So, I finally finished
Mission Gamma III: Cathedral,
a few years after I read the first two parts. I've been out of ST lit reading for a while, but February 2011 reawakened my interest in reading all the DS9 relaunch books I've purchased over the years, but not read because I was "stuck" on
Cathedral for a
few years. I started the book a while ago, but it started of sooo slow for me. I just left my bookmark in it (around page 60 I think), and read other things. I've wanted to get back into the DS9 relaunch, but I had to get through
Cathedral first. By devouring Bill Pronizni's
Nightcrawlers (a
Nameless Detective mystery) during my vacation earlier this month, February 2011 marked the reigniting of my passion for reading again and I also got back into ST lit, beyond the NF stuff I have kept up with over the years. While I have ST lit catching up to do (chronicled on other threads around here), I also have 5
Nameless Detective HCs on my shelf to read before I get caught up with his summer releasing next offering. Lost of reading in 2011 for me.
Anyhow, once I was able to get past page 120'ish of
Cathedral, things started to
finally pick up
a bit. I have found all the Bajor/DS9 proper plots interesting. All the characters left in the Alpha Quadrant made up the most interesting parts of this novel. Ro's budding friendship/romance with a certain DS9 cast member, Taran'atar struggling with his role on DS9, Quark fearing for what happens when/if Bajor joins the Federation, etc. Kira and her story and its effects on Bajor, the Federation, and DS9 was probably the most compelling part of
Cathedral.
Like with the first two Mission Gamma books, I found the Gamma Quadrant part of the book the least satisfying. While I do like Vaughn and the evolution of Ezri Dax, the other characters just don't have interesting things to do on these missions. Also, the Cathderal and the warring factions
the Defiant dealt with had a, I don't know, "I read this before" kind of feel to the plot. It almost seemed that while that aspect of the Gamma mission was supposed to be the driving force of those parts of the story, the real exploration was the inner exploration of the key
Defiant crew. "Mission Gamma" just seems to refer to where the
Defiant is in the first 3 books, rather than the fulfill the implicit (or explicit?) promise of the Gamma Mission being the critical,
compelling, driving force of the novel.
I like that both parts of the book (Alpha & Gamma Quadrants) have a lot of character exploration and movement in those terms, but the action/drama in the Alpha storyline has been far more interesting that the Gamma storylines so far.
The Alpha Quadrant ending to
Cathedral was an interesting twist that leads to, I hope, a "thriller" vibe to
Lesser Evil which I will start reading later today. I should be through that book quicker since its about 140 pages less than
Cathedral, but also because I hear (although I have seen no specific spoilers thankfully) that the Gamma Quadrant storyline may be quite interesting (and perhaps redeem the "Mission Gamma" part this 4-part narrative for me). That said, I expect the same goodness of the first 3 books on the Alpha Quadrant side of things. I'm really interested in the respective Kira/Ro/Taran'atar developments in
Lesser Evil (
no spoilers please).
And then, I'll finally be back to reading 2 books by S.D. Perry (
Rising Son and
Unity). Since I loved her
Avatar duology, I'm really looking forward to finally getting to those 2 books.
So, what do did folks here think about the
first 3 books in the Mission Gamma 4-parter? I'll share my thoughts on Part 4 /
Lesser Evil when I finish it later this week.
If anything, could you not compare it to our own, optimistic future of cramped spaceships filled with gadgets, gizmo's and a dedicated crew out to explore the solar system, that same unfettered spirit?
!
