The events depicted over the course of the last several seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine took Star Trek where it had never gone before. A broad galactic war of unimaginable size, the Dominion War was a rich and fertile canvas that told the stories of the series' large and diverse cast of characters and how the war served as a crucible for each of them, as well as serving as a parable for life during wartime of any era.

The Dominion War enveloped the entire Star Trek universe of the 24th Century, and for all of the war's tales, epic and small, that we saw on the show, fans could only wonder how the war affected the planets, races and characters we didn't see on the show. "Tales of the Dominion War" fills in some of those gaps.

The short story collection is penned by some of the best Star Trek fiction writers working today; Greg Cox, Peter David, Keith R.A. de Candido, Michael Jan Friedman, Dave Galanter, Robert Greenberger, Heather Jarman & Jeffrey Lang, David Mack, Michael A. Martin & Andy Mangels, Josepha Sherman & Susan Schwartz, Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore and Howard Weinstein.

The book is marvelous in the way it broadens the scope of the Dominion War in some stories, and narrowing it down to the individual level in others. Whether it's the fate of the non-corporeal creature from the Original Series episode "Day of the Dove" or Lwaxana Troi's servant Mr. Homn, this collection, edited by de Candido, runs the gamut, drawing from a dazzling array of sources and perspectives.

This is also a great book for fans of the series and movies looking to get into the novels, with fine introductions to the book-only characters of the New Frontier and Starfleet Corps of Engineers series.

It's unusual for a book of short stories to have such an epic sweep, but this one does. With stories spanning the Alpha, Beta and Gamma Quadrants, from Spock's participation in Romulan political intrigue to Dr. McCoy's contribution to the war effort to life aboard the Klingon ship I.K.S. Pagh, to what was happening with Jean-Luc Picard and his crew aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise-E, this book has something for Star Trek fans of any era.

[Paul]