In the vast pantheon of the Star Trek franchise and its many, many characters, few recurring players attracted as fervent of a fanbase in so little time as Andrew Robinson’s Elim Garak on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Originally introduced as a one-off supporting character/mysterious possible villain-of-the-week for Starfleet Doctor Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) to encounter at the replimat, Garak was upped to a recurring player thanks to Robinson’s brilliant performance and instant chemistry with Siddig. Though the series never quite used him as frequently as many would’ve liked, Garak—a former spy of the Cardassian Obsidian Order and a master tailor—still stands as a cherished figure in Star Trek history. And now, thanks to Simon & Schuster, a crucial piece of his story is finding a new audience.
Though he was only in 37 out of 176 episodes, Garak’s time in Star Trek is hardly limited to live-action TV appearances: like Kirk, Spock, Picard, and many other well-loved Trek mainstays, his story continued in extended universe media, including appearances in video games, comics, and most crucially, novels. With his verbosity and flare for the dramatics, it’s no surprise that Garak is a frequent favorite of Star Trek novelization authors like Una McCormack, who’s featured the character in countless novels including Hollow Men and Enigma Tales.
But there’s one Garak novel that stands out from the rest: A Stitch in Time, written by none other than Andrew Robinson himself. The book is based on a set of journal entries Robinson penned as a way to further explore his character during his time on the set of Deep Space Nine. Robinson was eventually encouraged to publish the collected entries as a proper novel after the positive response from fans, for whom he’d been reading the journal entries aloud at conventions. In addition to being a rare insight into the mind of an otherwise elusive “tailor”/ex-spy, A Sitch in Time has found favor among a particular sect of Trek fans: Garak/Bashir shippers.
Though ’90s television production sensibilities barred the characters from engaging in any kind of romantic relationship on screen, Robinson has long since (and rather enthusiastically) confirmed that yes, he had been playing Garak as very interested in pursuing Doctor Bashir. Since Deep Space Nine‘s conclusion, Robinson and Siddig have performed fanworks and plays live at conventions (and, during COVID-19, over Zoom), and A Stitch In Time has remained one such touchstone in the fan community. The entire novel is framed through the device of Garak pouring his heart out to Bashir via letter—a staggering bout of honesty from a typically cagey ex-spy.
A Stitch in Time was originally published in June of 2000 (a printing that’s now highly coveted by diehard Trekkies) which means that getting your hands on a physical copy is next-to-impossible unless you’ve got excellent luck and a chunk of change to hand over. Or at least that was the case, until it was announced that Robinson was recording an audiobook version of his novel for publication by Simon & Schuster—the first time a Star Trek novel will have been written and read by the actor who originated the TV role.
A Stitch in Time, written and narrated by Andrew Robinson, is now available for purchase.
(featured image: Pocket Books / Simon & Schuster Audio)
