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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Sacraments of Fire
The latest novel in the ongoing Next Generation/Deep Space Nine expanded universe crossover, from New York Times bestselling author David George!
Days after the assassination of Federation President Nan Bacco on Deep Space 9, the unexpected appearance of a stranger on the station raises serious concerns. He seems dazed and confused, providing in a peculiar patois of the Bajoran language, unsatisfactory answers. He offers his identity as Altek, of which there is no apparent record, and he claims not to know where he is or how he got there. A quick scan confirms the visitor is armed with a projectile weapon;a firearm more antiquated than, but similar to, the one that took President Bacco's life. But the Bajoran liaison to the station believes that Altek has been sent from the Prophets, out of a nearby wormhole. The last time such an event occurred, it was to reassure Benjamin Sisko of his place as the Emissary. For what purpose has Altek now been sent out of the Celestial Temple?
Days after the assassination of Federation President Nan Bacco on Deep Space 9, the unexpected appearance of a stranger on the station raises serious concerns. He seems dazed and confused, providing in a peculiar patois of the Bajoran language, unsatisfactory answers. He offers his identity as Altek, of which there is no apparent record, and he claims not to know where he is or how he got there. A quick scan confirms the visitor is armed with a projectile weapon;a firearm more antiquated than, but similar to, the one that took President Bacco's life. But the Bajoran liaison to the station believes that Altek has been sent from the Prophets, out of a nearby wormhole. The last time such an event occurred, it was to reassure Benjamin Sisko of his place as the Emissary. For what purpose has Altek now been sent out of the Celestial Temple?
388 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 2015
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316 people want to read
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January 6, 2016
A middle book not concluding anything…
While the novel isn’t marked as part of a series, it’s clear that you must read at least the novel “Revelation and Dust” by the same author, that even when that other book is part of another event named “The Fall” is focused more in building its own story than contribute to the event at hand.
THE IMPORTANCE OF ENDING SOMETHING
Our mandate is what it says in the Starfleet charter: ‘To boldly go where no one has gone before.’
I’ve never liked the split infinitive.
To go boldly, then.
That’s better.
Novels being in a series it doesn’t mean that you must wait until the final book to solve everything and/or giving all the explanations.
The author, David R. George III, started this story (that I guess it’s a trilogy, but it may be more books) on the novel Revelation and Dust that it was marketed as the first chapter in a 5-books’ event, that also I found disappointing that book, since first, it hardly had anything to be about of the main storyline of “The Fall” book event, and it doesn’t solve anything, nor about the main event that supposedly it was part of, nor about its confusing own inner backstory.
In this novel, Sacraments of Fire isn’t any better.
That confusing backstory became supposedly the main storyline here, but the plot hardly evolves, and you are bombarded with several sub-plots that neither they are solved in any way.
I am aware that the author had already the plot for his big story when it was required that Deep Space Nine would be tied in with bigger events involving all the 24th Century Star Trek spin-offs. So, his story needed to be shelved. Now, he had a smart way to be able to develop his story even when the “Relaunch” Star Trek universe moves forward. That’s something good...
...however, the problem is that the author doesn’t end anything in any book.
Even the title is kinda misleading since Sacraments of Fire is a direct reference to the supposedly main plot about Iliana Ghemor since now she is “The Fire” for the alien race of the Ascendants, but her plot hardly evolves in the whole book.
In the novel you have several sub-plots, Captain Ro Laren and Lt. Cmdr. Blackmer are dealing with a mysterious visitor from the far past of Bajor’s history. Captain Benjamin Sisko besides doing some pointless patrols in Tzenkethi’s border, he helps Odo to reach a secret Federation facility where they are investigating what may be a shape-shifter life form. Col. Cenn Desca deals with a shocking discovery in one of Bajor’s moons. Kira Nerys found herself in the Gamma Quadrant but years in the past from her previous time period before getting into the wormhole. And even Nog has some hours to advance with the trouble of getting back online Vic Fontaine’s self-aware hologram.
While I was overwhelmed with too many sub-plots, it was disappointing that in both books, by the same author, the character of Chief Miles O’Brien hadn’t much to do, and in the second book just barely mentioned in a paragraph.
I am sure that many (if not all) will be cleverly linked in the third book (I honestly hoped that this thing won’t be taking further than that!), BUT the big problem is reading TWO novels where NOTHING is solved, you haven’t any sense of closure in any of both books, and sometimes you get kinda bored since you feel to have too many sub-plots without any relationship (at least at this moment) feeling like you are reading “pointless filling material” just to make thicker the book.
It’s very likely that isn’t the case (that’s why I wasn’t so hard on my ratings in both books where 3-stars still is on the good side of the rating), I could see some subtle hints here and there to realie that several things must be related, but I can’t judge the individual novels based on guesses and hopes.
What I found is a “main” story without an ending, a lot of sub-plots without a clear linking and/or any explanation in the boundaries of the novel at hands, and evidently being “forced” to keep buying the following novels if I want to know how all this will end.
And trust me, while I am a Trekker and I love to read Star Trek novels, I hate to feel “forced” to buy any novel, not matter how much I love the franchise or book series of what it’s from.
Having a reasonable sense of closure in any novel (not matter if it’s part of a series) is crutial to be able to feel satisfied and totally happy with the reading experience of that book.
WEAK FAITHS
I just don’t know that alien beings who insert themselves, uninvited, into the affairs of another species deserve to be accorded the mantle of divinity.
--/--
My faith is internal to me. It can’t be bolstered or undermined by the opinions of others.
Since the beginning of the TV spin-off of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, it was clear that the religious angle will be a strong point in many of the stories. The Bajorans, the main alien species in the TV series have a faith religious system around some mysterious beings referred as “The Prophets” that they “lived” inside of “The Celestial Temple” (the wormhole near of Bajor).
Captain Benjamin Sisko after being inside and interacted with The Prophets, was declared “The Emissary” of the The Prophets playing a relevant role in the religious faith of Bajorans. Now, Sisko is out of that role, but the faith to the Prophets is still strong in Bajor. However, not all Bajorans are believers of the Prophets. It’s clear that some beings “lived” inside of the wormhole, but they are seen as just alien beings, very powerful alien beings, but still alien beings and not gods.
During the multiple plots and sub-plots in the novel, there is a shocking discovery in one of Bajor’s moons, which caused a struggle in the faith of Colonel Cenn Desca, current First Officer of Deep Space Nine and the Bajoran Liaison Officer to the station. Honestly, I couldn’t understand why he is so struggled so fast. He isn’t a new character in the “Relaunch” novels and he always was presented as a Bajoran believer in The Prophets with a strong solid faith.
I am Catholic, and I am aware and I recognized that there is a lot of contradictory stuff around my own religious faith, but one thing is that the Catholic Church was founded by human imperfect beings and other is my faith on a Higher Power that it’s commonly referred as God.
And it’s that even the Kai (the Bajoran equivalent to a Pope) seems like uncertain about the meaning of the shocking revelation in that moon of Bajor.
But, as Captain Ro Laren mentioned (and taking in account that she is a Not-Believer) is that still the shocking revelation hasn’t been investigated to know for certain what really means.
So, if Cenn and the Kai have such strong faiths (and nothing before that have shown otherwise) isn’t logical that that kind of discovery that it can be too many things, since living in a big universe with many ancient life forms and species around, as to start to have existential inner struggles in their faiths. It’s too soon introduced in the developing of this convoluted storyline. They could have developed reasonable doubts later, but as in almost in a split-second after knowing about the discovery isn’t logical.
While the novel isn’t marked as part of a series, it’s clear that you must read at least the novel “Revelation and Dust” by the same author, that even when that other book is part of another event named “The Fall” is focused more in building its own story than contribute to the event at hand.
THE IMPORTANCE OF ENDING SOMETHING
Our mandate is what it says in the Starfleet charter: ‘To boldly go where no one has gone before.’
I’ve never liked the split infinitive.
To go boldly, then.
That’s better.
Novels being in a series it doesn’t mean that you must wait until the final book to solve everything and/or giving all the explanations.
The author, David R. George III, started this story (that I guess it’s a trilogy, but it may be more books) on the novel Revelation and Dust that it was marketed as the first chapter in a 5-books’ event, that also I found disappointing that book, since first, it hardly had anything to be about of the main storyline of “The Fall” book event, and it doesn’t solve anything, nor about the main event that supposedly it was part of, nor about its confusing own inner backstory.
In this novel, Sacraments of Fire isn’t any better.
That confusing backstory became supposedly the main storyline here, but the plot hardly evolves, and you are bombarded with several sub-plots that neither they are solved in any way.
I am aware that the author had already the plot for his big story when it was required that Deep Space Nine would be tied in with bigger events involving all the 24th Century Star Trek spin-offs. So, his story needed to be shelved. Now, he had a smart way to be able to develop his story even when the “Relaunch” Star Trek universe moves forward. That’s something good...
...however, the problem is that the author doesn’t end anything in any book.
Even the title is kinda misleading since Sacraments of Fire is a direct reference to the supposedly main plot about Iliana Ghemor since now she is “The Fire” for the alien race of the Ascendants, but her plot hardly evolves in the whole book.
In the novel you have several sub-plots, Captain Ro Laren and Lt. Cmdr. Blackmer are dealing with a mysterious visitor from the far past of Bajor’s history. Captain Benjamin Sisko besides doing some pointless patrols in Tzenkethi’s border, he helps Odo to reach a secret Federation facility where they are investigating what may be a shape-shifter life form. Col. Cenn Desca deals with a shocking discovery in one of Bajor’s moons. Kira Nerys found herself in the Gamma Quadrant but years in the past from her previous time period before getting into the wormhole. And even Nog has some hours to advance with the trouble of getting back online Vic Fontaine’s self-aware hologram.
While I was overwhelmed with too many sub-plots, it was disappointing that in both books, by the same author, the character of Chief Miles O’Brien hadn’t much to do, and in the second book just barely mentioned in a paragraph.
I am sure that many (if not all) will be cleverly linked in the third book (I honestly hoped that this thing won’t be taking further than that!), BUT the big problem is reading TWO novels where NOTHING is solved, you haven’t any sense of closure in any of both books, and sometimes you get kinda bored since you feel to have too many sub-plots without any relationship (at least at this moment) feeling like you are reading “pointless filling material” just to make thicker the book.
It’s very likely that isn’t the case (that’s why I wasn’t so hard on my ratings in both books where 3-stars still is on the good side of the rating), I could see some subtle hints here and there to realie that several things must be related, but I can’t judge the individual novels based on guesses and hopes.
What I found is a “main” story without an ending, a lot of sub-plots without a clear linking and/or any explanation in the boundaries of the novel at hands, and evidently being “forced” to keep buying the following novels if I want to know how all this will end.
And trust me, while I am a Trekker and I love to read Star Trek novels, I hate to feel “forced” to buy any novel, not matter how much I love the franchise or book series of what it’s from.
Having a reasonable sense of closure in any novel (not matter if it’s part of a series) is crutial to be able to feel satisfied and totally happy with the reading experience of that book.
WEAK FAITHS
I just don’t know that alien beings who insert themselves, uninvited, into the affairs of another species deserve to be accorded the mantle of divinity.
--/--
My faith is internal to me. It can’t be bolstered or undermined by the opinions of others.
Since the beginning of the TV spin-off of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, it was clear that the religious angle will be a strong point in many of the stories. The Bajorans, the main alien species in the TV series have a faith religious system around some mysterious beings referred as “The Prophets” that they “lived” inside of “The Celestial Temple” (the wormhole near of Bajor).
Captain Benjamin Sisko after being inside and interacted with The Prophets, was declared “The Emissary” of the The Prophets playing a relevant role in the religious faith of Bajorans. Now, Sisko is out of that role, but the faith to the Prophets is still strong in Bajor. However, not all Bajorans are believers of the Prophets. It’s clear that some beings “lived” inside of the wormhole, but they are seen as just alien beings, very powerful alien beings, but still alien beings and not gods.
During the multiple plots and sub-plots in the novel, there is a shocking discovery in one of Bajor’s moons, which caused a struggle in the faith of Colonel Cenn Desca, current First Officer of Deep Space Nine and the Bajoran Liaison Officer to the station. Honestly, I couldn’t understand why he is so struggled so fast. He isn’t a new character in the “Relaunch” novels and he always was presented as a Bajoran believer in The Prophets with a strong solid faith.
I am Catholic, and I am aware and I recognized that there is a lot of contradictory stuff around my own religious faith, but one thing is that the Catholic Church was founded by human imperfect beings and other is my faith on a Higher Power that it’s commonly referred as God.
And it’s that even the Kai (the Bajoran equivalent to a Pope) seems like uncertain about the meaning of the shocking revelation in that moon of Bajor.
But, as Captain Ro Laren mentioned (and taking in account that she is a Not-Believer) is that still the shocking revelation hasn’t been investigated to know for certain what really means.
So, if Cenn and the Kai have such strong faiths (and nothing before that have shown otherwise) isn’t logical that that kind of discovery that it can be too many things, since living in a big universe with many ancient life forms and species around, as to start to have existential inner struggles in their faiths. It’s too soon introduced in the developing of this convoluted storyline. They could have developed reasonable doubts later, but as in almost in a split-second after knowing about the discovery isn’t logical.
July 11, 2015
There are many more things in this story that I haven't even touched on in my review. In many ways, Sacraments of Fire is like the middle book in a trilogy consisting of The Fall: Revelation and Dust and next year's Ascendance. It is difficult to judge the finished story with a lot of the plot still in the air. Still, I loved this setup for what is to come and if Ascendance is as gripping as this novel has been, I'm on board. I'm overjoyed to finally have answers to what happened during the time jump, as well as this story's efforts at moving the current timeline forward. Bring on Ascendance!
Full review: http://treklit.blogspot.com/2015/07/S...
Full review: http://treklit.blogspot.com/2015/07/S...
May 1, 2022
Well this was a surprisingly good story, although it's probably only a surprise for me mostly because of my experience with it, and its author. I must admit that I often confuse David R. George III with George R. Martin and not just because of the name similarity. I have found these guys a little bland to read, although they always seem to write interesting plots (sometimes jam packed with subplots), and their stories do seem well intentioned but to my taste they are both often lacking in descriptive language and emotive sincerity. That is my problem though and other readers may disagree.
The story starts with a group of religious extremists being manipulated by a disgraced ex-Obsidian Order agent gone rogue who holds an eternal personal grudge against Kira Nerys, such that she intends to wield these zealots against every iteration of Kira Nerys across every parallel universe. A real tall order, somewhat akin to Bowerick Wowbagger's seemingly insurmountable task of insulting everyone in the entire universe in alphabetical order (see The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy).
Anyway I read this far, just one chapter, and I decided that I was out. I've been cruising through the post-nemesis books following a list and the book before this one also happened to be about a bunch of fundamentalists ruining life for others. Given the importance of faith to the Bajorans and the whole DS9 series I knew I needed to give this a proper chance but I also needed a break from dogmatic fundies. I took a few days and was glad that I did so because I returned with a new zest for the story which quickly revealed itself as much more than just another example of ideological extremism.
Actually, the biggest risk to my enjoyment of the story was that after half way through I got distracted watching some new release scifi episodes and I put the book down for practically a whole month. My memory is not the greatest, so as far as I'm concerned the fact that I picked it back up and knew exactly where I was is evidence of how much I had been enjoying it before getting sidetracked.
So far I haven't said much about the book. There really is a lot in this book and at times it was easy to forget which was the main thread. There is also quite a bit referenced from the 'Mission Gamma' books but thankfully these are recapped well. It is spoilery if you (like me) haven't read those yet.
After we learn about the quest to terminate every Kira from every universe, we meet a Bajoran man who is flung out of the wormhole in an "Orb of the Prophets". DS9 bring him aboard, suspicious that he is somehow linked to Bacco's murder, suspicious also because the wormhole had been inactive for such a long time. The man himself though is little more than frustrated since he has no idea what has happened or where exactly he is.
If you've been following the chronology, you'll recall that Odo has been stuck in the alpha quadrant ever since the wormhole was closed for business. That event also appears to have stranded Kira on the gamma quadrant side. My memory, so bad. Anyway Kira gets picked up by a bunch of bounty hunters although they call themselves retrieval experts. And surprise, surprise her favourite Jem Hadar is aboard. Actually, I knew very little about this friendship which must also be from the 'Mission Gamma' stories.
Everybody seems to get a mention, even if not an actual appearance. Bashir is in some trouble over his work to help the Andorians. Nog gets to work on restoring Vic Fontaine. Also since the tzenkethi are suspected in Bacco's assassination Sisko and co. aboard the USS Robinson have been pulled from their mission of exploration in order to patrol the border.
Quark and Ro. Did you hear (read) me? That's correct. Quark and Ro Laren have something of a more than friends, less than lovers relationship going on. I'm OK with this. It's not "right" and that's why I'm OK with it. I don't think it began in this book (but again my memory, so bad). It certainly begins to really flourish in this book.
By now any reader would be wondering where all of this is leading and might understandably expect the multitude of threads to connect at some point. They do not. And I can't say much about where each thread leads, you'll have to read the book. For me the ending was underwhelming and it made the whole book feel like it was written simply to put certain characters in position for later stories. But I enjoyed reading it.
The writing featured all of the pet hates that I associate with "David-R-George-R-Martin" but I enjoyed reading it. And that's all that matters.
The story starts with a group of religious extremists being manipulated by a disgraced ex-Obsidian Order agent gone rogue who holds an eternal personal grudge against Kira Nerys, such that she intends to wield these zealots against every iteration of Kira Nerys across every parallel universe. A real tall order, somewhat akin to Bowerick Wowbagger's seemingly insurmountable task of insulting everyone in the entire universe in alphabetical order (see The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy).
Anyway I read this far, just one chapter, and I decided that I was out. I've been cruising through the post-nemesis books following a list and the book before this one also happened to be about a bunch of fundamentalists ruining life for others. Given the importance of faith to the Bajorans and the whole DS9 series I knew I needed to give this a proper chance but I also needed a break from dogmatic fundies. I took a few days and was glad that I did so because I returned with a new zest for the story which quickly revealed itself as much more than just another example of ideological extremism.
Actually, the biggest risk to my enjoyment of the story was that after half way through I got distracted watching some new release scifi episodes and I put the book down for practically a whole month. My memory is not the greatest, so as far as I'm concerned the fact that I picked it back up and knew exactly where I was is evidence of how much I had been enjoying it before getting sidetracked.
So far I haven't said much about the book. There really is a lot in this book and at times it was easy to forget which was the main thread. There is also quite a bit referenced from the 'Mission Gamma' books but thankfully these are recapped well. It is spoilery if you (like me) haven't read those yet.
After we learn about the quest to terminate every Kira from every universe, we meet a Bajoran man who is flung out of the wormhole in an "Orb of the Prophets". DS9 bring him aboard, suspicious that he is somehow linked to Bacco's murder, suspicious also because the wormhole had been inactive for such a long time. The man himself though is little more than frustrated since he has no idea what has happened or where exactly he is.
If you've been following the chronology, you'll recall that Odo has been stuck in the alpha quadrant ever since the wormhole was closed for business. That event also appears to have stranded Kira on the gamma quadrant side. My memory, so bad. Anyway Kira gets picked up by a bunch of bounty hunters although they call themselves retrieval experts. And surprise, surprise her favourite Jem Hadar is aboard. Actually, I knew very little about this friendship which must also be from the 'Mission Gamma' stories.
Everybody seems to get a mention, even if not an actual appearance. Bashir is in some trouble over his work to help the Andorians. Nog gets to work on restoring Vic Fontaine. Also since the tzenkethi are suspected in Bacco's assassination Sisko and co. aboard the USS Robinson have been pulled from their mission of exploration in order to patrol the border.
Quark and Ro. Did you hear (read) me? That's correct. Quark and Ro Laren have something of a more than friends, less than lovers relationship going on. I'm OK with this. It's not "right" and that's why I'm OK with it. I don't think it began in this book (but again my memory, so bad). It certainly begins to really flourish in this book.
By now any reader would be wondering where all of this is leading and might understandably expect the multitude of threads to connect at some point. They do not. And I can't say much about where each thread leads, you'll have to read the book. For me the ending was underwhelming and it made the whole book feel like it was written simply to put certain characters in position for later stories. But I enjoyed reading it.
The writing featured all of the pet hates that I associate with "David-R-George-R-Martin" but I enjoyed reading it. And that's all that matters.
October 10, 2018
David George III greift in diesem Roman die Handlungslinie der damals abgebrochenen 9. Staffel Deep Space Nine wieder auf und führt sie weiter. Angesiedelt ist dieser Roman wenige Tage nach der Ermordung der Förderationspräsidentin Nan Bacco (Star Trek: The Fall) und führt uns bis zum Ende des Jahres 2385, als die Verschwörung in der Förderationssspitze aufgedeckt wurde und Andor wieder in die Förderation aufgenommen wurde. Auf der Station DS9 (die Neue) reagieren alle Sicherheitsorgange extrem nervös, als wenige Tage nach dem Attentat ein Drehkörper aus dem Wurmloch einen fremden Bajoraner mit einer altmodischen Schusswaffe absetzt, die Situation droht zu eskalieren, weil auch Bacco mit einer solchen Waffe ermordet wurde. Erst mit viel Mühe können sich wieder alle beruhigen und sich der Frage widmen, woher der Fremde kommt. Denn er scheint aus der Vergangenheit zu kommen, wobei unklar ist, aus welcher Geschichtsepoche genau. Parallel erscheint ein weiterer Drehkörper an Bord des Raumschiffes Even Odds auf der anderen Seite des Wurmlochs und setzt die totgeglaubte Kira Nerys ab, derweil wird ein dritter Drehkörper bei dem Volk der Aszendenten sichtbar, der die cardassanische Agentin Illana Ghemor absetzt. Mit diesen drei Handlungslinien (und noch einigen Nebenzweigen, z.B. mit Ben Sisko und Odo) steuert der Roman auf einen Show Down zu, der jedoch zum Cliffhanger zu einem Nachfolgeband führt.
Der Roman ist gut geschrieben mit viel Liebe zum Detail, allerdings sind die Ereignisse, die in der 9. Staffel zum (vermeintlichen) Tod von Kira Nerys führten nicht mehr präsent, weil schon einige Jahre her, als diese Romane erschienen. Auch ist die Handlungsablauf schwierig zu verfolgen, weil die Handlungsebene von Kira einem temporalen Phänomen zugrunde liegt, denn Kira kennt die Zukunft und weiß, dass Illana Ghemor und die Aszendenten auf dem Weg sind, Bajor zu vernichten. Weiterhin wird im Bajor-System ein Fund gemacht, die die religiösen Fundamente des Glaubens an die Wumlochwesen schwer erschüttern. Alles in Allem, wie gesagt, ein guter und spannender Roman, aber noch weiß niemand, wohin der neue DS9-Handlungsabschnitt steuert; ich bin auf die Fortsetzung gespannt...
Der Roman ist gut geschrieben mit viel Liebe zum Detail, allerdings sind die Ereignisse, die in der 9. Staffel zum (vermeintlichen) Tod von Kira Nerys führten nicht mehr präsent, weil schon einige Jahre her, als diese Romane erschienen. Auch ist die Handlungsablauf schwierig zu verfolgen, weil die Handlungsebene von Kira einem temporalen Phänomen zugrunde liegt, denn Kira kennt die Zukunft und weiß, dass Illana Ghemor und die Aszendenten auf dem Weg sind, Bajor zu vernichten. Weiterhin wird im Bajor-System ein Fund gemacht, die die religiösen Fundamente des Glaubens an die Wumlochwesen schwer erschüttern. Alles in Allem, wie gesagt, ein guter und spannender Roman, aber noch weiß niemand, wohin der neue DS9-Handlungsabschnitt steuert; ich bin auf die Fortsetzung gespannt...
September 18, 2016
Can't wait to see what happens! Excellent DS9 story
July 8, 2015
What can I say? It's got a tiny bit of good stuff, where the plot seems to advance. But in the end, it's typical David R George III.
I'm beginning to think that this man has no idea what it means to advance a plot. Either that, or he has no idea how to write a plot which encompasses only a single book.
This novel is basically a sequel to Revelation And Dust, which was itself an awful, unfinished piece of literature. And you know, DRG3 is consistent, because this is also an awful, unfinished piece of literature.
If it wasn't for the fact that I'm a big fan of TrekLit, I would never pick up another novel by David R George III. But since I am, I guess I'll continue to hold my nose and read this hack's work, because for whatever reason, The Powers That Be seem to continue to give him contracts to write in this universe.
I'm beginning to think that this man has no idea what it means to advance a plot. Either that, or he has no idea how to write a plot which encompasses only a single book.
This novel is basically a sequel to Revelation And Dust, which was itself an awful, unfinished piece of literature. And you know, DRG3 is consistent, because this is also an awful, unfinished piece of literature.
If it wasn't for the fact that I'm a big fan of TrekLit, I would never pick up another novel by David R George III. But since I am, I guess I'll continue to hold my nose and read this hack's work, because for whatever reason, The Powers That Be seem to continue to give him contracts to write in this universe.
July 4, 2015
In one sense, this novel disappoints. Instead of going forward, it's more of a closed-circle; it exists to fill in a gap in DS9 novel continuity that was only hinted at in previous books. In that sense, I was unhappy with the book. However, I also finished the book in a single, ravenous 3.5 hour sitting...which makes this one excellent example of how to tread water without making it feel like a waste of time. The second half of the novel in particular plants some interesting -- and ominous -- seeds for the future, and as usual, David George has a command over the characters of the DS9 universe that is second to none. Never have I been so glad to be "disappointed" by a Trek novel.
April 11, 2016
I love the Deep Space 9 characters and story, but George's books always seem to drag with a bunch of extra detail that's not really necessary. I know that can be nice sometimes, but it's a matter of feel whether or not it works.
Recently, in George's books, it doesn't.
Not to mention full paragraphs (sometimes a page or two) of recapping events from previous novels. Some recap is necessary for those starting with this book, but George goes way overboard. At times, there's even half a page of summarizing events that happened previously in this book!
Still, the plot is intriguing, the characters are well-done and I can't wait to see where he's going with this.
Recently, in George's books, it doesn't.
Not to mention full paragraphs (sometimes a page or two) of recapping events from previous novels. Some recap is necessary for those starting with this book, but George goes way overboard. At times, there's even half a page of summarizing events that happened previously in this book!
Still, the plot is intriguing, the characters are well-done and I can't wait to see where he's going with this.
May 19, 2017
This book started out good and had promise, but there were just too many sub-plots and I wasn't sure where the story was going. I found out that it was going absolutely nowhere, none of the sub-plots were tied together at the end. Apparently there is a sequel, Ascendance, but the this book was not marked as part of a series, so I don't know if any of the sub-plots will be tied together in the next book.
September 26, 2015
So we are FINALLY getting a resolution to the long awaited Ascendants storyline, and the author manages a quite clever way of adding it in without killing the momentum of the existing plotlines. This is a very dense book, juggling multiple plot lines, and the author does quite well with it. My only bitch is it's a cliff hanger and we have to wait for book two. Heh.
May 24, 2018
The book starts off like complete and total gangbusters, then it skips ahead three months in time with spoilers! and then ends every main and sub story on a cliffhanger!!! I've never been more frustrated reading a story in my life!
January 22, 2022
This book was a bit monotonous, and I’m not entirely sure where it was meant to go. There are a lot of loose threads here (such as Nog fixing Vic and Quark looking for Morn) that go nowhere, and one large plot that starts and completely stops (What exactly was the point of Sisko patrolling the Tzenkethi border?).
My eyes started to glaze over when we read through Taran’atar’s skirmish on the Even Odds, and I was really hoping the Ghemor plot was already completed.
However, it looks like there’s at least one more book here that we must read through to complete this story.
The one interesting plot, I thought, was the “falsework” that could potentially have an effect on the Bajoran faith. It was well written and incredibly interesting. And Ro continues to be an excellent lead in any chapter she appears.
I know David George has quite a few more Star Trek books to read through, but he hasn’t been my favorite.
My eyes started to glaze over when we read through Taran’atar’s skirmish on the Even Odds, and I was really hoping the Ghemor plot was already completed.
However, it looks like there’s at least one more book here that we must read through to complete this story.
The one interesting plot, I thought, was the “falsework” that could potentially have an effect on the Bajoran faith. It was well written and incredibly interesting. And Ro continues to be an excellent lead in any chapter she appears.
I know David George has quite a few more Star Trek books to read through, but he hasn’t been my favorite.
April 10, 2022
Pretty much nothing happens in this book, it's almost 400 pages of tying up vague minor issues from The Fall and set up for the next DS9 novel. A disappointing follow up to Soul Key and The Fall series. The author both shows and tells everything that's happening, and is endlessly recapping not just previous books/episodes but previous chapters in this book, making for a repetitive and eventually quite frustrating read.
The plot with Odo and the plot with the falsework were interesting, but for me, the author's long-winded style just dampened the excitement and again, both stories were only set up, not concluded.
Hoping the next DS9 books will be more action-packed and will finally tell us exactly what happened in the period between Soul Key and Destiny. So keen to (hopefully!) have Kira back!
The plot with Odo and the plot with the falsework were interesting, but for me, the author's long-winded style just dampened the excitement and again, both stories were only set up, not concluded.
Hoping the next DS9 books will be more action-packed and will finally tell us exactly what happened in the period between Soul Key and Destiny. So keen to (hopefully!) have Kira back!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 2, 2016
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Sacraments of Fire by David R. George III Sacraments of Fire is the next part in the heavily interconnected Trek relaunch, following up on the events in George's own "Revelation and Dust".
... which perhaps leads me to the first and most important point of criticism. I don't know why but there's no note within the books lately about which parts of the relaunch are most heavily referenced. I label myself as a casual Trek reader, meaning I read the parts that appeal to me but certainly not every single one. So from the DS9-relaunch itself I read only the first 4 books, skipped the Mission Gamma tetralogy and read Unity (which was described as a jump-in point into the narrative, an assessment I don't quite agree with - but that's another story entirely) - the next encounter with anything DS9-related was the Destiny-trilogy and then I read George's 4 books "Rough Beasts of Empire", "Plagues of Night" & "Raise the Dawn" and the afore-mentionned "Revelation...". And of course, I've missed plotthreads like the whole Ascendants-business - and that's perfectly okay. But the way this book is structured, one part set in the days after Bacco's assassination, the 2nd half about 3 months later when everything is resolved, means that the plot of at least one other book is totally spoiled here. I have no reason whatsoever to pick up Mack's "A Ceremony of Losses" now because I don't just know the broad strokes of what happens there, but quite a few details... And is that necessary? Wouldn't it have sufficed to say that the question of who was behind the assassination was solved, the presidential elections are over and that's it? No reason at all to go into any details because quite frankly, none of the characters on which the focus of Disavowed lies, even features in Sacraments... Yes, I'm disappointed because I had Ceremony on my reading list - no longer. And this situation could be prevented if there were any series-list of books in chronological order, or some kind of list which books you should have read prior to this one (or any other book in the series). It's a bit strange to ask readers to google on the internet for the correct reading order just because you'd like to keep the illusion alive that every book can be read independently.
Back to Sacrements, as I said before, the plot roughly consists of 3 timeframes - a couple of days after Bacco's assassination, 3 months later, and 6 years earlier, telling the story behind Ghemor and the Ascendants' attack ("Warpath" to "The Soul Key")... a story in which Kira, flung back in time (or is it forward now after her stay in Bajor's distant past?) by the Prophets and recovered by the Even Odds, the ship Taran'atar landed on after leaving DS9, plays an important role.
Not having read the previous Ascendant-novels, Ghemor's part didn't interest me all that much. Neither did Kira's which early on descended into a too detailed retelling of how Taran'atar became a crewmember on the Even Odds and later a too detailed description of some kind of spatial anomaly on board that ship. Those pages were quite hard to wade through. As were the constant repetitions of how afraid Kira is of changing her past by interfering or not interfering with events as she remembers them... the typical conundrum of a time-traveler.
Multiple repetitions are par for the course in the present timeline as well - having Blackmer doubt himself on every other page because of the assassination on his watch, or having Ro question Starfleet's orders, and reading about Altek Dans (whom the Prophets transported to the present time) waiting for admittance to Bajor not only once but nearly every time they appear becomes tiresome, really fast. I'm not sure why George decided on summarizing pretty much every chapter in the following one... does he underestimate his readers' reading comprehension abilities so much? Or overestimate his plot's complexity? Overall, this part of the story appears to be the most interesting one, dealing with so called heretics who uncover a machine on Bajor's largest moon which apparently the Prophets used to construct the wormhole - apparent proof that they are nothing more than aliens, rather than divine beings, which threatens to tear apart Bajoran society, the belief system in a general and personal respect. I'm looking forward to the continuation of this part, most certainly.
And last but not least we have Sisko at first patrolling the Tzenkethi border right after the assassination before finally being able to get on with an exploratory mission into the gamma quadrant - not before delivering Odo to a secret research station where something is investigated that might have been (might still be) a founder, one of the 100 sent out into the galaxy. The events on the research station also whetted my appetite for more.
Overall, unfortunately, this novel feels disjointed (especially due to the different timeframes) and certainly not up to par with George's usual high quality writing. It picks up speed towards the end, getting quite engaging, and I'll definitely pick up its continuation, but that doesn't change the fact that it took ages to get there, endless repetitions and descriptions - and a first part set on DS9 which was rendered quite useless by resolving it off-screen. Again, who came up with that stupid idea, anyway?
... which perhaps leads me to the first and most important point of criticism. I don't know why but there's no note within the books lately about which parts of the relaunch are most heavily referenced. I label myself as a casual Trek reader, meaning I read the parts that appeal to me but certainly not every single one. So from the DS9-relaunch itself I read only the first 4 books, skipped the Mission Gamma tetralogy and read Unity (which was described as a jump-in point into the narrative, an assessment I don't quite agree with - but that's another story entirely) - the next encounter with anything DS9-related was the Destiny-trilogy and then I read George's 4 books "Rough Beasts of Empire", "Plagues of Night" & "Raise the Dawn" and the afore-mentionned "Revelation...". And of course, I've missed plotthreads like the whole Ascendants-business - and that's perfectly okay. But the way this book is structured, one part set in the days after Bacco's assassination, the 2nd half about 3 months later when everything is resolved, means that the plot of at least one other book is totally spoiled here. I have no reason whatsoever to pick up Mack's "A Ceremony of Losses" now because I don't just know the broad strokes of what happens there, but quite a few details... And is that necessary? Wouldn't it have sufficed to say that the question of who was behind the assassination was solved, the presidential elections are over and that's it? No reason at all to go into any details because quite frankly, none of the characters on which the focus of Disavowed lies, even features in Sacraments... Yes, I'm disappointed because I had Ceremony on my reading list - no longer. And this situation could be prevented if there were any series-list of books in chronological order, or some kind of list which books you should have read prior to this one (or any other book in the series). It's a bit strange to ask readers to google on the internet for the correct reading order just because you'd like to keep the illusion alive that every book can be read independently.
Back to Sacrements, as I said before, the plot roughly consists of 3 timeframes - a couple of days after Bacco's assassination, 3 months later, and 6 years earlier, telling the story behind Ghemor and the Ascendants' attack ("Warpath" to "The Soul Key")... a story in which Kira, flung back in time (or is it forward now after her stay in Bajor's distant past?) by the Prophets and recovered by the Even Odds, the ship Taran'atar landed on after leaving DS9, plays an important role.
Not having read the previous Ascendant-novels, Ghemor's part didn't interest me all that much. Neither did Kira's which early on descended into a too detailed retelling of how Taran'atar became a crewmember on the Even Odds and later a too detailed description of some kind of spatial anomaly on board that ship. Those pages were quite hard to wade through. As were the constant repetitions of how afraid Kira is of changing her past by interfering or not interfering with events as she remembers them... the typical conundrum of a time-traveler.
Multiple repetitions are par for the course in the present timeline as well - having Blackmer doubt himself on every other page because of the assassination on his watch, or having Ro question Starfleet's orders, and reading about Altek Dans (whom the Prophets transported to the present time) waiting for admittance to Bajor not only once but nearly every time they appear becomes tiresome, really fast. I'm not sure why George decided on summarizing pretty much every chapter in the following one... does he underestimate his readers' reading comprehension abilities so much? Or overestimate his plot's complexity? Overall, this part of the story appears to be the most interesting one, dealing with so called heretics who uncover a machine on Bajor's largest moon which apparently the Prophets used to construct the wormhole - apparent proof that they are nothing more than aliens, rather than divine beings, which threatens to tear apart Bajoran society, the belief system in a general and personal respect. I'm looking forward to the continuation of this part, most certainly.
And last but not least we have Sisko at first patrolling the Tzenkethi border right after the assassination before finally being able to get on with an exploratory mission into the gamma quadrant - not before delivering Odo to a secret research station where something is investigated that might have been (might still be) a founder, one of the 100 sent out into the galaxy. The events on the research station also whetted my appetite for more.
Overall, unfortunately, this novel feels disjointed (especially due to the different timeframes) and certainly not up to par with George's usual high quality writing. It picks up speed towards the end, getting quite engaging, and I'll definitely pick up its continuation, but that doesn't change the fact that it took ages to get there, endless repetitions and descriptions - and a first part set on DS9 which was rendered quite useless by resolving it off-screen. Again, who came up with that stupid idea, anyway?
May 20, 2019
Another typical DRG3 novel. Interesting premise and story but horrible execution. I really want to read and figure out what happened with the ascendant storyline but there were times where it just was painful. Everything is recapped four times, even events that took place 200 pages ago in the same book! I love DS9 and DS9-R is amazing imo, but Revelation and Dust and this book were chores to get through. I’m hopeful for Ascendance because it feels like there will finally be payoff to the more than 600 pages of set up we’ve been forced to read.
May 27, 2021
Det var många trådar att följa i denna bok, vilket visserligen är som livet i sig, men som gör att jag tappar bort mig ibland mellan passagerna.
Med detta sagt vill jag ändå säga att boken är välskriven och med ett tempo som gör att jag gärna vill läsa vidare, inte för snabbt men heller inte för långsam. Driven story utan att stressa.
Fokus för boken var om en religiös tro är sann eller ej och denna del gjorde att betyget sänktes - i Star Trek borde man ej ifrågasätta olika trosuppfattningar.
Med detta sagt vill jag ändå säga att boken är välskriven och med ett tempo som gör att jag gärna vill läsa vidare, inte för snabbt men heller inte för långsam. Driven story utan att stressa.
Fokus för boken var om en religiös tro är sann eller ej och denna del gjorde att betyget sänktes - i Star Trek borde man ej ifrågasätta olika trosuppfattningar.
June 29, 2018
Fast paced and has several storylines. I found it a little difficult to place the story as I have read various other DS9 books that feed into these storylines some while ago, so I just had to go with the flow and just follow this book. Once I stopped struggling to remember other books it helped!
Will not leave it so long before reading the follow up book as this one ended on a cliff hanger.
Will not leave it so long before reading the follow up book as this one ended on a cliff hanger.
April 27, 2019
Most writers of contemporary Trek novels are adept at crafting intricate plots. A few are more notable for the beauty and quality of their prose. David George leads the pack in this latter group. He does an excellent job with the internal lives of characters and his writing elevated his work above many of the other Trek novels.
February 19, 2017
The book tries to weave far too many things together, causing it to be more or less one big incoherent recap.
February 13, 2019
If it's a Star Trek book...pretty much I will like it. Kudos to all those who keep the series alive in the books.
December 28, 2019
This takes place after president bacco's assassination. Kira goes back in time and Illaba Glemour is trying to attack Bajor. Very confusing but very suspenseful. Continues in Ascendance.
June 13, 2020
Good Star Trek book. You might enjoy it if you are a Star Trek fan.
September 1, 2020
Nice story, too bad it combines missing explanations from 10 years back with continuation of the "current" story. The explanation is great, just too distant from the actual stories.
December 13, 2020
A good story that begins to wrap up the whole storyline of the ascendants.
September 25, 2024
There were bits I liked, such as when Nog was trying to reactivate Vic Fontaine. Also some interesting T’aranatar stuff. This leads into the novel Ascendance.
July 18, 2015
With "Sacraments of Fire", David R. George III takes the DS9 novels on a bit of a history tour & then sets up what could be either something very good or something very bad. The book itself begins with the return of Ileana Ghemor & the Ascendants as she believes she's "The Fire" & is set on revenge against Bajor & Kira Nerys. We've also got events set shortly after the assassination of Nanietta Bacco & the station dealing w/ the arrival of another visitor from the wormhole & an orb in Altek Dans whose mere presence causes a scare amongst the crew as well as the Bajoran government since they don't really know who he is let alone from when he arrived. Additionally, we revisit events begun in S.D. Perry's "Favorite Son", with Kira emerging from the wormhole in the past aboard the Even Odds with Taran'atar ahead of the events which would lead to her death & his suicide. Throw in an incursion on the Bajoran moon Endalla with the Ohalavaru & a possible member of the Hundred which has Sisko taking Odo w/ the Robinson to a distant outpost to examine it & we the reader have perhaps one of the most complicated stories ever written.
George does a very nice job of a history lesson in reminding we the reader of how we got to a lot of the events described in this book by summarizing the complex history as well as continuing to advance the timeline further although the stuff in what we the reader know as the present day doesn't change all that much save the the Odo, Altek Dans & Endalla plots. The book itself is a times a little disorienting especially since it has plots that are both in the present & the past with characters that haven't been around in what seems like forever. Every plot line also has a cliffhanger ending which doesn't exactly help since we the reader really have no idea just where any of this may end up going in the future. Overall this is a sold entry into the DS9 universe with a preliminary rating that could go up or down depending on how the follow-up scheduled for release at the end of 2015 goes.
George does a very nice job of a history lesson in reminding we the reader of how we got to a lot of the events described in this book by summarizing the complex history as well as continuing to advance the timeline further although the stuff in what we the reader know as the present day doesn't change all that much save the the Odo, Altek Dans & Endalla plots. The book itself is a times a little disorienting especially since it has plots that are both in the present & the past with characters that haven't been around in what seems like forever. Every plot line also has a cliffhanger ending which doesn't exactly help since we the reader really have no idea just where any of this may end up going in the future. Overall this is a sold entry into the DS9 universe with a preliminary rating that could go up or down depending on how the follow-up scheduled for release at the end of 2015 goes.
August 20, 2025
It's been years since the story from Fearful Symmetry/The Soul Key was suspended at a cliffhanger ending, but now the resolution is finally being told.
Kira Nerys has been released from the Celestial Temple, but in her past, at the time when Iliana Ghemor launched an attack against Bajor. An Orb came to the new Deep Space Nine, but instead of Kira, it deposited one Altek Dans, who seems to be a man out of time (from Bajor's distant past). Now both of them have to figure out what the Prophets want of each of them.
Iliana Ghemor, having gone insane from years of abuse from the late Gul Dukat, now wants to kill Kira Nerys and anyone who looks like her or sides with her. She now has the Ascendant forces behind her- they believe she is the Fire from their prophecies and will follow her anywhere.
Kira finds herself on the Even Odds, the eclectic ship that Jake Sisko once traveled on for an extended period of time. She finds the Jem Hadar Tarantar there- he signed on after leaving DS9- and knowing his fate, seeks the Prophets to tell her what she's supposed to do as their Hand.
And if all this isn't enough, we have Odo attempting to make contact with a life-form that may be a shape-shifter like himself.
I couldn't put this down- I've been eager to find out what happened with Iliana Ghemor, and now we FINALLY get to see the conclusion and how Kira got from Captain commanding DS9 to Vedek.
The next book can't come soon enough for me- I want to know what happens :-)
Kira Nerys has been released from the Celestial Temple, but in her past, at the time when Iliana Ghemor launched an attack against Bajor. An Orb came to the new Deep Space Nine, but instead of Kira, it deposited one Altek Dans, who seems to be a man out of time (from Bajor's distant past). Now both of them have to figure out what the Prophets want of each of them.
Iliana Ghemor, having gone insane from years of abuse from the late Gul Dukat, now wants to kill Kira Nerys and anyone who looks like her or sides with her. She now has the Ascendant forces behind her- they believe she is the Fire from their prophecies and will follow her anywhere.
Kira finds herself on the Even Odds, the eclectic ship that Jake Sisko once traveled on for an extended period of time. She finds the Jem Hadar Tarantar there- he signed on after leaving DS9- and knowing his fate, seeks the Prophets to tell her what she's supposed to do as their Hand.
And if all this isn't enough, we have Odo attempting to make contact with a life-form that may be a shape-shifter like himself.
I couldn't put this down- I've been eager to find out what happened with Iliana Ghemor, and now we FINALLY get to see the conclusion and how Kira got from Captain commanding DS9 to Vedek.
The next book can't come soon enough for me- I want to know what happens :-)
July 14, 2015
While this novel was an enjoyable read, I think I'll have to read the follow-up novel, Ascendants, before I give this a better rating. I felt like I had turned on a television miniseries without having seen the first couple of hours. If I recall correctly, I had started the previous one in this cycle, Revelations and Dust, but not finished it. My bad.
October 16, 2015
I found the book a good read... But disjointed. Was looking forward to picking up DS9 following the assassination of Bacco... But disappointed in revisiting events of a prior book...even if could mean a change in outcomes. Just move along.
I am looking forward to Ascendant though. I just wish they had left the other subplot out
I am looking forward to Ascendant though. I just wish they had left the other subplot out
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