I was on vacation this week but I finally finished MG: Twilight.
Mission Gamma: Twilight - A+
This book was long, but it was an amazing read. On the Ipad, it was 730 pages (albeit with a larger font, which is something I am a fan of in terms of e-readers) and it took 2 months to finish but the final third of the book was fantastic.
There was so much that went on in this book but I wanted to start with Commander Vaughn and Prynn. While each character had a separate story-line, they were very much connected, and you can sense that while reading. These are new characters to the DS9 universe, but through the first few novels, their story about trying to get back together was both emotional and moving. You had Prynn who wanted nothing to do with Vaughn, and Vaughn going through the events of reliving his past of abandonment and loss through the thoughtscape to the point where he was realizing why his daughter hated him so much. In the end, Prynn went through the same experience, especially with the conversation with Shar (Another great new character) about if Vaughn's decisions was right. This book was all about self reflection and discovery, and I really liked how it ended, with the two of them finally spending time together through the Thoughtscape experience and really set to reconcile.
Back on the Station, we meet another new character in Admiral Akaar, and his story with Kira was equally as interesting as what was going on in the Delta Quadrent. As a fan of DS9, I was disappointed that it seemed like the series ended forgetting the reason why it started, whether or not Bajor would join the federation. Well here we see that take place, and if you think back through the events of the series, and Kira making Ohalu's book public in Avatar making her an outcast and thus being attainted, this was a good victory for Bajor. We finally got the conclusion we've been waiting for, and the final discussion between Akaar and Kira made their whole story worth it. You think Akaar as this jerk, and then you get to that discussion and it really does make sense.
On the Defiant, you had Ezri continuing her transformation from nervous councellor we first meet to really one of DS9's most interesting characters and I'm going to admit it now. Because I see these novels as a continuation of the series, Ezri is 10 times better than Jadzia Dax. We see a confidence in her, a growing sense that yeah, she is set for command, and we saw a really creative use of "Dax". I applaud the author (David R. George III) for using the Dax symbiont in a why that was really interesting and wished it had been used in the series. I loved the idea of the Dax symbiont as a conduit between our universe and the thoughtspace universe in subspace. Hell, just the fact that they used the symbiont itself instead of the host really intregued me. I think if there was a weakest part of this storyline, it is Bashir continuing to be annoying.
I'm not going to say much about the Quark storyline other than say what a weird storyline this is. I like Quark, but Quark and Ro? Uh, ok then.
Overall, I know this is a long post but this book was so great, and I actually read the final 120 pages in a day. When everything was coming together I actually started to get really emotional, much in the same way I did when we got the revelations at the end of Avatar. This was a great book and I've already started Book 2. Looking forward to getting deeper into it.
I've also decided to start grading these books, so in terms of rankings from favorite to least favorite so far:
Mission Gamma: Twilight - A+
Avatar Books 1 and 2 (It really felt like just one novel) - A-
Demons of Air and Darkness - B+
Abyss - B
Horn and Ivory - B-
I have just started the Twist of Faith omnibus as well. I am at chapter 3 where DS9 is attacked. So far the characters are very believable.
