Date: 01 Dec 2011 23:45 Title: Trust and betrayal
Oh, that's harsh. So - I take it that it was exigent circumstances that forced the hit on Nadar, and that an arrest or trial or the like would and could never have happened? Just trying to understand the context as well as I can.
For such a controlled man to lash out and toss the mug was rather powerful, too.
Author's Response:
Nadar was spying his own crew and passing all information to the Dominion, while the Dominion ruled Cardassia. So there was no chance for any trial--he would be decorated by the Dominion for selling his own people to the Founders, if anything. So Jarol gave the order to get rid of him without a sign to be able to finally fight for Cardassia by Damar's side, instead of for the Dominion.
Gul Corak--whose fate you know from the other story--never hid his contempt for the Dominion and it was Nadar who informed the Dominion of Corak's hostility. He brought such a fate to his own gul in the name of loyalty to the Founders.
This story is a filler to "Shaping a Cardassian" story and probably much more clear when one knows all the details.
Karama felt betrayed on many levels, because he trusted Nadar and had never suspected that the Dominion mole was his best friend. The situation was mentioned in "The Shadow of the Order," when he learnt about Sabal's secret. Nadar's betrayal was the reason why Karama reacted so harshly to Sabal's secret. In that story you read a brief explanation, and here you have how it happened.
I hope that it wasn't too confusing, though, because the main focus was on Karama's feelings :)
[Report This]Date: 22 Oct 2010 15:21 Title: Trust and betrayal
Like other reviewers, I had to read this twice - more from being totally unfamiliar with the Dominion War and Cardassians than anything else. ;-)
Wow! Talk about betrayal and misplaced trust. It was wrenching, and so easy to identify with Karama's shock, grief, pain, anger, etc. Well done!
Author's Response:
Karama didn't have luck when choosing Nadar as his friend and almost paid with his life for that mistake. He probably didn't know if to grieve death of his friend or be happy that the traitor was uncovered.
Thank you for reading :)
Date: 19 Oct 2010 13:57 Title: Trust and betrayal
Interesting piece. You have to feel for Karama. I think this is one of those pieces that needs to be read a couple of times. The first time I read it, like MF, I had expected much more emotion than we got on the page. I like to see inside a character's mind and see emotional descriptive words much more than a lot of other people, so the first time through, this fell a little flat for me. But reading it a second time and knowing what happened in advance made it easier for me to fill in the blanks and feel the emotion right along with Karama.
I think this piece works best if you really actively put yourself in Karama's place and think of what your reactions would be to the same events instead of simply trying to sympathize with him. When I did that, the cup throwing had more impact (pardon the unintentional pun). Either way, it's well-written and introduces a compelling character in Karama. And it's a fine entry for the Friendship Challenge. Nice work!
Author's Response:
I left the feelings deliberately out of the story, not to suggest anything, not to describe what Karama felt and I hoped that a reader would experience himself/herself the turmoil in the gil's heart.
Maybe too many unexplained details in the beginning (which start making sense later) stripped the story from the necessary information to make the "experiencing the feelings" possible.
Thank you for the review :)
Date: 16 Oct 2010 04:34 Title: Trust and betrayal
I must respectfully disagree with MirandaFave's assessment...I found the emotions quite powerful here, myself. The image of Karama throwing the mug against the wall in particular really burned itself into my brain, and said it all when it came to his anguish.
Author's Response:
It is possible that your additional knowledge of the characters influences your perception of the story - you know more about these three people and the events behind this one short story.
Both opinions are very valuable for me, as they tell me how different impressions could be, depending on how much or how little a reader knows about my universe characters.
Thank you for the review :)
Date: 11 Oct 2010 22:01 Title: Trust and betrayal
It was short and brief - so a stand alone not sure how much the betrayal impacts the reader from the brevity of the piece. However, it is clear that trust is a keystone to maany friendships and to have it broken, to be betrayed is something horrible and scarring. So I think it is firstly, a great piece to meet the Friendship challenge and as the first piece I think I've read of yours Gul Rejal I will be checking out your other stuff.
Author's Response:
Indeed, the story is brief and most of emotions are left out and for the reader to experience them (or not).
Thank you for reading :)