Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Never Ending Sacrifice (Star Trek Deep Space Nine (Unnumbered Paperback)) [Kindle Edition]

Una McCormack (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A boy looks up. He sees a Cardassian's hand on his shoulder and knows that this is usually a prelude to a beating or, if he is fortunate enough, arrest. The boy knows how many disappeared during the Occupation of Bajor. So he does the one thing he can think of: he bites the Cardassian. Then the nightmare begins.

He is ripped from the family that took him in as an orphan, clothed him, fed him, always loved him unconditionally. And no matter how earnest, how caring the commander of Deep Space 9 is, the boy knows this is all a horrible mistake. How can someone from Starfleet judge him by what he looks like, not by what he is? He prays to the Prophets; he is Bajoran. They all keep telling him that the test proves the large Cardassian man is his father, that the other Cardassian -- that oily gul -- took him away from his father. But the boy keeps telling them that he is Bajoran, he only wants to go home with his father. So they send Rugal home -- to Cardassia.

On the homeworld of the Cardassian Union where sacrifice and devotion to the state are surpassed only by the government's need to keep its people in check, one very lonely boy discovers that if he doesn't resist, his life -- like those of so many others -- will be added to the tally of the never-ending sacrifice.

About the Author

Kevin Ryan is a former Star Trek editor who has written a number of Star Trek novels including the ERRAND OF VENGEANCE trilogy and the stand-alone REQUIEM with Michael Jan Friedman.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 467 KB
• Print Length: 388 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1439109613
• Publisher: Pocket Books/Star Trek (August 25, 2009)
• Sold by: Simon and Schuster Digital Sales Inc
• Language: English
• ASIN: B002M6HXRS
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #209,284 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

I'm Una McCormack, author of three "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" novels, published by Pocket Books. I'm very surprised by this career turn: I didn't take it up until my mid-twenties, when I started writing fanfiction. Then the internet arrived, so I started posting my fanfiction online. I guess more people were reading it, because I was approached by the editor of the Star Trek books and invited to pitch some stories. Now I write both tie-in stories, and stories in settings I've made up myself.

I live in Cambridge, England, where I read, write, and teach. I'm a graduate of Newnham College, Cambridge, and have a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Surrey. I watch a lot of telly: right now, I'm having a fling with "Chuck", but my one true loves are "Blake's 7" and "Doctor Who".

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding!, September 29, 2009

By 

Laura J. Cope (Homer, MI United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Never Ending Sacrifice (Star Trek Deep Space Nine (Unnumbered Paperback)) (Mass Market Paperback)

The Never Ending Sacrifice was one of the best Star Trek books I've read. The story line was captivating. I couldn't put it down. Una McCormack should get an award for this one. The main character, Rugal, steals your heart from the very beginning. He's journey from childhood on Bajor, back to Cardassia with a father he never knew. He takes you through the Dominion War from a different perspective. I can't say enough about this book and I don't want to give anything away. A must read and enjoy!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Neverending Sacrifice, September 16, 2009

By 

Alice L. Moore (midlothian, va United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Never Ending Sacrifice (Star Trek Deep Space Nine (Unnumbered Paperback)) (Kindle Edition)

This novel is based on the Deep Space Nine episode "Cardassians". To summarize, an orphaned Cardassian boy named Rugal is adopted by a Bajoran couple. It is discovered that Rugal is not an orphan but is the son of a prominent Cardassian government official. He is sent back with his Cardassian family by Cmdr Sisko. This novel is the aftermath of this repatriation.

This novel like A Stitch in Time (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) is more of a culture/character novel than a plot driven novel. The author did a fine characterization by not making Rugal too human. Many SciFi and futuristic fantasy writers have their alien characters as modern day projections. The situations are metaphors for modern day problems. In Star Trek Deep Space Nine they were able to break away from this with the creation of the Cardassians. They have morality, values, and a soul but they aren't of the human variety. Andrew Robinson and Marc Alaimo both did superb jobs in Deep Space Nine portraying this. This novel built on "A Stitch In Time". Rugal returns to his Cardassian family and doesn't even want to adjust. His attitude persists throughout the years. He finds that Cardassians are not all butchers, yet he persists in trying to find a way back to Bajor. This highlights his non-human characteristic.

Any drawbacks? The novel follows the plot arc of Deep Space Nine. The developments such as the Maquis and the Dominion War are told from the perspective of Rugal and not the regular Star Trek characters. This isn't a minus for myself. Rugal's Cardassian father, Pa'dar seems a model of forbearance not only with Rugal but his imperious mother, Geleth(another interesting character). Pa'Dar seems almost too much of a saint.

This book is overall a good light read.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The title discribes the novel on several levels, December 9, 2009

By 

A. Calloway "print lover" (LITHONIA, GA. United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Never Ending Sacrifice (Star Trek Deep Space Nine (Unnumbered Paperback)) (Mass Market Paperback)

Wow! I too was captivated by Rugal's on-going story, although I (sort of) agreed watching the DS9 episode that he should go home to Cardassia. I was kind of irritated when, though realizing his birth father loved him unconditionally, he still wanted to go back to Bajor. But was so into the storyline, and it fits the teenage emotional level.
U.M.'s writing is excellent. It sweeps along from one believable happening to another. It was so satisfying to see him mature, and stop thinking about his own issues,though heart-wrenching, to care for his grandmother, and then his neighbor during the war. I would have loved to have seen some type of reconciliation between Rugal and his father. But like the title says, there were never ending sacrifices--Rugal's, his father's, his adoptive parents, the Bajoran people's, the soldiers, the Cardassian people's, their brain washed children, the survivors of all the ravaged planets, and even the ones that weren't touched. I'll bet when you read this book you'll be able to find evidence of more. U.M. shows how families can be destroyed by cruel ambitions and bigoted people. Then we get to watch in triumph as they rally to survive, and even prosper. How beautiful for Rugal to create one family after losing two. I highly recommend this book. Hats off to U.M. for her fine writing.