The Captain's Table series describes the story of a legendary bar that only captains can enter. Once inside, you have the chance to meet fellow captains from all over the universe, and from all over time. All drinks are paid with a good story to entertain the fellow captains, and that's when the readers get to hear the best stories around. 'The Mist' is the third book in the series, however don't worry about reading it first. All of the books of the series stand by themselves, so you can read them in any order you please. The story starts at a time of tension between the Klingon Empire and the Federation, before the war with the Dominion. Major Kira approached Captain Sisko, and notifies him of something unusual. The station picked up a distress signal, sent in an ancient Earth code that had not been used since the early days of human interstellar travel. It is coming from a part of space not far from the Klingon border. If that wasn't unique enough to catch Sisko's attention, the signal was coming from an empty part of space. That is, no stellar bodies in the area, not ships, no asteroids. The signal was coming out of nothing. The Defiant is dispatched to investigate, and having no interest at the matter, the Klingons overlook the Defiant's approach from afar. That is until the ship disappears. Sisko did find the source of the signal, or more literally, it found him. The Defiant was pulled into the Mist world by a space rupture. Arriving in a parallel world coexisting with their own, and just out of phase, Sisko's screen was now facing a Mist ship. The Mist, who until that moments were considered a space legend about an ancient space faring species, told to young kids before bed time, appeared now with all their grace before Sisko's very eyes. However, as Sisko and the Defiant were pulled into the Mist world, they disappeared from the 'real' world. Deep Space 9, and even the Klingons were sure the ship disappeared. As both sides try to find out what is happening, Sisko talks to the Mist ship's captain. What evolves into a fight between the Mist world and our know world, and a terrorist attempt to take DS9 into the Mist realm, Sisko, Kira, and the rest of the crew must resolve the situation and save both the Defiant and the station, before it's too late. Though more could be said, I will stop here. You'll enjoy the book better, finding the rest of it from here on by yourself. The authors' description of Sisko sitting in the bar and telling the story, along with the colorful characters in the bar is well coordinated. The characters are true to themselves, and the plot is a good one. All in all, 'The Mist ' is a great novel, and is enjoyable even for a none-DS9 fan.
|
Title: The Mist
Author: Dean Wesley Smith & Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Review by: CL3 Scorger
4-25-05
