A review by apostrophen
Cardassia and Andor, by Una McCormack, Heather Jarman
4.0
I bought this for two reasons: One, I really enjoyed Heather Jarman's work on the character of Shar (the Andorian) and wanted to continue his tale in her voice. Two, I needed mind-candy. Bad.
This delivers on both fronts. McCormack's 'Cardassia' story is a bit thin, a straightforward hostage taking, though it has the virtue of including Keiko and Miles O'Brien (who have been missing mostly from the relaunch of DS9 given that they retired to Earth at the end of the series - but Keiko moved to Caradassia to help rebuild its ecology). Also present, of course, is Garak, but I find that without Doctor Bashir, his character just sort of degrades into a base manipulator with no real redeeming qualities. The including of Vedek Yevir, a character introduced earlier in the DS9 relaunch, however, was a stroke of genius, and well appreciated by me.
'Andor' is where this book shines, however. Jarman delivers yet another superb telling of the Andorian four-gendered culture, the fallout thereof, and some really interesting ethical genetic dilemmas that face the people since Shar's discovery a few books back. Shar and Prynn make an interesting couple - without bordering overmuch on the "Will they or won't they?" crap of most romance in Science Fiction. Definitely worthwhile for the relaunch, or DS9 fans of any stripe (of interesting note is that none of the original series characters pop up in 'Andor,' only the newbies to the DS9 station are involved).
High-calorie mind candy.
This delivers on both fronts. McCormack's 'Cardassia' story is a bit thin, a straightforward hostage taking, though it has the virtue of including Keiko and Miles O'Brien (who have been missing mostly from the relaunch of DS9 given that they retired to Earth at the end of the series - but Keiko moved to Caradassia to help rebuild its ecology). Also present, of course, is Garak, but I find that without Doctor Bashir, his character just sort of degrades into a base manipulator with no real redeeming qualities. The including of Vedek Yevir, a character introduced earlier in the DS9 relaunch, however, was a stroke of genius, and well appreciated by me.
'Andor' is where this book shines, however. Jarman delivers yet another superb telling of the Andorian four-gendered culture, the fallout thereof, and some really interesting ethical genetic dilemmas that face the people since Shar's discovery a few books back. Shar and Prynn make an interesting couple - without bordering overmuch on the "Will they or won't they?" crap of most romance in Science Fiction. Definitely worthwhile for the relaunch, or DS9 fans of any stripe (of interesting note is that none of the original series characters pop up in 'Andor,' only the newbies to the DS9 station are involved).
High-calorie mind candy.