This post-TV continuation of DS9 was something of a mixed bag, but overall continued in the spirit of the original series with meditations on religious faith (and lack of it) and war. With the finale sending so much of the cast off to different places, there are several of original characters here- my favorite addition was definitely Ro Laren from TNG, who takes over Odo's position as security chief, and my least favorite was the thoroughly eyeroll-inducing Elias Vaughn, a 101-year-old Starfleet veteran who becomes Kira's second-in-command.

Vaughn is quite possibly the most obvious example of a "Gary Stu"/"Mary Sue" character I have ever seen in original or fan-fiction, and those are terms I do not use lightly: he is 101-years old with 80 years of combat experience, immediately beloved by everyone on the Enterprise-E (we get POV of Picard, Riker, _and_ Troi wishing they were as cool as he was and wanting to be his friend), he has a security clearance higher than Picard and chose not to become an admiral not because he couldn't do it but because he "doesn't like meetings," is an expert on Jem'Hadar biology and development, is also able to outmaneuver Section 31 (including _stealing_ from them with no repercussions), and comes to DS9 after rediscovering a Bajoran Orb (which Picard is envious of, note) and seeing a vision of Sisko, convinced that it is his ~destiny~. Also, for additonal angst, another addition to the cast turns out to be Vaughn's estranged daughter, who is an ensign under his command.

If there's any reason I almost DNFed this book, Vaughn is it. _Thankfully_, the Vaughn-squee calmed down after the first half or so of the book; he and Kira respect each other and settle into a healthy working relationship, with absolutely no fawning on her part or the rest of DS9. Thank goodness.

Onto the actual stories, this omnibus starts off with a two-part story, Avatar, about a crisis in the Bajoran religion when a prylar finds an undocumented, possibly heretical book of prophecies, continues with a Section 31 novel where Bashir is coerced into stopping a genetically enhanced rogue agent with delusions of being the next Khan, and concludes with a novel and a novella out of the Gateways crossover series where the long-thought-dead Iconians reactivate their gateway network and try to sell the technology to the highest bidder and DS9 must help with evacuation of a planet plagued by radioactive waste being dumped through a new gateway.

The strongest character arc throughout is Kira, now commander of the station, dealing with being in that role and with the crisis in the Bajoran faith. I thought it was really solid- I especially liked the Gateway novella at the end- but was disappointed that a very key moment for her character occurred off-screen in Avatar. Ro's arc as commander of security trying to figure out if she wants to be on DS9 or not was great too, and I'm intrigued by the unresolved issues brought up for Ezri as her past incarnations seem to be surfacing more and more and Bashir as he wrestles with his genetic enhancement. Kasidy and Jake have interesting subplots relating to the prophecies in Avatar, but those kind of trail off with no resolution in this omnibus (I believe they are resolved in Rising Son and Unity respectively.) Quark remains Quark, and Nog remains Nog.

Taran'atar, a Jem'Hadar sent by Odo to learn about the Federation is an interesting but somewhat underused (more plot device than character at this point) addition, but probably the most interesting of the four original characters. I actively disliked Vaughn and it will take a whole lot to make me come around (I'm not happy that Mission Gamma seems Vaughn-centric), but am cautiously interested in Andorian science officer Thirishar ch'Thane and human ensign Prynn Tenmei. I hope that Tenmei will get characterization as her own person outside Vaughn's orbit rather than as a source of angst for him.

I plan to read through at least Unity, having picked up the four Mission Gamma books on sale last month; will be curious how things progress. ( )