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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Rising Son by SD Perry
01/04/2004 . Source: Sue Davies 
pub: Pocket Books/Simon and Schuster. 308 page paperback. Price: £ 6.99 (UK), $ 6.99 (US), $10.50 (CAN). ISBN: 0-7434-4838-3. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check out website: www.simonsays.co.uk www.simonsays.co.uk and www.startrek.com
Jake Sisko has long lived in the shadow of being the son of the Emissary. Ben Sisko has disappeared but Jake still clings to the idea that he might yet be alive.
Jake wants to be the one who brings his father home. Following the words of an old Prophecy leads him to the wormhole next to his old home, the Federation space station Deep Space Nine. Something goes badly wrong and Jake is far from home on the point of death.
He is found by Dez and his band of assorted aliens. They are salvagers and occasionally thieves, too. Dez sees something of himself in Jake and would very much like him to stay aboard the good ship 'Even Odds'. But events are in progress and will overtake them all. Once again, Jake will feel he is part of something much larger than himself.
So what do the Prophets have in store for Jake and his new friends? With a cast of characters that would make a CGI-er weep, this good ship, itself a bit of a character, welcomes Jake and he is increasingly drawn to his strange companions. Keeping a journal he records his ideas and his conflicts that will ultimately lead him to a decision.
Should he go or should he stay? S.D. Perry has taken a sensitive approach to a character underused in the DS9 Series. She has looked at his underlying motivation and his relationship with his father and spun it into a compelling tale that takes Jake and his new friends into a series of adventures. Although an adventure story, it manages to look at how people deal with death, changes and family relationships.
It examines the nature of friendship, compromise and having to make awful decisions that will affect the rest of your life. Despite all that, it is an optimistic book that believes ultimately in a benign and positive universe. In this novel, people are capable of change and redemption and if all that sounds too heavy, well they get to have some fun, too.
There are some great characters here including Pifco, who looks and behaves like a dog and Stessie, an empath of many parts. For me, the most appealing part of the book is the creation of some new characters and the interaction between human and alien. When the book moves to the larger tale and starts to fill in back story it becomes less interesting. This is probably because of the requirement to complete the external story that ties it to the rest of the series.
Overall, though, it is an enjoyably short read and is a first-rate addition to the ever increasing canon of 'Star Trek' novels. This novel does not complete the cycle of books to celebrate the 10th anniversary of 'Deep Space Nine' but runs in parallel with 'Lesser Evil' previously reviewed on these pages.
The final book of the series is 'Unity' also by S.D. Perry.
Sue Davies
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