Title: Section 31 - Abyss
Authors: David Weddle and Jeffrey Lang
Review by Jacqueline Bundy
Set a few days after the events in the highly acclaimed DS9 relaunch novel Avatar, Abyss is another winner for the Deep Space Nine Pocket Books line. David Weddle and Jeffrey Lang have collaborated on a very intriguing story that manages to subtly draw you in and then surprise you when you least expect it. So far editor Marco Palmieri's utilization of authors fairly new to Star Trek fiction is really paying off. With Abyss, like Avatar you don't feel as you are getting the same old formatic Star Trek novel. The writing is fresh and different, but still manages to capture those elements that draw a person to the Star Trek Universe. Wonderful characters, savory stories, and lots of adventure.
Section 31 has a serious problem. A renegade agent. But no ordinary agent. Dr. Ethan Locken, like Bashir, underwent genetic enhancement as a child. Like Bashir, he choose to pursue medicine. Like Bashir, Locken felt compelled to hide his true abilities least someone grow suspicious of his abilities.
Unlike Bashir, Locken succumbed to the recruiters for Section 31. Now Section 31 needs Bashir to bring Locken down and stop him before he can unleash his plan to spark a new war. A war that Locken believes will allow him to reshape the quadrant and found a new empire based on the example of the notorious Khan Noonien Singh with an army of specially modified Jem'Hadar to back him.
Abyss is skillfully written. With subtle characterizations you are able to feel as if you are drawn into the thoughts and emotions of the characters that are very cleverly utilized. Especially the character of Taran'atar, the Jem'Hadar observer introduced in Avatar. His character is integral to the story, and his own struggles to understand the ways of those he is now forced to live among and work with are a nice counterpoint to Bashir's grappling with his own conscious. The authors managed to explore and advance the personalities of the characters, even those who don't play a major role in the story, in a way that is not often enough seen in recent trek fiction offerings.
The touches of humor used throughout the novel keep it from becoming bogged down in the philosophical issues that it addresses. When a book manages to be absorbing, but at the same time makes me chuckle from time to time I am a very satisfied reader. And Abyss was extremely satisfying.
