2008-09-06 "I'm Ro and that will be Bram, the leader of my cell."

Pocket Books continue their series of novels based on Star Trek Deep Space Nine with Terok Nor: Night Of The Wolves by DS9 stalwart S.D. Perry along with Britta Dennison - a tale of the lost era, the story of the Cardassian occupation of Bajor.
Although the show and subsequent novels are littered with references and events of the occupation, this is the first time that the whole thing has been put into novel form and the second book in the trilogy continues and expands the saga from part one.
This novel covers events from 2345 - 2357 and is broken up into parts; 2345 Occupation year eighteen, 2346 Occupation year nineteen, 2347 Occupation year twenty, 2348 Occupation year twenty one, 2353 Occupation year twenty six and 2357 Occupation year thirty.
This book covers a huge amount of territory in multiple interweaving plot lines and the authors sweep you along with the continuing arc of the Bajoran Resistance against Cardassian oppression.
The story introduces us to several well known characters from the TNG and DS9 universe and gives us the first glimpses of many more. Opaka, Winn, Holem and Ro are they key players in the Bajoran story. The struggle for Opaka as a Vedek in a world where faith is outlawed by the Cardassians. Winn's political and personal ambitions are obvious from the start and with the series gone you realise that this woman never learned! Lenaris Holem (from DS9's Shakaar) as a young man fighting in the Resistance and finally Ro Laren, a young girl who witnessed her father tortured to death by an interrogator who joins the Resistance in order to take her revenge.
These plots expand and intertwine with the developing story of Kira Nerys and her connections to the Shakaar resistance cell and together they create a harrowing picture of life under Cardassian rule.
The Cardassians also get a large share of the book, namely from the prespectives of Gul Dukat, Glinn Damar, Jagul Kell and Gul Darhe'el. Dukat's struggle to control the Bajorans is balanced brilliantly with his dissolving relationship with Kira Meru. There is an almost `human' side to the man, even though you could never forgive him for the things he had done. Damar and Kell act as foils for Dukat and the interplay between them is well written. The infamous `Butcher of Gallitep', Gul Darhe'el, also makes his presence known and there are many powerful scenes set in the labour camp, mirroring the atrocities of the Nazi camps of the Second World War with chilling similarity.
So many other characters make it into the plot but at no time does it seem overcrowded. There is also the discovery of a certain lifeform in the Denorios Belt and Dr Mora's attempts to communicate with and understand it.
Terrorism, faith, war, peace, desperation, conspiracy, betrayal - this book has it all and continues the saga with the same quality as the first. With several plots left open for the third and final chapter you'll find yourself picking that up as soon as you've finished this.
Grab a copy of Star Trek: Terok Nor - Dawn Of The Eagles to read the final part of this fantastic saga.