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4.0 out of 5 stars
creepy and intriguing yarn, December 13, 2000
This review is from: Valhalla (Star Trek Deep Space Nine, No 10) (Mass Market Paperback)
This is one of my most favorite DS9 novels ever written, for many reasons. If you've read the plot summary above, then you know that the gist of this book is as follows: strange ship comes through wormhole from Gamma Quadrant with incredible technology, Bajor/Federation and Cardassia dispute ownership, crew of ship is dead killed by ship, ship is sentient, takes over station. Okay, now that the plot summary is out of the way, let me tell you why I like this book. This is vintage DS9. The station is still rather run-down and defenseless and every once in a while the Cardassians come to pester them and there's not much they can do about it. I loved that era, because I'm one of the true DS9er's who was loyal to the series from day one, before Worf and wars and all that. Another thing is the "pup" that one of the reviewers on this page was so confused about. The "computer pup" in the book is actually a sentient computer program that pestered the crew in the DS9 episode "The Forsaken" (fans may not remember it well because its presence in that episode was rather overshadowed by Lwaxana and Odo's being stuck in an elevator together). I love it when a writer puts stuff from the TV show in the books. It's a rewarding experience for fans to be able to recognize these moments, and besides that it lets you know that the writer is himself a fan, which boosts your opinion of them and also your enjoyment of the book. Plus, the ship comes from the Gamma Quadrant. We saw little enough of the Gamma Quadrant in the early seasons of the show anyways, but when the Dominion came in we were almost entirely cut off. This gave us a peek into some of the mysteries that lay across the galaxy. This book also reminded me of a second season TNG episode, "Where Silence Has Lease." In that episode, a powerful entity known as Nagilum toys with the crew, and wishes to understand the concept of death and so starts killing crew members, treating them as lab rats. It ended up that no one was actually killed and Picard and Nagilum developed an understanding of one another (making the show end with a reminiscent tip of the hat to the TOS episode, "The Corbomite Maneuver"). However, to get back on track, in this book the ship mirrors Nagilum, killing crewmembers to gain an understanding of death, but the deaths in this case are real. It's a hard-hitting book, action-packed and very complex, working on many different levels. Nathan Archer has a very fresh and exciting writing style. It's definitely one of the best stories DS9 has to offer, TV series included. If you're a DS9 fan, you owe it to yourself to read this one.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Through alien eyes, November 13, 2007
This is the tenth in the series of DEEP SPACE 9 tie-in novels and is set early in the series chronology. STAR TREK tie in novels come in many forms. Some are action adventures, others are thrillers, or mysteries, or romances or comedies or just about any sort of genre set in the STAR TREK universe. Some actually do actually actually do take the reader 'where no one has gone before' and to look at the universe from a totally different point of view. VALHALLA is one of those.
Bajor has been experiencing a series of Cardassian incursions into their airspace. Sisko and his staff investigate what is behind these violations of the treaty and discover that once again Cardassia is experiencing political turmoil with various factions vying for control. Some of the most likely winners in this contest are those who want to retake control of Bajor and the wormhole - a goal that Bajor cannot prevent.
This already volital situation is made worse when an alien ship emerges through the wormhole on a course for Cardassia. The DS9 crew investigates when their hails are unanswered and discover that the crew is dead. They also find that some of the technology is quite advanced and very desirable. Soon the Federation, Bajor and Cardassia are at odds over it. They find that there is another factor to be considered though, the technology is sentient which raises the question of just where the lines between 'being' and 'property' lie. This conflict in echoed in the 'B' story line involving one of Quark's business deals.
VALHALLA is an interesting story to read on a superficial level but the questions it raises, like many of the DS9 TV episodes, will stay with the reader/viewer long after.
On the down side, VALHALLA, like many of the early DS9 novels suffers a bit because the reader has probably already seen the full TV series. DS9 differs from the original series and THE NEXT GENERATION in that it had an overlying arc of stories. There were many major events that definitely dated the stories. The characters, and their relationships evolved over the course of the series so the stories that were written early on feel a little strange. Fans (and who else will be reading a tie-in novel?) should keep in mind how early in the series this is set while reading and focus on the differences in the various cultures.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
DS9 #10 Valhalla - A very well told early DS9 tale!, November 2, 2003
This review is from: Valhalla (Star Trek Deep Space Nine, No 10) (Mass Market Paperback)
Surprisingly enough, "Valhalla" was only the first of two Star Trek novels for this outstanding author. I found his writing style to be fairly well paced and he had a thorough grasp of the characters and the overall theme of the series at the time in which this novel was published. This type of Star Trek Deep Space Nine novel is truly what DS9 was about at that time; a mystery from the Gamma Quadrant floating through the wormhole and the good old Cardassians from right next door, coming to waive their flag and make threats. It would certainly be nice to see this author make a return to the Star Trek universe after so many years away. The cover art for this novel is pretty much standard fair for the time in which it was published and can even be considered lower than that considering the extremely poor rendition of Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor), which I find it surprising that she checked off on it. The premise: The Cardassians are raising the tension levels on the station and Bajor once again due to speculation that they may attempt to reoccupy Bajor, but things become complicated even further when a mysterious ship comes through the wormhole from the Gamma Quadrant. The crew of this ship is found dead and some very valuable technology from the Gamma Quadrant is found. Sisko soon finds that he must deal both with the Cardassians who are attempting to seize control of this ship and Kira who believes it to be Bajoran property. When the alien ship suddenly seizes control of Deep Space Nine, Sisko finds he must now face this alien entity controlling the station and the Cardassians who are attempting to seize control of it. Here is where a very special player comes into play that came from the first season episode "The Forsaken." I highly recommend this early Deep Space Nine novel to any and all fans of the series and Star Trek fiction in general. {ssintrepid}
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