were on your television screen.

Highly recommended.

Of all the recent novelisations I've read recently this one is one of the best. Beyond being a faithful adaptation of the pilot of Deep Space Nine, it actually bothers to give good descriptions and character insights / motivations. My one suggestion is to start with chapter 2. Although the pilot does actually start 3 years in the past with the Borg attack, the first chapter stalls the rest of the story. There is enough referral to the backstory that the first chapter really isn't needed in the book. I dare you future readers to start the book with chapter 2.

It's fantastically comprehensive and full of action, sciencefiction, adventure and drama.

Dillard provided a good intrepretationof the episode