Ultimately voted "average".
I love McCormack's Cardassia, her Garak sounds just perfect, and her world-building is rich and well-nuanced. But as someone else already said, much of the resolution takes place off-screen, so to speak. And I rather like reading of events as they happen, and not being told of them in the aftermath. But just to emphasize: I love her Garak, and his scene at the end with Bashir... almost made up for Pulaski being a major annoyance. I understand that she's straight-forward and everything. But frankly, she's experienced enough to have some sort of common sense (and that's not the same as having a sense for diplomacy) and to know just when to keep her opinions to herself or just how to phrase things to be a bit more palatable. Also her suspecting any and everything (SI, Garak etc) just reeked of prejudice, not of rational thinking. Didn't like her in The Missing, and Enigma Tales certainly didn't do anything to endear her to me. On the other hand, Alden has grown on me, all the different layers (the tension in his major scene with Garak)... I would enjoy having him appear more, but please, without Pulaski!
Anyway, how long's the castellan's term? And can't he or she be reelected? Because while Garak is trying to look out for his chosen successor, the novel nowhere states that he can't or doesn't want to have a second term.
Frankly, despite the kidnapping and smearing of Lang's name, I'm still waiting for Cardassia's young democracy to be seriously threatened (again). In Enigma Tales, things go a bit too smoothly, of course, thanks to Garak's leadership during the recent years, but still it's officially just been 11 years since the fall of the Dominion (with DS9 ending in 2375, and this novel set in 2386) , and most of the early years were spent on simple survival. I'd just expect another attempt to reestablish a more authoritarian state than that of Crimson Shadow, because just when democracy seems to be firmly established and vigilance and caution are starting to diminish is the time when it gets most dangerous, after all. But I guess the remaining old guard won't seriously start anything as long as Garak's keeping a wary eye on them. Just give them another 5 years or so, though...
It's a shame, though, the editors put that historian's note in front of the novel - because it simply contradicts the book itself (or the book contradicts it, however you want to see it)... I know, contractual issues, but still... every time it was stated that Garak's been castellan for 3 years, I sort of went "???" although it makes much more sense in the narrative than the mere 1 year gap.
