Star Trek: Deep Space Nine #27- A Stitch in Time by Andrew J. Robinson

Elim Garak is a tailor on the former Cardassian Station Terok Nor, now known as Deep Space Nine. But he was more than just the simple tailor he pretended to be. A former member of the Obsidian Order, he was exiled to the station after being disgraced. But he became friends with Julian Bashir, and served as confidant and gadfly to the extremely intelligent but nervous and flighty Doctor.

During the war with the Dominion, Cardassia joined on the side of the Dominion, but Garak couldn't support his people in the war. He reluctantly gave his aid to the Federation, breaking Cardassian codes, and wishing to return home once more. Now, we will learn more about the aftermath of the War and about Garak himself, and how he became the man he was, and how he was exiled to Deep Space Nine.

Garak was born in the service class. His father maintained the monuments in one section of the Cardassian Capital, and his mother was a servant to a man named Enabran Tain. While members of the Service Caste are not usually sent to the Bamarran Institute, Elim Garak was singled out for greatness and sent there.

The lessons he learned there had more to do with planning, battle and hiding. He also learned love, loss and betrayal... and victory. But after a single year at the school, he was pulled from it to become a member of the Obsidian Order, a spy. And he learned something more. He wasn't who he thought he was. He was the son of Enabran Tain. And his father, a brave and good man though he was, had married his mother to conceal her relationship with Tain, which could have led to both her death and that of Garak.

As we learn Garak's past, we also learn of his present, and the current state of Cardassia. Almost completely ruined by the Dominion War, Cardassia lies in ruins, and while most people are attempting to rebuild, political factions vie for a place in the new Cardassia. Will it return to the old ways of ruling, where the military and the spies ran the world, or will it take an example from the Federation and take a stab at Democracy ruling? And which side will Elim Garak support in their bid for power?

This was quite an amazing book. I was slowly drawn into the story. At the beginning, I didn't really care much about Garak as a character. He hadn't been all that important to me. But this book really brought the character to life and made me care about a Cardassian who was able to bypass the general wisdom of his people and make a new life after everything he'd ever worked for his entire life had been pulled out from under him.

Within the confines of the story, everything is believable, from his early life and time as a spy to his fall from grace and remaking of his life aboard Terok Nor/Deep Space Nine. While the parts of his early life are more of a character study than an actual story, the present day parts of the story show how Garak, the spy-turned-tailor, is necessary to the rebuilding of life on Cardassia and how even he may find redemption and lost love amidst the ruins of the Society he once fought to defend.

Read this book. Read it because you'll come to care about Garak. Read it because it takes the character from the show and shows you sides of him you have never seen or thought of before. And most importantly, read it because it will knock your socks off. And, one last little thing... the author who wrote this book is also the actor who played Garak on the series.