Review/Summary by Thomas Sharp
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Avatar, Book One is S.D. Perry’s first full-length contribution to the Star Trek universe. Her previous stories were both in the Star Trek: The Lives of Dax anthology, ‘Sins of the Mother’ and ‘Allegro Ouroboros in D Minor,’ which she co-wrote with Robert Simpson. Her most recent Star Trek novel was part of the Section 31 series, Star Trek Cloak.
Avatar is the first official novel of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Relaunch. It is though other books have been written following the finale of Deep Space Nine, but this is the first to introduce the new crew of the station.
It has been three months since the Dominion War ended. Colonel Kira Nerys is in command of Deep Space Nine, and the only senior officers left from Captain Sisko’s command staff are Chief Medical Officer Julian Bashir, Station Counselor Ezri Dax, and Lieutenant Nog, who is now the Operations Officer/Chief Engineer. The new additions to the crew include Commander Tiris Jast, a Bolian First Officer, Ensign Thirishar ch’Thane, a young Andorian science officer, and Militia Lieutenant Ro Laren as the station’s chief of security. Nog and ch’Thane are overseeing the systems updates of both the Defiant and Deep Space Nine.
Quark continues to run his bar on the Promenade. Kasidy Yates, pregnant with the child of Benjamin Sisko, remained on the station. Jake Sisko, though, has since gone to work on the excavation of B’hala where an older prylar gives him pages of an ancient prophecy, meant for the son of the Emissary.
In the Badlands, the USS Enterprise-E, with Tactical Specialist Commander Elias Vaughn onboard, is searching for suspected Breen activity.
Now, there are the players. Here is the game.
With both the station and Defiant down for upgrades and repairs, three Jem’Hadar attack cruisers come through the wormhole, and begin their attack on the station. The enemy ships quickly destroy the Starfleet ship assigned to protect the sector. The Defiant launches with a skeleton crew, to try to defend the station. They are only partly successful, and one ship remained when another Jem’Hadar vessel came through the wormhole, and destroyed the attacker, before it’s own destruction due to damage already inflicted.
The prylar who gave Jake the prophecy came to the station, only to be murdered on the Promenade. The attacker ran from the security officers, and fell from the upper level to his death. Kira orders Ro to fully investigate the death of her old friend, the prylar.
Nog feels guilt for the deaths caused by the attack. Ezri has to accept the legacy she carries within her as a joined Trill.
In the Badlands, the Enterprise-E found a thirty-year-old Cardassian freighter. Vaughn, Riker, Data and Geordi beam aboard the ship, to conduct a search of it before it is destroyed by the plasma storms. While there, the entire team is overwhelmed by their memories. The most profound effect is on Vaughn, an eighty year Starfleet veteran, who is caught up in his own memories at first, but is soon aware of the memories of the Cardassians and Bajorans who had died on the ship decades before. As he approached a bright light in the cargo bay, Vaughn saw a vision of Benjamin Sisko and found the open case carrying the Orb of Memory. Picard decided to take the orb back to the Bajorans, ending the search of the Badlands.
On the station, Ro’s investigation into the prylar’s death leads her first to Quark, and then on to a corridor of the Habitat Ring. There, she finds an ancient book of prophecy. She has ch’Thane translate the Bajoran text for her, and finds that it is full of true prophecies, covering every major event in Bajoran history, from the Occupation to the Dominion War.
Starfleet has assembled a peacekeeping force that is to enter the wormhole, and investigate the Dominion threat. Matters are complicated when a Jem’Hadar is found on the station. The genetically-bred soldier claims to be on a mission of peace, and that he was sent by the Founder Odo.
For the first book of a series relaunch, S.D. Perry did an excellent job of setting the stage for what is to come. As I write this, both Avatar books have been out for a couple of months, and so has Abyss, and Demons of Air and Darkness is coming in a couple of weeks. So far, Ms. Perry is becoming one of the best of the Star Trek writers, and when she contributes to a new book, I’ll be sure to pick it up right away.
Other Titles of Interest
Avatar Page Links
Avatar Page One
Abyss Page Two
The Avatar Archive
Authors of the Deep Space Nine Relaunch
