Books of Duck Cafe

Elena. reviewed Enigma Tales by Una McCormack (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

No cover — Una McCormack: Enigma Tales (AudiobookFormat, 2017, Simon & Schuster Audio)

Elim Garak has ascended to Castellan of the Cardassian Union...but despite his soaring popularity, the …

Of past sins and accidental interplanetary incidents

4 stars

This is one of the last books in the post-Nemesis litverse before the Coda trilogy, and not having read the absolute majority of these books, I didn't know what I had missed. And it seems I had missed quite a few things! Like the thing with the person. Or what happened to that other person. What!? 😱

I'm a big Dr. Pulaski fan. So I was very happy to have her as one of the main characters in this novel. I loved her in TNG and I had a lot of fun with her here as well. (I still want a series of books about all the husbands of Dr. Pulaski. 😁)

I really liked to see how Cardassia is grappling with its recent history and asking the questions of who's guilty, of what, and how best to handle that. Garak says something like "I like Paris, but I know …

This is one of the last books in the post-Nemesis litverse before the Coda trilogy, and not having read the absolute majority of these books, I didn't know what I had missed. And it seems I had missed quite a few things! Like the thing with the person. Or what happened to that other person. What!? 😱

I'm a big Dr. Pulaski fan. So I was very happy to have her as one of the main characters in this novel. I loved her in TNG and I had a lot of fun with her here as well. (I still want a series of books about all the husbands of Dr. Pulaski. 😁)

I really liked to see how Cardassia is grappling with its recent history and asking the questions of who's guilty, of what, and how best to handle that. Garak says something like "I like Paris, but I know Berlin", and that really struck a chord. This whole part of the story did. I like that this history, that is so far in the past for these characters, is still remembered and visible in 2388. Something that right now, in 2024, seems more important than ever.

Literary Treks talked to Una McCormack about the book and it was a very insightful interview, where she's talking about all her inspirations for the themes. Besides Nazi Germany there are Colonial India and Australia mentioned as well.

Robert Petkoff is one of the best audio book narrators I know. He gives every character a great voice makes the characters we know from screen sound familiar.

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Elena. reviewed Star Trek: Picard: Firewall by David Mack (Star Trek: Picard, #6)

Two years after the USS Voyager’s return from the Delta Quadrant, Seven of Nine finds …

The start of how Seven became the woman we know today (as in ST: Picard)

5 stars

Content warning Possible spoilers for David Mack's "Star Trek: Picard: Firewall". I don't say anything too specific, and nothing that I would call plot relevant, but some people might still count that as spoilers. Hence this CW.

I love visualising Seven in a mosh pit. LOVE IT! I love how several Trek shows are woven into this book. I love seeing some familiar characters of those shows. I love the scenes between Janeway and Seven. They truly are like mother and daughter. I love seeing Seven finding a purpose, a reason to carry on. I love seeing Seven learn and grow as a human. I love getting to know the Rangers, both as a whole and the individuals we meet. At the beginning of season 3 of Picard we shortly meet the Rangers and I didn't like how they were portrayed there, but after this book it makes sense now. Thank you, Mr. Mack for that.

The ending... what can I say without spoiling anything? Let's just say if you have seen the show you know what's going to come. [insert appropriate emoji]

January LaVoy is the queen of audio book narration and making characters sound like their actors. Thank you, Ms. LaVoy!

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Elena. reviewed A Stitch in Time by Andrew Robinson (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

A Stitch in Time (ISBN 0-671-03885-0), published June 5, 2000, is a Star Trek: Deep …

A must read for all Garak fans

5 stars

Content warning Andrew J. Robinson "A Stitch in Time" -- possible spoilers!

After another long break I powered through the last 4 1/2 hours today.

What a fantastic book! Robinson is as good at writing Garak as he is at playing him, both on screen and for this narration. He tells a life's story so full of heart break it was at time almost unbearable for me to listen. I took quite a few breaks and some of them of several weeks or even months. And yet, or exactly because of it, I say this is an absolute must read for any Garak fan. You may want to keep some tissues nearby. I love when Star Trek novels stray from the classic form of here's a problem and our heroes are going to solve it, including a space battle or two -- happy ending. This book is such a different novel: It is a memoir, and therefore a collection of incidents in Garak's life that lead him to Terok Nor, have him stay on Deep Space 9, and finally allow him to return to Cardassia. It's the tale of how he so desperately tries to earn his father's love and his peers' and superiors' respect, but only gets their despisement, and of how he endures it all. His observations about humanity and the Federation are spot on of course. How does the Federation survive? LOL

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