By BWilliams / 10:04, 12 May 2004 / Reviews - Books

The sheer size and scope of the STAR TREK universe as seen on DEEP SPACE NINE provided the largest and richest tapestry for its characters and the worlds represented throughout the series’ seven-year run. With Pocket Books’ successful re-launch of the series in an original series of novels, that tapestry unfolded yet again through AVATAR, the MISSION: GAMMA saga, RISING SON, the highly successful LEFT HAND OF DESTINY, and the epic events of UNITY. Now, Pocket Books continues with THE WORLDS OF DEEP SPACE NINE, a three-book series that both expands on the events from the re-launch and provides further glimpses into six of the key worlds seen in the series.

Cardassia, one of the seldom-explored worlds in the series, is spotlighted first in “The Lotus Flower”, written by Una McCormack. As Cardassia continues to rebuild itself from the ashes of destruction as a result of the Dominion War, Chief O’Brien and his family have begun to settle into a new life in the last place they ever expected to live. While Chief O’Brien works with Elim Garak and a group of Cardassian engineers in rebuilding their technical infrastructure, Keiko O’Brien works in developing Cardassia’s agricultural and botanical rebirth with the help of a Bajoran vedek. But such plans go awry in post-war society, as both groups face threats from a suicide bomber threatening to disrupt all of the proceedings and demands Cardassia go back to its former lifestyle.

This tale could have been easily ripped from today’s headlines: a war-torn society with no military, technical, or political structure; outside governments coming in and suggesting a myriad of political reforms; suicide bombers threatening to kill innocent people in the name of religious persecution. Sound familiar? It should. If the Cardassians as seen during the series could be viewed in either Nazi German or militant Iraqi eyes, then Cardassia in the post-DS9 re-launch is the weary post-Iraq war society looking for direction but continuing to face persistent threats. Una McCormack taps into our world’s current political system and brings to life this cautionary tale set on one of the more interesting planets in the STAR TREK universe. She skillfully melds strong characters with equally strong narrative descriptions, and while there’s a wealth of information left untapped, it’s good to see a return visit to Cardassia.

But let’s not leave out one of our most familiar Cardassians from the series, Elim Garak. McCormack has in her hands one of the richest and most intriguing characters in the entire STAR TREK universe pulling the strings with Chief O’Brien and the Cardassian engineers. A dangerous chess game he plays, but what a game it is! Like Lionel Luthor in SMALLVILLE, Garak is adept at maneuvering and manipulating people around the board, whether Starfleet, Bajoran, or Cardassian, to fit his personal agenda, and it’s nice to see in “The Lotus Flower” that this is one thing that hasn’t changed at all about Garak. Still, there’s the promise of the eponymous flower itself: from the ashes does the lotus flower grow, and so with it does the promise of rebirth even on a war-torn planet like Cardassia.

The other planet highlighted in this first volume is Andor, in the tale “Paradigm”, written by Heather Jarman. Even with their first appearance on the Original Series, in the STARFLEET ACADEMY video game, and on ENTERPRISE, the Andorian home world remains to this day an enigma in an official capacity. But Jarman’s tale fills in some of the details with interesting information.

The focus of “Paradigm” is on DS9’s Andorian officer, Ensign Thirishar ch’Thane. A celebrity in the eyes of the Andorians, Shar is a virtual outcast in his own family. He’s been banned from attending a family funeral, and his zhavey, or mother, is facing threats on the political field. Her progressive attempts to move Andorian society forward into a new political system have come under attack from the Visionist Party, a political group devoted to returning Andor to the old ways while secretly attempting to undermine their very lifestyle.

Very little information has been officially offered thus far on Andorian culture and background; all we know is that their society has four distinct sexes, mutual trust is sacred and antagonism is the general rule of its societal norm. Beyond that we know nothing. Jarman has taken it upon herself to create a background and history for the Andorians, taking a page from the previous DS9 re-launch novels and extrapolating what Andor’s culture is like. She spends a great deal of time explaining various Andorian customs, foods, clothing, funeral rituals, and political systems, among others. As I read “Paradigm”, I saw many obvious Middle Eastern influences seep into the Andorian society. Their culture would have very little difficulty fitting in with modern-day Indian, Hindu, Pakistani, or Israeli culture.

But don’t let the culture just be the only selling point of “Paradigm”. Jarman ably shifts between depictions of Andorian society and the main mysteries at hand: what causes Shar such discomfort in his own family, and what would cause a radical political group to undermine both progressive efforts on Andor and the very nature of Andorian sexuality. Like Una McCormack’s “The Lotus Flower”, Jarman taps into modern-day post-Iraqi society with its threats from radical groups to return their society to the old ways. Her characterization of Shar and the many members of the Andorian culture are rich with detail and worth investigating further in an official capacity, and it’s nice to see that even outsiders such as Ensign Prynn Tenmei have no difficulty fitting in to Andorian society.

In one distinct way, both “The Lotus Flower” and “Paradigm” share a common theme: that life in post-Dominion War society is uneasy, that radical groups abound to return their home worlds to their former lifestyles, that the Federation definitely has its hands full when it comes to overseeing social, engineering, and political reforms.

The good thing about THE WORLDS OF DEEP SPACE NINE is that each volume does not require recapping events from one book to another; each book is designed as a stand-alone volume. But in order to understand events in the post-series re-launch era, it does require more than a passing familiarity with events in the re-launch. While the series will continue in November with the second volume, this is a fine start. Highly recommended and enjoyable!

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