Customer Reviews

Proud Helios (Star Trek Deep Space Nine, No 9)

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PROUD HELIOS is an independent raider, a spacefaring pirate that has been attacking primarily Cardassian ships but lately has been branching out to other ships. Their activities are beginning to have an impact on the trade in the area, trade that the Bajorians desperately need to rebuild their ravaged economy. Sisko and his crew are soon involved in their search for this mysterious, aggravating vessel and find themselves in the unusual circumstance of having the same goal as the Cardassians.

This is the ninth novel in the DS9 series and is set in approximately season two. Not all the characterizations are as fully developed as they will be later on in the series nor are the relationships between the characters what they will become later on. For fans of the series, particularly those who enjoy the action of a space battle this one is an enjoyable read. For those fans who are more interested in the characters and in the various cultures represented on the station this one is a bit of a disappointment. The plot develops rather slowly and predictably with few surprises along the way. We learn nothing new about any of the characters and in fact fans of the series will be way ahead of the author.

Still PROUD HELIOS does not violate any 'facts' set down in the series - always a problem with tie-in novels. It is an fairly good addition to the series, just not an outstanding one.

"Proud Helios" represents only the first of two forays into the Star Trek universe for Melissa Scott which is kind of sad considering that her writing style was rather promising. I found "Proud Helios" to have a somewhat intriguing plot and the author carried a fairly decent pace throughout the novel. "Proud Helios" is one of the earlier Star Trek Deep Space Nine novels so when picking up this novel keep that in mind because when this novel was written and published, the series was still in its second and third seasons and as any fan of the show knows, character and plot wise, it was very much in a state of flux at that time.

The cover art for "Proud Helios" is very typical for the time of its publishing, which doesn't really show much in imagination.

The premise:

Bajor depends quite heavily on the flow of traffic to the Gamma Quadrant through the wormhole and when that flow is suddenly interrupted by a mysterious ship using a cloaking device it is time for Commander Sisko to step in and stop it. This mysterious ship also starts attacking Cardassian ships as well, which brings about an unexpected alliance between Sisko and Gul Dukat.

As this novel is one of the earlier Deep Space Nine novels and I recommend all of them, I will also recommend this novel more as one of those "completists" type novels for Trek fiction readers. {ssintrepid}

Proud Helios is one of the better Trek books out there. It lacks any true depth, of course, and posits no new ideas or perspectives. It taxes the brain not at all. It is, however, a fine action story with extremely well-depicted secondary characters, a rarity in most Trek novels. In fact, the secondary characters, including the captain and engineer of the pirate ship Helios and a Cardassian commander forced to kow-tow to Gul Dukat, grab interest before any of the regular DS9 characters do. As for the regulars, after a few dozen pages of hokey introspection about each other, they emerge "true to life", with Kira and Odo in particular showing off their best traits (Kira shooting her mouth off without thinking, and Odo scowling at everything in sight). Scott's effort has earned my interest in other books she has written.

The only serious caveat is to beware the infamous back of the book. The description given by the publisher is misleading; there is no Sisko/Dukat alliance, for example. Moreover, the back gives away a major plot point that does not occur until page 200 or so (in a 270 page book). So, don't read the back of the book, but pick it up, read it, and enjoy it as it is meant to be enjoyed - as mindless, harmless entertainment.

A Deep Space Nine tie-in novel. The Federation hierarchy of Deep Space Nine must end up dealing with their opponents the Cardassians when it is discovered a pirate with cloaking technology is attacking ships from both their organisations.

It all does not go as planned, however, and a rescue needs to be made.

This book is a perfectly adequate action story, competently told and with slightly better than fair characterizations, but it is no more than that. If you enjoy DS9, read it for the pleasure of seeing your favorite characters in action, but don't expect any philosophical insights or epiphanies; they aren't there. Neither is the prose anything special; good, but nothing memorable.

I tried reading this book I really did but somehow I just never could get through it. I think the plot killed this book even though the author did his best to help it along. If you want a better DS9 book try reading "Antimatter" or "Fallen Heros" they are much better.

Star Trek books, especially Deep Space Nine books, are usually so exciting I read them in one night, but this book was pretty dumb and boring. The situation wasn't at all suspensefull or thrilling, and the writing style was boring also. Read the Dominion War series, it was great.