Customer Reviews

Legends of the Ferengi (Star Trek Deep Space Nine (Unnumbered Paperback))

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Legends of the Ferengi" is a hilarious spoof on fairy tales and folklore anthologies. As a folklorist myself, I found dozens of in-jokes that had me literally doubled over with laughter.

In the DS9 episode "Rules of Aquisition," the Ferengi Pel claims to know all 285 Rules of Aquisition plus the commentaries. This book gives you some of those commentaries --- at least, for the 70 Rules that were actually revealed on the series. The authors, Ira Behr and Robert Wolfe, wrote most of the DS9 Ferengi episodes. Now they give you the story behind each of the Rules, including #113, the "Rule that dare not speak its name."

You will also learn the first two words that any Ferengi learns in the Hew-Mon language ("No refunds"), The ten most famous insults in Ferengi history (see p.32) and the story of the infamous villain Drek, M.H.N.L.I.I. (May His Name Live In Infamy), who actually cut his prices and gave his customers BARGAINS, thereby causing the Ferengi economy to crash. Which is one reason why every Ferengi child is duly warned about the dangers of Real Life through supernatural horror stories about that bogeyman of bogeymen -- the Smiling Partner! And so on. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which has lots of great B&W stills from the series, too. Drek was right --- some things really ARE bargains!

"Legends of the Ferengi" is a much more thought out and fun book than it's previously released cousin "The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition." Every known rule from the series is listed with an excellent backstory, or history if you will, of each rule. The authors did a wonderful job with book and you can tell they had fun making the stories up. This is one of those rare trek extras where even a non hard core fan will get a kick out of it. Thank you to author's for some of the best laughs in trek fiction.

As a warning to potential buyers: if you bought the Rules of Acquistion book and then buy this one, Quark reminds you at one point that you were suckered into buying the same stuff twice. But besides that, this is a hilarious book with tons of Star Trek inside references. Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe wrote nearly all the "Ferengi episodes" of DS9 so this book is a real treat. So line Quark's pockets with latinum and get both.

This is a much more substantial (and preferable) alternative to the previous work "The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition." which should bring some chuckles. Just as the Ferengi were never taken seriously, so should readers approach this book. Although it is presumably "official" Star Trek merchandise, readers may feel odd including the work's myriad puns and alliterations into the Star Trek universe. (E.g., How the name 'Saknussen' turns up in a journey to the center of Ferenginar.) But if you're one of those trekkers who could still laugh at Bill Shatner's 'Get a life!' skit, then this book is for you. Quark said it best when he advised that his book 'be kept in your waste extraction unit and savored'.

While it doesn't cover all the Rules of Acquisition--only roughly a quarter of the alleged 285 were mentioned on the shows before the next-to-last episode of DS9 said they were no longer being taught--it's still a fun read. It consists of little parables and stories and games to illustrate what the Rules were trying to pass on, such as "There is no substitute for success" involving a riot at a public event on Ferenginar because a band called Success never appeared. To top it off, the DS9 producers made it "official" by mentioning some of the stuff that appears in it in episodes, like Sisko's middle name and a couple of popular Ferengi beverages.

I don't give ratings of "10" frivolously. LEGENDS OF THE FERENGI tells how the infamous Ferengi Rules of Acquisition originated. There's lots of humor and good sense to learn. I loved it from beginning to end. One Note: This book is now in audiobook form, a bit different from the book, but just as entertaining. It is read by Quark himself, Armin Shimerman.

One of the best new ideas to be introduced in Star Trek, the Next Generation, was the Ferengi Alliance. While they are rapacious like the Klingons and Romulans, they are not warlike, unless you consider the practice of business to be war by other means. Given the seriousness with which the Ferengi conduct their business, their rules of acquisition can be considered the equivalent of a combination of Machiavelli's "The Prince" and Sun Tzu's "The Art of War."
While this book covers some of the rules of acquisition, the main focus is on the legends/history behind the development of the rules. As is the case with the stories that make up human religious foundations, the stories are a combination of fact, fable, embellishment and occasional outright lie. Nevertheless, they are fun to read, they are meant to be humorous and entertaining, rather than to be taken seriously. The premise is that Quark, the Ferengi barkeep in Star Trek Deep Space Nine, is narrating the tales to two human scribes. Once complete, the humans will then collect and edit them into the book. If you are not familiar with the Deep Space Nine series, then very little of the contents will make sense to you. However, if you watch the show, it will all make sense.
Creating a fictional society, complete with centuries of customs and folklore, is very hard. The authors do a good job of describing the greedy Ferengi, once you read the rules, you will understand that hew-mons and Ferengi are really not all that different.

This was a very funny and good book, but it was still missing several Rules, which is kinda disappointing. Hmm, maybe I SHOULD have read the fine print first...

The book is excellent, but the audio cassette is even better as Quark narrates with his unique style. If you enjoy the Ferengi, you'll love Legends in both book AND audio form. True to Ferengi nature, they hold back several rules for future purchase. Excellent!

The Ferengi have become the humor sidebar in the Star Trek Universe, and this audio adaption really shines the light upon them. Told by Quark himself, the anecdotes are interwoven amidst a plethora of puns and seqments of wacky music. Tongue is firmly planted in cheek for these tales, but I never found them trite or boring. The Ferengi perspective is a clever idea, and the many chuckles this tape produced made it well worth the money. Recommended.