Mission Gamma Book Two: This Gray Spirit

Star Trek - Deep Space Nine: Mission Gamma: This Gray Spirit written by Heather Jarman is a character-driven book with a deep rich narrative making this one of the better Star Trek book series to date.What I liked about this book is how descriptive and detailed the character-driven narrative is, making an enjoyable entertaining read. The distinctive merit of this fascinating book lies in its lively portrayal of a varied and eccentric cast of characters along with the cast of the regulars in this series. This book is spiced just right for your reading pleasure and the story moves quickly, political intrigue escalates to a fever pitch as Gul Macet (Gul Dukat's brother) arrives on Deep Space Nine with an unexpected passenger. Now on a mission of peace and hope, old wounds seem to fester between the Cardassian's Ambassador Natima Lang and Colonel Kira Nerys, now in charge of Deep space Nine. There is also an interesting sub-plot between Ro and Kira as Ro is charged with more responsibility of Deep Space Nine as Kira tries to find herself in the path of the prophets.The Starship Defiant is exploring the Gamma Quadrant and has a bout with some very interesting aliens with a rather unique biological makeup. As the balance of power in the Gamma Quadrant becomes unstable... Lieutenant Ezri Dax and Ensign Thirishar ch'Thane are in a gut check time to pull off a compromise preventing a genocidal civil war. All this action-packed adventure is written very well as you find youself reading till you find out what the result will be.So far, the first two installments of this series is better than Trek has been in the past, as we read this book is a feast of information and insight working its way through the turbulent course known as Deep Space Nine.This is well worth your time to read and enjoy this rich tapestry of descriptive writing. I'll see you for the Mission Gamma concluding adventures of Cathedral and Lesser Evil soon. It will be very interesting to see how this story will end... fascinating... indeed.The characters are well fleshed out making for an interesting story that will captivate you.

I think I'll provide the gut-response review, and leave the more cerebral efforts to other reviewers.And what does my gut say? WELL DONE!The biggest advantage I see, not only in this novel, but with the re-launch itself, is the fact that things can happen without the worry that the next television episode will turn a well-written story into an a/u. I know, I know, the pro novels were never meant to follow canon, but there were always constraints - constraints that are absent from this series.While some events in this novel are similar in many ways to events I've read in other Trek novels, at no other time has my heart entered in so fully. That's not to say there's not a goodly amount of destruction and betrayal, but the moments that resonant for me are the ones that involve the tragedies and triumphs of the heart. I speak of Andorian bondmates, a young woman's posthumous gift of peace, and baseballs in the forest.Applause, applause to Heather Jarman in her first pro effort (though I've read her before, but I won't say where) and look forward with great expectation to the next in this series. In fact, I look forward to more pro stuff from Heather, too.

"This Gray Spirit" has you grinning before the end of the third page and leaves you sighing with contentment at the end. And in between comes the good stuff. Heather Jarman has produced a story that is both tension filled and charming. It is an impressive debut for this talented new author.The second title of four in the Mission Gamma saga, "This Gray Spirit" is shorter than the first novel at almost 400 pages. But length has nothing to do with a good story and the page count is more than sufficient for Ms. Jarman to tell a very captivating tale. Overall tone of the story compliments book one very nicely and despite being penned by different authors both stories flow together very well. "This Gray Spirit" enchants and beguiles the reader with an interesting and fast moving plot that leaves you wanting more. Based on what I've read of Mission Gamma so far, I for one can't wait.

After 20-odd years of Star Trek novels, which, to be honest, for the most part were childish and terrible, to have a Star Trek series with genuine literary merit just completely blows me away.I quit reading Star Trek some years ago when I discovered real sci-fi and realized how dumb Star Trek books were. A friend convinced me to give this series a try - I bought Avatar One, read it, and bought the rest of the series immediately. I couldn't put it down. And this is the best of the group so far. Heather Jarman creates and continues character developments realistically and enthrallingly - throughout the entire novel, all of the characters seemed real to me, and I cared deeply about all of them. The twists at the end in Ezri's and Shar's lives floored me, as did the stories involving life on the station. Kira is more real to me from this book than she ever was in the TV show, and all of the new characters are right up there with her.I am now an enormous fan of this series, and the editors and authors thereof. I just can't believe how good it is - every book amazes me again.I can't wait for M:G 3. I'll be buying it the instant it hits shelves.

When pocket books began its relaunch of the DS9 series, starting where the series ended, I was interested in seeing where they'd go with the cast of characters, and also who they would add in to cover the gaps left by the show's finale. Including Lieutenant Ro as the new chief of security was a stroke of intelligence, but I'm begginning to think the two really strong moves of this new series were the transfer of Ezri Dax to the command branch, and the inclusion of an Andorian science officer, Ensign Thirishar ch'Thane. This is their novel, for the most part, though the continuing plot of Bajor's potential entrance into the Federation is given as much time. ch'Thane's and Dax are contending with coming up with an objective third-party solution to an internal conflict with a people the Defiant crew have located in the Gamma Quadrant. The parallels that pop up in both their lives are wonderful: for ch'Thane, there is a biological riddle here that is similar to the one his own people are facing, to Dax, this is a chance for her to flex her diplomatic skills as Curzon and Lela did before her. Neither of their efforts result the way you'd think they would, and the turnaround is strong writing and a superb plot addition to the story arc. For all that Dax and ch'Thane have centre stage, there is still a lot of good time devoted to Kira, and the increasingly snarled complications of Bajor-Cardassia-Federation politics are becoming a joy to read. This is plausible, enjoyable, conflict. Quite frankly, I enjoyed this DS9 novel the most of all that I have read so far, and applaud that the inside of the book tells us that Heather Jarman will be writing Trek again soon. 'Nathan