Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Too Long A Sacrifice

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (IDW) #2

by Scott Tipton, David Tipton, Greg Scott (Illustrator)

Return to DS9 as death casts its shadow on the space station in this murder-mystery graphic novel.

Constable Odo searches for truth amid a web of treachery and lies but everyone on the Promanade has a motive for this murder, be it vengeance, justice... or old-fashioned greed. With the murderer on the loose, the inhabitants of Deep Space 9 start to divide into factions, made even worse when the Ferengi government gets involved. Further complicating the issue, conflict between Constable Odo and the Federation's hand-picked criminal investigator threatens to derail the investigation itself!

Get buried in this space noir from fan-favorite Star Trek writers Scott and David Tipton with artist Greg Scott.

Genres: Star Trek, Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Mystery, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

96 pages, Paperback

First published December 8, 2020

Reviews

[Isabella · Rating 3 out of 5]

This "review" is going to be like 90% pictures from the graphic novel. I have tried to crop out speech bubbles that give away too much about the story and put the images in random order to avoid spoilers… though I assume not that many people are worried about spoilers for this kind of thing

Rating: 3 stars

Too Long a Sacrifice is a mystery solving story with Odo (who else) at the centre. But the first mystery I had to solve was when exactly this story takes place in the Deep Space Nine TV show timeline. I first assumed it was around the latter half of season 6-ish because of the war (and uniforms) but Kira looks like she does in season 7. Observe: That's her season 7 hair, right? But this can't take place during season 7 because Jadzia looks like, well, Jadzia. And then the plot thickens, because half way through Kira switches back to her season 1-6 hair (minus the pilot):Whaaaaaat????? My investigation was inconclusive. No idea when this takes place.

Also, Odo always uses his shapeshifting powers way more in the expanded universe stories than the actual show. (Here's him shapeshifting:)Maybe this was just because of budget early in the show, but then there’s that episode with Lars where Odo talks about not wanting to shift in front of solid because it reminds them of his people, and that's season 6/7 (can't remember).

Now I seemed to be proficient at spotting weird faces in the background of the graphic novel adaptions of The Eye of the World, including and commenting on them for the vast majority of their respective reviews. To this day, I still enjoy going back and rereading those reviews to get a good chuckle out of all the odd expressions the characters had when they were not the main focus of the illustration. When I started to see a similar thing happening here, the ebook copy I was reading was just too screenshot-able to pass up the opportunity. Maybe I’ve watched to much Star Trek recently but the faces looked a little off. So here we go. We're doing it again (even if it's just me who gets this far).

First we have this Bajoran lady whose face looks like it has been painted by Picasso:Yes I know we have to get her nose ridges there and everything, but still. She looks strange.

Also they kind of gave Bashir a beard for a bit?? He has a beard in this image and you can't convince me otherwise. That's not shading. That's stubble. This ain't no mirror universe. My Dr. Bashir is clean shaven.

Then we have this picture: You can probably deduce, my dear Watson, who these people are (couldn't resist). This kind of quality would be forgiving if it was in the background, but this beautiful illustration is right up close.

Ok, a break from the weird faces, let's look at something good: Worf. Worf looks really good.Look at that! That is a perfect illustration of a Klingon.

Oh, and also Kira looked a bit... larger than normal in this picture:Yes it might be the angle, but she looks weird to me. (Again, you can see from the speech bubble that this image is well in the foreground.)

And now I saved the best for last: there’s a bird guy.
Now, to my recollection there has been no bird aliens on Star Trek (I may be wrong) but that doesn’t matter. There is now. There is a bird guy in Star Trek. He is my new favourite character. Forget Data, Bird Guy is my new obsession. I may or may not have been dancing around the house this morning sing “Bird Guy” in place of "Batman" in the na na na na na na song.

Anyway, this is no criticism towards the illustrator, despite what it might seem, because I know for a fact that if I did the illustrations, it would be 10× worse. No, ∞ times worse.

Ok!!!! That is all! This review deserves it own Goodreads slot so that anyone who made it this far can put it towards their reading goal. If no one made it this far, that's equally as fine. If so, hello future me!

[Tony Laplume · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a long-time Star Trek fan, and of Deep Space Nine itself, it’s nice to see something like Too Long A Sacrifice happen. Even the post-series books concentrate mostly on keeping conflicts going. Fans of the show know that its main appeal was at last having a chance just to watch everyday life unfold in the franchise, even during wartime. It was kind of the whole point. This is a story that probably serves better as a gateway to an authentic introduction to the show, unlike the older comics (long in the past); its appeal to existing fans rests on whether or not they think it does anything the show itself didn’t already do (and better). Hopefully it spurs IDW to create more comics with these characters. We’ll see!

[Lois Merritt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked it, though I think at first the ending seemed abrupt to me, guess due to the amount of pages/issues that it was going to take up. Definitely better art than some others I also read today that were a few years older - they actually looked like the people they were portraying.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

What appears to be a terrorist attack on 'Deep Space Nine' leads Odo into a dangerous investigation which sees him working with a Betazoid detective who is not afraid to bend the rules to find out the truth.

The Tiptons' story is excellent and the artwork is generally of a high quality. Some of the face work captures the essence of the actors very well. However, the script is outstanding, with many of the bubbles sounding as if they could be spoken completely by the actors themselves.

[Mayaj · Rating 4 out of 5]

This certainly felt like an episode from season 6. Artstyle threw me for a bit of a loop - photo realistic drawings don't lend themselves partucularly well to expressing emotions or anything dynamic, really. If only there was an art style designed for storytelling. Huh.

[maskhautain · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first comics ever and I overall enjoyed the experience. I graps the difference between this and a graphic novel and I like the two genres. Regarding the story, I liked the plot a lot. I don't really understand why Garak and Worf were featured that much on the back and fronts covers featured at the end of the book but maybe it's my inexperience with comic books. I just taught they would be more present in the actual story.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fun to visit the world of Deep Space Nine again, but I felt the resolution of the mystery was a bit of a letdown.

[Zoidberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dialogue was great really captured the characters. Read like a middling episode of the show, with a disappointing resolution.

[CzasoStrefa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wydawnictwo Egmont w czerwcu wydało komiksowy thriller obsadzony w uniwersum Star Trek, a dokładniej na stacji kosmicznej Deep Space Nine.
Scenariusz został napisany przez duet Scotta i Davida Tiptonów, którzy są znani z innych komiksów związanych z tym uniwersum (Star Trek: The Q Conflict, Star Trek: Picard – Countdown). Ilustracje stworzył Greg Scott, a kolorami zajął się Felipe Sobreiro.
Historia rozpoczyna się od wybuchu w popularnej jadłodajni, gdzie życie traci kilkanaście pasażerów. Wkrótce po zdarzeniu ginie kilka kolejnych osób, co owocuje zamieszanie i poczuciem zagrożenia wśród mieszkańców. Szef ochrony statku, konstabl Odo, rozpoczyna śledztwo, jednak zamiast wyjaśnień odkrywa jedynie sieć intryg i kłamstw. Śledztwo nabiera tempa, stając się coraz bardziej skomplikowane.
Miałem parę obaw co do komiksu. Nie jestem szczególnie zagorzałym fanem tego uniwersum, a w tym przypadku po części warto byłoby nim być. W komiksie jest sporo nawiązań do wydarzeń z Deep Space Nine. Dlatego osoby niezaznajomione z tłem fabularnym, nie powinny po ten tytuł sięgać. Ja żałuje swoich braków w wiedzy, bo nie byłem przez nie w stanie w pełni zrozumieć rozgrywających się wydarzeń oraz ich przyczyn.
Star Trek. Stacja kosmiczna: Serce zbyt długo składane w ofierze to komiks, który jest skierowany do fanów Star Treka. Osoby, które chciałyby przeczytać pozycję bez znajomości dzieł Deep Space Nine, mogą mieć problem w odbiorze i czuć się nieco zagubione. Podczas czytania miałem wrażenie, że zbyt wiele wątków spłycono i wybrano najłatwiejszą ścieżkę rozwiązania konfliktu.

Więcej na: CzasoStrefa

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't sure if we'd get some sort of noir adventure, but maybe in a way we did. If anything, we got ourselves an Odo-centric murder mystery, but one that still remained grounded in the DS9 future without relying on the holodeck - or in this case, the holosuites.

And it was nice that this was set in the middle of the Dominion War, which is really when some of the best stories of DS9 were told. And the setting is ripe for a lot of drama and intrigue, so let's throw in some mysterious murders! And it's not the sort of mystery that's impossible to follow either - it's one where reader knowledge and Odo's knowledge as an investigator is largely the same except of course when he makes sudden realizations and doesn't mention them aloud. And that's understandable with some of the best mystery stories out there.

I also have to say that the art style for this book was nicely evocative. It fit a sort of noir mood but also nicely captured everyone's likenesses without going to the level of creepy photo-realism or anything like that. A solid little adventure that fits within the show continuity yet doesn't create too many narrative complication either.

[Rob Vitagliano · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very solid DS9 entry

This felt like a solid episode of the series, with some noirish themes. It wouldn't have worked for any other series, as it would have been too dark. I read all of the dialogue in the characters voices, because they were all written well. The art honestly wasn't my favorite, but it was good enough. It helped the story move quickly because I didn't have to spend a lot of time looking at each panel. I felt like I got the gist and moved on.

This is a story rooted deeply in DS9's history and I don't want to give too much away. I'm curious about the inclusion of a new character towards the end, where I was waiting for some kind of reveal about him that didn't come. Maybe he's just exactly who he was supposed to be. Just didn't seem necessary, Odo probably could have solved this one on his own, but this new character definitely helped.

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Garak and Bashir have lunch at Quarks. The story takes place when the Dominion war is still going on. The restaurant they are in explodes. The woman who owns the restaurant blames Quark for the explosion.

More murders follow and soon an investigator is brought in, a Betazoid. He and Odo had difficulty working together but things get worse as there are even more deaths.

More people are questioned but the key turns out to be something that happened in the past, something that hate has latched on to and only now spews forth death. A pretty good story with rather good graphics.

[Javier Avilés · Rating 2 out of 5]

No me ha gustado. Quizá el marco noir no es adecuado para DS9, aunque algunos episodios tengan un sabor noir como "In the Pale Moonlight". Los aspectos más típicamente noir -la desconfianza total, la traición, cierta rigidez en los roles de género, la frialdad de la disciplina detectivezca- no hacen muy bien la transición al universo Trek. Retlaw, que pudo haberse regalado, no cuaja y termina siendo un token del guión para demostrar que Odo no necesita a nadie.

[C Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5 stars) I greatly enjoyed the look and tone of the first two issues, which read like a lost episode of DS9. It is certainly a pleasure to see Odo in action again. However, the third issue introduces and focuses on a guest star, which felt like a lost opportunity to draw on the other series regulars. Finally, I agree with others who have expressed disappointment with the ending.

[Mohan Vemulapalli · Rating 4 out of 5]

The "Deep Space Nine" series was never more than a hop, skip and a jump from crossing into true Noir. "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Too Long A Sacrifice", makes the jump - and then some. Set in the darkest and most uncertain days of the Dominion War story arc this book establishes a suspenseful and tense atmosphere in which events play out against a grim background of invasion fears, uncovered war crimes and wartime exhaustion. However, the story itself does not develop in an entirely believable direction and the character development of the new characters is stilted. An additional issue is that the art, although generally quite strong, fails at critical moments and often seems more underdone than dark and brooding. All in all, though this is a pretty good story and most DS9 fans are likely to find something here.

[Ellen Schoener · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this.
It was an interesting read with good art.
It conveys a dark and gritty atmosphere which fits with the noir type story.
Great way to re-visit DS9 (although this is a crime story and therefore misses out on a lot of the humor of the TV series).

[Nabil Hussain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant and Intriguing film noir Deep Space Nine story.

This graphic novel had a great story in its film noir type of stotry telling. The artwork was adequate but it could have had more embellishment. It was a interesti g reading experience.

[Tundrorock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lite fare but enjoyable none the less. Odo has some investigating to do, and as the pressure builds to solve the case, he gets some help he didn't ask for. The book plays off of Odo's pride and touches on our favorite DS9 character personalities in the way you'd expect.

[ISMOTU · Rating 5 out of 5]

Constable Odo investigates a string of murders on the station during a trying time in the Dominion War. An enjoyable mystery that feels like a “lost” episode of Deep Space Nine. The art puts you right on the Promenade and all the characters’ voices ring true.

[Sora · Rating 3 out of 5]

The others are better. Maybe I’m just not a deep space nine fan. There are certain parts and people that I like but it’s just next gen and voyager are more my favs. And as I have found with DS9 it has its moments and its characters and they are GOOD just they don’t have the whole thing.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but not great, awesome to see Odo (and by proxy Rene Auberjonois), I just wish this would have been more of an Odo story and not the "guest star" character.

[Gary Aubry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read. This really felt like an episode of the series.

[John Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am always wary of adaptions moving
from film to print.
It never seems to work quite right.
This book is not awful
but its hardly amazing
it's an ok read.

[Kavinay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than many episodes, even if it does suffer from deus ex betazoid. Art takes a bit getting used to, but the overall noir feel works.

[Debra Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a series of murders on deep space nine and odo is on the trail of the killer.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice little detective story. Some panels have blank white space in the background, but the art is otherwise decent.

[Sage · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging graphic novel with great art, the characters all feel like themselves and it’s exciting to see newer DS9 content.

[Julie Bergley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fabulous mystery. I thoroughly enjoyed this moment of stuff taking place in the middle of the Dominion War that is unrelated. I really love these Star Trek properties.

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting little murder mystery set on Deep Space Nine.

[Mikayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good mystery! I loved seeing more of Odo on the job.