A Sitch In TIme

[garoo1980]

I just finished watching DS9 a few weeks ago so I've started reading the novels. I read the Typhon Pact books so I'm trying to get into reading them in order

Anyway, what a good read. Really well thought out. An amazing attention to the character. I think its even more impressive considering (as far as I know) Andrew Robinson hasn't written before or since

The back story to my favorite DS9 character was definitely needed

 

[zarkon]

Yeah, it's fantastic. Very high up on my favourite trek novels.

 

[JD]

Robinson also did right a followup short story in the DS9 Anniversary anthology, Prophecy and Change. I didn't care for it though, because it continues on from play that he and Alexander Siddig performed at conventions, and since I had never seen the play I was kinda lost.

 

[Timewalker]

He should write more. In all honesty, I tend to be bored to tears by Cardassian stuff, but I'm fascinated by Garak and his flirtatious relationship with Bashir. I really enjoyed this novel.

 

[MacLeod]

It's been a while since I read this novel, but it is a good one.

 

[Drago-Kazov]

If you want to read something similar that ties wery much into a cahracter's history read The Buried Age:
It has great annotations.
http://home.fuse.net/ChristopherLBennett/BuriedAgeAnnot.html

 

[Therin of Andor]

I think its even more impressive considering (as far as I know) Andrew Robinson hasn't written before or since

Well, obviously, he has written before, just not a whole novel.

He wrote the first piece as a back-up script for his first ST convention, concerned that his one-hour spot might be very boring if he ran out of anecdotes and the audience didn't ask any questions. He then wrote a new piece for each subsequent convention.

At his Brisbane, Australia, appearance, I urged him to show his work to Pocket Books. Note sure how much credit I can take, though.

I didn't care for it though, because it continues on from play that he and Alexander Siddig performed at conventions, and since I had never seen the play I was kinda lost.

People always say that.

An incident happens (offstage) in the play which is followed up by the short story in "Prophecy and Change". That incident colours the reactions of the characters in the short story. I'm not sure that reading the script of the play, nor seeing it performed (like a two-participant radio play; it wasn't a full-on production) is essential. In life, many major events in our lives happen "offstage", and we must play catch-up to interpret them.

 

[JD]

Well, if the play wouldn't have helped, then IMO that makes it worse, because then there would be no excuse for why it was so confusing.

 

[Christopher]

Some fiction is confusing on purpose. It's called being "literary."

 

[DS9Continuing]

What I love about A Stitch in Time is that is actually is a repetitive epic, "the most elegant form in Cardassian literature." It tells the same story over and over - of how, despite his protestations that sentiment is something alien to a good agent, it is sentiment that leads to his downfall over and over again.

As for "The Calling," I did also find it confusing at first but after reading it a few times and digesting it, I do grasp it now. It just depicts Garak in a very strange, un-Garak frame of mind. Depressed, hopeless, and open to religious revelation.

Spoilers for those who don't want it... well... spoiled...

Spoiler: The Calling in DS9: P&C

The trip to Paris never happens. It's all part of the vision Garak experiences within the "Vinculum", which is of course just the Cardassian name for the Wormhole. The implication being that the Hebitians worshipped the same gods as the Bajorans do. Kel (Palandine's daughter) describes the Vinculum as being "a place that cuts though all existence, connecting past present and future, where the living and dead can talk."

A prospective leader of the Oralians had to make a pilgrimage there, which Garak does in this story, thus annointing him as the new Oralian leader. One might even call him their "Emissary" - after all, he was depressed, and they gave him back his life. Further, the depiction of Paris as being a place where people cling to a social and friendly past rather than an artificially advanced and impersonal future is a metaphor for the entire Hebitian culture as opposed to modern Cardassia.

.

 

[Therin of Andor]

As for "The Calling," I did also find it confusing at first but after reading it a few times and digesting it, I do grasp it now. It just depicts Garak in a very strange, un-Garak frame of mind. Depressed, hopeless, and open to religious revelation.

Well done re your Spoiler explanation!

It reminded me of the first 80 or so pages of "Gateways: Challenger: Chainmail" and parts of "Titan: Sword of Damocles". To make you wonder "What the heck?" - until you realise you are deliberately being toyed with, and everything starts to make sense.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

A Stitch in Time is my favorite Star Trek novel and large part of that is my love for Elim Garak as well as Andrew Robinson's own love for the character. It's incredible that this was his first (and so far only) novel but I think his passion for the character is what drives the novel so well.

Additionally, I have to give Robinson some major props on the Cardassian world-building. Before reading this novel, I wasn't really all that into Cardassian culture beyond Garak, but ever since reading this, I've loved ever novel that's delved into their history and culture.

Spoiler: The Calling in DS9: P&C

The trip to Paris never happens. It's all part of the vision Garak experiences within the "Vinculum", which is of course just the Cardassian name for the Wormhole. The implication being that the Hebitians worshipped the same gods as the Bajorans do. Kel (Palandine's daughter) describes the Vinculum as being "a place that cuts though all existence, connecting past present and future, where the living and dead can talk."

A prospective leader of the Oralians had to make a pilgrimage there, which Garak does in this story, thus annointing him as the new Oralian leader. One might even call him their "Emissary" - after all, he was depressed, and they gave him back his life. Further, the depiction of Paris as being a place where people cling to a social and friendly past rather than an artificially advanced and impersonal future is a metaphor for the entire Hebitian culture as opposed to modern Cardassia.

Excellent analysis. I think I came to more or less the same conclusion (sans the Paris part), but it's been years since I've read "The Calling."