Enigma Tales

Ever read a book and think “this is really dated?” This book is dated. It was published, mind you, in 2017, but in fifty years, people will read it and say “this was written 2010-2030”.

The plot is highly enjoyable, and engaging until it the end when it's entirely unsatisfying and bad. I enjoyed it a lot most of the way through, despite periodically cringing at the occasional “I'm an English major” writing and the “I'm a left-Liberal circa 2020” commentary. (I'm also a left-Liberal circa 2020, but that doesn't mean they don't make me cringe.)

Also, you know how some books you read and something in it (usually how it presents a woman) makes you think “this was written by a man”? There were a couple “this was written by a woman” scenes in here. Most books I read are written by women, but this may be the first time I've had this reaction to a scene. Plenty of “the narrator/character is a woman, and if the author is an man he really nailed it” books. This one did not nail it.

Anyway, this is a mostly-good, enjoyable book with a good plot with an unsatisfying ending and a few weirdly bad scenes, and an overly 2010s/early-2020s feel to the writing. It annoys me that it didn't live up to its potential.

Elim Garak as the head of state for Cardassia? That stretches credulity for me (although I admittedly haven't read any of the other post-show DS9 books, so I don't know how he got there). Still, this is 350 pages of Garak at his most Garakesque, so one can't complain too much about that, even if it means putting up with Katherine Pulaski for an entire novel.

The main plot was enjoyable, as well. Castellan Garak is in the process of rebuilding Cardassian society in the wake of the crimes committed during the Bajoran occupation and the Dominion War, and in doing so has to look at the role that truth and reconciliation play as part of that rebuilding. Like all good Star Trek, it's a fundamentally human story, one that could find a great deal of echoes in our history.

(One last fan-related thought: the relationship between Garak and Bashir, which looms heavily over the novel, remains absolutely beautiful. It's still only subtext, but just barely below the surface and from Garak's letters to Bashir it's fairly clear how he sees the latter).