Day of the Vipers is out!!!
- Thread starter bennyrex
- Start date
I just did an online search at my library for this for kicks, and discovered to my thrilled astonishment that it's already there, and only one copy's yet been checked out in the entire county. Going to go as soon as I sign off. 
I would say it depends on whether he likes seeing things from this epic, and an unusual, perspective.
It's also somewhat akin to reading Forged in Fire before seeing Blood Oath for the first time. No one has done that yet
, but some have said the episode seems superficial after the rich characterisation in the book. Others say it's still wonderful and a perfect complement. One episode != entire DS9, though, and I'm eager to crunch my brain-teeth into this gritty world. I envy your friend his unique experience if he decides to do it that way, and would love to hear how his perspective differs from ours.
Hee!
I liken it to watching the prequel TV movie of Babylon 5 to jazz you up for seeing the series for the first time. I found it helped a friend of mine I'm watching it with, partially because B5's first season's quality is very uneven and much slower in the arc's pacing. The movie helps to realize the epicness and wholeness of that universe.
I would say it depends on whether he likes seeing things from this epic, and an unusual, perspective.
It's also somewhat akin to reading Forged in Fire before seeing Blood Oath for the first time. No one has done that yet
, but some have said the episode seems superficial after the rich characterisation in the book. Others say it's still wonderful and a perfect complement. One episode != entire DS9, though, and I'm eager to crunch my brain-teeth into this gritty world. I envy your friend his unique experience if he decides to do it that way, and would love to hear how his perspective differs from ours.
Got mine yesterday and am reading it today. Good so far!
Got mine today.
I really like the first few chapters. The Cardassian are reacting to Bajor and think the planet is really strange and alien compared to their Homeworld and customs the Bajorans are reacting the same way well done.The events that are unfolding makes future events we saw in the series being shown here makes it even more compelling storytelling.
HOLY CRAP!!! I've had my bus trip, I read a crapload of Star Trek books, including Day of the Vipers, and had... I don't know how to describe it accurately, but... a sort of experience I wasn't expecting to have reading Star Trek books. Especially with Day of the Vipers, the landscape, the book, and my emotional state came together to create a holistic experience I've never had while reading. I'll write something more in depth when I have the time, (I'm currently socialising with friends I haven't seen in years), but it was very powerful, to say the least.
I realized the night after I wrote this that it sounds like I'm belittling Star Trek books. I just want to clarify, I don't expect to experience this sort of thing with any book, and I wasn't meaning to single out Star Trek books in particular.
My full thoughts on Day of the Vipers: I don't think there's anything that could be considered true spoilers until the end, and I tag them. Until then, I only talk about thematic stuff, with no real specifics.
I think I can say in all honesty that this is my favourite Star Trek book that I've ever read. I'd definitely put it at least in my top ten for favourite books of all time. This one gut-punched me from the beginning, and just never let go.
In the characters of Bennek and Derrah Mace, I've found two men that have grown closer to my heart than any others I've found in the TrekLit world (and when I think about it, really the Trek world as a whole.). A stunning achievement for a) completely new characters, and b) a guy that gets as over enthusiastic as I do for pretty much everything, and already have a lot of characters I consider favourites. For these guys to be bumped to the top in the course of one book says quite a lot.
I knew this story wasn't going to have a happy ending. The first chapter tells you that, so there's no spoiler there. It turned the reading of the book into a relentless, doomed march into the end. I didn't want to feel so close to these characters, I didn't want to care so much about them, because I knew it wasn't going to end well, but the characterization was so rich, I couldn't help it, and I got completely lost in the story.
I loved how the story brings understanding to the Cardassians (as well as Dukats) actions and motivations, but no true excuses. There is some truly, exceptionally sick behaviour on display here, and the book never tries to condone or excuse it, but gives us understanding into why Dukat does what he does.
I've mentioned in my readings of other books that I've had a lot of 'Oh wow' moments reading books. It's sort of my mark for whether it's one of my 'good books', if it makes me stop and go 'Oh wow.' For one thing, this book made me do that a lot. For another, Day of the Vipers has added a new marker for me. I had to stop, put down the book and say 'Holy Shit' to myself over and over again, and give myself some time to digest it. And then I had to do it again a couple chapters later!
As much as I loved Bennek, Darrah Mace was my favourite character, and his family arc is what will stay with me the most after reading this book, even beyond the Holy Shit moments. How we prioritize our families in the scope of the rest of our lives was the main thrust of his story, and every step of the way, I was feeling what he was going through. The pain, the hope, agonizing over wrong decisions made.
This is a desolate book. As I was reading it, I was on the Greyhound, going through Northern Ontario, with frozen lakes, and wintry, uninhabited landscapes going by my window. There was noone I knew on the bus, and I was feeling very alone. I was hit emotionally hard by this book again and again, and I had no one to process it with, and nothing but coldness and lifelessness outside the window to look at, and I knew there wasn't going to be a happy ending.
I thought continually about my family, and my friends that I cared deeply about, and I just wanted to be with them and tell them that I loved them, and hug them, but I couldn't, and the situations in the story were just getting worse and worse. I know the next time I see my family, and already seeing my friends out in BC here, that I'm trying to appreciate them just a little bit more, and show my love for them just a little bit more, because I don't know what tomorrow will bring. I don't know what more time I'll have with them, and I don't want to have any regrets.
Alright, from here on in, we're going to get into real spoiler territory.
I was sure Mace was going to die. I was absolutely sure of it. That Mace was going to die, that he was never going to be truly reconciled with his family, and that there would be no happy ending whatsoever. I wasn't crying going into the end of the book, but it was pretty damn close, and I was almost an emotional wreck, on the inside, as I was getting closer and closer to the end. When there actually WAS a semblance of a happy ending, for Derrah at least, when he was rejoined with his family and there was that happy reunion, and he saw his family, the tears just started rolling down my face, and fuck. Just writing about it now, having revisited the experience, I'm crying again right now. It just hit me so hard, and I wasn't expecting it, and his happiness, his joy at seeing his family, at being with his family was so REAL to me. It still is.
To cap everything off, After I finished the book, and just sat with the ending a bit, letting it digest, letting everything that I'd read just sort of... settle... I put my iPod on. I'd had it on shuffle through my trip, and was slowly making my way through my library. (It's a 2Gig iPod, so not a totally fruitless endeavor.) The first song to play was a beautiful song by a Gospel group called Olabelle. It was a song about waiting for a saviour figure, but with no specific religious language. It's just about waiting for someone who's going to do something that's going to change everything. This was seriously the first song that my iPod played for me randomly after reading a book about the Bajoran occupation. How crazy is that?
So, that's my review/story about reading the book. Definitely one of the most intense reading experiences I've ever had in my life. I highly, highly recommend it, and I'm definitely going to be hunting down more of James Swallow's work. This was the first work of writing of his that I've ever read, and I really want to read more now.
bennyrex,
Thanks for detailing your personal experience in ready Day of the Vipers! I just got my copy today and plan on reading it this week and now I'm more thrilled to read it than I ever was. It sounds like a book that will deserve multiple readings. Let's hope that S.D. Perry's follow ups will be as good huh?
Kevin
Thanks for detailing your personal experience in ready Day of the Vipers! I just got my copy today and plan on reading it this week and now I'm more thrilled to read it than I ever was. It sounds like a book that will deserve multiple readings. Let's hope that S.D. Perry's follow ups will be as good huh?
Kevin
I have to agree with your review this book is a gripping story right from the start and doesn't let go. I haven't finished this book yet it just keeps getting more intense with each chapter..
Darrah Mace and Bennek are two new characters who have the best written scenes in a ds9 book I've read in a long time since Unity and Warpath.
Darrah Mace and Bennek are two new characters who have the best written scenes in a ds9 book I've read in a long time since Unity and Warpath.
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Just started it yesterday (after putting down the Voyager Relaunch yet again) and at about 100 pages in, I'm *very* impressed. The writing style, the characters, the atmosphere and style... everything is absolutely great so far.
This is the sort of textured, literary and mature writing that the Ds9 books are becoming very consistent with.... and so far James Swallow is up there with some of the best Trek authors to date.
More comments as I get further.
This is the sort of textured, literary and mature writing that the Ds9 books are becoming very consistent with.... and so far James Swallow is up there with some of the best Trek authors to date.
More comments as I get further.
I'm about halfway through and really enjoying it so far. I don't want to give anything away but the way the Occupation was described to have come about was pretty well done--believable, I guess. It has made me want/need to re-watch "Cardassians", "Ensign Ro", and "The Collaborator" again.
This is one of the best Trek books ever. For me, it cemented the fact that DS9 was the richest and best of the Trek shows. It gave us an immense tapestry to weave ourselves into. None of the other series, minus the original, have given writers so much to work with (I might, personally say that ENT has given the writers a lot as well; with the Romulan Wars and all. Plus the exploring of Vulcans, Tellarites and Andorians in a way that has never been seen). The rich Bajorian and Cardassian cultures that pop off the page. This history only adds the the enormous depth of the DS9 series. Great read! I cannot wait for the other ones. This, Titan and the ENT-R have been bloody good series. The best Trek in a long time. Read Day of the Vipers, you will not be disappointed!
I definetly agree Day of the Vipers is one of the best Deep Space nine novels ever. This book gives you alot to think even after just finishing it last night. It makes you wonder whats going to happen next.This story makes the Bajoran and Cardassian characters come to life just like the tv series did. I can't wait to read the final 2 novels in this series!
James Swallow did an amazing job with this novel.Bravo.
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