Terry J. Erdmann

This book finally brings an end to a depressing five-year gap without a Deep Space Nine book. Sure, we've had Deep Space 9 books, but not Deep Space Nine books, if you see what I mean. The last one was a moving epic about one young man with a backdrop of an entire civilization's rise and fall, so what's this one about?

Well, it's about Quark trying to find some good porn.

Uh, okay.

Look, I know these novellas are trying to emulate a tv episode more than your average prose release from Simon & show more Schuster, and there are several Quark episodes this is clearly intended to remind you of, like "Who Mourns for Morn?" or "Rules of Acquisition." But the best Quark episodes were 1) actually funny, 2) had a somewhat serious core somewhere, and 3) were actually about Quark! That last one is where this all falls down for me. Quark tries to track down the rest of a Vulcan's Love Slave sequel, and goes to Wrigley's Pleasure Planet and battles with the Orion Syndicate, but basically none of his choices move the narrative at all. He gets himself out of no dangers, he does nothing clever or interesting. This is the dumb Quark of the worst DS9 episodes. At the end, we learn three other characters manipulated him and everything he did was pointless and then the book stops. He learns nothing, and we learn nothing. I was genuinely surprised when I got to the end: "That's it?" Like, that was all this book was for?

On screen, Armin Shimerman might have made you believe in this stuff (he could do that with weak scripts on screen), but on the page this all lies pretty flat. Quark can be shallow, but this is ridiculously shallow even for him; it's like the tv show never happened. Quark gets a dumb "comedy" sidekick, and I kept expecting some kind of reveal about him, but no, he's just a dumb "comedy" sidekick, and his role would have been much more interestingly taken by just about any other character.

Even at its short length, it's a joke that goes on too long.

Continuity Notes:

• We're told in this book that since the dedication of the new Deep Space 9, business at Quark's has been totally dead. So what about that massive crowd there to watch the new president's inauguration in Fire with Fire, huh?
• Thank goodness the book specifically mentioned Photons Be Free, because I never would have remembered that Broht was a screen character otherwise. (Here we learn he publishes basically every significant holoprogram seen on screen.)

Other Notes:

• Thankfully, for us font-watchers, the book maintains the DS9 relaunch logo, and doesn't Rotis Serifize it as the TNG relaunch logo was. If this book had a spine, it would look good on my shelf!
• One of the big problems about the Destiny time jump and then the lack of DS9 novels is that all of the characters seem to have been in stasis the entire time. It's been almost a decade since Quark and Ro first dated back in Mission: Gamma, and apparently their relationship has not progressed since.
• The writers keep confusing "vedek" with "vedic." Unlike all the errors in Absent Enemies, this one remains uncorrected eight years later.

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This book is aimed directly at the original series Star Trek Fan, the one who can spend 10 minutes staring at a close up color photo of a phaser or a tricorder, who finds delight in reading little details about well known episodes, and who can appreciate the beauty and information in this brick of a book. The pictures recall well the special wonder and excitement that grew with this unique, now practically ancestral sci-fi tv show.

It's less of a straight through read and more of an 'open at show more random' book, which suits me fine. It also includes pictures and information about Star Trek's early years of "Afterlife", when conventions and novels and concordiums began to appear. While a perfectly good entry way for someone who (somehow) knows little about the series, it's really aimed at those who spend long hours discussing the real nature of Spock's emotional life and who possibly have owned one pair of fake Vulcan ears. show less

A fantastic companion to rewatching Star Trek: The Original Series, from the high quality stills from the show and behind-the-scenes production photos, to brief episode guides and "insider" info which add depth to viewing experience. All 80 episodes have their individual entries, interspersed with actor and production crew profiles, fandom history and merchandising.

I guess anybody who's watched and enjoyed a few episodes would find something of interest, and it's a beautiful coffee table show more book, though it's interest in minutae probably makes it more of a fan volume. show less

This is a very interesting work, commissioned and researched over the series' entire 7-year-period. 'Deep Space Nine' is a probing work of television that deserves a good guide. This is far from perfect - some entries lack the depth or critical analysis that one would like - but it also offers a great deal. Overall, Erdmann covers every aspect of production from casting and writing to props and costume creation. On top of this, the show's writers are somewhat critical of their own work when show more need be. One for any collector. show less