Mission Gamma is finally over...oh, did it end?
Written: Aug 26 '04 (Updated Aug 17 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: The Bajoran political plot line, good characterization of the regulars
Cons: Very short, and that's not good for something with this much ground to cover
The Bottom Line: The bottom line isn't the lesser of two evils
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| hist's Full Review: Lesser Evil Books |
Robert Simpson's Lesser Evil brings Deep Space Nine's "Mission Gamma" miniseries to a close, in a sense, but unfortunately it's more like a placeholder for the hardcover Unity then it is a culmination of the story itself. The book is incredibly short (the previous three books clocked in at over 400 pages while Lesser Evil is a measly 266. It continues the Bajoran political story and has a minor story that ties the entire Gamma Quadrant story together in a rather perfunctory fashion. I was mildly disappointed with it.
With the stunning events at the conclusion of Cathedral, the station is in an uproar. Trill security chief Hiziki Gard has killed his target and then transported away. Lieutenant Ro has her hands full trying to track him down while the rest of Bajor comes to terms with what happened. Quark sees his future with Ro in some other part of the galaxy going up in flames as Ro seems even more dedicated to her work now. Kira finds herself going deep into the heart of the Federation to unearth a conspiracy that could destroy the Federation from within. Meanwhile, on Earth, Joseph Sisko is lamenting the loss of his son, Captain Benjamin Sisko, as well as his grandson Jake. He's already collapsed once, and now he seems to be wasting away. His daughter doesn't know what to do, but unexpected help from a former crewmate of Ben's will lead the entire family to Bajor in time for some momentous events.
In the Gamma Quadrant, the Defiant is on its way home after a long journey exploring, contacting new species, and generally making a pest of itself. The crew is tired, some aren't coming back, and the others are dealing with the events they have experienced. This all changes when a Starfleet transponder signal from a distant planet stuns Commander Vaughn and sends the Defiant on a detour. A detour that involves a figure from Vaughn's past, a potential threat from the Gamma Quadrant, and some old friends of the Federation: the Borg. For the first time, Vaughn is letting personal feelings get in the way of his command, putting the Defiant in danger.
Simpson packs a lot into a very tiny package, and I think it suffers for it a bit. The Borg storyline feels incredibly simple, and while I enjoyed reading about Vaughn and his daughter's reaction to what they find, it all seemed to end almost as soon as it began. The situation down on the planet where they find the Borg is over quickly and it seems like it was there only to set up the conclusion of the book that leads into Rising Son. It's certainly not that interesting by itself. The only thing that saves this story at all is the strong characterization of Vaughn and finding out more about why he came to Deep Space Nine and the orb vision that sparked his decision. While we have known that the conflict with his daughter was because of what happened to his wife, we never knew exactly what did happen to her. That was neat to see. I just think it called for a bit more story than we actually received.
Once again, the Bajoran story is the highlight of the book. We finally learn the secret behind what's been happening for the last three books, and it's a doozy. Of course, as I've said, I already knew it, but I didn't know the details. When I discovered them, it was still a bit of a shock. The sequence where Kira has to try and regain control of the ship is riveting, and it's full of even more twists and turns. In hindsight, one of the twists is obvious, but I admit that I was fooled. Unfortunately, the climax of this story (or should I say this part of the story, since it does continue in Unity) reads very much like the concluding scene of the episode that introduced this villain (and I won't say which one as that will, obviously reveal who it is). It would have been nice to see a little more originality. Thankfully, Simpson nails Kira's characterization, and he also does a good job with the crew of the Gryphon. Kira shows the battle smarts that got her through the Occupation when she has to come up with a way to keep the other ships on her side from firing on them. It makes wonderful use of continuity and it's little dashes like this that give me hope for the Star Trek books.
The main problem with the book is that it just seems to be treading water waiting for the first hardcover of the new Deep Space Nine series. At the end of Cathedral, the whole Joseph Sisko problem was introduced, and this story spends a lot of time with him as he's slowly coming to terms with what's happened to his son and grandson. It brings back some familiar faces, which is nice, and the story is very sweet. The characterization of Joseph is great, as is the characterization of the guests. So while it gave me a pleasurable feeling, I couldn't help the feeling that it was all just included to get Joseph to Deep Space Nine for Unity.
Thus, the "Mission Gamma" series comes to an end, not with a blast, but with a "to be continued." However, the series itself can still be judged, as the Gamma Quadrant portion of the story is over. Ultimately, I found the Gamma Quadrant stories to be weaker in all four books. Some of that may be my interest in Bajoran politics taking precedence, but I think part of it is also my feeling that the stories just weren't that substantial. I realize that the exploration of the Gamma Quadrant was to be more of an exploration of the characters who went on the mission, but does that mean that we couldn't be given any interesting external elements? The only interesting species were the Yrythny in This Gray Spirit, and we weren't given any good characters within that species to really make us sit up and take notice.
The series itself was quite good, just not as good as it could have been, saved by the Bajoran political angle. Unfortunately, Lesser Evil ends the series on a bit of a fizzle, forcing us to look to the intriguing Unity to bring it out of its doldrums.
Other Deep Space Nine continuation books:
Avatar
Section 31: Abyss
Demons of Air & Darkness
Mission Gamma: Twilight
Mission Gamma: This Gray Spirit
Mission Gamma: Cathedral
Mission Gamma: Lesser Evil
Rising Son
Unity
Worlds of Deep Space Nine: Cardassia & Andor
Worlds of Deep Space Nine: Bajor & Trill
Worlds of Deep Space Nine: Dominion & Ferenginar
Warpath
Fearful Symmetry
A Stitch in Time
Left Hand of Destiny: Book 1
Left Hand of Destiny: Book 2
Recommended:
Yes
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Member: David Roy
Location: Vancouver, BC
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