Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Never Ending Sacrifice

Una McCormack

Aug 2009 · Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Book 36 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

Continuing the post-television Deep Space Nine saga, this original novel shows the fall of the Cardassian empire as seen through the eyes of a young man with a foot in two worlds.

Rugal is an orphaned Cardassian who has been raised by the people his race once conquered, the Bajorans. Reluctantly repatriated to Cardassia as a teenager, Rugal becomes the living witness to the downfall of the proud people to whom he was born, first by the invading Klingons, then during the Cardassians’ unholy pact with the Dominion—a partnership that culminated in a near-genocide. Through it all, Rugal’s singular perspective illuminates the choices that brought the Cardassians to their ruin...even as he learns that the Cardassian soul is not as easy to understand as he imagined.

Ratings and reviews

I was honestly shocked at how well this was written. TV novelization can either be trash or amazing, and this book fits into the latter category. I was impressed by world building, in particular how the politics of Cardassia were addressed. If anything, McCormick deepened my comprehension of "in-canon" TV events, since she spends time addressing Detapa Council and their takeover of central command. However, most of all this novel gives Rugal a very tragic yet satisfying character arc. I highly recommend this novel to DS9 fans.

Not what you expect at all from a ST novel but, by far one of the best stories I've read. Even without the high stakes action in most books it's very compelling and hard to put down.

Though tragic at many points, it's a satisfying reply to the unsatisfying ending of the episode that spawned it. The quality of the writing and story are much higher than I tend to expect from franchise novels.

About the author

Una McCormack is the author of ten previous Star Trek novels: The Lotus Flower (part of The Worlds of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine trilogy), Hollow Men, The Never-Ending Sacrifice, Brinkmanship, The Missing, the New York Times bestseller The Fall: The Crimson Shadow, Enigma Tales, Discovery: The Way to the Stars, the acclaimed USA Today bestseller Picard: The Last Best Hope, and Discovery: Wonderlands. She is also the author of five Doctor Who novels from BBC Books: The King’s Dragon, The Way Through the Woods, Royal Blood, Molten Heart, and All Flesh is Grass. She has written numerous short stories and audio dramas. She lives with her family in Cambridge, England.