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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine #22
Vengeance
Rumors of a secret alliance between the Dominion and the Klingon Empire lure Captain Sisko and the crew of the Defiant on a desperate mission into the Gamma Quadrant, leaving Deep Space None vulnerable to a surprise sneak attack!
Now an elite Klingon task force has seized control of the station, and only Chief O'Brient, Dr. Bashir, and Worf are left to defend Deep Space Nine. But Worf's loyalties are tested when he discovers that the invaders include his oldest friend -- and his own brother!
282 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1998
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304 people want to read
About the author
Dafydd ab Hugh
31 books46 followersDafydd ab Hugh (born David Friedman) is a U.S. science fiction author.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
June 1, 2017
Intelligence suggesting the Klingons and Jem'Hadar are working together lures the Defiant along with most of DS9's senior staff into the Gamma Quadrant. In their absence, a bunch of Klingons invade and take control of the station. Worf, left in temporary command of the station, is forced to cooperate, walking a fine line between seeming compliant and rendering what aid he can to the tiny resistance movement forming around O'Brien and Bashir.
It feels like it's been ages since Julian got a primary role in one of the novels, so I enjoyed seeing him in the spotlight again. (It's just adorable how flustered he gets at the idea of actually being in command of anything.) Plus there's Garak playing an actual role rather than just popping up in a cameo appearance, so points for that. The plot had some holes, though, and the convoluted logic the characters occasionally employed made my head spin. The author made a number of attempts to inject some levity via the writing style, but mostly it felt forced. A few scenes, like the dialogue between Quark and Odo at the end, were comedy gold, though.
It feels like it's been ages since Julian got a primary role in one of the novels, so I enjoyed seeing him in the spotlight again. (It's just adorable how flustered he gets at the idea of actually being in command of anything.) Plus there's Garak playing an actual role rather than just popping up in a cameo appearance, so points for that. The plot had some holes, though, and the convoluted logic the characters occasionally employed made my head spin. The author made a number of attempts to inject some levity via the writing style, but mostly it felt forced. A few scenes, like the dialogue between Quark and Odo at the end, were comedy gold, though.
August 3, 2017
The best thing about this novel is the pace of the storytelling, and the snappy dialogue. However, the abandoned station idea is a head-scratcher thanks to (1) being used twice already in the series, and (2) the evidence of season 5 clearly demonstrating that the stations has NOT been fearfully abandoned...if anything, it's even more busy as preparations to deal with the Dominion increase. This is a symptom of a larger more familiar problem with these DS9 novels: still trying too hard (or too little) to fit into series continuity. This novel screams at the top of its lungs "this is early season 5", and yet a number of the characters still seem far removed from the tight family presented at this point in the series. Kira especially needs to be toned down, and O'Brien & Bashir have an incredibly deep friendship by this point...but their relationship plays out as far more earlier in their acquaintance. That said, Sisko, Rom, Quark and Odo are handled with a solid degree of confidence, and Garak is as enjoyable as he should be. An easy read, but as with most of the first two dozen DS9 novels, incredibly frustrating.
August 15, 2019
Star Trek books are best read according to author, and what I love about ab Hugh is how much personality he infuses into his writing: silly but evocative imagery, strange often visceral word choice, colorful analogies, bold action, melodrama. I don't read/watch Star Trek for its "battles" (it should be about: ethical dilemmas, the human condition, space opera politics, wacky space nonsense...), but I did really enjoy the ones throughout this book. Action without substance bores me, but the ones here were wrapped up in scientific problem-solving and creative solutions, as well as infused with ab Hugh's particular humor, so it remained interesting throughout. The dilemma involving Worf's allegiance is better explored in canon, but also still interesting enough to read about in this situation.
I spent the majority of this book either cackling to myself or riveted by whether/how the crew would survive, but from an overall perspective I have to mention for the sake of this review that it's a pretty dumb book. There are various plot holes; characters don't figure out obvious things right away for the sake of suspense; characterization is often caricatured (for humorous or dramatic effect); dialogue is written more for effect than makes sense for characters to actually say sometimes; the established relationships between characters don't quite fit into where this is supposed to be in canon... but the book overall *was* fast-paced and really fun, which is all I was truly looking for.
I spent the majority of this book either cackling to myself or riveted by whether/how the crew would survive, but from an overall perspective I have to mention for the sake of this review that it's a pretty dumb book. There are various plot holes; characters don't figure out obvious things right away for the sake of suspense; characterization is often caricatured (for humorous or dramatic effect); dialogue is written more for effect than makes sense for characters to actually say sometimes; the established relationships between characters don't quite fit into where this is supposed to be in canon... but the book overall *was* fast-paced and really fun, which is all I was truly looking for.
May 7, 2023
Klingons sent Captain Sisko with a select crew in the Defiant on a wild goose chase so they can take over DS9. They would have been succesful too if they hadn't bumped into a wee bit of resistence.
Worf has to play double agent. Rom and Quark do a lot of spinning around helplessly in zero-G. Bashir has command for a bit, with O'Brien doing most of the actual sabotaging and Garak is along for the ride.
It's a fun read. It has the right amount of action and adventure, a good bit of suspense and a lot of hilarious moments. It reads like an actual episode of DS9.
Worf has to play double agent. Rom and Quark do a lot of spinning around helplessly in zero-G. Bashir has command for a bit, with O'Brien doing most of the actual sabotaging and Garak is along for the ride.
It's a fun read. It has the right amount of action and adventure, a good bit of suspense and a lot of hilarious moments. It reads like an actual episode of DS9.
August 28, 2022
Vengeance is a buffet with a bowl of marbles.
January 9, 2021
Dafydd ab Hugh writes an excellent Star Trek novel. I recall reading one of his earlier novels in this series and being highly impressed with his writing style.
In this book, we see Klingons invade Deep Space Nine, as a small pocket of Federation Resistance tries to hold the station.
Hugh excels at character development and dialogue, and it was genuinely a joy to read his conversations and thoughts. I particularly enjoyed his brief moments describing Garak (who sort of disappeared at the end of the novel), including “The Tailor’s Tale,” a one-off anecdote told by Garak that was highly reminiscent of “The Canterbury Tales.”
My one overarching problem with the novel was the complete lack of a “B” plot, despite an attempt to form one. In this small story element, Sisko brought a crew to the Gamma Quadrant to seek confirmation as to rumors of a Klingon-Dominion Alliance. It really only served to bring these characters off-station, and it was ultimately ignored halfway through the novel where we barely followed the plot at all anymore.
I did enjoy this novel, despite this. Worf was written well, and it was quite nice to actually see good characterization of Jake, too, who is often seen as an afterthought in the DS9 novels.
In this book, we see Klingons invade Deep Space Nine, as a small pocket of Federation Resistance tries to hold the station.
Hugh excels at character development and dialogue, and it was genuinely a joy to read his conversations and thoughts. I particularly enjoyed his brief moments describing Garak (who sort of disappeared at the end of the novel), including “The Tailor’s Tale,” a one-off anecdote told by Garak that was highly reminiscent of “The Canterbury Tales.”
My one overarching problem with the novel was the complete lack of a “B” plot, despite an attempt to form one. In this small story element, Sisko brought a crew to the Gamma Quadrant to seek confirmation as to rumors of a Klingon-Dominion Alliance. It really only served to bring these characters off-station, and it was ultimately ignored halfway through the novel where we barely followed the plot at all anymore.
I did enjoy this novel, despite this. Worf was written well, and it was quite nice to actually see good characterization of Jake, too, who is often seen as an afterthought in the DS9 novels.
November 15, 2018
Thoroughly Exciting, Original and Entertaining Read!!!
This book was wonderfully written and composed. It was undeniably original and appealing. The story went from strength to strength at each page. At some stages, I couldn't put the book down and wanted to read more and more. There was a good sense of dramatic plot and the pacing of the story was impressive.
Hats off to Dafydd An Hugh for a sterling piece of work. He has written other DS9 novels which have been equally good. He is one of the supreme writers for DS9 books. Fabulous work, Dafydd.
This book was wonderfully written and composed. It was undeniably original and appealing. The story went from strength to strength at each page. At some stages, I couldn't put the book down and wanted to read more and more. There was a good sense of dramatic plot and the pacing of the story was impressive.
Hats off to Dafydd An Hugh for a sterling piece of work. He has written other DS9 novels which have been equally good. He is one of the supreme writers for DS9 books. Fabulous work, Dafydd.
August 7, 2024
Dafydd ab Hugh recycles his garbage. The last DS9 novel ab Hugh wrote was about the station being assaulted by a mysterious race and the crew forming a ragtag resistance. This DS9 novel is about the station being assaulted by Klingons and the crew forming a ragtag resistance. Seems a bit similar, no?
Perhaps the most irritating scene of all is when Jake has a long thought where he imagines writing the story from the previous book. ab Hugh clearly has a sense of humor about his writing, but I think this will be the last book of his that I read.
Perhaps the most irritating scene of all is when Jake has a long thought where he imagines writing the story from the previous book. ab Hugh clearly has a sense of humor about his writing, but I think this will be the last book of his that I read.
August 8, 2018
A great Deep Space Nine novel which ties well into the show and feels very much like an episode but doesn't overindulge itself into the prior experiences of the crew like a Greg Cox novel would do. The dilemma of where Worf fits into the story and if they can trust him was an interesting dynamic which hasn't shown up too much in the Star Trek novels which I thought was very original.
November 26, 2020
A bit wordy, but a great book! It’s the first I’ve read of anything to do with Star Trek and I will definitely read more now
April 28, 2022
Humorous read
This was quite a humorous story. It was a really good read. I enjoyed it very much. The adventure continues.
This was quite a humorous story. It was a really good read. I enjoyed it very much. The adventure continues.
August 1, 2022
A fun adventure if you like ds9 and star trek
December 10, 2022
The characters feel like themselves, and you get a good sense of when this takes place in the series. But the story is kind of just fine.
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July 14, 2024 The station is invaded. O'Brien isn't happy with Julian's plan to goto Garak for help. Loved the interactions with Garak. Fun to have Quark save the day
March 15, 2013
I love Deep Space Nine, and now that the show is over the books are all I have. This book had an interesting premise, but overall the story was simply "good" when it could have been better.
The idea is that the threat of the Dominion has grown so great that most people have left Deep Space Nine since it's on the edge of the wormhole where the Dominion--if they invade--must come to reach the Alpha Quadrant. So the station is mostly empty. A ship suddenly appears through the wormhole, pursued by Klingons, and it is destroyed before those on DS9 can help. When they investigate the wreckage after the Klingons flee back to the Gamma Quadrant, they discover hints that the Dominion may be allied with the Klingons. Sisko takes the Defiant through the wormhole to investigate. But the Klingon's plan is more insidious than that. While they Defiant is away, they attack and seize control of DS9, leaving O'Brien, Worf, Dr. Bashir, and a few others who escape capture to retake the station.
Like I said, the premise had lots of potential and for the most part the book is engaging and interesting. Its gets off to a great start. However, once the station has been seized the book kind of lags, with not a whole lot going on. And some of the characters act strangely, doing things that are out of character or doing things that just don't make a ton of sense. For example, Worf helps the cause once he's captured by pretending he's on the Klingon's side. He gets the Klingon search party to do random, disorganized searches. Why didn't the leader of the invasion force realize this and stop him? It should have been blatantly obvious what he was doing. Similarly for other characters and other plot elements.
Now, the writing was decent. There were some good science elements incorporated into the plot, making it a little more realistic in that respect. There were a few sections where I felt the writing got repetitious, repeating information that we already knew (most often because we'd switched characters or settings). And perhaps it was a little more "wordy" than it needed to be.
So, overall, a good read. A few issues, but a decent entry into the DS9 universe.
The idea is that the threat of the Dominion has grown so great that most people have left Deep Space Nine since it's on the edge of the wormhole where the Dominion--if they invade--must come to reach the Alpha Quadrant. So the station is mostly empty. A ship suddenly appears through the wormhole, pursued by Klingons, and it is destroyed before those on DS9 can help. When they investigate the wreckage after the Klingons flee back to the Gamma Quadrant, they discover hints that the Dominion may be allied with the Klingons. Sisko takes the Defiant through the wormhole to investigate. But the Klingon's plan is more insidious than that. While they Defiant is away, they attack and seize control of DS9, leaving O'Brien, Worf, Dr. Bashir, and a few others who escape capture to retake the station.
Like I said, the premise had lots of potential and for the most part the book is engaging and interesting. Its gets off to a great start. However, once the station has been seized the book kind of lags, with not a whole lot going on. And some of the characters act strangely, doing things that are out of character or doing things that just don't make a ton of sense. For example, Worf helps the cause once he's captured by pretending he's on the Klingon's side. He gets the Klingon search party to do random, disorganized searches. Why didn't the leader of the invasion force realize this and stop him? It should have been blatantly obvious what he was doing. Similarly for other characters and other plot elements.
Now, the writing was decent. There were some good science elements incorporated into the plot, making it a little more realistic in that respect. There were a few sections where I felt the writing got repetitious, repeating information that we already knew (most often because we'd switched characters or settings). And perhaps it was a little more "wordy" than it needed to be.
So, overall, a good read. A few issues, but a decent entry into the DS9 universe.
July 26, 2010
A Klingon plot puts the station and the Defiant in danger. Yes, it isn't a terribly original plot, but that isn't where this book fails. I believe I mentioned when reviewing Dafydd ab Hugh's other DS9 book Fallen Heroes the amount of time spent describing people crawling through the station's access tunnels and conduits. This time there's even more ventilation shaft crawling. Joy.
Another problem hit me like a disruptor blast in zero-g (don't even ask!) with the convoluted logic the characters have to come up with to make the plot devices work. Luckily, the characters explain in length why they are coming to the decisions they are since they are fairly silly choices to make. I can't be specific without giving any spoilers, but there's a moment near the end when Quark believes another character is joking and so did I since there was no need for him to continue their plan. Both Quark and I are still confused as to why they did what they did accept to extend the word count.
So why does this book get 2 stars? For giving me the enjoyment of finally having O'Brien, Bashir, and Garak together. I enjoyed most of their dialogue and could really see the scene when Garak, overheard by O'Brien, says "Doctor, I really have no idea what you're talking about. I'm a simple tailor. I have no access to super secret tricorder suppressors. I'm not an intergalactic spy!" He leaned close, whispering conspiratorially in Bashir's ear, "or am I?" I'm tempted to increase the rating to 3 stars solely due to that scene. Sadly, the rest of the book isn't worthy of that scene so the 2 star rating stands.
Another problem hit me like a disruptor blast in zero-g (don't even ask!) with the convoluted logic the characters have to come up with to make the plot devices work. Luckily, the characters explain in length why they are coming to the decisions they are since they are fairly silly choices to make. I can't be specific without giving any spoilers, but there's a moment near the end when Quark believes another character is joking and so did I since there was no need for him to continue their plan. Both Quark and I are still confused as to why they did what they did accept to extend the word count.
So why does this book get 2 stars? For giving me the enjoyment of finally having O'Brien, Bashir, and Garak together. I enjoyed most of their dialogue and could really see the scene when Garak, overheard by O'Brien, says "Doctor, I really have no idea what you're talking about. I'm a simple tailor. I have no access to super secret tricorder suppressors. I'm not an intergalactic spy!" He leaned close, whispering conspiratorially in Bashir's ear, "or am I?" I'm tempted to increase the rating to 3 stars solely due to that scene. Sadly, the rest of the book isn't worthy of that scene so the 2 star rating stands.
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July 31, 2011Pretty average for a DS9 book.
Scenes with O'Brien and Bashir were fun, Worf's thought processes were well written but I guess I would've liked more on the subjest of his (ex)brother Kurn and his new identity and life on the Klingon home world. The action scenes in the gamma quadrant were cool.
Scenes with O'Brien and Bashir were fun, Worf's thought processes were well written but I guess I would've liked more on the subjest of his (ex)brother Kurn and his new identity and life on the Klingon home world. The action scenes in the gamma quadrant were cool.
October 23, 2012
An amusing book in parts. Klingons take over a nearly abandoned DS9 and only 5 people are left to take it back. At first the characters grated a bit, for example O'Brien doesn't like Bashir but by this time in the series they were firm friends. Once it gets going though its good, and the characters seem to be spot on. A decent read.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews