One thing I particularly enjoy about the earlier Star Trek books is the length. They seem to be shorter than the newer ones, or at least they read shorter. Technically, this one's nearly 300 pages, but the font is so large I got through it in less than two hours. There's not a lot of waffle here, is what I'm saying, and that makes this particular novelisation a good, fast-paced read. Pilot episodes always have a lot to do, of course, introducing all the different characters, and like the television episode, Emissary does it adequately, although the lion's share of attention goes to Sisko, which is fair enough. The rest of the characters get more basic sketches, but that's something that will round itself out in later novels, I expect.

Basically it's just a short, fun read. It reminded me of bits of the episode that I'd forgotten - it's been a while since I last rewatched the series - and it's making me want to go back and watch it again.