I just finished “The 34th Rule” by Armin Shimerman and David R. George III, after spending quite a while working my way through it. Shimerman was the actor who brought the main character, Quark, to life on the TV show, “Star Trek: Deep Space 9”.

Overall, it was ok. Not a great novel but not a terrible one.

Quark, of course, is the main character in “The 34th Rule,” so it mostly follows him. The background is the Ferengi Grand Nagus, Zek, has acquired one of the Bajoran Orbs of the Prophets, rare, mystical items that are a major part of the Bajorans’ religion. Zek wants to sell it to the highest bidder, while the Bajorans feel that it’s rightfully their’s.

When Zek holds round 1 of an auction, the Bajorans’ bid isn’t good enough and he doesn’t allow them to participate in round 2, angering the Bajorans, of course. That sets in motion lots of political maneuvering and leads to a war. Quark and his brother Rom spend much of the novel in prison on Bajor, caught in the middle of it, and it’s up to Captain Sisko to try and repair the whole situation…

Being completely nonreligious, I was mostly unmoved by the Bajoran side of things.

The end of the novel sort of fizzled out…. With the real world Quark being one of the authors, you’d expect him to be more heroic towards the conclusion, but it didn’t turn out that way by the final chapters, which was disappointing. And there’s some hints that one of the other Ferengi who was imprisoned with Quark had deeper involvement, but then that didn’t end up going anywhere, either.

I was entertained on some weekend afternoons by the book, but that’s about it. ( )

Armin Shimerman and David R. George III’s novel, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The 34th Rule takes place during the fourth season of DS9 and puts the Ferengi Alliance at odds with the Bajoran Provisional Government. Following the events of the third season episode “Prophet Motive,” Grand Nagus Zek plans to auction off the Orb of the Prophets he purchased from the Cardiassians, who had looted it when they departed Bajor following the occupation. Bajor places a bid, but does not make it to the final round of the auction. The Provisional Government believes that they have a legal right to the Orb as it was looted from them, so they demand that the Nagus allow them to continue in the auction or they will bar all Ferengi from Bajoran space, including the wormhole. The Nagus refuses, the Bajoran Provisional Government expels the Ferengi, and Quark and his brother Rom find themselves in uncertain waters on Deep Space Nine. The Bajorans arrest them, but put them in an interment camp when the Ferengi blockade the Bajoran system, denying access to food, medicine, and other trade goods. In their plot, Shimerman and George drew inspiration from the U.S. government’s internment of Japanese and Japanese-Americans during World War II. Shimerman further used this novel to deepen the portrayal of the Ferengi, an effort he began in his role as Quark to counter their portrayal in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, “The Last Outpost.”

Shimerman portrays Captain Benjamin Sisko and others, both in Starfleet and the Bajorian militia, examining their motives. For example, Sisko discusses his reticence to do more to resist the Bajoran edict and questions if he is motivated by conscious or unconscious biases (pg. 113). Jake responds, “It’s only natural to draw inferences from the compilation of your life experiences. It’s only when somebody does that without thinking, or to adversely affect another person, that it’s a bad thing… The fact that you’re now questioning yourself about the Federation’s role – and your own role – in this affair between the Bajorans and the Ferengi is an indication of that” (pg. 114, further examples on pg. 360-361). The Ferengi themselves continue to serve as an example of the perils of capitalism. As Jake says, “As far as the Ferengi are concerned, I think it’s important for you to realize that it’s because you believe so deeply in your own philosophy – including the Federation Constitution, Starfleet regulations, and the Prime Directive – that it’s difficult for you to credit not only a foreign notion of right and wrong, but something that was previously considered wrong in Earth’s past. Capitalism and greed almost destroyed our world” (pg. 115). Shimerman and George’s novel thus gets to the very heart of the humanistic morality that underpins every entry in the Star Trek franchise. A worthy entry in the Deep Space Nine series of novels from one of the people who best knows the characters. ( )

Fans of DS9 are sure to love this audiobook read by Quark himself, Armin Shimerman. It is precisely what you think it is - a DS9 adventure focused on Quark. There is a little Bajoran politics thrown in for good measure. ( )

Good, but certainly not great. Entertaining. The personality of all the characters certainly matched those of the TV characters. Sort of unbelievable from the TV episodes dealing with the Ferengi. I had read somewhere that this is one of the best of all the Star Trek novels. If true, there is not a very high standard for Star Trek novels. On the other hand, the 34th Rule does compare favorably with the other Star Trek novels I have read.

I hated how Kira was portrayed in her interactions with Quark. She was a terrible bigot.

The interaction between Quark and Rom was nice. ( )