Objective: Bajor

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine #15

by John Peel

The Hive came from another galaxy: billions of alien beings living inside a vast, biological starship. They have already destroyed one planet, converting it into raw material and fuel for their endless voyage through the cosmos. Now the Hive is heading for Bajor and they have given the planet's inhabitants an ominous warning: evacuate in three days or die along with their world.

The Bajorans would rather die than abandon their sacred home, but their hastily assembled military fleet does not stand a chance against the awesome power of the Hive. Unless Captain Sisko can penetrate the Hive's defenses -- and discover their most closely guarded secret -- all of Bajor faces extinction.

Genres: Star Trek, Science Fiction, Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Fiction, Fantasy, Space Opera, American

278 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 1996

About the author

John Peel is the author of Doctor Who books and comic strips. Notably, he wrote the first original Doctor Who novel, Timewyrm: Genesys, to launch the Virgin New Adventures line. In the early 1990s he was commissioned by Target Books to write novelisations of several key Terry Nation Dalek stories of the 1960s after the rights were finally worked out. He later wrote several more original Daleks novels.

He has the distinction of being one of only three authors credited on a Target novelisation who had not either written a story for the TV series or been a part of the production team (the others were Nigel Robinson and Alison Bingeman).

Outside of Doctor Who, Peel has also written novels for the Star Trek franchise. Under the pseudonym "John Vincent", he wrote novelisations based upon episodes of the 1990s TV series James Bond Jr..

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

My original rating still holds at four stars. While I recalled most of the story it was well worth the re-read. The climax was uplifting and there where many, many good bits of dialogue.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[W · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another book from my Star Trek stash.Deep Space Nine is not my favourite Star Trek series.For me,it comes way after TNG,TOS and Voyager.

There are hardly any characters which I find particularly memorable in this series.Sisko in particular,bores me.This was my first DS 9 book,and despite my best efforts,I couldn't read more than a few pages.
The dense print didn't help either.

[Yvette · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read. Quick lost episode from DS9.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun alien concept & dilemma, and alien characters were distinct. barely a star trek book though, canon characters had no personality or major role

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

The scope of this story was actually kind of big for an episodic novel.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I am a fan of the Star Trek series, it was tempting to give a five star rating. It is a good read and I can safely give it a four.

The Bajorans would rather die than abandon their sacred home, but their hastily assembled military fleet does not stand a chance against the awesome power of the Hive. Unless Captain Sisko can penetrate the Hive's defenses--and discover their most closely guarded secret--all of Bajor faces extinction.

[Frank Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really good solid novel. I found the aliens interesting and the situation compelling although was slightly underwhelmed at how it all played out.

There are some great character moments and I quite enjoyed the visit to the prophets/ wormhole-aliens.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable. I did feel Sisko was more "Picard-like" than "Sikso-like", but still enjoyable, and a decent DS9 book.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

The vast extra-galactic Hive arrives in our galaxy and immediately destroys a Bajoran colony world, killing its people and absorbing the planet's resources. As the Hive prepares to move on to destroy and absorb Bajor itself, Captain Sisko and his crew have to desperately try to find a way to stop the alien invaders, either through diplomacy or through force.

This book could easily have fallen into the trap of being a knock-off of a Borg story, with the powerful invaders stopping at nothing and a desperate last stand to defeat them, and that would've felt very cheap and probably left you wishing that you'd just rewatched 'Best of Both Worlds' instead.
What Peel does instead, however, is to immediately begin exploring the internal politics and power dynamics of the Hive itself. From the very beginning we see that their culture is not monolithic and that there are corrupt leaders, apathetic bureaucrats and passionate dissidents.

As a result of the Hive being a fleshed-out society in the story, it gives us the chance to see how Sisko might be able to use his diplomatic skills to resolve the matter, even though all-out battle remains a looming possibility.
The one criticism I would make is that most of the DS9 crew don't get a lot to do here, although even having said that, Odo does get a brilliant moment when his sense of justice cuts through the political machinations of the Hive's Grand Master.

I was genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, so you might be too.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *

[Joe Sullivan · Rating 1 out of 5]

No. Just no. Sisko takes off in a mad rush into a site of ongoing destruction without forethought or care, in a ship with no weapons. Sisko may eventually do such a thing, but not without thinking it through first.
The primary DS9 characters are for the longest time just background fodder, and the best we get when they do get shown is Sisko making bad decisions immediately, and everyone else mostly just depending on O'Brien to somehow work miracles.
And of course a world destroying species is heading straight to... can you guess? Bajor out of all possible planets. Destroying a planet we never heard of before that is inhabited by... can you guess? Former Bajoran slaves.
Oh yeah, Cardassians are watching. Guess who is in charge? Dukat of course. Conveniently exactly where the action is.
The characters are forced into place rather than feeling like a natural part of the story. The predictability is overwhelming and made me stop reading only 2/5 into the book. I've already guessed how they're going to end it because of the narrative being pushed with the enemy characters. No thanks. Next book...

[Patrick Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this to be a better than average Star Trek book and one of the better DS9 books, so far, because the aliens encountered are fantastic.

The premise is very simple, the Hive (a group of insectoid aliens) number in the billions and have been on a monstrous spaceship looking for a new world for hundreds of generations. They have found a good world on their way to use (read: absorb, killing all life and obliterating the planet) and it's one of Bajor's colonies. The Federation is called in, meaning those aboard DS9 to stop the aliens, but their technology is more than a match. The next two worlds they are set to absorb are Bajor and Cardassia Prime.

The television characters are solid, with Odo being a particular standout, and the alien race is absolutely fantastic. I loved the characters, their descriptions, and their justifications for what they do. It's rare to encounter an alien society so alien and perfectly written.

My only titch to my reading was the ending is very sudden. Granted, the book was winding down, but I could have gone for the double the length of this book and wanted more. This is an alien species I would have seeing on the show.

[Christian Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun DS9 book! This one involves a generation ship that threatens Bajor and Cardassia Prime, political intrigue, virtuous heroes, imminent destruction, and more.

I thought this book was interesting in that our main characters were almost secondary characters during the course of the novel, paving the way for our alien heroes to stop the apocalypse. However, they were well-written and generally interesting, though there was a noticeable lack of Quark and an absence of Garak.

My one complaint is that the beginning of the novel introduced a type of super weapon that was never seen again. If there is any evidence of a “red herring” in the DS9 novels thus far, this is it.

At the same time, I thought the author did a great job writing a fun story that I could have easily seen as a two-parter on DS9. I would have loved to see the Hive on tv! Fun read.

[Peter Rydén · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ja, ja, ännu en bok som handlar om en art med övermänskliga förmågor eller rymdskepp som avser att döda allt som står i deras väg och allt som federationen står för. Det var min första tanke, men jag måste säga att beskrivningen av just denna fientliga art var riktigt bra. Jag gillar boken, även om den här delen som jag nämnde först är lite tröttsamt. Denna art tänker på ett helt annat sätt än oss människor, och det är det som gär boken bättre än många andra, särskilt när det beskrivs så bra av John Peel.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captain Sisko is off trying to save Bajor again! The story was great, the Hive was an interesting race though they didn't really act like a "hive" per-se but whatever. It was a good read, a great Deep Space Nine story and a good lead up to the events of Way of the Warrior - especially on the Cardassian side of things in how Dukat maneuvered his way into his new position. The story never seemed to drag and definitely surprised me in the directions it did go.

[D. E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Star Trek SYFY novel featuring Deep Space Nine with Sisko and company. The Bajoran government is informed by a group of brings known as the Hive. Their ship is monstrous and the members of the Hive paper to look like Bees but Bees with human like appendages and extremely intelligent, but the Queen still rules the Hive. This is an excellent read for the genre.....DEHS

[Andy Stjohn · Rating 3 out of 5]

DS9 #15: Objective Bajor by John Peel

A fun but average read. The concept of the Hive was really interesting and the parts exploring inside of it were interesting. But the book unfortunately peters out but the final Cardassian battle at the end was thrilling and I always enjoy stuff that feature things from outside the galaxy, which I’m always a sucker for.
6.5/10

[John Barclay · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good one this. Lots of interesting idea of what to do with a totally alien race's outlook on reality. Not enough of an exploration of some of the more impossible things of the space, but then it is Star Trek, so science is the less important word.

[lucien alexander “sasha” · Rating 1 out of 5]

i finished this book through sheer force of will. if it were an episode, i'd skip it during a rewatch. nothing meaningful in terms of playing with or developing characters, and it became super predictable.

[Nick Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Objective: Bajor, starring: Turtle aliens, random Cardassian military officers, Bajoran politicians, and wormhole aliens.

Special guests: The crew of Deep Space 9. You have to squint to find them, though.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great story told well, So far this is my second favorite Deep Space nine book. I liked the first book a little more, but not by much. This was a good read.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked this one unique alien . Captures the feel of DS9

[Jonathan Lee B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Objective: Bajor is white water rafting.

[nx74defiant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty good DS9 book.

[Stephen Robins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story with a few little plot holes but it was like a high stakes 2 parter episode

[Phillip · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Sisko is again helping the Bajorans in his role as the emissary. A new species has arrived and adventure ensues! Great story.

[Peter G · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoyed this book it felt a bit 1 dimensional at times.

[Kosar7480 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of things I liked about this one. Really interesting, unique alien race that feeds off other planets to sustain itself (it's like Unicron or Galactus). Ships that work in pairs to use particles to separate enemy vessels. A colossal homeworld in space. The captain is more "Picard" than Sisko here, but circumstances dictated that. Only negative is that the story wrapped up waaaay too quickly. One alien homeship is wiped out by Cardassians and... nothing happens. Could have used another 25-30 pages to tie up the ending.

[Shane Amazon · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has been five-hundred-thousand years since an unknown alien species set out from its own galaxy on a trek to the Alpha quadrant. Now, after all that time, they have made it to their destination. In desperate need for supplies they set course for a nearby planet. Unfortunately the planet is inhabited, and lives may be lost. Even though these aliens successfully absorb the planets resources, their act has garnered them two new enemies, the Cardassians and the Bajorans. Now each new enemy must protect their homeworlds from certain destruction by this unknown species.

For me Trek books come in many different flavors. Will we get a book heavy on techno-babble, or will we find three-hundred plus pages of character driven drama? Here, in Objective Bajor, we get a rarity as this book is one-hundred percent action from start to finish. John Peel creates great characters that drive the story like few Trek books I have read before, and rarely outside the original series novels.

In this offering, I was quite comfortable in Peel's understanding of the DS9 crew, and was very pleased with how well he conveyed characters dialogue. It is kind of tacky saying that the book felt like an episode, but it really does. Even though I wasn't thrilled with the Armadillo description of the alien species, I did find that Peel used their unique form well, but at times I pictured them as ninja turtles.

Overall the book is a light read, but it very fast paced and very fun. I look forward to more books like this one.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars - This is one of those need-to-read-in-audiobook books. I adored it read out loud, but read the last few chapters on ebook and suddenly the writing seemed terrible! So.... yeah, keep that in mind. Otherwise, great story for DS9 fans :)