Review: The Never-Ending Sacrifice (Star Trek: DS9)

A boy looks up. He sees a Cardassian's hand on his shoulder and knows that this is usually a prelude to a beating or, if he is fortunate enough, arrest. The boy knows how many disappeared during the Occupation of Bajor. So he does the one thing he can think of: he bites the Cardassian. Then the nightmare begins. 

He is ripped from the family that took him in as an orphan, clothed him, fed him, always loved him unconditionally. And no matter how earnest, how caring the commander of Deep Space 9 is, the boy knows this is all a horrible mistake. How can someone from Starfleet judge him by what he looks like, not by what he is? He prays to the Prophets; he is Bajoran. They all keep telling him that the test proves the large Cardassian man is his father, that the other Cardassian -- that oily gul -- took him away from his father. But the boy keeps telling them that he is Bajoran, he only wants to go home with his father. So they send Rugal home -- to Cardassia. 

On the homeworld of the Cardassian Union where sacrifice and devotion to the state are surpassed only by the government's need to keep its people in check, one very lonely boy discovers that if he doesn't resist, his life -- like those of so many others -- will be added to the tally of the never-ending sacrifice.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine has one of the most complicated storylines of any TV series I know. It ran for seven seasons and involved, more or less, seven different political entities, with alliances that were constantly shifting back and forth. Today’s enemy might be tomorrow’s ally, or vice versa. It’s realistic, as any history student will tell you, but also somewhat confusing. 

That’s why The Never-Ending Sacrifice by Una McCormack is very helpful for putting all seven seasons in perspective.If you don’t know the series, you might not understand everything that’s going on, but there’s a glossary at the back of the book. Besides, the protagonist doesn’t understand it all either.

Rugal Pa’Dar is a one-off character from an episode called “Cardassians” in the second season of DS9. He was adopted by Bajorans, whose planet was once invaded by his own species, the Cardassians. Then his biological father found him and took him back. 

Needless to say, he’s got identity issues. He doesn’t fully belong to either culture. This makes him the perfect character through whom to tell the story of the Dominion War, because the war is being fought inside him as well as across the galaxy. This inner conflict almost tears him apart, but as he grows up, it also helps him make connections across all kinds of borders: class, species, sexuality and politics, to name a few.

Rugal is not much like the usual Star Trek heroes, brilliant diplomats, scientists and warriors who always save the day. He’s an ordinary person caught up in extraordinary circumstances, who mostly gets by on luck, resourcefulness, and a deep loyalty to his loved ones. He’s not trying to end the war or save his species. He just wants to go home, if he could only figure out where home is.  

McCormack does an excellent job of balancing the large and complicated plot lines of the original series with Rugal's individual story. He is clearly a product of a certain political landscape, but not a passive one. The older he gets, the more he refuses to let parents, commanding officers and governments make his choices for him. 

The Never-Ending Sacrifice is still a quintessential Star Trek story. It’s a story about war, and it does get very dark at times (Rugal’s time in the army is bleakly reminiscent of All Quiet On The Western Front), but more than that, it’s a story about love that transcends boundaries.

Review: Star Trek: Voyager: Protectors

Cover Summary:

Following the destruction of four fleet vessels at the hands of the Omega Continuum, the U.S.S. Voyager and U.S.S. Demeter set course for a region of the Delta Quadrant far beyond anything previously explored. Captain Chakotay is determined to prove to Starfleet Command that the fleet's ongoing mission is vital to Federation interests . . . and the key to doing so may lie in a distress call Voyager received nine years earlier but could not investigate.

Meanwhile, Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway is recalled to the Alpha Quadrant for an evaluation period to determine her next assignment. Given the trauma she has recently endured, Admiral Akaar, Starfleet's commander in chief, is questioning Janeway's fitness to command the fleet. Janeway's primary concern remains the fleet's safety; for their mission to continue, she must find a way to secure the resources they require. But the uncertainty of her superior officers has left her powerless to act in their best interests.

Kirsten Beyer’s latest installment in the Star Trek: Voyager series does not disappoint; quite the opposite. Like their characters, these books go above and beyond the call of duty, delivering not only the exciting space battles, exotic aliens and heartwarming idealism at the base of the Star Trek franchise, but also highly nuanced, thoughtful, and compassionate characterization, of OC’s (even minor ones) as well as characters from the show. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who hasn’t read the previous volumes, as there are dozens of side characters and subplots to catch up on; let alone a working knowledge of the TV series, which is essential. If you haven’t heard of the starship stranded 70, 000 lightyears from home, its epic journey, and its lovable misfit crew led by the fearless Kathryn Janeway, you will be every bit as lost as they once were. Warning: spoilers!

There are several parallel plotlines, with strong and creative references to the original episodes. Firstly, with Janeway under evaluation to determine her fitness to command the Full Circle fleet, only two out of nine vessels remaining in the Delta Quadrant, and over eight hundred crewmembers lost, Captain Chakotay's search for a mission interesting enough to be worth the trouble, but not so dangerous as to risk another catastrophe, leads to a communication that Voyager received in the early years of the TV series (season 2, “Twisted”). Ms. Beyer extrapolates it as a distress call, sent by the titular “Protectors”: the distortion ring that twisted the ship in the original episode is one of a swarm of unknown technological creations trying to save a dying ecosystem, the so-called Ark Planet. Chakotay and Commander O’Donnell, the only fleet captains present, get into a classical Trek debate about how to respond to the distress call: are the protectors sentient, and if not, would terraforming the planet for them be a violation of their non-interference directive? It’s not often that the peaceable Chakotay finds someone he can’t get along with, but his anxiety about proving themselves to Starfleet Command does not mix well with O’Donnell’s unconventional command style. It speaks well for Ms. Beyer, however, that she can write about characters with conflicting opinions while keeping them both sympathetic. Also, O’Donnell’s and his first officer’s character development since Children of the Storm is satisfying to watch: Fife has learned to trust his eccentric captain, while O’Donnell has emerged from his lab and actually contributes to the running of his ship.

Secondly, at the same time, Seven of Nine is dreaming vividly of Axum, her first love from “Unimatrix Zero”. This is not as pleasant as you might imagine; not only is she over him and dating Counselor Cambridge (who, for once, is in need of counseling himself over this situation), but Axum is in danger and needs her. As freed members of a collective of cyberorganisms, their bodies contain technology (“catoms”) they themselves do not fully understand. The Starfleet doctors who discovered his badly injured body have more things on their minds besides his recovery; namely a disease they fear is spread by catoms like his. Voyager’s holographic Doctor, the only known catom expert, becomes fiercely protective of Seven and Axum, afraid of them being experimented on – but there is something “off” about his protectiveness, since at the same time, he is more clinical and indifferent to Seven than he has been for years. Has someone been interfering with his program, or is it there something wrong between the two old friends? Lewis Zimmerman, the Doctor’s programmer, plays a small, but important role in this subplot. His fatherly feelings for his creation, usually buried under layers of sarcasm, come out in a very touching, if questionable way. Here is the only minor criticism I had with this book, apart from the length of time until the arrival of its sequel; Zimmerman’s attempt to help his son is understandable, but after so many times on the TV show where the Doctor tried something similar, he really should have known better.

Thirdly, we come to what I believe is the heart of the Voyager saga: Kathryn Janeway. She has died horribly, come back to life with the help the omnipotent Q family, and it’s affected her in ways she’s only beginning to understand - all this on top of an entire lifetime of pushing herself to impossible achievements and tormenting herself when she fails. She wants to lead the fleet, but her superiors’ distrust and her own misgivings make her doubt herself at every turn. Ms. Beyer captures the essence of this character on every page: the intense love and loyalty that is her greatest strength, as well as her greatest weakness. She blames herself for any harm that comes to her friends, whether it really is her fault or not, and then turns the universe inside-out trying to save them. If anyone needed therapy, she does, and Counselor Austen, who has a flower garden in her office and the wry, incisive wisdom of her namesake, is the perfect person to provide it. This part of the story is much less action-oriented than the others’, but no less interesting; Janeway’s own emotional landscape is as wild, mysterious and lovely as any alien planet, and readers will be rooting for her to explore it with her customary courage.

All three of these major storylines, and the minor ones as well, involve some form of protection, as promised by the title. Janeway, Chakotay, the Doctor, the wave form creations, almost every character is trying to protect something or someone. However, not all forms of protection are healthy or helpful, either for the protector (Janeway, burning herself out for her crew) or for the one being protected (the Ark Planet, which the wave forms crowded with too many organisms at once). Sometimes it comes with the price of dishonesty: Tom Paris, who faked the deaths of his wife and daughter to protect them from a terrorist sect that believed the little girl to be an omen of the apocalypse, now has to face the rage of his own mother for not telling her the truth. Sometimes it is a thin disguise for selfishness, as with Mrs. Paris contesting her son’s fitness to raise her granddaughter, or Phoebe Janeway demanding that Kathryn leave Starfleet because she cannot stand the risk of losing her again. The best form of guardianship, in this novel, requires compromise: taking into account the needs and wishes of everyone involved, finding a balance between kindness, courage, common sense and personal well-being.

In this way, the Voyager novels are much more than just written echoes of a TV series, or a way for the franchise to make money; they are solid works of literature in their own right. Ms. Beyer’s heart is in her writing; if you read her dedications and acknowledgements, you will find that her own beloved family and friends inspire the bonds between her characters, and that Star Trek: Voyager is a shared source of joy and inspiration among them. More than ten years after the end of the show, they still inspire us fans to “set a cource for home” – wherever, and whoever, home may be. 

Playlist: Tribute To Afsarah Eden

Since Star Trek: Voyager – Protectors comes out in two days, I’ve started re-reading the previous volumes. I’ve seen people making playlists like this on Tumblr; I wish I could create beautiful graphics like they do, but all I have is the lyrics – and they are, after all, the most important part.

Again, spoiler alert for The Eternal Tide.

1. “Dance With My Father” by Luther Vandross

Back when I was a child, before life removed all the innocence,
my father would lift me high and dance with my mother and me and then
spin me around ‘til I fell asleep,
then up the stairs he would carry me
and I knew for sure I was loved …
If I could get another chance, another walk, another dance with him,
I’d play a song that would never, ever end -
how I’d love, love, love
to dance with my father again.

2. “Suddenly I See” by K. T. Tunstall

Her face is a map of the world, is a map of the world.
You can see she's a beautiful girl, she's a beautiful girl
and everything around her is a silver pool of light.
The people who surround her feel the benefit of it;
it makes you calm.
She holds you captivated in her palm.

Suddenly I see (suddenly I see):
This is what I wanna be.
Suddenly I see (suddenly I see)
why the hell it means so much to me.

3. “Rolling In The Deep” by Adele

There's a fire starting in my heart,
reaching a fever pitch and it's bringing me out the dark.
Finally I can see you crystal clear -
go ahead and sell me out, and I'll lay your s**t bare.
See how I'll leave with every piece of you.
Don't underestimate the things that I will do.
There's a fire starting in my heart,
reaching a fever pitch and it's bringing me out the dark.

4. “Somebody That I Used To Know” by Gotye

[Kimbra:]
Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over,
but had me believing it was always something that I'd done.
But I don't wanna live that way,
reading into every word you say.
You said that you could let it go
and I wouldn't catch you hung up on somebody that you used to know -

[Gotye:]
- but you didn't have to cut me off,
make out like it never happened and that we were nothing!
And I don't even need your love,
but you treat me like a stranger and that feels so rough.
No, you didn't have to stoop so low,
have your friends collect your records and then change your number!
I guess that I don't need that, though -
now you're just somebody that I used to know.

5. “Your Guardian Angel” by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

Seasons are changing and waves are crashing
and stars are falling all for us.
Days grow longer and nights grow shorter,
I can show you I'll be the one.

I will never let you fall (let you fall),
I'll stand up with you forever.
I'll be there for you through it all (through it all.),
even if saving you sends me to heaven.

6. “Shake It Out” by Florence + The Machine

And I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't,
so here's to drinks in the dark at the end of my road.
And I'm ready to suffer and I'm ready to hope;
it's a shot in the dark aimed right at my throat.
'Cause looking for heaven, found the devil in me -
Looking for heaven, found the devil in me.
Well, what the hell … I'm gonna let it happen … to me, yeah …

7. “A Flower Tells A Story” by Katherine Jenkins

A flower tells of lights dimmed early,
of a star burned out too young:
a story of a hero
too often left unsung.

(…)

I thank you for the gift to us,
the greatest there can be:
Your courage when you fought for liberty.

Star Trek: Voyager Fan Cast

First of all, I really admire Kirsten Beyer's work on the series. This is why, though I know it's practically impossible for anyone to actually make a new Star Trek: Voyager series based on her work, I cannot help expressing my respect and admiration in the form of an imaginary cast. These characters have come to life for me, in a way hardly any original characters in a media-based novel ever have, and this is how I see them in my mind. It's silly, I know, and not to be taken seriously; thank goodness the Internet's a big place with room for all sorts of weird ideas.

Spoiler Alert

(Also, I feel so sorry for Captain Eden after The Eternal Tide that, fictional or no, I wish I could give her all the love and respect she should have had. It feels as if, plot and character wise, Eden was nothing but a stopgap for  Admiral Janeway, and was ignobly dispatched as soon as the latter came back to life. Nobody deserves that.)

End Spoiler

Lupita Nyong'o as Captain Eden
It was alarmingly difficult to find an actress with dark enough skin to fit the description. That doesn't say much about our progress as a society, does it? Anyway, since Ms. Nyong'o won critical acclaim for her role in the movie 12 Years a Slave, and since she has an ageless dignity and poise about her in the interviews that are perfectly Eden, I couldn't think of anyone better. She's a bit young, but the book does mention that she looks more thirty than fifty, and with her acting skills it wouldn't be a problem.

Tom Cruise as Admiral Batiste
Wouldn't that be an interesting subversion of his usual tough soldier roles? He does have depth - he proved that in Interview with a Vampire. He should use it more often.

Hugh Laurie as Counsellor CambridgeEven Ms. Beyer mentioned in an interview (see here) that Dr. House was part of her inspiration for this character, so who better to hypothetically play the part?

Dot-Marie Jones as Captain Farkas
Tough, sarcastic, no-nonsense, compassionate, and fiercely protective of those under her command - these words fit my unlikely namesake Regina Farkas just as well as they do Coach Beiste on Glee. It would be even cooler if Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester) could play Dr. Sal opposite her. After playing such great enemies, how fascinating would it be to see them as friends?

Rhys Ifans as Commander O'Donnell
He was excellent as the tormented scientist turning into a lizard in The Amazing Spider-Man, so I can easily see him as the botanist mourning for his wife in Children of the Storm. It would be a great role, full of angst and internal conflict, and a serious challenge to portray his hallucinations of Alana without looking ridiculous.

Well, that's all for now. I hope you enjoy it, and that it adds some fuel to your imagination if you happen to read these books.
Live long and prosper!