Prophecy and Change

As I stated in my subject line, this book is the tour de force of Star Trek Deep Space Nine, revisiting the most complicated Star Trek series ever made and tying up loose ends.The anthology consists of 10 short stories which go a little deeper into the story of Deep Space Nine, from 'Emissary' to 'What You Leave Behind', this book fills in all the blanks, all the loose ends (few that there were) from all 7 years of Deep Space Nine.The authors are the 'newer' breed of Trek authors, mainly those that have come through the Strange New Worlds competition and written some of the DS9 relaunch books. If the stories from 'Prophecy and Change' and merely the 'early works' of these authors, then I shudder to think just how brilliant their writing will be when these men and women hit their prime.The stories themselves are mastefully told, and are presented as stories being told by Jake to the young woman that came to see him in 'The Visitor', when Jake is an old man. Each story is great, but the standouts are definitely 'Three Sides to Every Story', 'Foundlings', and 'Chiaroscuro'. Each of these stories are just brilliant, and cover the last 2 seasons of DS9, which was where the series really hit it's peak.My only problem with this book was the last story, the Garak story by Andrew J. Robinson. I throughly enjoyed his previous work about Garak, entitled 'A Stitch in Time', but I did not enjoy his contribution to this book, entitled 'The Calling'. I found the story disjointed and at some points just plain confusing. Robinson made some reference to a play entitled 'The Dream Box' which I have never heard of. I'm guessing that this play is the step between 'A Stitch in Time' and 'The Calling', but I have never seen this play, so 'The Calling' was utterly confusing to me.My only other negative point about this book was concerning a specific plot point. Please be warned, this paragraph contains spoilers. If you wish to avoid them, skip this paragraph. In 'Three Sides to Every Story', Ziyal gives Jake a precious Bajoran earring belonging to her mother, asking Jake to keep is safe for a while. After Ziyal's death, Jake goes to Ziyal's body and considers giving the earring back, but then decides that he should keep it, thus fufilling his promise to Ziyal. This was a wonderful piece of writing, but I think that the author could have gone a step further. The last part of the book is the conclusion of the meeting between Jake and the young woman that comes to see him. I believe that Ziyal's earring should have been mentioned there as still being kept safe by Jake. This would work in two ways, firstly, it would add weight the Jake-Ziyal story by making direct reference to it in the 'objective' sections at either end of the book. Secondly, it would help to reinforce the fact that Jake had an active role in these events. It's a fairly trivial point to be sure, but it was something that I felt should have been included in the story. But that is really a matter of opinion.

I bought this novel for two reasons.1) To read the much-anticipated follow up to Garak's life in "A Stitch in Time", and2) To see how O'Brien and Bashir made up after their fight in "Hippocratic Oath".I was NOT disappointed. In fact, describing my reactions via a negative does not do justice. IT WAS EUROPHIC!To be honest I have yet to read the other stories which take place during, not after, the DS9 series. [The stories are almost entirely fill-in-the-blank stories, covering things that were not covered in the show but nonetheless happened to the characters, be they fictional or not.] But if the first two stories I read are any indication this collection of stories is amazing. If the rest suck, it was well worth buying PLAIN and SIMPLY for the Garak story!!I have now also read the Jake-Ziyal story. It is very excellent. The similarities between the two makes one wonder why they never actually DID develop a relationship on the show, since quite obviously they should have! 5 out of 5.

Having seen all seven seasons of DS9 I was somewhat worried that this book would be a cheap attempt to capitalise on such a wonderful series. How wrong I was! This is without doubt, one of the best Star Trek novels I have ever seen and I have seen a lot. I enjoyed every single story as well as the insight it gave me into every DS9 character. If you are a person who enjoyed DS9, then buy this book. It truly is money well spent.

The "Misson: Gamma" series came out and sated appetites. "Rising Son" revealed what Opaka and Jake Sisko endured during the months of the aforementioned "Gamma" saga. And "Unity" still hasn't been released, so what is a fan of the continuing saga to do?Purchase "Prophecy and Change," of course.I was anticipating this release, and when I finally finished the last story, Andrew J. Robinson's "The Calling," which furthers Garak's character and has to be the best story of the bunch. I mean, this IS Garak, and as "A Stitch in Time" proved, no one knows the character better than the man behind the mask. I always chuckled at the dark humor behind Garak's oblique statements and rather droll yet bold declarations, and it's like you have an audio loop of Robinson delivering every line.However, his is not the only story of note. The highlights of this anthology are Terri Osborne's tale of Jake and Ziyal's blossoming friendship during the Dominion's takeover of DS9; Keith R. A. DeCandido's "Broken Oaths" which finally ties the thread of "how and why did O'Brien and Bashir kiss and make up after 'Hippocratic Oath,'" a story that proves DeCandido is one of the best Trek authors to come down the pipeline in a very, very long time; Heather Jarman's "The Devil you Know" which allows us to catch up with T'Rul and empathize with her character, something we never had the opportunity to do in the series; and, finally, Andy Mangels and Michael Martin's tale of Kai Winn and Nog teaming up, the much-hyped story that pays off in the end, a story that explains why Nog had a desire to do something as...altruistic...as join Starfleet."Prophecy and Change" works because it gives us a chance to revisit the characters from new standpoints, almost always at pinnacles of their development. The stories are set before, after, and during the series, and all are worth a read.Excellent anthology. Highly recommend to anyone who casually watched the series or is immersed in the relaunch.