Recently I’ve been watching Deep Space Nine and between episodes
I’ve been reading the only DS9 novel
written by my favourite Star Trek author,
Peter David. Titled The Siege, it’s
the first original DS9 paperback
novel (the first was a novelization of the series premiere). According to
Memory Beta Peter David only had the series bible and the script to the
first five episodes at his disposal on which to base his novel. Because of
these limitations, the novel suffers from odd or inconsistent character traits.
Some of the characters are more rigidly defined than they often appeared to be
in the first season. Odo’s character is a good example, as he’s hooked on the
idea of justice to the point where he willingly endangers himself. Dr. Bashir
is another good example but before I get into that, here’s quick summary of the
novel’s plot.
When the wormhole located near the
station is affected by a subspace compression, Deep Space Nine forbids any
travelling to or from the wormhole to prevent any ships being destroyed or
damaged by the unstable wormhole. This happens shortly after a ship with a
curious passenger pops out of the wormhole and shortly before Edemian
missionaries arrive at the station in preparation to cross the wormhole and
spread the gospel of their deity, K’olkr, in the Gamma Quadrant. Commander
Sisko bares them passage through the wormhole and convinces them to wait on
Deep Space Nine until the wormhole is deemed safe enough to be used again.
After their arrival on the station, a violent murder takes place. Another
murder follows soon after the first one. Sisko makes the difficult decision of
putting the station in quarantine while his crew investigates the serial
killings. After a Cardassian and an Edemian are murdered, both leaders, Gul
Dukat and Mas Marko, respectively, want to have the perpetrator handed over to
them so that they can enact justice according to their customs. Their arrival
threatens the safety of the station as well as Sisko’s sanity.
There are also a few subplots that serve
to add more depth and resonance to the main plot. For the most part, it’s
character work, and that’s where the story works best. It’s also where the
story feels odd because of the differences with the way the characters were
portrayed throughout the first season of DS9.
Is it contradictory then that the characters are what make this novel work?
Because they were responsible for my enjoyment of the book, in addition to
David’s writing style which is smooth and uncluttered. He’s also funny and
manages to makes jokes despite the serial murder plot.
The
Siege takes place early on in the first season of DS9. It’s noticeable because Sisko is
still struggling with his new role and juggling his work life with his family
life. The care of his son is constantly competing with his duty as a Starfleet
officer and commander of the station. It’s interesting to see a similar yet
different situation with another character. Chief O’Brien is also adjusting to
his new life aboard the station. His role at Deep Space Nine takes up a
significant portion of his time and his family life is clearly affected by it.
His wife, Keiko, is stuck in a job that doesn’t fulfill her personally and
isn’t even in her field of expertise. She’s a botanist who spends her days
running a classroom for kids on board Deep Space nine. She’s frustrated, O’Brien’s
overworked, and the tension is starting to affect their family life. Showing
these everyday struggles of crew members helps us empathize with them. Even
though we’re aware that all of the characters from the television series will
survive the book and avoid being murdered, David makes us care about their
predicaments throughout the novel because he’s given us reasons to identify
with them.
For some of the other characters, like
Quark and Odo, they’re pretty close to their portrayals on the series. Quark is
undeniably Quark. His sense of self-preservation and greed is clearly on
display and I can effortlessly visualize Armin Shimerman performing these
scenes in my head. Odo is close, but not entirely the same as he is on the show.
We do get to learn a few interesting things about him, which is nice, but what
I like about him in The Siege was how
he put aside any chances of discovering his origins in favour of protecting his
future with his family on Deep Space Nine. For many people this would be a
tough decision to make, especially since the murderer is the only other being
similar to Odo that we’ve met at this point in the series’ timeline. The choice
Odo makes works because his character traits are clearly defined earlier in the
book and the first few episodes of the show.
Another good example of characterization
that aims true but misses the mark is that of Julian Bashir. Like his TV
counterpart, David’s version of Bashir is pretty naïve and gets himself into
trouble. He’s also headstrong and fights for what he believes is right. In The Siege, Bashir fights tooth and nail
to administer treatments to one of the Edemian missionaries that suffering from
a fatal disease. The problem he faces in doing so is that curing the illness is
in direct violation of the Edemians’ religious beliefs. Bashir's dedication to the
preservation of life is admirable and gives a good amount of insight into the
character's professional life. He's one of the least developed main characters
in season one and it's nice to see him getting his fair treatment in this book.
This book could easily have been grim
and toned deaf to DS9’s identity as a
Star Trek TV series. When I think of Star Trek I don’t picture a space police
procedural, and that’s not what this book is. Still, it deals with a murderer and
the crimes are bloody. David does counterbalance some of the book’s dark nature
with futuristic optimism. Despite all the horror and paranoia happening aboard,
Dr. Bashir spends a considerable amount of his time trying to save the life of
a young Edemian. While not a masterpiece, even by the standards of Star Trek novels, nor an exemplary outing
by David, The Siege successfully ties
in all its sub-plots into a cohesive narrative and sticks the landing. The characters
are off-kilter but still recognizable. I can’t imagine why a fan of DS9 wouldn’t enjoy reading it and
really, what more could you ask from tie-in fiction?
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