Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Too Long a Sacrifice

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Too Long a Sacrifice is a four-issue miniseries from IDW Publishing. Published in 2020, the series is written by Scott and David Tipton, with art from Greg Scott. The miniseries is IDW's second Star Trek: Deep Space Nine release, following Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Fool's Gold.

Summary[]

The story is set during the Dominion War and is a noir-type story. David Tipton commented: "Set during the most difficult hours of the Dominion War, Too Long a Sacrifice shows the station during trying times: a series of mysterious and seemingly unsolvable terrorist attacks just as the war has everyone strained to the breaking point. We'll get to see the darker side of life on the station as Odo leads the investigation, with increasingly desperate conditions forcing him and others to deal with new and unexpected allies and to use unusual tactics in their efforts to stop the attacks". [1]

Background information[]

Trivia[]

• The title is from a poem by Yeats: "Too long a sacrifice can make a stone of the heart".
• A stardate given in the first issue places the series in the sixth season, between "One Little Ship" and "Honor Among Thieves". However, a reference to the Battle of Betazed in issue 3 would place the series later in the sixth season, after "In the Pale Moonlight".
• This series was originally due to begin publishing in April 2020 but was delayed to July 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Writing process[]

• The Tiptons had earlier written Fool's Gold. Scott Tipton commented: "We're so excited to return to the world of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. With its 'frontier setting' and precarious place in the galaxy, Deep Space Nine offers the opportunity to tell truly unique tales of intrigue and suspense. Combine that with one of the best character ensembles ever assembled, and you get something no other Star Trek series can offer". [2]
• Chase Marotz commented: "Deep Space Nine is one of the Star Trek series that I've been the most eager for IDW to dive into in comics form, so to be at the helm for the first series in over a decade is a dream come true. I've worked with David and Scott Tipton on several amazing Star Trek books and know that they're going to deliver a story that the fans will love, and it's exciting to finally be able to work with Greg Scott. I'm a big fan of his style and I think we're poised to create a Star Trek book that's going to both surprise and delight." [3]
• David Tipton commented that the series "was conceived as a story with two points of particular interest: One, a closer look at the 'behind the scenes' aspect of Deep Space Nine (the ongoing underground trade and business that stays in the shadows, along with the station's darker history dating back to the Cardassian occupation of Bajor), and two, a look at how the station would handle a series of seemingly unstoppable crimes. Odo is naturally the nexus for these themes: he has a long and unique history with the station and knows it better than perhaps anyone. Odo's voice is an unusual one: he often communicates with grunts or short expressions, and we've enjoyed conveying that in this story. Often in Star Trek, it's the outsider characters who are the most popular, be it Spock or Data or in the case of DS9, Constable Odo. There's something so compelling about looking at the Human condition through the eyes of someone who can never truly understand it, but who finds themselves longing to. Combine that with René Auberjonois' unmistakable voice and distinctively gruff inflections, and it's no wonder that Odo is for so many the standout character of the series." [4]
• The Tiptons commented on Bashir and Garak's depiction in the series: "I've always liked the friendship between Bashir and Garak on DS9, and that was something we definitely wanted to touch on when we knew we were coming back. I always liked that mixture of the genuine affection Garak seemed to have for Bashir, along with the sense that Garak always knew more than he was telling you... One of Garak's favorite rhetorical tricks is to ask a question even though he already knows the answer so he can draw out even more information. Here he does that, then he hints he knows even more, and finally he backpedals, keeping Bashir in the dark. Garak's use of words is precise and strategic even though it's often couched in obsequiously friendly tones. It's more likely than not that had this conversation continued, Garak would have walked away with some helpful new nuggets of information about the war, while Bashir would have learned nothing new (except those few scraps Garak chose to divulge)." [5]

Reception[]

• A reviewer wrote: "On some level, Too Long a Sacrifice is a rewarding read simply because it's nice to see some new Deep Space Nine comics on the shelves again, but once you get past the joy of that fact and get into the meat of the story, the new series reveals itself to be more than just a welcome return to a particular franchise. This "space noir" series from writers Scott and David Tipton and artist Greg Scott reads as both a wonderful DS9 episode that we never got to watch and an expansive look at the station the unfolds in ways that only a comic book can. The series kicks off with a bombing aboard the title station in the midst of the Dominion War, and then takes the form of an investigative thriller, as Constable Odo begins interviewing suspects, witnesses, and other interested parties to try to get to the bottom of what happened. Issue #2 picks up just as Odo's investigation gets a lot more complicated, and by the time the issue is over it's all more complicated still as various factions weigh in on the mystery and more chaos envelops the station. The biggest challenge with a story like this is, of course, making it feel like it's still DS9 even if it's not beaming out from your television, and there the creative team succeeds from the first page without missing a beat. Odo in particular feels wonderfully realized, as do characters like Worf, Quark, and Dr. Bashir, and on some level the book's clear grasp of character just delivers the feeling of checking in on old friends in a very pleasant way. Then Scott's art, and the Tiptons' script, pushes things into new territory, really playing up the "noir" part of "space noir" and taking advantages of all the storytelling conventions comics offer that television does not. The result is a compelling, delightful read that feels like a perfect companion to the TV series without ever feeling like it's trying to copy it". [6]

Creators[]

Issues[]

• "Too Long a Sacrifice, Issue 1"
• "Too Long a Sacrifice, Issue 2"
• "Too Long a Sacrifice, Issue 3"
• "Too Long a Sacrifice, Issue 4"
• Omnibus

Characters[]

Canon characters listed below are linked to the main article about them. Non-canon characters are not linked, but those that recurred, appearing or being mentioned in more than one story, are defined further in IDW DS9 characters.

• Benjamin Sisko
• Kira Nerys
• Odo

External link[]

Too Long a Sacrifice at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works