The Laertian Gamble (Star Trek Deep Space Nine, No 12)

This book is first and foremost a novel by Robert Sheckley. He has an almost Brautigan-ish style which he didn't abandon to write for the Star Trek audience. It's funny, quirky, barbed, and has a never-to-be-sufficiently-repeated message, but it's not Star Trek Fan entertainment in spite of the cover and the editorial blurbs. The best illustration of this may be the characters. Some, like Quark and Bashir, fit into the story superbly while others, notably Sisko, don't. Sheckley had a choice between changing the story to fit the character or changing the character to fit the story. I'm glad he chose the latter.

The more I read this book, the more I love it. Robert Sheckley is a truly brilliant writer. His writing style is extremely enjoyable, and the scenes on the planet Laertes are the most hilarious I've ever read. It's sad to see that some people are too ignorant to appreciate such talented, well-established authors like Robert Sheckley, and Michael Jan Friedman.

The parts about Kira and Dax were exeptionally good, but the gambling parts got old REAL soon. If you like Julian and Kira and Dax you will like this book. I would recomend it.

It is really good, if you like the characters it features. I would recomend it!