A Cardassian novel regarded by Garak as the finest ever written, following seven generations of one family who each give their lives in selfless service to the state.
The Never-Ending Sacrifice is the supreme example of the repetitive epic, a form the Cardassians consider the highest achievement of their literature. Each generation of its central family lives and dies in duty to Cardassia, and the pattern repeats without variation.
The book is discussed in the Deep Space Nine episode The Wire. Garak has lent a copy to Julian Bashir as part of their regular lunchtime exchange of literature, and Bashir confesses he found it dull, with the characters never coming to life. Garak replies that he has missed the point entirely.
The exchange neatly sets out the gulf between Cardassian and Federation values, and the novel is referred to again in later conversations between the two.