Enemy of My Enemy

Star Trek: Voyager
Spirit Walk, Book Two
Enemy of My Enemy by Christie Golden
Published December 2004
Read March 18^th 2019

Previous book (Voyager): Spirit Walk, Book One: Old Wounds
Next book (Voyager): String Theory, Book One: Cohesion

Purchase:
Mass-market paperback: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk
E-book (Kindle): Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

Spoilers ahead for Enemy of My Enemy!

From the back cover:

Captain Chakotay and his sister, Sekaya, are being held captive beneath the surface of Loran II by a Changeling--an outcast Founder masquerading as Chakotay's second-in-command, Andrew Ellis. To Chakotay's horror, the Changeling gives the two prisoners over to the infamous Cardassian scientist Crell Moset, who plans to use Chakotays's Sky Spirit-enhanced DNA to create a super species that will bring him the fame and acceptance he craves. 

Leaving Chakotay and Sekaya to their fate, the Changeling assumes Chakotay's image and infiltrates the Starship Voyager, putting the entire crew at risk. Dr. Jarem Kaz and Lieutenant Harry Kim, increasingly suspicious of their captain's odd behavior, turn to Admiral Janeway and Lieutenant Commander Tom Paris for help. As Paris races to save Voyager from catastrophe, the real Chakotay must undertake a "Spirit Walk" that could set him and his sister free--or lead to their ultimate destruction....

My thoughts:

In the previous novel, Old Wounds, we discover at the very end that Chakotay's first officer, Andrew Ellis, is actually a Changeling, the shapeshifter leaders of the Dominion. In fact, Ellis has been a Changeling for a number of years, having been replaced prior to the Dominion War. On the surface of Loran II, the Changeling has captured Chakotay and his sister, Sekaya, turning them over to Crell Moset, the Cardassian war criminal who performed horrific experiments on Bajorans during the Cardassian occupation of Bajor.

If nothing else, Enemy of My Enemy makes up for the lack of plot in Old Wounds by leaps and bounds. My biggest complaint about that novel is that nothing really happens; in this novel, a ton of plot is crammed in, making this story very heavy on the back end when you consider both books as one tale. However, much of it strained credibility and left me feeling ambivalent.

First of all, the main villain: a Changeling who was judged by the rest of the Founders and had his shape-changing ability taken away, much like Odo at the end of DS9's fourth season. He has gotten back a limited amount of his ability thanks to the research and experimentation of Crell Moset, who is aiding him in creating his own private army of Jem'Hadar-like creatures to be the soldiers in a new Dominion. He believes himself to be more intelligent than everyone around him, when in fact he has several glaring blind-spots that cause him to eventually fail in his plan. While I like seeing things from his perspective (which reveals him to be inept and fairly psychotic), I found it frustrating that he was portrayed as so incompetent. I don't know if this was the author's intention, but he really does come across as a bumbling idiot by the end of the novel.

The most interesting aspect of the story for me was Dr. Jarem Kaz, once again. The emergent personality of his previous host, Gradak, keeps vying for attention given the suffering that he and his fellow Maquis suffered at the hands of Moset. At the climax of the novel, Kaz allows Gradak to take complete control and gives him his moment of vengeance. However, things take an unexpected turn when Gradak doesn't kill Moset. Instead, he confronts the war criminal and makes him feel to the depths of his core the ruthlessness and brutality of what he has done. It was a supremely satisfying conclusion to that part of the story.

Dr. Crell Moset confronts the horrors of his past thanks to Gradak, previous host of the Kaz symbiont.

As for the rest of the novel, however, I found myself disappointed. While I had held out some hope that the Native spirituality aspect would be better than it was in the Voyager television series, that doesn't turn out to be the case. The reason for capturing Chakotay and his sister is due to the fact that they have "Sky Spirit DNA" (Chakotay more so because he got an infusion of it in the Voyager episode "Tattoo"). I have to admit that this is a storyline that I wish would just go away. In that episode, it is revealed that Native North American groups thrived thanks to the intervention of the "Sky Spirits," aliens from the Delta Quadrant who elevated Native North American humans and caused them to flourish. While I'm sure this wasn't the intention of the writers, it comes across as a "white savior" story as the Sky Spirit aliens are, of course, played by white people. Similarly, in this novel, Chakotay is oddly unable to make a decision about using his "Sky Spirit" power until Wesley Crusher shows up and tells him it's okay. No, really. That happens.

The subplot that I was most interested in gets very little attention in this novel as well. With Tom Paris having been called into service by Admiral Janeway, B'Elanna Torres is left on Boreth to continue her research into her daughter's role as the Kuvah'magh, prophesied savior of the Klingon people. While I was hoping for more movement on this plot in this novel, instead it's only very briefly touched on. At one point, two menacing-looking Klingons enter the library that Torres is studying in. Towards the end of the novel, she gets a handwritten note telling her that "the Kuvah'magh is in danger." That is the entirety of the advancement in this plot. Similarly, one of the other aspects I enjoyed in the previous novel isn't even touched on in this one. I rather liked the conflict that was brewing between the old-guard Voyager crew and the new arrivals. However, this aspect of the story wasn't even referenced in this second part. I do understand that both this and the Kuvah'magh story are setup for later novels, but I was frustrated that my favorite aspects of the story got very little attention.

Final thoughts:

Overall, an unfortunate disappointment. The conclusion to the novel was, in my opinion, confused and jumbled with some troubling aspects that have bothered me ever since their introduction in the Voyager television series. I find the contrast between these novels and the later Voyager "relaunch" stories by Kirsten Beyer to be staggering. While I'm sorry that Christie Golden's run in the Voyager series wasn't more successful, I'm happy that Beyer's books were able to take the premise and do new and interesting things with it. Full Circle is one of my favorite Trek novels, and luckily the story of Voyager doesn't end with this novel.

More about Enemy of My Enemy:

• Literary Treks 263: Traveling at the Speed of Plot

Also by Christie Golden:

• Star Trek: Voyager #16: Seven of Nine (1998)
• Star Trek: S.C.E. #3: Hard Crash (2000)
• Star Trek: Voyager: Gateways, Book 5 of 7: No Man's Land (2001)
• Voyager: In the Queue, from Star Trek: Gateways, Book 7 of 7: What Lay Beyond (2001)
• Star Trek: Voyager: Homecoming (2003)
• Star Trek: Voyager: The Farther Shore (2003)
• Star Trek: Voyager: Spirit Walk, Book One: Old Wounds (2004)

My next read:

My next review is a video review of Discovery: The Way to the Stars by one of my favorite Trek authors, Una McCormack!

Old Wounds

Star Trek: Voyager
Spirit Walk, Book One
Old Wounds by Christie Golden
Published November 2004
Read March 5^th 2019

Previous book (Voyager): The Farther Shore
Next book (Voyager): Spirit Walk, Book Two: Enemy of My Enemy

Purchase:
Mass-market paperback: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk
E-book (Kindle): Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

Spoilers ahead for Old Wounds!

From the back cover:

Captain Chakotay is ready to prove himself as the new commanding officer of the Starship Voyager -- but skeptics back at Starfleet Command are watching him closely for any sign that he will revert to his renegade Maquis ways. His first mission as captain, to transport a group of displaced colonists back to their home planet of Loran II, seems easy enough: make sure the planet is safe for colonization, unload the settlers, and head back to Earth. He even has an extra reason to enjoy the trip -- his sister, Sekaya, has joined the mission as a spiritual advisor to the gentle, peace-loving colonists.

But when the crew arrives at Loran II, they discover a mysterious storm, an ominously deserted settlement -- and a hidden threat from Chakotay's past that could destroy them all. Will Chakotay's first mission as captain of Voyager also be his last?

My thoughts:

Following on from Homecoming and The Farther Shore, this novel represents a new beginning for Voyager: Chakotay is now her commanding officer, and the ship is about to begin her mission as just another "ship of the line" in the Alpha Quadrant, a stark contrast to her days on the far side of galaxy. Aboard Voyager is a mix of old-guard crew who remained on the ship following her return to Federation space, as well as new crew members who have since joined the ship. This dynamic was quite interesting, as there is a certain amount of tension between the two groups. The old-guard resent the new crew members who didn't experience the hardships of their voyage through the Delta Quadrant, while the new arrivals resent the Voyager crew members who didn't experience the horrors of the Dominion War. This sets up an interesting parallel to the early days of Voyager when tensions were high among the Starfleet crew and the Maquis crew inherited from Chakotay's ship.

Captain Chakotay takes over command of the U.S.S. Voyager and sets out on his first mission: to make contact with a former Maquis colony and reunite the people who left.

Old Wounds is a difficult novel to review for a number of reasons. First, it's the first part of a two-part story, meaning that we don't get the payoff in this novel. The setup is interesting, but without that second part, it's hard to know how it will all turn out. Secondly, and I hate to say this, but... not much really happens in this novel. We get a lot of setup as far as Chakotay taking command of Voyager and setting out on his first mission, reuniting with his sister who serves as a spiritual adviser on the mission, and backstory for the assignment, but plot-wise, nothing really happens before halfway through the novel.

Also frustrating was the fact that the plot itself was difficult to get into. This is not a long book, but I found myself taking quite awhile to read it because I wasn't entirely motivated to keep reading. While I do like some of the character explorations as well as the quiet moments that various characters share, the fact that the plot doesn't kick into gear until well past the halfway point was very frustrating.

This is not to say that there wasn't anything I liked in the novel. As I mentioned above, I liked the establishment of tensions between the members of Voyager's crew. Chakotay adapting to his new role is interesting as well, as is Torres and Paris's investigation into their daughter's role as the Kuvah'magh in the library at the Klingon monastery on Boreth. However, the enjoyment of this part of the story is limited because of how little time the novel spends on it. The major revelation of this part of the novel is that the text that they study says that the "Kuvah'magh" is a "Voyager." An interesting revelation, to be sure, but the novel takes forever to get there with little else as a part of this story.

Paris and Torres have what could have been a very interesting subplot if the book didn't spend so little time on it.

The characters are easily the best part of the novel, including Voyager's new counselor, a Huanni named Astall who was a fascinating addition to the crew. Another favorite of mine, brought along from the previous novels, is Voyager's new medical officer, Dr. Jarem Kaz, a joined Trill whose former host was a member of the Maquis. Counselor Astall assists the doctor in facing his past, brought back to the surface due to Voyager's mission to make contact with a Federation colony in the former Cardassian demilitarized zone with which all contact has been lost. Aboard Voyager are members of the colony who left, and their backstory gets explored somewhat as well. Chakotay's sister, Sekaya, serves as a spiritual adviser to the colonists, who don't know whether they will find their loved ones alive or dead when Voyager reaches the colony. As I mentioned above, it's an interesting setup, but with far too little payoff or plot advancement in this first novel.

Final thoughts:

Although I found myself frustrated with the slow pace of the novel and how everything plot-wise piles up at the very end, I still enjoyed this new look at Voyager. However, there simply isn't enough here to make this a novel that stands up well on its own. Far too much setup with not enough payoff is sort of to be expected for part one of two, but when there is so little plot that nothing really "happens" until past the halfway point, it gets very frustrating to try to get into the story. Hopefully the payoff in book two will be worth it!

More about Old Wounds:

• Literary Treks 262: We Almost Had a Spit Take

Also by Christie Golden:

• Star Trek: Voyager #16: Seven of Nine (1998)
• Star Trek: S.C.E. #3: Hard Crash (2000)
• Star Trek: Voyager: Gateways, Book 5 of 7: No Man's Land (2001)
• Voyager: In the Queue, from Star Trek: Gateways, Book 7 of 7: What Lay Beyond (2001)
• Star Trek: Voyager: Homecoming (2003)
• Star Trek: Voyager: The Farther Shore (2003)
• Star Trek: Voyager: Spirit Walk, Book Two: Enemy of My Enemy (2004)

My next read:

My next review is for book three of the New Earth miniseries: Rough Trails by L.A. Graf.