Review: Demons of Air & Darkness (DS9)

(Note: I hadn't read Abyss yet when I wrote this review)

Demons of Air and Darkness is another adventure in the continuing saga
of Star Trek: Deep Space 9. The first two books (Avatar books one and
two) were a wonderful beginning. I haven't read Section 31: Abyss yet,
but I found this one in the library and decided to check it out. While
not being as good as Avatar, it's still up there. It's well written,
with just a bit too much Trek continuity for my taste to mar the
quality.

Sounds a bit convoluted, doesn't it? Thankfully, Candido does a good
job of juggling all of the different storylines. First, I should tell
you that this book is actually Book 4 in the Gateways 7-part series
that goes through all of the Trek book series. However, you do not
need to have read any of the other books to know what's going on. All
of the books are designed to stand on their own two feet, and this one
does, except that you have to read book 7 to find out what ultimately
happens to Kira. That was a bit annoying, since I now have to track
that book down. But it is manageable.

Overall, this is another winner in the DS9 series. The characters are
well-defined, with all of them getting their moment in the spotlight.
The cool thing about a continuing series is that the characterization
can be carried through subsequent books, and this one is no exception.
Ever since Avatar, we have known that there is some tension between
Ensign ch'Thane and his "mother" (for lack of a better term). This
storyline is touched upon in this novel as well. Ch'Thane is a very
interesting character, and the Andorian race is fleshed out from what
we have seen in the TV series. Evidently, the race is dying out, and
his mother is very upset that he won't come home and start a family on
Andor. He is, however, very happy in Starfleet and has no desire to go
home. It doesn't make matters any easier that she is on the Federation
council. It is all very interestingly done, and I look forward to
further exploration of this fascinating species.

The bad thing, of course, about continuing series is that the
characterization can be carried through to subsequent books.
Thankfully, this doesn't become a problem in this one. The previous
book was about Doctor Bashir and involved the Jem'Hadar named
Taran'atar. He evidently learned a lot about humans and the Federation
in that book, but anything important is summarized in this book, so
it's not a problem. He's also an interesting character given a lot to
do, especially when he joins Kira in the Delta Quadrant. He ends up
getting into the fight of his life. Candido portrays all of this well,
including the inner conflict that Taran'atar has during the fight. He
is torn between protecting Kira and the joy of conflict. It was nice
having the needed information from Abyss given in this one, so you
don't have to track down the other one unless you truly want to.

The rest of the characters are excellently done as well. The writers
and editors of this series have taken some of the best characters from
the TV show, expanded on their characters, and added a host of new
characters who you like to read about. The cast is perfectly done, and
I can honestly say that there isn't a boring person in the bunch
(though Dax comes close). Each person gets some good "screen time" in
this novel, with only Ro Laren getting short shrift in the beginning
(though she makes up for it in the end). They are all
three-dimensional, and play their parts to the hilt.

Candido handles the multiple storylines very well. He cuts away at
just the right moments, making all of the disparate stories
interesting. You are never reading one section and saying to yourself
"I wish he'd leave these losers and go back to Kira" or something like
that. The only shortfall in this book is the abundance of continuity
references to previous Trek television shows. I suppose that's par for
the course in a sub-series of books which is about something that
comes out of the TV series (like the Gateways concept is), but it
still started to become annoying. There were references to many of the
televised episodes, some of them that didn't really need referencing.
Gul Macet from one of the Next Generation episodes, is in the book for
no real reason, as it could have been any other Cardassian. At times,
the book makes the Star Trek universe seem very small, though it's not
nearly as bad as some other Trek books.

Still, if that's the only strike against this book, that's saying a
lot. I'm really enjoying these post-television Deep Space 9 stories,
and I plan on tracking down as many of them as I can. With an
interesting cast of characters, intriguing plots and an ongoing
storyline, you can't go wrong. Demons of Air and Darkness is yet
another winner.

David Roy

Thanks very much for the review! Glad you enjoyed it, even with all
the continuity...

Two things: 1) My last name is DeCandido, not Candido. <grin>

As for #2.....

 > Gul Macet from one of the Next Generation episodes, is in the book for
 > no real reason, as it could have been any other Cardassian.

Actually, that's not true. Macet is there for a very specific reason,
one that's explained in the book. And Macet continues to be a
recurring character in the post-finale novels, including MISSION:
GAMMA and UNITY.


Keith R.A. DeCandido
keith DeleteThis @decandido.net
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