Warchild (Star Trek Deep Space Nine, No 7) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)"Warchild" is surprisingly good, not because of the author (Ms. Friesner is well known and I've always enjoyed her work in the past), but because of the subject matter. When I saw this book in the bookstore way back when it was originally published, I passed because it was dealing with the Bajorans, and at the time, I just didn't care about that.
However, after watching all seven seasons of DS9 and getting a better flavor for the Bajorans (and gaining more interest in them), I tried this novel, and was very pleasantly surprised. Ms. Friesner obviously "got" the Bajorans far sooner than I did, and wrote an excellent novel that combines elements of faith, philosophy and morality (along with the SFDS9 mythos) with adventure and gets more than the sum of its parts.
The quick synopsis here is, the Bajorans are in trouble (this book is between seasons one and two) due to how much the Cardassians nearly ruined Bajor before they were driven off. The Cardassians basically raped the world, and many of the people who've returned to Bajor from the refugee camps (or who never left) are tired, hungry, footsore and shellshocked.
They need a sign that things will improve, and the Provisional Government isn't giving them one.
Into this mix comes a message from the missing Kai Opaka -- one she wrote long years before -- about a child being the key to uniting Bajor again. Someone has to go after the child, but of course no one knows who she is (they do know the child needed is female), and the various religious factions are already fighting over the privilege of finding her (and some don't want the child found, too, making everything worse). Which is why a Bajoran monk goes to Commander Sisko and asks for help . . . .
Does he get the help? Of course, but it doesn't go quite as expected (if you're a fan of DS9, you're probably used to that by now) and there's lots of interested byplay between the various children and the officers, as well as some fun scenes between Jake, Nog and one of the Bajoran kids, Cedra. Ms. Friesner also managed to cram in a very credible, though understated, romance for Julian Bashir, not an easy task.
So, it's a coming of age story for Bashir, an adventure story, a mystery, and a race against time. Very good work.
Four stars, recommended.
Barb Caffrey
P.S. If you like this, you may enjoy Sandy Schofield's "The Big Game" and/or Daffyd ab Hugh's "Fallen Heroes," both also excellent stories.

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A message left by the Kai Opaka gives Commander Benjamin Siskso a fateful mission. Find a young Bajouran girl destined to be a great healer who could bring together the warring factions of Bajor. While Lt Dax tries to find the healer, Dr Bashir goes planetside to treat a rare killer disease.

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