I really, really liked this--more than I thought I would. Technically, this isn't a novel, but a short story anthology, but it reads more like a novel given its structure and subject--Dax, the Trill symbiont in its various nine lives. As the editor said in the Introduction, "Dax is a living anthology--a collection of stories. The book would be too." And it works--beautifully. Each of the hosts, Lela, Tobin, Emony, Audrid, Torias, Joran, Curzon, Jadzia gets their own story by different authors--with Ezri bookending the anthology. And because Dax's existence spans the history of the federation, almost all the stories have a tie-in to the Star Trek universe with such characters as T'Pau, Doctor Leonard McCoy, Christopher Pike, Saavik, Sisko and Vic Fontaine featured in the various stories.
A lot of the Star Trek pro fiction strikes me as bland, but for the most part these are very strong stories--even one by an official Star Trek author, S.D. Perry, whose novel Cloak I had recently tried and found lacking. Her entry, "Sins of the Mother" turned out suspenseful, stylish and imaginative. And she co-authored one of my favorite stories in the book, the noir-ish "Allegro Ouroboros in D Minor." Steven Barnes "The Music Between the Notes" was notable for his strong science fiction premises, and "Reflections" by L.A. Graf not just a touching story about Jadzia but a well put together mystery. I think the weakest link was Michael Jan Friedman's "Old Souls." It was told largely from the perspective of a teenage Leonard McCoy, and I just was never convinced I was hearing the authentic voice of the young Bones. But otherwise the stories handled the characters and Star Trek universe well and I really liked how the bookend stories by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens tied it all together. I can't imagine fans of Star Trek fiction being disappointed by this one; it made a great read.
