Terok Nor: Day of the Vipers

I was nervous when I first began to read this because yes, I wanted to know the background, but I was worried that the story wouldn't live up to the hype and imagination build around it from 7 years of DS9 episodes. It wasn't everything I imagined about the occupation...IT WAS MORE! (Sorry to sound cliche) I couldn't have asked for a better background story - full of intrigue and amazing characters. All this while the reader KNOWS the ending (so it gets really sad). Amazing. Just amazing. P.S. The only problem with this book is that S.D. Perry (a great writer himself) doesn't live up to Swallow's writing. Reading books 2 and 3 are good, but not nearly as good as this one. S.D. Perry is a great Star Trek writer, but James Swallow has written something that I believe could stand on its own, even without knowing the series.

Terok Nor Book One: Day of the Vipers is the strongest of the three part trilogy and tells the story of how Bajor came to be under Cardassia rule for fifty years. A lot of the characters we meet have already been seen in various DS9 episodes while others are created and established in this book. The writer sets up the story very, very well with the characters being well established. We finally get to know the reason why Terok Nor (later to become DS9) was built and the rise and fall of Gul Dukat. The book has many different things going on at once that at times, it is hard to remember who's who and what's what but the book is pretty violent with lots of action. This is not your typical Star Trek book as it does not have any of the regular characters we have come to know and love. It is essentially a book about Bajor, it's history, culture, religion and why it became occupied by the Cardassians. In the end though, Day of the Vipers is a must read for any Trek fan who ever wanted to know the story behind Bajor's occupation.

This is MUST read for fans of Deep Space Nine and especially for those who want to see how it all went down with the Occupation. Most Bajorans are as naive as you'd think and the Cardassians are equally as ruthless and calculating. This is a slow build towards domination but we know how it all ends. It's how we get there that is magic for this book. Well conceived and a top choice for any serious Star Trek fiction fan! Welcome to the fold, James Swallow!

This is an excellent novel that's very well written. It fills a gap most of us who have watched DS9 have wondered about for years. Reading it is a lot like watching one of those old black and white horror movies. You know the monster is coming and you know what's going to happen is going to be bad and the characters have no idea. The threat of the Occupation lingers so heavily over the book and adds another level of intensity. It's also interesting to see a pre-Occupation Bajor and how the Bajorans existed before their world was basically shattered. I can't wait to see how this series ends. Very well done. I'd recommend picking up A Stitch in Time by Andrew J. Robinson for a bit of background reading about the Oralian Way as well.

Deep Space Nine is my favourite series of all time, and the Cardassians have become my favourite aliens (sorry Vulcans!). I found the situation of a military based society having to come to a peaceful coexistence (and even being aided by, in the later years) with the very people whom they had occupied and exploited to be endlessly fascinating and insightful in our own culture (this is what Trek has always done, and what many non Trekkers have missed when they deride the series). This book answers all of the questions about the early years of the occupation of Bajor: why it happened, what were the Cardassians' motives towards Bajor and its people and how they changed, the social unrest in Bajor over their caste system prior to the occupation, the evolution of the future Gul Dukat and his career, how many Cardassians opposed the enslavement of the Bajorans, and how a peaceful people like those of Bajor can be transformed into a bloody guerrilla. Everything that DS9 had left you wanting to know more about in concern to the Bajorian Occupation, the cultures of the Cardassian and Bajorian peoples, and the hopes of both for the future are covered here. This is a well written, awesome book that even the most discriminating Star Trek fan will enjoy. I can't wait for the next two in the trilogy!