Warpath

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

by David Mack

They were created to be killing machines. Highly intelligent, resourceful, and deceptively complex, the Jem'Hadar are a species engineered for war and programmed at the genetic level for one purpose: to fight until death as soldiers of the sprawling stellar empire known as the Dominion. No Jem'Hadar has ever lived thirty years, and not even their masters, the shape-shifting Founders, know what such a creature is capable of becoming were it to be freed of its servitude.

One Founder, however, has dared to wonder.

Appointed by Odo himself to learn peaceful coexistence aboard Deep Space 9 â„¢, Taran'atar, an Honored Elder among the Jem'Hadar, had for months been a staunch, if conflicted, ally to the crew of the station, ever struggling to understand the mission on which he was sent . . . until something went horrifically wrong.

Consumed by self-doubt and an ever-growing rage, Taran'atar has lashed out against those he was sworn to aid. While Captain Kira Nerys and Lieutenant Ro Laren both lie near death aboard DS9, their assailant has taken a hostage and fled into Cardassian space, pursued by Commander Elias Vaughn on the U.S.S. Defiant. But as the hunt unfolds, Taran'atar's true objective becomes increasingly less certain, as the rogue Jem'Hadar leads the Defiant to a discovery even more shocking than his crime.

Genres: Star Trek, Science Fiction, Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Fiction, Ebooks, Adventure, Space

338 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 2006

About the author

David Mack is the New York Times bestselling author of 39 novels of science-fiction, fantasy, and adventure, including the Star Trek Destiny and Cold Equations trilogies.

Beyond novels, Mack's writing credits span several media, including television (for produced episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), games, and comic books.

Follow him on Twitter @davidalanmack or like his Facebook page.

Reviews

[Elen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm just so tired of Elias Vaughn.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and exciting novel filled with great action and some fantastic setup for the stories to come. This is classic David Mack: a number of stories come together with some fantastic payoff, while still setting up the novels to come. Four out of five stars is my rating for Warpath. Not to be missed.

Full review: http://treklit.blogspot.com/2015/06/w...

[Jonathan Koan · Rating 2 out of 5]

David Mack has produced some fantastic Star Trek novels over the years. His Destiny Trilogy is one of the most important and impactful Trek series ever. His entry in The Fall series "A Ceremony of Losses" might have the best themes of any Trek book, and his A Time to books were action packed with interesting character developments. And there are so many other books and series that he has contributed to that he did a great job on.

So it is sad to say that this book is not like the others. I really didn't enjoy this one, and felt that it lacked Mack's typical panache and quality.

This book kind of has an identity problem. Much like another DS9 focused novel "Revelation and Dust", this book doesn't know what it actually wants to be. The book is split between many focuses. The main thrust of the book is that Taran'atar attacks Kira and Ro and flees DS9, while Vaughn and company chase after him. That storyline by itself was interesting, as was the little bits of story featuring Ro and Quark, as well as the bits with Benjamin and Kira.

However, this book also has a prolongued focus on Kira as she is unconcious and we follow her vision/dreams/whatever the heck it its. This was by far the most frustrating and I felt unnecessary parts that reminded me of Revelation and Dust. I think I understand why Mack included this story, but in all honesty this entire plotline should have been cut and focused on something else on DS9. Not only was it confusing and difficult to follow, it didn't really have much of an impact on the rest of the story.

There is also a plot thread about the Mirror Universe, which was also difficult to follow as it popped in and out of the story. This ties in more directly to the main story, but it too is difficult to follow. Mack should have restructured the book a lot and given more time to explaining why these Mirror Universe Characters and Plot Threads are important. Instead, the audience is left guessing and the experience is not particularly engaging.

The whole story with Taran'atar and Prynn was really interesting though, as was Vaughn's chase sequences. These felt more up to Mack's standards of storytelling.

Overall, I was highly disappointed with this book. I think it's my least favorite David Mack book, and that's really sad to say considering how many awesome books he has. 4 out of 10.

[Crystal Bensley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leading into some interesting Mirror Universe stuff and plenty of action!

[Maurice Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Worlds Of Deep Space Nine: The Dominion and Ferenginar, Taran'atar attacked Captain Kira and Lieutenant Ro, left them for dead and marched off to pursue a mysterious task that even he wasn't quite sure why it was so urgent that he had to go do it.

Warpath picks up where the Dominion story left off. He stole a runabout- with Ensign Prynn Tenmei piloting (she was taking it on a shakedown cruise after repairs) and commanded her to pilot him to coordinates of his choosing. Commander Elias Vaughn quickly figured out that Taran'atar hijacked his daughter's runabout and took the Defiant out after him, leaving Lieutenant Dax in command of the station.

We go back and forth: Vaughn chasing down Taran'atar, Taran'atar and Tenmei not trusting each other (she's trying to disable him and or escape and he knows she's going to pull something), surgeries for Kira and Ro to try and save their lives and a mysterious Cardassian woman pursued by mercenary after mercenary as she headed for a mysterious rendezvous on Harkoum (a former Cardassian prison planet). And what does the mirror universe have to do with it?

This was an exciting tale- action packed, tension over the health of our two favorite Bajoran officers and figuring out what the heck is up with Taran'atar was enough to keep DS9 readers well entertained.

[Derkanus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Summary: On the strip-mined planet Harkoum, a Klingon bounty hunter named Jonu tries to hunt down a Cardassian woman, but a well-placed explosion cripples the hunter, pinning her under rubble. Just as she's about to bleed to death, she remembers where she's seen the woman before and curses her.

After grievously wounding Kira and Ro, Taran'atar shrouds, makes his way to the hangar bay, and boards a runabout being piloted by Ensign Tenmei. Once she's clear of the station, he unshrouds and tells her to set a new course.

Bashir has Kira and Ro beamed to the infirmary for emergency surgery. Ro's spine has been partially severed, and Kira's heart is shredded; she needs an artificial one immediately, but there's also a shortage of her type of blood on hand.

Now in charge of the station, Commander Vaughn begins searching the station for Taran'atar, who could be anywhere.

Kira finds herself in the Celestial Temple, surrounded by Prophets embodying the many people in her life who have recently died. A piece of Benjamin Sisko is also there, and he tells her she's in the space between like and death. Opaka tells Kira that she's there to "set our hand upon the path."

In the alternate universe, Intendant Kira meets with the Klingon Captain Klag and Gul Macet aboard her flagship, the Negh'Var. She says she persuaded Regent Martok to use the Ninth Fleet to attack Sindorin, securing them the Badlands. She says the rebels are too entrenched in Terok Nor, so she is working on a pact with a new ally.

Major Cenn and Nog investigate Taran'atar's quarters. They find trace amounts of Jem'Hadar blood. Nog also finds that the companel logs don't match the data usage, which is much higher. He says he'll have to run a full diagnostic. Bowers traces the blood to runabout pad A.

Quark breaks into the infirmary when he hears about Ro. He overhears that things are going poorly for Kira, but then dozens of blood donors show up--including Vedek Capril, who had shunned Kira while she was Attainted.

Vaughn reviews the video logs from Taran'atar's trip to Ananke Alpha and wonders if the female changeling talking about Odo leaving the Dominion to return to Kira Bay have spurred his attack. Dax interrupts and says Taran'atar left on Prynn's runabout. They try to use the transponder to turn it around, but it's disabled--so Vaughn decides to pursue in the Defiant.

Taran'atar isn't sure why he's doing this, and laments that he hasn't slept in 4 days, causing him to keep losing focus. Prynn obediently follows his commands, even as she surreptitiously takes steps to disable the warp core. He commands her to get an EVA suit from the back.

The Prophets tell Kira that she is their vessel, and say "our hand must fulfill the promise of our message." She says she doesn't understand; they tell her to walk the path and she will know.

Another bounty hunter named Grauq waits for the Cardassian Woman to try and steal a ship to flee Harkoum.

Nog tells Cenn that it seems Taran'atar was sending an inordinate amount of data, and he shredded the files significantly; Nog thinks he can piece them back together in a few hours though.

The Defiant quickly catches up to the runabout, but they find it adrift in space, appearing to have collided with a comet. There are no lifesigns on the ship, but they detect Ensign Tenmei's deep inside the comet. When they decloak and drop shields to try and beam her aboard, microtorpedoes inside the comet detonate, causing the comet to explode, knocking out the Defiant's warpcore--and seemingly killing Prynn. Taran'atar unshrouds and takes off in the runabout at maximum warp.

Taran'atar rematerializes Prynn, who was being held in the transporter buffer. He gives her some stimulants to keep her awake, and takes some himself as well.

General Kira Nerys leads her army of Bajora back to their fortress Parek Tonn, only to find it occupied by the Eav'oq, who say they've defended the fortress for millennia. When she asks from whom, it gestures to another army coming up behind hers.

4 hours after starting, Kira's heart surgery is complete. Dr. Tarses continues to work on Ro's spine, using Dr. Crusher's research on nanites to help repair the damage.

Shortly after they cross over into Cardassian space, Taran'atar tells Prynn to change their heading. She surmises it's because he's detected a cloaked ship, so she triggers her program to abruptly shut down the warpcore. Taran'atar survives and accuses her of sabotage, but she says Nog's experimental changes caused the failure. A Klingon ship hails them and offers assistance; Taran'atar shrouds and tells Prynn to accept.

Taran'atar quickly dispatches the Klingons that beam over to repair the ship. He ties up Prynn and beams them both over to the Klingon vessel, where he easily kills the rest of the crew. He destroys the runabout and sets course for Harkoum at maximum warp.

Intendant Kira tells Gul Macet to regroup with the Klingon 9th fleet to prepare to attack Terok Nor. She says she'll join the fleet after she deals with a private matter.

The Cardassian Woman steals the bounty hunter Grauq's own ship while he waits for her. He hijacks another ship, kills its crew, and persues her, hoping to stop her before she can reach his client. However, after they break atmo, they find a Romulan Warbird on patrol. The Cardassian Woman enters orbit around Harkoum to avoid suspicion, and Grauq follows suit.

Shut out of their own fortress and with a larger army coming from behind them, Kira asks the Eav'oq to form an alliance. They send out Opaka Sulan as their interlocutor.

Nog asks Bashir to check out the subcarrier wave that he found hidden in Taran'atar's decrypted logs. They find that it matches Taran'atar's delta wave sleep patterns exactly; meaning someone has been sending him commands he likely wasn't even aware of.

The Defiant comes across the wreckage of the runabout, and when they detect Klingon lifesigns, Vaughn quickly pieces together that Taran'atar likely hijacked a Klingon ship. He calls up Lorgh, a contact in Klingon Imperial Intelligence, who tells him a scout ship in the area, the noH'pach, is late for its check-in. Vaughn thanks him and pulls it's schematics.

XO Bowers suggests that they follow Taran'atar's original flight plan, ignoring the deviations for the comet and Klingon ship. Vaughn says it's a good theory, but wants to wait until repairs are complete, and says to keep working on ways to track the noH'pach.

Taran'atar finds himself arguing with hallucinations of the female Founder, Odo, Kira, et al, who ultimately convince him that by not following Odo's orders, he has emancipated himself. An alarm goes off and he realizes Prynn sabotaged the ship. He opens the door and is knocked unconscious; Prynn escaped her bonds and overcharged the forcefield. She goes to the bridge and tries to send an SOS, but Taran'atar has already recovered; he tackles her, puts her in manacles, and hangs her from a pipe, with no chance of escape again.

DS9 reports to Vaughn what they found in Taran'atar's logs: evidence suggests that he may have been responsible for the massacre at Sidau village in Hedrikspool. They also found that Intendant Kira from the alternate universe may has been sending Taran'atar commands that he wasn't even aware of. They traced the signal to Harkoum, so the Defiant sets off at maximum warp.

Opaka rejects Kira's offers of assistance on behalf of the Eav'oq; she says the Ascendants will stop at nothing, destroying both armies or themselves trying to take the fortress. Kira decides to ride out to meet the Ascendants herself.

Grauq disables his ship and beams aboard it, only to find that the Cardassian Woman has stolen his hoverbike and used the ship as a decoy. He enters the cockpit and finds a proximity mine that detonates, blowing him and his ship to smithereens.

A mysterious, cloaked figure comes into the infirmary; Benjamin Sisko. He gets Quark, then sits beside Kira's bed and holds her hand without another word.

Ro wakes up to find Quark holding her hand. He says he overheard the doctors saying she'll be able to walk again, but she'll have a few months of physical therapy.

Professor Hovath finishes work on a device for Intendant Kira that could potentially grant them access to any universe, not just the one alternate universe. Kira toasts his accomplishment by giving him some poisoned wine.

Vaughn gets debriefed on Harkoum: once the Cardassians strip-mined all of it's resources, they set up secret detention facilities below the surface. Bowers advises that they likely won't be able to break the Klingon ship's cloak.

Kira tries to parley with the Ascendant leader, but he simply tells her to stand aside. The army looses flaming arrows at her and her companions, killing nearly all of them and leaving her with an arrow in her back as she retreats.

Taran'atar comes into Prynn's compartment to fix what she sabotaged. He constantly mumbles to himself, and seems to be in a panicked dreamstate. He tells her that they're going to Harkoum to rendezvous with "her", but he doesn't know who she is--but he does. He takes a simulant, then starts to act normally again. He says he'll keep Prynn alive as leverage against Vaughn, but he'll break her neck if she tries to escape again.

Ezri tells Sisko that she's restless, and he says maybe it's time for a transfer; she wants to explore. Sisko also says that he still feels something portentously looming, but can't say what; but the Prophets warnqed him he'd find no rest on Bajor.

Nog and Bashir send the replicator specs to the Defiant for the device they've engineered to free Taran'atar from his mind control--or fry his brain. Bowers objects when Vaughn insists on leading the strike team himself, but Vaughn convinces him that he has to be there, because Taran'atar knows him better than anyone else.

The Prophets tell Kira that her vision of Parek Tonn never happened, yet the fortress is real: it's faith, the Celestial Temple. All 3 of the Prophets' children interpreted their faith differently: for the Eav'oq, peace; the Bajorans, empathy and reason; the Ascendants, a crusade. They tell her that their hand must not yield, the fortress must not fall.

Savonigar, a Nausicaan bounty hunter, is about to take his shot at the Cardassian Woman when a small Klingon ship decloaks near him, kicking up dust and blocking his shot. He leaves his cover to pursue.

The Defiant arrives in orbit around Harkoum and quickly detects that the noH'pach is using a holographic cloak, and has entered a facility also hidden by a holographic blind. Vaughn and his strike team, dressed in surface-operations blacks, beam down best the facility.

Intendant Kira arrives at Harkoum in the Negh'Var, in orbit above the Grennokar Detention Facility.

Taran'atar lands his ship inside the facility and is greeted by a group of mercenaries who tell him the client is waiting. He tells them to do what they want with the ship and his prisoner, and heads off to meet his new god.

Savonigar and the Cardassian Woman duel. He manages to do some serious damage--a broken arm, severed neck ridges, a knife in the gut--before she paralyzes him with a blade to the spine. She finds his surgical kit and begins methodically healing her wounds. She says if Taran'atar made it to the pit already, she might be too late. Savonigar expresses great admiration for her skills, and she mercifully decides to use a hypospray to release him to his gods.

Vaughn's team breaks through the force field and the tricorder reads 10 mercenaries waiting for them. Vaughn makes a run for the pit where Taran'atar is descending while the team gives him cover.

One of the mercs tries to take advantage of Prynn's compromised position, but when the firefight breaks out, she wraps her legs around his head, lifts herself off the perch Taran'atar hung her on, and breaks the merc's neck. She takes a breather, then heads after Taran'atar.

General Kira meets with Opaka again and tells her that though their fortresses look alike, this one belongs to the Eav'oq; she says they will help defend it like it's their own. Opaka lets them inside, where Kira sees they have no defenses. Opaka says they are pacifists, and their only defense was to hide the road to the fortress. Against a larger, better-armed force, Kira realizes she likely won't live to see the dawn.

Vaughn makes it to the bottom of the 10km deep prison pit. He stumbles upon a lab filled with glowing blue containers of dead Jem'Hadar that have been experimented on, seemingly by Intendant Kira.

In the next room, Vaughn is met with phaser blasts from Taran'atar. A game of cat and mouse ensues. Pinned down, Vaughn programs his tricorder to fire his phaser rifle remotely while he tries to flank Taran'atar. When he gets into position to use the neuro-pulse emitter, he finds Taran'atar has maneuvered behind him. He breaks Vaughn's arm, causing him to drop the device. Just as Taran'atar is about to kill him, Prynn aims her phaser at him and says to get away from her father.

The Ascendant attack with trebuchets well outside the range of the Bajoran archers, breaking huge sections of wall and spreading fire and acid everywhere. The archers attack the Ascendants at the gate, but eventually it gives way. Kira mounts a cavalry charge out the gate and into the Ascendant infantry to try and make it to the siege weapons, but the enemy unleashes a volley of arrows on their own troops to stop her. Kira watches the fortress fall as she dies, impaled by arrows. She realizes she needed allies to attack the Ascendant from behind.

Kira awakens with the Prophets. Opaka tells her "Our hand is in motion", and Kira says she's ready. Sisko tells her no one is ever ready.

Prynn tells Taran'atar to disarm himself, which he does--but then he shrouds and knocks and her phaser out of her hand. The voice of Intendant Kira tells him "it's time"; he presses some buttons on a beacon device, then disappears into a fold of space-time. Kira engages the prison's self-destruct sequence.

Vaughn and Prynn take the too-slow elevator while the prison explodes below them. Right before the top floor, the elevator is damaged and stops; they run for the stairs and make it up. Just as they're about to reach the noH'pach, the floor gives way; Vaughn grabs on to the last rung of a ladder, but can't pull himself up with one arm. Knowing Prynn won't leave him behind to save herself, he lets go... but she dives to catch him and falls herself. Luckily, the away team rise up below them in the noH'pach; they land hard on the top of the ship, which accelerates them out as Grennokar implodes. Prynn embraces her father.

Taran'atar is greeted by Intendant Kira. He immediately grabs her by the throat; the cross-dimensional transporter activates again, and Kira beams in behind him. She tells Taran'atar to put the Intendant down. She tells the Intendant she has no idea who she's dealing with, then slits her throat.

Kira awakens in the infirmary to find Sisko holding her hand. He fills her in on what's happened, and she thanks him for coming to see her. He thanks her back, and says "what good would I be without my right hand?"

The noH'pach lands and the Cardassian Woman emerges with the away team. She tells Vaughn that Captain Kira is in great danger: a deadly Obsidian Order operative named Iliana Ghemor was altered to look like Kira, but the op fell apart, Kira escaped, and her look-alike disappeared. Only Gul Dukat knows what happened. She knows this because she is also Iliana Ghemor.

The new Intendant Kira sets course for Regulon to rejoin the fleet. She holds a golden bracelet with a luminescent green stone that she says is the key to reality itself. She tells Taran'atar that reality is infinite, but only has room for one Kira Nerys.

Review: 2.5 stars. Not terrible, but way overlong; it could've lost 100 pages, especially Kira's Prophet coma.

[Drac]

In the Weyoun rating system this is 1/5 stars: Weyoun appears for one line as a hallucination.

[Preston Pendergraft · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, really enjoyed this book. One of my favorites of the DS9r. Does set up a lot of things. I am generally NOT a fan of the mirror universe, but I am really digging the plot/arc that this book starts. Awesome.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Star Trek, and to get back to this amazing world once again was great. I appreciate all of these relaunch novels so much. This way the Star Trek series will never really end.

The confusion, the indecision, the lack of direction that had plagued him for weeks was gone. Clarity had returned with action. Forward motion was its own reward. Doubt had been replaced by certainty, by an absolute trust that he would know what measures to take when he arrived at his next juncture. He was beyond the vague directives of Odo, braving the unchartered waters of free will.

In this novel Taran'atar has just attacked Kira and Ro and flees the station with Prynn as his hostage. It's obvious that something's up with him, and the journey to find out what that is and what's really going on is an exciting one with some twists and turns along the way. As it becomes clearer and clearer and right up until the end, which you really didn't see coming, it just gets better and better. The story draws you in.

I also really like the spiritual side of Deep Space Nine, and here Kira has contact with the prophets as her life hangs on the line. They're planning something, and as usual with the prophets it's shrouded in somewhat of a mystery. It does become clearer that it involves the Eav'oq and the Ascendants which just gets me even more interested. I've been waiting a little bit to see what will happen with this new species that we got to know a little bit back in Rising Son.

I'm looking forward to read the next book to see where all of this will lead. So, yes, it did end in a cliffhanger. But that's fine with me since the next book in this series is already ordered and on its way to me.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perfectly serviceable installment in the relaunch. Good pacing, okay characterization, clear mostly unobjectionable writing, cohesive coherent plots. Not enough charming character moments or interesting world-building details to really capture my attention, but leaves off in a place where I want to continue reading the series. Lots of action scenes which were probably decently written but I have a low threshold of interest for so skimmed past -- I also skimmed any part focusing on Vaughn because I aggressively still do not care about this character.

[Ann Feutz · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Mack has a knack for action, thrills, and characterization. Warpath brings together a number of threads, including a Mirror Universe one (!), and makes the reader eager for more. I particularly loved the friendship between Ro and Quark and the father/daughter relationship established thru Vaughn and Prynn. Kira's dreams were a bit confusing though so I would say this book lost a star for that.

[Christian Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent book. It was nice to get some bit of a conclusion from the “Words of Deep Space Nine: Book Three” ending, but there’s still a lot to figure out.

As with the previous “Gateways” narrative, I’m not a big fan of the Kira “fantasy-style” story we see here, but the hunt for Tenmei is a great plot line, as is the station trying to save two characters.

Overall, not a bad book, but a bit of a letdown after the previously strong story.

[Vic Page · Rating 4 out of 5]

WOW I was wondering why I was wasting so much time on the mirror universe and this one came along and KNOCKED it out of the park. I do think it fell for that very star trek thing of 'all the main characters are the most important people in every universe and they also have superman level plot armour protecting them' but otherwise INCREDIBLE. Prynn and Vaughn were awesome. Can't wait for more.

[Nabil Hussain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and Thrilling novel!!

This novel was well composed although towards the end of the book it got a bit tedious. It was exciting to read and overall it was an engaging story.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Good Read

I always enjoy David Mack's books. Small chapters make smooth reading. Looking forward to the next installment. Now looking for my next book to read.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent post-series DS9 novel from David Mack!

[brett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good

Really good, my first deep space nine novel, looking forward to reading many more. This one was was fast paced and I enjoyed it.

[Yvette · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Mack always writes in the characters’ voice. I can always imagine the words on the page coming out of Sisko or Kira’s mouth. The ending was cliffhanger 😳.

[Alvaro Zinos-Amaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review forthcoming

[Mike Grady · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting story, but it had trouble getting started - there were several seemingly irrelevant story lines that served little or no purpose in the overall story.

[S.J. Saunders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Does admittedly retread some ground, but also takes the story forward in surprising ways!

4/5 That's...certainly one way to resolve that cliffhanger.

[Kevin Galbreath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting take on things but the reader is left in the dark about so much that the ending has less impact.

[Kirby Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yup, this was dropping into the middle of a new season. I know the basics and returning characters, but I don’t know the new characters and subplots. So a good time overall.

[Shoumik Hassin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mack remains very good at action scenes and his taut, terse style lends itself to the T'aranatar, Vaughn, Ro, and Tenmei bits. But boy is the whole MU thing exhausting.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 2 out of 5]

I backtracked basically to fill in a gap I missed in my DS9 relaunch reading. But I think because I’m past this era, I didn’t feel as invested. Maybe the story could’ve been condensed.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I probably picked the wrong book for the mood I was in. David Mack is great at writing complex stories that have multiple plot lines that eventually all start to tie together. Unfortunately, I wanted the exact opposite thing- a simple Trek story with only two plot lines. Needless to say, I was left with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth after reading Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Warpath.

I really should have picked a different Star Trek author for my mood but I was intrigued by the idea of David Mack doing a DS9 novel when I saw his name come up in my eReader library. I tend to enjoy his books a lot since he does a great job of working with characters and he helped to write two episodes of DS9. So curiosity killed the cat.

Warpath is a bit of a classic David Mack stand alone book. He tries to do too much. He has several different story lines: Kira’s life and death battle, Ro’s injury, Taran’atar kidnapping Prynn, Vaughn chasing after Taran’atar, the mirror universe and a wrench in the system at the end which I won’t spoil. But in 344 pages, that’s a lot to cover. Let alone to do it well. It’s nice that most of these story lines will have moments they overlap. Unfortunately for the reader, that means there is a lot of repetition of events from shifting points of view and gaps in other aspects so the story can be driven along.

I was surprised by a couple of the characters in the book: mainly Ro Laren and Commander Vaughn. They weren’t characters I was expecting in a Deep Space Nine book since I don’t see these characters in books before and after. Especially with Ro Laren. Last I remembered, she was a member of the Maquis and I thought she was killed in battle but apparently I’ve either misremembered something OR missed something from previous books and they were killed off later on. Well Vaughn I remember hearing his name but not much else. I will admit there are several books that I’ve missed in the chronology so it’s not unheard of.

This book did remind me of a conversation I had with one of my old philosophy professors. Stacey pointed out how the Bajoran/Cardassian conflict was very reminiscent of the conflicts in the West Bank. Then in this book, Kira was having discussions with the prophets about how Bajora had the same religious foundation as another religion, En’voq, and they had to unite in order to save the fortress from the Ascendents. Bajor is still the Jewish/Islamic and in this story they are tied to the Christians by teaming up with the En’voq. It was nice to be reminded about a conversation that I had over seven years ago.

The book was gappy for my taste. I would have preferred the mirror universe to be left out. I know he used it as an important way in the end but every time he went into the mirror universe it just felt out of place. Then the dream within a dream by Kira was a little much for me. I would have preferred it to be only the talks with the prophets.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to give the book only three stars; there were parts that deserved more but then again there was one element that did not deserve any. The main story involved Taran'atar, the resident Jem'Hadar on DS9, who inexplicably decided to betray his masters and nearly killed Kira and Ro before taking a hostage and ship to an unknown planet, with the Defiant in close pursuit. This story was very interesting; it was the offshoots of it that were weird. I felt that Kira's 'dream' while comatose could have been left out entirely and nothing would have been missed; it had nothing at all to do with the main story. Then there was the mirror universe story, which did eventually come into play right at the end so I guess it was necessary. What really annoyed me though was seeing at the end that there is another extension to the story, another book. This could be considered a stand-alone but then again it seems that there is more to it. I will have to get it as an e-book though as it is no longer available in print form, at least not through my usual sources. Warpath was published in 2006; it has been on my to-read shelf since that time.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

As far as the Deep Space Nine relaunch novels go, this is probably my least favorite. That is not to say it isn't good, far from it, "Warpath" just isn't as good as the others. It's a classic mystery novel that ends on a sort of cliffhanger. The mystery involves Taran'atar and his actions involving Kira and Ro. As the novel goes on, pieces fall into place, but not completely, and certainly not before the end. One of the more fascinating bits of the book is the "Cardassian Woman." Anyone who knows Kira's story from the TV shows will figure out who she is, but it is going an interesting story surrounding this new character. The more jarring stories in "Warpath" is that of Kira. Apparently, she is having a near death/Orb experience after being brutally attacked by Taran'atar in the previous novel. This experience seems oddly out-of-place. Overall, this is a decent book, but not as good as the others. Think of this as an episode in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's 9th season. The story is to be continued.

[Ross Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once more, into the world of the Post Finale Deep Space Nine I ventured.
And this time, it was David Mack as the guide.
Needless to say, I was afraid. (The guy is not exactly sunshine and rainbows, but more edged weapons and a twisted sense of violence that would make harden SEALS go “damn….”).

Following up just moments after the end of ST:Worlds of Deep Space Nine – Olympus Descending, the race is on to capture the renegade resident Jem’Hardar, while Kira and Ro hang on the brink of death.

Sounds good, and trust me, it is! Mack once again fills a book with enough blood, broken bones, near mortal injuries, close quarter fighting, death, and destruction to satisfy his loyal readers… and sets things up for the next book in the series.

[Jimyanni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent story, well written, powerfully moving, with plenty of action, plenty of intrigue, excellent characterizations, good pacing & plot movement. I would have preferred a story that had a more satisfying ending, but at least the immediate plotline was wrapped up as the major back-plot was continued on into the next book. Granted, the chapters that involved Kira's experiences/dreams were kind of jarringly discontinuous with the rest of the story, but I'm sure that we'll see them integrated at some point.