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Star Trek: Day of Honor #2
Armageddon Sky
All Klingons revere the Day of Honor, their most sacred holiday, but the true nature of honor can be a matter worth fighting over... Dispatched on a secret mission to investigate the raids, Commander Worf of Deep Space Nine and the crew of the Defiant find themselves trapped on a an alien world threatened by global cataclysm-- trapped along with Klingons who were exiled to this world for their loyalty to Worf's dishonored family.
Worf must find a way to save the Klingons whose honor bade them to keep their pledges to the House of Mogh despite the orders of the Emperor, and to prevent a bloody massacre that will forever stain the honor of the Klingon Empire
Worf must find a way to save the Klingons whose honor bade them to keep their pledges to the House of Mogh despite the orders of the Emperor, and to prevent a bloody massacre that will forever stain the honor of the Klingon Empire
279 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 1997
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317 people want to read
About the author
L.A. Graf
25 books40 followersL.A. Graf reportedly stands for Let's All Get Rich and Famous. Its a pseudonym used by authors Karen Rose Cercone and Julia Ecklar.
They have co-written some eleven Star Trek novels. Their first Star Trek novel came out in 1990.
They have co-written some eleven Star Trek novels. Their first Star Trek novel came out in 1990.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
November 16, 2017
The Klingons are one of the core races in the Star Trek universe and also one of my least favourites, which is a shame as they crop up all over the place. The ‘Day of Honor’ series of books all concentrated on the one day of the year that Klingons are meant to respect the honour of their enemies. The unfortunate thing about Klingon honour is that it seems to be used to do pretty much anything; it was honourable to murder them all could easily be it was honourable not to murder them all. Some of the books in the ‘Honor’ series have been fun science fiction thrillers, but ‘Armageddon Sky’ by L.A. Graf highlights what can be wrong with the Klingons.
The books starts off at a pace and does not stop. The vast majority of important crew from Deep Space Nine have set off on the Defiant to investigate some Klingons trapped on a planet that looks like it is about be destroyed. With a Klingon ship in orbit preventing any people from being beamed off the planet, can the crew help planet side? Also, can they deal with the frankly ridiculous nature of Klingon honour that means the people trapped are seemingly happy to die?
I have been impressed with how many of the ‘Honor’ books have managed to make Klingons actually make sense, but Graf fails and instead falls into all the traps that make them one of my least favourite Star Trek races. Their stubbornness for honour can often just be stupid. The trapped clan would rather die than make some simple effort to save themselves. Rather than follow the Prime Directive and leave them to kill themselves, for some reason the crew of DS9 get involved.
‘Armageddon Sky’ has two settings – musing and action. You flip from talking about honour and then an action set piece, back and forth. The problem with this is the honour bits are boring and you don’t really mind if the aliens are doomed, they want to be. It also seems very odd that Captain Sisko would seemingly empty out his entire Space Station of experiences personnel. The difference between DS9 and say Next Gen was that the crew were in a static environment. Danger coming to them is one thing, but heading out to it is another. There is no explanation why Sisko would put in danger so many major officers. Leave most behind and as the Captain you should stay with your station.
I like a Star Trek tie in novel, but when reading them you have to be prepared for a very varied standard. ‘Armageddon Sky’ falls into the weaker category. A daft idea with daft Klingons, with Sisko putting in danger a daft number of high value crew members. A better story would have allowed you to suspend your disbelief, this is Trek after all, but the weak motive of the Klingon sense of “Honor” means that all the problems glare.
The books starts off at a pace and does not stop. The vast majority of important crew from Deep Space Nine have set off on the Defiant to investigate some Klingons trapped on a planet that looks like it is about be destroyed. With a Klingon ship in orbit preventing any people from being beamed off the planet, can the crew help planet side? Also, can they deal with the frankly ridiculous nature of Klingon honour that means the people trapped are seemingly happy to die?
I have been impressed with how many of the ‘Honor’ books have managed to make Klingons actually make sense, but Graf fails and instead falls into all the traps that make them one of my least favourite Star Trek races. Their stubbornness for honour can often just be stupid. The trapped clan would rather die than make some simple effort to save themselves. Rather than follow the Prime Directive and leave them to kill themselves, for some reason the crew of DS9 get involved.
‘Armageddon Sky’ has two settings – musing and action. You flip from talking about honour and then an action set piece, back and forth. The problem with this is the honour bits are boring and you don’t really mind if the aliens are doomed, they want to be. It also seems very odd that Captain Sisko would seemingly empty out his entire Space Station of experiences personnel. The difference between DS9 and say Next Gen was that the crew were in a static environment. Danger coming to them is one thing, but heading out to it is another. There is no explanation why Sisko would put in danger so many major officers. Leave most behind and as the Captain you should stay with your station.
I like a Star Trek tie in novel, but when reading them you have to be prepared for a very varied standard. ‘Armageddon Sky’ falls into the weaker category. A daft idea with daft Klingons, with Sisko putting in danger a daft number of high value crew members. A better story would have allowed you to suspend your disbelief, this is Trek after all, but the weak motive of the Klingon sense of “Honor” means that all the problems glare.
July 28, 2020
See my video review here:
https://youtu.be/0xlnd7j1wWc
https://youtu.be/0xlnd7j1wWc
November 10, 2018
Comets, Klingons and Cardassians, oh my!
There's plenty of each in this book as what starts off as a sightseeing expedition to watch a cometary event, turns into a conflict over a remote seemingly unimportant planet. On this adventure are also plenty of new aliens, the banchory and xirri, and, most importantly, the main DS9 crew.
Right off, I found the relationships between members of the DS9 crew to be one of the books' strengths. L.A. Graf brought little idiosyncrasies between characters I've enjoyed from the show convincingly to the book, which really added to my enjoyment. One of the highlights include when Dax blows a kiss at Worf causing him to turn away in discomfort. I couldn't help but laugh when I came to this scene and thought it captured the relationship between them perfectly.
I also really enjoyed his depiction of Sisko's command style. On a few occasions before making a big decision, he shows us how Sisko does a "round table" to get the opinions of the rest of his crew before making a final decision on something. These scenes are really good examples of how well the DS9 crew work together and how good a Captain Sisko is.
There was a fair amount of technobabble in this story, but that's an aspect of Star Trek and other Science Fiction shows I've enjoyed since I was a kid. As a non-scientist, I can't attest to it's accuracy, but including stuff like that makes the story more believable when it's well done, as it was here. I can attest to the accuracy of one thing, that is the depiction of Bashir's use of the tricorder to translate what the Xirri's language. In this scene, the translation the tricorder gives often includes a couple of alternative English words that express what the Xirri is trying to say. As someone who has worked extensively in other languages, it was really cool to see Graf show us the that translation can be complex and difficult and can rarely be done word for word.
The Xirri make their sole Star Trek appearance here, which is too bad. They were an interesting species and I'd like to see them make another appearance!
Now to one of the book's big problems. There are WAY too many characters for such a short read and Graf doesn't really focus on any of them. I found this a bit annoying and it took me out of the narrative a couple of times as I tried to remember who did what and keep track of the story through the haze of this seeming infinity of characters. The story would have been much more engaging if Graf had focused on one or two characters (a la "War Drums", which I reviewed a while back which was very much Worf's story). As is, there's so many it's difficult to keep track of all of them and, aside from the ds9 crew, none are developed enough to make much of an impression.
Overall, however, I did have a lot of fun with this one and would definitely recommend it to any fan of Star Trek or DS9.
4/5 Stars
There's plenty of each in this book as what starts off as a sightseeing expedition to watch a cometary event, turns into a conflict over a remote seemingly unimportant planet. On this adventure are also plenty of new aliens, the banchory and xirri, and, most importantly, the main DS9 crew.
Right off, I found the relationships between members of the DS9 crew to be one of the books' strengths. L.A. Graf brought little idiosyncrasies between characters I've enjoyed from the show convincingly to the book, which really added to my enjoyment. One of the highlights include when Dax blows a kiss at Worf causing him to turn away in discomfort. I couldn't help but laugh when I came to this scene and thought it captured the relationship between them perfectly.
I also really enjoyed his depiction of Sisko's command style. On a few occasions before making a big decision, he shows us how Sisko does a "round table" to get the opinions of the rest of his crew before making a final decision on something. These scenes are really good examples of how well the DS9 crew work together and how good a Captain Sisko is.
There was a fair amount of technobabble in this story, but that's an aspect of Star Trek and other Science Fiction shows I've enjoyed since I was a kid. As a non-scientist, I can't attest to it's accuracy, but including stuff like that makes the story more believable when it's well done, as it was here. I can attest to the accuracy of one thing, that is the depiction of Bashir's use of the tricorder to translate what the Xirri's language. In this scene, the translation the tricorder gives often includes a couple of alternative English words that express what the Xirri is trying to say. As someone who has worked extensively in other languages, it was really cool to see Graf show us the that translation can be complex and difficult and can rarely be done word for word.
The Xirri make their sole Star Trek appearance here, which is too bad. They were an interesting species and I'd like to see them make another appearance!
Now to one of the book's big problems. There are WAY too many characters for such a short read and Graf doesn't really focus on any of them. I found this a bit annoying and it took me out of the narrative a couple of times as I tried to remember who did what and keep track of the story through the haze of this seeming infinity of characters. The story would have been much more engaging if Graf had focused on one or two characters (a la "War Drums", which I reviewed a while back which was very much Worf's story). As is, there's so many it's difficult to keep track of all of them and, aside from the ds9 crew, none are developed enough to make much of an impression.
Overall, however, I did have a lot of fun with this one and would definitely recommend it to any fan of Star Trek or DS9.
4/5 Stars
February 16, 2024
This is miles better than the first volume in the Day of Honor series! I'm tempted to get myself a copy of it to keep, seeing as this one has to go back to the library. I especially enjoy that the focus is spread quite evenly between a number of different characters... I think Bashir's storyline is my favourite, focusing as it does on his role as a doctor and his increasing communication with a new sentient species, but there was genuinely no storyline here that I didn't enjoy.
I think the vast improvement from that first volume lies in the fact that it's more subtle in its depiction of what honor is, and what it means to Klingons. It's still not especially subtle, don't get me wrong, but the choice to have Kira as the character who so often questions how Klingons approach honor is inspired - she tries to wrap her head around it from a Bajoran perspective and largely fails, simply because their cultures are just too different. It's not that failed understanding that's the focus, though... it's the attempt to understand, even when that attempt is baffling and frustrating and goes against every biased, preconceived notion that she already holds. There's something fundamentally optimistic about that determined attempt, and it's an optimism that permeates all the storylines. It's just very well done, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I think the vast improvement from that first volume lies in the fact that it's more subtle in its depiction of what honor is, and what it means to Klingons. It's still not especially subtle, don't get me wrong, but the choice to have Kira as the character who so often questions how Klingons approach honor is inspired - she tries to wrap her head around it from a Bajoran perspective and largely fails, simply because their cultures are just too different. It's not that failed understanding that's the focus, though... it's the attempt to understand, even when that attempt is baffling and frustrating and goes against every biased, preconceived notion that she already holds. There's something fundamentally optimistic about that determined attempt, and it's an optimism that permeates all the storylines. It's just very well done, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
January 3, 2019
Once again, another deeply frustrating DS9 novel, especially so considering (1) LA Graf got it so right in "Time's Enemy", and (2) it's from a point in the novels where they WERE starting to get it right. How hard can it be to capture the characteristics of the DS9 cast? This is set during season 4 -- why is Odo so grumpy and sarcastic? Why is Sisko so stiff (does he ever call O'Brien "chief")? Why do Dax and Bashir appear so milquetoast? Why are Dax and Worf not engaging with Kor, the closest of friends? After "The Sword of Kahless", how can anyone think that Worf can't take Kor in battle? Why is Cardassia depicted as an aggressive force in a time when they were weak, beaten, humiliated, frightened, and seemingly reliant on Federation beneficence and sympathy? Kira is the only one to come out of this novel as someone I recognized. The plot is perfectly serviceable...I just wish the actual DS9 universe of the time had shown up to service it adequately.
February 9, 2019
Slow-paced beginning, but gets to some great payoffs in the last third.
Really liked how situations were used that wouldn't work in television.
And the fauna of the planet "Armageddon" was stunning, especially the "xerry"
(don't have the book at my side, spelling may be incorrect).
The author's name ist the pseudonym of (in this case) two women,
and also the acronym for "Let's All Get Rich And Famous". The novel is way
better than this tidbit implies. So far (two books to go) the best of the "Day of Honor" batch.
Really liked how situations were used that wouldn't work in television.
And the fauna of the planet "Armageddon" was stunning, especially the "xerry"
(don't have the book at my side, spelling may be incorrect).
The author's name ist the pseudonym of (in this case) two women,
and also the acronym for "Let's All Get Rich And Famous". The novel is way
better than this tidbit implies. So far (two books to go) the best of the "Day of Honor" batch.
October 26, 2019
Great Read
Very well written story of DS9. You could hear the words on the page being said by the actors who played the characters. Very true to the Star Trek universe. My only complaint had to be with the writing of Bashir. Somehow he just didn’t seem right and it jarred me out of the story whenever he came into the book.
Very well written story of DS9. You could hear the words on the page being said by the actors who played the characters. Very true to the Star Trek universe. My only complaint had to be with the writing of Bashir. Somehow he just didn’t seem right and it jarred me out of the story whenever he came into the book.
August 30, 2024
Much better than the previous Day of Honor story. Better characterization, more interesting story. Felt like it could have actually been an episode of the show. Some weird moments where it felt like to author didn't quite get Star Trek technology, though, with "warp" being used to describe "impulse" multiple times.
August 22, 2017
Love this series! Found all 4 books in the series at a shop called "Book Celler"! I actually read this one and the first book in the series in the same day. I couldn't put them down!
April 9, 2021
Somewhat boring. And only partially connected to the first book. This isn’t like the Invasion quadrilogy. It’s just a recurring motiff called Day of Honor. At least, no Ferengis.
October 8, 2021
This was a better story than the first in the series. The characterization of Worf was much better. The whole story was much more interesting than the first book.
November 30, 2023
Armageddon Sky is a road trip to a thunderstorm.
December 10, 2023
Didn’t enjoy this quite as much as the others I’ve read in this series.
November 13, 2016
Even though DS9 is not my favorite series, one of its trademarks is its low amount of so-called "technobabble." If only this book embraced that. I would say this is overall an interesting Klingon story - and works well in the Klingon-Cardassian War timeframe - but it gets bogged down in environmental descriptive narratives, a new species it barely scratched the surface on, three groups of Klingons that we don't get to spend that much time because there is so many of them. I think this book just has so many things going on that it suffers from not focusing on just one or two things. I would rather have 2 pages of characters speaking or thinking than 2 pages of describing an animal or a particular setting. This story does do a good job of exploring the Klingon concept of honor (hence being included in the Day of Honor series), but wish it had spent more time doing it than all these other things. If you're a Klingon fan, I would recommend it. Otherwise, there are other good DS9 or general Trek stories out there.
August 5, 2013
This is the second book of a short series exploring the idea of Klingon Honour. This story is set in the world of Deep Space Nine, where Sisko and his team are called to rescue a ship of veteran's from Klingon attack. Tracing the survivors to a planet being bombarded with asteroids, they also find the remnants of a Klongon colony. One left to die there for dishonouring the empire. Struggling to find the survivors, escape the impacts and ward of the Cardassians, they are in for a tough mission.
I was never a big fan of Deep Space 9 on the TV, but I really enjoyed this. I loved the storyline and the sentient animals (can't say too much or I'll give the game away!).
I was never a big fan of Deep Space 9 on the TV, but I really enjoyed this. I loved the storyline and the sentient animals (can't say too much or I'll give the game away!).
June 7, 2015
The Defiant goes to rescue a downed science research vessel. The planet it lands on is full of Klingon exiles, and the Klingons do not want the Federation anywhere near it. This would have made a good TV episode. The plot is very engaging, and the Klingons are depicted very well. I particularly liked the descriptions of the planet and its inhabitants. Surprisingly, it is more of an ensemble piece, even though Worf is on the cover of the book. A good read.
July 20, 2012
This was quite enjoyable, lacking some of the stiffness of the first TNG novel. Odd, to see so much Klingon in a DS9 environment, although in fairness Kira comes through with her usual Bajoran aplomb.
August 17, 2024
A decent DS9 adventure taking place during the Klingon-Cardassian War. The main things I recall about this one is that there’s a big Klingon sword fight at the end and that the main planet is super covered in shrubbery.
January 6, 2016
Nicely written.
June 22, 2017
I loved the Klingons in DS9.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews