Book Review: ‘Twilight’ by David R. George III

April 21, 2022 at 6:18 am | Posted in Books, Reviews, Sci-Fi, Star Trek | Leave a comment
Tags: david r. george iii, deep space nine, mission gamma

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Twilight is the first book in the Mission Gamma series written by David R. George III and released September 2002. 

This was an entertaining start to the Mission Gamma series. I’ve only read one David R. George III book, and that was a pretty weak book. However, this book is a significant step up.

What sets this book apart is its length. Not only is it 500 pages, but it has the smallest print I’ve ever read for a Star Trek book, which means that the story itself is the longest single book I’ve read in Star Trek. For comparison, this book is longer than both DS9 Avatar books COMBINED. A true tome, this book covers a lot of ground, and covers it really well.

Where this book shines is it’s handling of the station Deep Space Nine. The main plot where Admiral Akaar is introduced and begins talks for renewing Bajor’s acceptance into the Federation was really well done. We see Colonel Kira Nerys struggle with her position in DS9 as well as her philosophical differences with Starfleet.

My personal favorite part of the book was the dynamic between Quark and Ro Laren. In the TV show, Quark always rubbed me the wrong way. However, I found his character charming and funny and probably the most interesting DS9 character. I wanted their relationship to develop and it was well paid off, but doesn’t feel cliche. I laughed at both of them throughout the book.

The quartet that this book starts is Mission Gamma, which means that we get the Defiant in the Gamma Quadrant under the leadership of Commander Elias Vaughn, a great new addition to the Literary universe. His character was flawed and dynamic but he also seemed fun at times. The story also includes Vaughn’s daughter, Nog, Ezri Dax, and Julian Bashir. Bashir and Dax’s story was the least interesting to me as a reader, but I know that their story gets much better later on.

In terms of set up for the rest of the Mission Gamma series, this book feels oddly standalone. This truly has a complete story, but lays the groundwork for more. I am interested to see if the tone is consistent throughout the books (as I know the page count is most definitely not!).

If I can give DRGIII a compliment it is that he writes books that FEEL like DS9. This book really felt like I was reading an episode of television, and the breaks in the parts of the book felt like natural TV episode breaks. I highly enjoyed his handling of the characters and can’t wait to read his other DS9 books.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. There were elements of the Gamma Quadrant plotline that I didn’t love, but overall it was really well done. Impressive that David was allowed to write such a long book, but it was well worth it. Four out of five!

Reviewed By: Jonathan Koan for Roqoo Depot.