Book Description
Must we fight terrorism with terror, match assassination with assassination, and torture with torture? Must we sacrifice civil liberty to protect public safety?
In the age of terrorism, the temptations of ruthlessness can be overwhelming. But we are pulled in the other direction too by the anxiety that a violent response to violence makes us morally indistinguishable from our enemies. There is perhaps no greater political challenge today than trying to win the war against terror without losing our democratic souls. Michael Ignatieff confronts this challenge head-on, with the combination of hard-headed idealism, historical sensitivity, and political judgment that has made him one of the most influential voices in international affairs today.
Ignatieff argues that we must not shrink from the use of violence--that far from undermining liberal democracy, force can be necessary for its survival. But its use must be measured, not a program of torture and revenge. And we must not fool ourselves that whatever we do in the name of freedom and democracy is good. We may need to kill to fight the greater evil of terrorism, but we must never pretend that doing so is anything better than a lesser evil.
In making this case, Ignatieff traces the modern history of terrorism and counter-terrorism, from the nihilists of Czarist Russia and the militias of Weimar Germany to the IRA and the unprecedented menace of Al Qaeda, with its suicidal agents bent on mass destruction. He shows how the most potent response to terror has been force, decisive and direct, but--just as important--restrained. The public scrutiny and political ethics that motivate restraint also give democracy its strongest weapon: the moral power to endure when the furies of vengeance and hatred are spent.
The book is based on the Gifford Lectures delivered at the University of Edinburgh in 2003.
Customer Reviews:
Brilliant.......2007-05-25
I've only read a few sections out of his book, and now I am determined to invest a few days out of my upcoming break to read his entire book. The man is brilliant, absolutely brilliant. The book, by all means, sheds light on matters that have most people in the dark. Definitely a worth while read.
Worth Reading.......2007-02-22
This is a well written book. Its basic theme is that democratic societies may have to, from time to time, suspend certain rights and freedom in order to deal with threats to their citizens or their very existance. The key presented is that these suspensions be limited by their scope in time and ultimately subject to review by the judiciary, democratic process, the public and the press.
The subject of torture comes up but what I found most interesting was the discussion of how we might have to react to the threat of nuclear or biomedical terrorism. As the cost of these technologies comes down it becomes more possible for society to be threatened by small groups or radical nations acting directly or anonymously through surrogates who would not be deterred by the threat of mutual self destruction.
Overall the message is that these are ethical issues that we must, even imperfectly, need to work out. Ignatieff's book does a good job of laying out directions of discourse. We may not get it right and we may have to even choose to do wrong for the greater good but the fact that we struggle with the question makes us a better society.
Overrated.......2006-08-13
This book seems to be about an interesting topic, namely what ethics ought we adopt if we are faced with threats of terror?
Ignatieff asks "What lesser evils may a society commit when it believes it faces the greater evil of its own destruction?" And he says this "question must not only be asked. It must be answered."
I disagree. I think Ignatieff displays an enormous amount of shallow thinking in this book. I think his question is not that good, need not be asked, and need not be answered.
What we ought to be interested in is the question of what rational people ought to expect people like us to do when faced with threats of terror. It's a slightly different question, although I admit that Ignatieff does deal with it to some extent. By "people like us," I mean just about any group or nation, rational or irrational.
Ignatieff wanders on, describing various threats to people and governments as well as the reactions to these threats. In many cases, the threats were overrated, making the reaction look overly intense. Ignatieff makes the point that at the time, the severity of each threat was not easy to determine.
The author says that "when civil libertarians try to explain why their own governments adopt repressive measures, they often blame unscrupulous politicians exploiting terrorism to pursue their own agendas. This fails to explain why politicians often get away with it." This makes a good point, but it does not go far enough. The public often agrees with the politicians, but why? Do such policies merely fit public agendas or are they in some sense the best options? Ignatieff is not good at answering this.
Ignatieff also says that terrorism generally works as an ancillary tactic, a "shortcut" to the proper (although uncertain) strategy of peaceful political mobilization. And he gives some examples of this. One is the Arab use of terror against Israel, which has not caused an Israeli surrender, has not caused Israelis to stop debating what to do, has not caused Israelis to abandon asking about the ethics of what they are doing, but has caused Israelis to fight back in a fairly united manner. This also makes a good point but does not go far enough. We need to see just how severe the threat is (destroying Israel, getting rid of human rights for Middle Eastern Jews, and so on) to appreciate what Israelis are up against and to see if the strategy of peaceful political mobilization would have much chance. But Ignatieff does not get into this either.
The author discusses the terrorist argument that "the weak must have the right to fight dirty; otherwise the strong will always win." Of course, this is nonsense. The strong can't possibly win a fight to oppress others in a fair world without using violence. And even if the strong do use violence against those who fight "clean," they will lose their share of wars. Ignatieff did not think about this enough.
At one point, Ignatieff says there are six kinds of terrorism!
1) Terror aimed at the overthrow of a state
2) Terror aimed at the promotion of a single cause
3) Terror aimed at the overthrow of a colonial regime
4) Separatist terror
5) Anti-occupation terror
6) Terror against a global power
He later adds nihilistic terrorism as pretty much a separate category. But I am not sure I like these categories very much. The Ku Klux Klan, while it might get put into one of these groups (say 2 or 4), is simply a racist terrorist organization. It should be described as such, but the author ignores it. The Stern Gang, an organization Ignatieff alludes to, certainly could be put in almost any of these categories, but in fact its most important goal was to get immigration permits for Jews! That's basically a group that wanted to obtain a specific human right; to lump it with all sorts of other "causes" is not very helpful.
Ignatieff says it is possible to justify armed struggle in defense of self-determination only if the group's just claims have been met by violence, if the refusal to meet the claims is systematic, enduring, and unlikely to change, if the claims are fundamental to the survival of the group, and if the struggle observes the laws of war and the rule of civilian immunity. I'm not so sure I agree. By the way, I think Israel's claim to self-determination comes pretty close to meeting these requirements. Yes, as the author says, there were (pre-state) incidents such as the King David hotel and Deir Yassin, but I think these may well meet these criteria as well. Perhaps we ought to call the Irgun members "freedom fighters," not terrorists. By the way, Ignatieff comes up with a truly silly statement about Arab and Israeli claims to land being equal. That is nonsense. Arab land is Arab. Israeli land is Israeli. Disputed land is disputed. In none of these regions are all claims equivalent, morally or otherwise.
Now, is terrorism often directed not only at an oppressor but at one's own people? Does it spur others to join you? Can it get others to attack one's whole society, forcing some neutrals to side with you? Does it involve a war against "collaborators" in one's society who oppose you, and does it suppress political dissent in your own population? Yes, and Ignatieff says so. Should one negotiate with terrorists (or with supposedly peaceful supporters of terrorist goals)? Are there really serious differences between freedom fighters and terrorists? The author discusses these questions as well.
This is an interesting book, but I think it needs considerably more thought and work.
Time will tell.......2005-04-19
Michael Ignatieff is a Canadian academic currently working at Harvard in the US. Among his past claims to fame were an argument in favour of Canada participating in the US-led attack on Iraq (on the pretext of its possession of weapons of mass destruction), and, more recently, an argument in favour of Canada's participation in North American anti-ballistic missile defence (on the scientifically-unfounded pretext that it is feasible). His track record on matters of life and death, and on the spending of billions of dollars, leaves a lot to be desired.
Similarly, in The Lesser Evil, Ignatieff is quick to come to the conclusion that we should be ready to sacrifice some of our civil liberties in order to combat terrorism. While young Canadians are to be expected to travel to the Middle East to get themselves slaughtered in the desert for a meaningless war, Canadians here at home are expected to surrender their hard-earned human rights to fight Canada's non-existent enemies.
Luckily for Canadians, we have other intellectuals, such as Naomi Klein and John Ralston Saul, for whom life and human rights are a lot more than the mere concepts they are for Mr. Ignatieff. Neither Canadians nor Europeans are buying into this Manichean, bloodthirsty discourse. The fact that the right-wing National Post is touting Mr. Ignatieff as prime ministerial material sums his views up as well as anything that could be written here.
Canadians who think that the current American government is leading that country to disaster, and who are interested in a more humane appraisal of the current situation which harbours some realistic hope for the future, should consult Jeremy Rifkin's The European Dream, and leave over-rated apologists such as Mr. Ignatieff to their ivory towers.
Excellent book.......2005-01-03
This is an excellent, short book that expertly tackles the problem of individual-rights based democracy versus majority-rights based democracy, and argues towards the existence of a middle ground that can assure a semblence of security without destroying the rule of law that a liberal democracy rests on.
The recognization that some suspensions are necessary, but that they MUST be regarded as 'lesser evils' is a compelling argument from this respected human rights scholar. The book convincingly lays forth its arguments, and critically dissects both the position of the civil libertarian and that of the security state.
It has certainly changed my outlook on the 'war on terror', and the parable of Ulysees is the most graphic image I retained from the book and is useful. Hopefully, leaders in the United States and other liberal democracies will read this book and take some of the lessons (arguments?) to heart.
Book Description
You hear the drumbeats every day: Anybody But Bush, Anybody But Bush. The rampage of the President and his gang of neo-cons and corporadoes is presented by many liberal powerbrokers as a uniquely evil experience in the history of the American republic. Bush is cast as Hitler, and it becomes a moral imperative for progressives to rally behind any Democrat, because in comparison to an American Hitler, all challengers must be benign. Right?-Wrong.
Dime's Worth of Difference shatters these myths once and for all. A must-read in this election year, it's the new collection edited by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair, editors of the hugely popular radical website CounterPunch.org and the investigative newsletter CounterPunch.
From judicial nominees to the environmental pillage, economic policy to health care, military aggression to civil liberties, the Democrats and Republicans have acted as a two-headed beast, pursuing the same policies, often underwritten by the same financial sponsors. Both parties insist that there are real differences that divide them. But after 12 years of Clinton/Bush, those differences are harder than ever to detect. Only the rhetoric, backed by scare tactics, remains. In Dime's Worth of Difference, Cockburn and St. Clair, and a team of CounterPunch writers, blow away the rhetorical smog that has polluted our politics for the last few decades.
Dime's Worth of Difference shows, for all who dare look, that the fake choice of the lesser of two evils still leaves you with evil. It doesn't matter which door you chose. This timely book calls on progressives to begin a new movement outside the death-embrace of the Democratic Party.
Nationally syndicated journalists
Alexander Cockburn and
Jeffrey St. Clair have co-authored numerous best--sellers, including Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs and The Press, Washington Babylon and Al Gore: A User's Manual.
Customer Reviews:
The perfect response to the smugness of right-wing Democrat neoliberal liberals.......2007-01-15
Like the Tories and the Labour Party in England or the Meretz and Likud parties in Israel, the Democrats and the Republicans represent two sides of the same coin. It's an old cliche, I know, but ever so true. For anyone needing to be convinced of this arguement, just pick up this small and informative book. From gay rights to the environment, from free trade to the military industrial complex, both parties pursue identical agendas. The only difference is that the Republican party is at least upfront about its pro-corporate, homophobic, racist objectives, whereas the Democratic party tries to decieve its constituents with lip service about human rights and other lofty goals. For example, while the Democratic party is often marketed as the party for peace and economic justice, what did eight years of the Clinton regime give the world? They gave us the WTO, Plan Colombia, war in the Balkans, economic sanctions against Iraq, etc., etc., etc. Instead of wasting our time, money and energy on the Democratic party, Cockburn and the other brilliant authors in this excellent anthology wisely argue that progressive activists should concentrate on building grassroots, egalitarian, participatory movements from below. Though written as a response to the 2004 presidential elections, this is still a vital and relevant book.
Destroys Cynica, Liberal, & Anti-War varieties of "Lesser Evilism".......2006-11-15
Dime's Worth of Difference: Beyond the Lesser of Two Evils, edited Jeffrey St. Clair and Alexander Cockburn of CounterPunch, makes the case against the Anybody-But-Bush mania that dominated the 2004 election.
It deserves a place alongside Hal Draper's article "Who's Going to Be the Lesser Evil in 1968?" written almost 40 years ago, but a classic socialist statement about the politics of lesser evilism.
To consider alternative progressive directions its useful to read Independent Politics: The Green Party Strategy Debate, edited by Howie Hawkins, a collection of articles discussing the issue of how an independent alternative to the Democrats and Republicans needs to be built.
The Perfect Gift for Know-It-Alls.......2006-05-30
If you have a friend who thinks there's a vast gulf between Democrats and Republicans, you need to hand him or her a copy of this book.
I received this as part of the Friends of AK Press deal (something everyone should take part in), and I couldn't be happier. It confirmed everything I always thought about the two parties. That being: Beyond basic stances that don't really amount to much at all, there is little difference between Democrats and Republicans. Both parties are money-hungry, status quo protectors who are as hypocritical as they are spoiled. The proof isn't in the pudding. It's on the page. Essay after essay of proof, actually.
So give your friend this book and then check back with him or her in a week or so. If they don't get it after reading it, they never will.
Instructive look at how both parties suck .......2005-09-02
Jeff Taylor points out the mediocre record in the senate of Paul Wellstone, the senate's supposed leading raging liberal, and notes the rather surreal reaction of a Human Rights Campaign official after Wellstone voted for the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. Michael Donnely has a chapter on Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, the timber industry's biggest recipient of campaign cash besides President Bush, who helped push through destruction of thousands of acres of Old Growth forests (which are most resistant to forest fires) in Oregon with Clinton's so called Healthy Forest initiative. Josh Frank discusses Montana's Democratic Senator Max Baucus.
Jeffery St. Clair writes about the Democrats energy policy. Clinton opened the National Petroleum Reserve up in Alaska, an area much more significant than ANWAR. In 1996, he ordered that oil exploited on Alaska's North Slope could be exported. This reduction of supply for the U.S. helped drive up energy prices in the Midwest. Oil drilling was begun with Clinton's support all around the coast of Alaska. Under Secretary of Interior for Energy David Hayes bragged to Congress, about the vast increases Clinton supported in drilling for oil and gas on public lands. St. Clair notes that Bush's recently departed deputy Interior secretary Stephen Griles got into some trouble after he broke out in rage at an EPA report which stated that exploitation of Coal Methane deposits at the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Colorado, would greatly harm drinking water supplies.. The companies pushing for this project all formerly employed Griles as a lobbyist.
St. Clair notes that Ralph Cavanaugh of the National Resources Defense Council testified on behalf of Enron's effort to gain control of the public utility in Oregon, Portland GE. . Contrary to Cavanaugh's predictions, rates rose very high, the Enron execs bilked the ratepayers of tens of millions. Cavanaugh similarly lobbied for deregulation of utilities in California. In this new situation power grades deteriorated and of course, companies led by Enron, decided to turn off their readily available supply of electricity in order to gauge Californians. Ralph Cavanaugh was given an award by Teresa Heinz Kerry's foundation, on which Ken Lay sat, for his work in "free market environmentalism." Cheney used the resulting high energy prices to push for opening ANWAR to give his oil cronies even more short term profit but that would only have the effect of reducing gas prices by a few cents for a short period.
Cockburn and St. Clair note that at the height of the so-called Clinton boom, real wages were still ten percent below the level of the Nixon-Ford years. In 1996 the Congressional Budget office reported that there were three to five people needing work for each available job. Currently, in Bush's America, the ratio is about ten to one. In a University of Chicago study in 1998, at a McDonalds in Harlem, there was found an average of fourteen people applying for each available job. 73 percent of those seekers still had been unable to find even minimum wage work a year later. The official unemployment rate dosen't count people who have stopped looking for work, which makes the real rate at least twice as high. The minimum wage is well below the poverty level. The workforce is dominated by low paying temp and service jobs. The Democrats helped launch the deregulatory initiatives which led to such criminal activities as by Enron and stock speculators vastly over inflating the market. Cockburn quotes Robert Pollin that a way to dramatically reduce poverty would be to empower unions in this country and try to stop the U.S. from forcing neoliberalism on third world countries. The CEO to worker pay ratio rose from 113 to 1 in the early 90's to 449 to 1 in 2001.
Bruce Anderson writes about Mendocino County Northern California, long controlled by Democrats. The county is represented in Congress by Mike Thompson. The wine industry dominates the county and Thompson is a very reliable front for them. He has fought against efforts to ban the herbicide Ethyl Bromide. Many workers in the grape fields, mostly Chicano immigrants, in the county have died from the effects of such things. An effort by the county to ban aerial spraying at one point was overturned by Democrats in Sacramento
St. Clair has yet another essay, this one on Marc Racicot, who was governor of Montana and later chairman of the Bush re-election campaign and the RNC. As governor Racicot implemented electricity deregulation which caused Montana ratepayers to go from paying the lowest rates to the highest rates in the Nation. He privatized Montana's mental health system with 400 million dollars of the taxpayer's money but by two years later, many hospitals were failed and mentally ill people out on the streets. He gave out contracts to his corporate cronies including in the prison building industry in spite of Montana having a surplus of prison cells. He successfully pushed for an exemption for open pit mine operators to not have to clean up the toxic debris they let out. He sold off to his corporate cronies forest and parkland to build shopping centers.
Sean Donahue has an article about the aerial spraying program against cocoa plants in Colombia, which was overseen at the state department during the Clinton and most of the first Bush administration by Randy Beers. Beers left Bush to become a consultant to the Kerry campaign. The cocoa farmers are people who cannot making a living growing legal crops. They are taxed by the left wing guerillas, the FARC. These people don't make much money from producing cocoa but the processors and exporters do. The latter are supported by right wing death squads, supported by the U.S. funded Colombian military. These death squads play a useful role in driving peasants off the land so mining, ranching, oil exploration and other operations can take over, and killing peasant and union activists. The herbicide contains a chemical which kills all green plants, legal or illegal, that it touches and has wiped out the legal crops of many peasants. Peasants complain of many ailments like rashes, respiratory problems. and temporary problems Donohue quotes one woman who was living on a government subsidized Yucca growing co-op farm which was destroyed by the spraying.. This woman told Donahue that she had lost all her assets in the farm and only had the choice of going to the big city to beg, but death squads controlled the exit to the city and they had already killed her brothers.
"Something was very rotten".......2005-01-17
"A Dime's Worth of Difference: Beyond the Lesser of Two Evils" edited by Counterpunch writers Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair is an excellent collection of 23 essays focusing on "the decay of the American political system." With such topics as the presidential elections, Clinton, Karl Rove, John McCain, Jesse Jackson, the defense budget, and the so-called 'War on Drugs', the essays systematically strip away the notions that there's much to choose from between the two political parties--the Democrats and the Republicans. Editor and essay contributor, Alexander Cockburn wonders exactly why there's so much fuss over the elections, and why elections "rouse expectations far in excess of what they actually deserve."
"A Dime's Worth of Difference" was published prior to the November election, and some Americans still imagined that John Kerry had a snowball's chance in Hades to win the presidency. But according to the authors, "on the calendar of standard-issue American politics" there's a "relentlessly shrinking menu." The 2004 election came down to the selection of a "lesser of two evils", and this is more a sad comment on the political process in the country than the glittering ratification the 'winning' administration seems to imagine it deserves.
There's something to offend just about everyone in this collection--the right, the left, and the stuck-in-the-middles. Here we read about the candidates for the 2004 election--Bush, the man whose "genes and education turned into a Mendelian stew of all that's worst and most vulgar" and Kerry "who offers himself up mainly as a more competent manager of the Bush agenda." Other essays examine Clinton's presidency, the relationship between the government and the oil industry, & poverty in America. One fascinating section of a co-written essay "War on the Poor" from Cockburn and St Clair examines the role of Dick Morris and the ratings mania during Clinton's presidency emanating from the "neuro-psychological profile" of the typical American voter. Another essay tackles the formidable Karl Rove. One of Rove's nicknames may be "turdblossom", but it's clear he's a fierce adversary with "the intuitive facility for adducing that single, simple idea that would win the most people to your side."
Contributor Josh Frank's essay, "The Slick Swindler: Senator Max Baucus"(D-Montana) is a very personal account of the gradual disillusionment experienced by the author, a Montana resident. Other essays explore the friendships between odd couples, such as Senator John McCain and S&L "fraudster" Charles Keating, and DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe and IBEW pension fund (or 'How to Invest $100 and make 2.45 Million'). In addition, Marc Racicot (R-former gov. of Montana), Paul Wellstone (D-Minnesota), Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania), Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) are all subjects of scrutiny and analysis.
Special mention for Cockburn and St Clair's illuminating essay, "Bipartisan Origins of the War on Drugs." This essay examines the government's attitude and policies since the 50s towards the trade of illegal narcotics. The authors cite the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act which passed 29 new minimum mandatory sentences, creating a minimum sentence of 5 years in the federal pen for possession of 5 grams of crack--while there is no mandatory sentence for powdered cocaine under 500 grams. This, according to the authors, creates a "100:1 sentencing ratio" between crack and cocaine. Well so much for the 'war' on drugs. The essay finishes with a nice statistical breakdown of the racial breakdown of those in prison for drugs. There's a lot of information packed into slightly less than 300 pages, and an index in the back helps keep track of it all. For those seeking enlightenment, this essay collection is recommended--displacedhuman
Book Description
This final volume of Victor Klemperer’s diaries opens in 1945. After the horrors of the war, Victor and Eva’s return to their Dresden home seems like a fairytale. Victor tries to resume his distinguished academic career and joins East Germany’s Communist Party. In 1951, Eva dies; a year later, aged 70, Victor marries a student—an unlikely but successful love match. But with the growing repression of the Communist Party, and the memory of those who did not survive, Victor’s achievements ring hollow. Politics, he comes to believe, is, above all, the choice of “the lesser evil.” A masterpiece both of Holocaust literature and memoir.
Book Description
SINS PAST
Chaos erupts aboard Deep Space 9 ™ as the crew begins a desperate search for a killer in their midst, catapulting Colonel Kira Nerys on a dangerous chase into the heart of the Federation. But the crime she seeks to avenge is part of a plot more ancient and far-reaching than anyone suspects, and that secret, if exposed, could divide worlds throughout the Alpha Quadrant.
Meanwhile, as the Starship Defiant makes its way back toward the wormhole and home to DS9, a startling discovery shakes Commander Elias Vaughn to his core and brings to light the truth behind the most tragic mission of his long life. As the crew struggles with the implications of what they?ve found, their captain?s judgment comes into question...and casts doubt on the final outcome of their historic voyage through the Gamma Quadrant.
LESSER EVIL
Customer Reviews:
Some spoilers.......2006-03-03
I thought the story was good and certainly advanced much of the stories going on. The only problem with it, was it seemed rushed. When I picked this book up at the library, the first thing I noticed was how thin it was compared to all the others in the re-launch; or even most Star Trek books in general, for that matter. Some books can be said to just be spinning their wheels just to fill the pages; but this one, I think, could have stood a little more time developing and expanding on some of the stories. In particular, the Defiant encountering the Borg, could have been more of an issue. I found the fact that the only Borg still alive, even if only barely, was Prynn's mother a bit contrived. When Vaughn admitted that it was too much of a coincidence, and was going to confront whoever was behind it; I thought there was going to be a more richer plot twist than him confronting his daughter and her admitting to having been looking for her and her unique transponder all these years. I would have thought it better if it turned out to be more insidious and that the Borg wanted the Defiant to find her; however that plot would have played out.
I found the paresite story interesting, especially it's connection to Trill. I always wonder what brainchild on their planet actually experimented with putting a cave dwelling slug (for all intents and purposes) into their abdomen, only to discover it was a merging of minds. Now I kind of wonder if the paresites taking over a host might have been a precursor and how all of that might have played out. In retrospect, alot of it adds up; especially Dax's sequence near the end of Cathedral and it's big scary monster. But there seemed to me, the execution and reveal of that tidbit was off somehow. Maybe the fact that it was used more as a shocking twist than a information disseminated through out the books. Peppering more and more, (at least, more than they did) might have made that aspect of the story better, somehow.
Still enjoyed it and the whole series though. I guess I'm just dissappointed this particular book ended so quickly.
the plot thickens.......2005-02-16
This is the last of the mission gamma books but only the beginning of some very interesting ramifications and story lines. The book is rather short (266 pages) but is by no means shallow and simple.
Mission Gamma book four ties in excellently with what happened at the end of book three of the Mission Gamma series. What happened at the end of book three was puzzling but now we know why there was an assassination and who did it makes sense as well. The whole plot doesn't stop there however. The assassination and its ramifications could very well lead to a planetary war.
Meanwhile, on the Defiant the crew stumbles on a startling discovery and run into three unexpected visitors two of whom are very well known.
Back on earth, O'brian makes a surprise visit to Joseph Sisko and we meet Benjamen's sister for the first time.
Just one problem I have is that the cover of this book is somewhat misleading. The women in the foreground is Ro Laren Chief of security of Deep Space Nine. Behind Ro to her right is Kassidy Yates, Captiain Sisko's wife who is now living on Bajor. The other black woman behind Ro is unknown. Since she's wearing a Starfleet uniform I'm assuming she's the station's acting counselor who filled Dax's position while she went on the Gamma Mission. The Jemhadar behind this unknown woman is taranatar who is on a mission of peace to observe humanity. With the exception on Ro Lauren, none of these people play a significant part of the story.
The Mission Gamma series ends...oh, did it really end?.......2004-08-27
Robert Simpson's Lesser Evil brings Deep Space Nine's "Mission Gamma" miniseries to a close, in a sense, but unfortunately it's more like a placeholder for the hardcover Unity then it is a culmination of the story itself. The book is incredibly short (the previous three books clocked in at over 400 pages while Lesser Evil is a measly 266. It continues the Bajoran political story and has a minor story that ties the entire Gamma Quadrant story together in a rather perfunctory fashion. I was mildly disappointed with it.
Simpson packs a lot into a very tiny package, and I think it suffers for it a bit. The Borg storyline feels incredibly simple, and while I enjoyed reading about Vaughn and his daughter's reaction to what they find, it all seemed to end almost as soon as it began. The situation down on the planet where they find the Borg is over quickly and it seems like it was there only to set up the conclusion of the book that leads into Rising Son. It's certainly not that interesting by itself. The only thing that saves this story at all is the strong characterization of Vaughn and finding out more about why he came to Deep Space Nine and the orb vision that sparked his decision. While we have known that the conflict with his daughter was because of what happened to his wife, we never knew exactly what did happen to her. That was neat to see. I just think it called for a bit more story than we actually received.
Once again, the Bajoran story is the highlight of the book. We finally learn the secret behind what's been happening for the last three books, and it's a doozy. Of course, as I've said, I already knew it, but I didn't know the details. When I discovered them, it was still a bit of a shock. The sequence where Kira has to try and regain control of the ship is riveting, and it's full of even more twists and turns. In hindsight, one of the twists is obvious, but I admit that I was fooled. Unfortunately, the climax of this story (or should I say this part of the story, since it does continue in Unity) reads very much like the concluding scene of the episode that introduced this villain (and I won't say which one as that will, obviously reveal who it is). It would have been nice to see a little more originality. Thankfully, Simpson nails Kira's characterization, and he also does a good job with the crew of the Gryphon. Kira shows the battle smarts that got her through the Occupation when she has to come up with a way to keep the other ships on her side from firing on them. It makes wonderful use of continuity and it's little dashes like this that give me hope for the Star Trek books.
The main problem with the book is that it just seems to be treading water waiting for the first hardcover of the new Deep Space Nine series. At the end of Cathedral, the whole Joseph Sisko problem was introduced, and this story spends a lot of time with him as he's slowly coming to terms with what's happened to his son and grandson. It brings back some familiar faces, which is nice, and the story is very sweet. The characterization of Joseph is great, as is the characterization of the guests. So while it gave me a pleasurable feeling, I couldn't help the feeling that it was all just included to get Joseph to Deep Space Nine for Unity.
Thus, the "Mission Gamma" series comes to an end, not with a blast, but with a "to be continued." However, the series itself can still be judged, as the Gamma Quadrant portion of the story is over. Ultimately, I found the Gamma Quadrant stories to be weaker in all four books. Some of that may be my interest in Bajoran politics taking precedence, but I think part of it is also my feeling that the stories just weren't that substantial. I realize that the exploration of the Gamma Quadrant was to be more of an exploration of the characters who went on the mission, but does that mean that we couldn't be given any interesting external elements? The only interesting species were the Yrythny in This Gray Spirit, and we weren't given any good characters within that species to really make us sit up and take notice.
The series itself was quite good, just not as good as it could have been, saved by the Bajoran political angle. Unfortunately, Lesser Evil ends the series on a bit of a fizzle, forcing us to look to the intriguing Unity to bring it out of its doldrums.
David Roy
Good Conclusion to ST: DS9 Mission Gamma series.......2003-12-29
After being hooked by the second and third installments in this series, I was determined to read "Lesser Evil", the concluding installment. Although it is not nearly as densely written as the previous books, it does have its own share of surprises. Commander Elias Vaughn and the crew of USS Defiant stumble upon the wreckage of a Dominion warship and its pursuer, bringing back unexpected memories of a disastrous mission led by Vaughn years before. Colonel Kira Nerys resumes her Starfleet commission, joining forces with Starfleet in search of a cloaked ship and a Trill assassin heading back to his homeworld. Or does he? The search leads to the discovery of a conspiracy first unmasked by Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the USS Enterprise years before. And Lieutenant Ro Laren must come to grips with the assassination of one of Bajor's most important politicians during the ceremony celebrating Bajor's admission into the United Federation of Planets. Last, but not least, in a surprising conclusion, one of the major characters from "Star Trek Deep Space Nine" returns, bringing with him an exiled Bajoran religious leader.
Why in such a durned HURRY?.......2003-08-10
The first three books in this series were superb, especially Book Two, MISSION GAMMA: THIS GRAY SPIRIT, by writing neophyte Heather Jarman (more! more!). Book Four seemed to have been written on the back of old scratch pads on a commuter train, as if the author couldn't wait to end it. The story moves along, but moves far too fast. There was little character development, and what little there was tended to be sketchily drawn or reflect negatively on characters like Vaughn.
And God forbid, they brought the Borg back in to assimilate what might otherwise have been a good novel. Haven't they learned? The Borg were the most snoring-boring of all Star Trek villains, among whom only Hugh on TNG and those semi-Borgs on VOYAGER remain somewhat interesting. I couldn't stand "Seven of Nine" and never again watched Voyager after Kes departed. The "Borg Queen" in the Star Trek movie FIRST CONTACT was downright embarrassing, the concept unworthy of intelligent life. As for Picard as a temporary Borg, give me TNG's THE INNER LIGHT any old time. The only good thing ever to result from the Borg was actress Alfre Woodard's comment in FIRST CONTACT: "Borg? Sounds Swedish." It cracked up the theater audience, including me.
Unfortunately there's nothing as impressive as that quip in this novel. The author's credentials are not given, and I am hoping he decides not to write any more DS9 novels.
Book Description
All your favorite sword and sorcery cliches are lampooned in this latest action-packed tale starring Lina and Naga! We All Get Crazy Sometimes, but Lina and Naga are NUTS. They're especially batty about treasure and they're positively bananas for a good meal. Join the maddest sorceresses this side of Middle Earth as they meet teachers, beach bunnies, suitors and thieves.
Customer Reviews:
Delightfully Silly addition to Slayers.......2004-01-19
This book contains the Slayers Special micro-episodes 15-21. Other than the last episode being a bit forced with the pseudo-introduction of Amelia, the writing is well above-par for Lina and Naga (with a delightful Pink Floyd reference at the end of episode 18, ta'boot). It's properly formatted manga -- that is, backwards, but you'll get used to it -- and the artwork is generally much better than the misformatted "Slayers -- Super Explosive..." series (which was the basis for the TV series and therefore a bit boring to those of us who know the series).
So if you like to read enjoyably silly manga, this is certainly a worthy addition to the Slayers franchise.
Product Description
Publisher: Edition: first
Average customer rating:
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Cthulhu for President 1996: Why Settle for the Lesser Evil?
Shannon Appel ,
Les Brooks , and
Paul Lidberg
Manufacturer: Chaosium
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1568820674 |
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Melisan: a bustling trade center. In the city of steadfast people mounting disappearances and seemingly endless robberies have spawned paranoia and mistrust. Evil's Lesser Minions is a 1st level, d20 module for four to six players. Players pursue multiple leads, finding the town beset by robberies, disappearances, and back alley monsters. Seemingly unconnected leads blend together and draw the characters down to a multiple level dungeon occupied by the lesser minions of evil.
Books:
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- The Road
- The Road Not Taken and Other Poems (Dover Thrift Editions)
- The Road to Disunion: Volume I: Secessionists at Bay, 1776-1854 (Road to Disunion Vol. 1)
- The Road to Disunion, Volume II: Secessionists Triumphant 1854-1861
- The Sandman Book of Dreams
- The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero
- The Seven Hills of Rome: A Geological Tour of the Eternal City
Books Index
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