RRP £6.99 Lowest New Price £4.54

Pocket Books Number of pages: 448 Language: English (Original Language) Language: English (Unknown) Language: English (Published)

RRP: £6.99
"You're not one of them Odo, you're one of us!"
Review date: 2008-09-26 Rating: 6 out of 10

Pocket Books continue their series of novels based on Star Trek Deep Space Nine with Terok Nor: Dawn Of The Eagles by DS9 stalwart S.D. Perry along with Britta Dennison - a tale of the lost era, the story of the Cardassian occupation of Bajor.
Although the show and subsequent novels are littered with references and events of the occupation, this is the first time that the whole thing has been put into novel form and the second book in the trilogy continues and expands the saga from part one.
This novel covers events from 2360 - 2369 and is broken up into parts; 2360 Occupation year 33, 2363 Occupation year 36, 2365 Occupation year 38, 2366 Occupation year 39, 2368 Occupation year 41 and 2369 Liberated Bajor.
This book covers a huge amount of territory in multiple interweaving plot lines and the authors sweep you along with the continuing arc of the Bajoran Resistance against Cardassian oppression. However, unlike the first two books in the series this one is lacking something.
The story mainly focuses on Kira and the Shakaar resistance cell, Tahna Los and the Kohn-Ma cell, Gul Dukat and Odo.
The continuing struggles of the resistance meet with new challenges as Dukat establishes the new sensor array which give the Cardassians total ground and air superiority. Unable to move or communicate with each other, cells begin to carry out their own agendas.
Dukat continues to play politics with Central Command and starts to manoeuvre himself into a better position when he sees what lies ahead.
Odo comes to terms with a humanoid existence and slowly gains more insight into humanoid relationships and the events behind the occupation itself. While he tries to remain a neutral observer in events, forces conspire to force his destiny along another path.
So many other characters make it into the plot but at no time does it seem overcrowded.
This book takes for granted that the reader has seen all of DS9 and remembers every flashback and mention of the occupation from any show. As such, it avoids writing these events out and occasionally mentions them in passing which is good but also misses opportunities to expand on some that have only been touched on.
There was not enough Garak in the story which was a shame and the events move along to the inevitable rebellion from the Resistance against the Cardassians which you really look forward too and then - nothing happens! You skip right past the final battle and to a bit just before the start of DS9. This feels like a massive anticlimax and with the book being shorter than the other two another 50 pages dedicated to the final fight would have been very welcome.
Terrorism, faith, war, peace, desperation, conspiracy, betrayal - this book has all that and ties up most of the plot threads but misses bits out and leaves some open for the future. Writing the end of a saga is always hardest but the authors really could've done more.
Not a bad read but you feel like there is going to a follow on novel soon.