Star Trek: The Fall: Revelation and Dust by David R. George III
A few weeks ago, I learned about ST: The Fall series of novels thanks to a Facebook post by Dayton Ward. I immediately went to Amazon.com and pre-ordered the entire five book series and awaited the arrival of the first of the five; Revelation and Dust. I am finally able to take a few minutes to review this novel. Let’s get to it, shall we?
Revelation and Dust
is set following the destruction of Deep Space 9 in the ongoing conflict with
the Typhon Pact. In the novels Plagues of Night and Raise the Dawn, the destruction of DS-9
by rogue elements of the Typhon Pact is chronicled. Revelation
and Dust takes place two years after those events; the amount of time it
has taken the Federation to build a new DS-9 to stand watch on the Bajoran
wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant.
There would seem to be two main elements to the story; Kira,
now a Vedek, takes a trip into the wormhole and a dedication ceremony for DS-9
that goes very wrong.
In Kira’s story, she encounters the Prophets, who lead her
through a complete replay of Sisko’s first encounter with the prophets, and
then into a story in Bajoran history outlining the oppression of a small band
of rebels by a group calling themselves the Aleira. Other than a story, there isn’t much on the
reasons why the Aleira are persecuting this small band of Bajorans. I can only assume that this will be more
fleshed out in future installments. I
have my theory on where this thread may lead, and will discuss this a bit later
in this post.
The other main story involves events centered around the
opening of the new DS-9 space station.
Ro Laren commands the station and many of the DS-9 regulars have
returned to help with the operations, including Dr. Bashier along with O’Brian
and Nog acting as the chief engineers.
Sisko and Ezri Dax, both captains of starships are also on hand to
participate in the dedication ceremonies.
There are a numerous other characters from various Trek novels and some
new ones.
It seems that almost everyone on the new DS-9 are mostly in
very solemn and contemplative moods as they remember the people who were lost
in the destruction of the Cardassian DS-9 station. There is a scene in the story where a memorial
service in which all of the names of those lost are read.
Numerous dignitaries arrive on the station for the
dedication which is marked by the assassination of Federation President Bacco,
a much beloved character by the fans of the novels in which she appears. A suspect is captured, but it isn’t clear
that the perpetrator is actually responsible for their apparent actions; most
likely this person has been influenced by, for now, unknown forces.
While I enjoyed this story myself, it is not one that I think
the casual Trekkie would really enjoy.
There isn’t a lot of fast moving action in Revelation and Dust, as a matter of fact, it is a very slow moving and
plodding read that may put some fans off.
On Amazon, it has received mixed reviews, some quite scathing in nature,
with the major complaint being the slowness of how the story unfolds. There are also numerous complaints on the
apparent nature that this novel reads like it is mostly exposition.
These complaints are valid, but only to a point. Yes, most of the book is expositional in
nature, but after all, it is the first installment in a five-part series of
novels. The endings of the stories are
very open-ended and, again, I attribute this to the other four novelists having
planned the story out and the threads will be picked up in future installments.
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| David R. George III |
In spite of the dubious reviews I read on Amazon (after I
read the book), I liked this opening of the new series and am greatly looking forward
to the next four as they are released in the coming months. I don’t need explosions and constant action
in a story to hold my attention, rather the promise of an interesting story arc
is what held my attention while I read this.
I would recommend this story to those with the patience to stick with
it, or at least wait for a while until all of the books have been made public.
My theories…
I have two theories on the direction that the future novels
will take. First, the Kira story would
seem to be the Prophets are revealing historical visions to her to prepare her
to become Bajor’s next Kai. Second,
the title “The Fall” leads me to
think that perhaps we are going to finally see the end of the Typhon Pact as a
major adversary of Federation interests.
One reason for this is that some factions of the Pact have already been
questioning their involvement in the organization, and on some occasions, there
have been major disputes between the various members of the Pact over who is in
charge. I seem also to remember a story line in which the
Romulans feel that they will eventually become the ruling body of the Typhon
Pact, and their arrogance will contribute to the eventual fall.
Future novels in the series will include…
- The Crimson Shadow by Una McCormack (September 24, 2013 – TNG & DS-9)
- A Ceremony of Losses by David Mack (October 29, 2013 – USS Aventine & DS-9)
- The Poisoned Chalice by James Swallow (November 26, 2013 – Titan)
- Peaceable Kingdoms by Dayton Ward (December 31, 2013 – TNG)
Well, there it is…
Q’aplaH’!
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