Fusion

Star Trek: Voyager

String Theory, Book 2
Fusion by Kirsten Beyer
Published November 2005
Read May 27^th 2020

Previous book (published order): Distant Shores

Previous book (String Theory): String Theory, Book 1: Cohesion
Next book: String Theory, Book 3: Evolution

Purchase:

Mass-market paperback: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

E-book (Kindle): Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

Spoilers ahead for Fusion!

From the back cover:

As the Cosmos Unravels 

The disruption in the space-time continuum caused by the creation of the "Blue Eye" singularity continues: Thread by thread, the fabric slowly frays and peels away, breaking down barriers between dimensions. As the lines between realities blur, the consequences cascade. 

A Sleeping City Awakes 

Voyager pursues Tuvok to a long-dormant space station, a place of astonishing grandeur and wonder. Ancient almost beyond imagining, the city seduces the crew with the promise that their greatest aspirations might be realized. Such promise requires sacrifice, however, and the price of fulfilling them will be high for Voyager. 

A Mysterious Power Stirs 

Unseen sentries, alarmed by Voyager's meddling in the Monohoran system, send emissaries to ascertain Janeway's intentions. Unbeknownst to the captain, she is being tested and must persuade her evaluators that their contention -- that Voyager poses a threat to the delicate web of cosmic ecology -- is baseless. And failure to vindicate her choices will bring certain retribution to her crew.

My thoughts:

Continuing the String Theory trilogy which began in James Swallow's Cohesion, Fusion almost feels like a spooky ghost ship-type story as the tale of this mysterious region of space is picked up by author Kirsten Beyer. Many Star Trek book fans will know Kirsten as the author of the amazing run of post-finale Star Trek: Voyager novels that began with Full Circle back in 2009 and culminated in 2020's To Lose the Earth. Her career has of course now expanded into the television arena, as she works as a writer and producer on a few of the new Star Trek series under Alex Kurtzman.

Interestingly, Fusion is Kirsten Beyer's first Star Trek novel, and signs of the great stories she will tell over the course of her career thus far are apparent in its pages. Beyer obviously has a great affinity and knowledge of the characters, and she deftly writes them in such a way that their voices come through very clearly.

Voyager encounters an array, much like the Caretaker's or Susperia's.

The story itself is an interesting one, full of strange scientific mysteries and anomalous occurrences which are part and parcel of Voyager's style of storytelling. Tuvok, who disappeared at the end of the previous novel, is taken aboard a mysterious space station. This station is referred to as an "array," for reasons that soon become apparent as we learn that it is linked to the Nacene, the creators of the Caretaker's "array" as seen in the premiere episode of Star Trek: Voyager, as well as Susperia's "array" in the episode "Cold Fire."

One of my favorite subplots of this novel is an attempt to infiltrate Voyager by a Nacene who impersonates Kathryn Janeway's sister, Phoebe. This Nacene is able to accomplish this by altering the memories of the crew, making them believe that Phoebe had accompanied the ship on the mission to the Badlands and become stranded with the rest of the crew when they were thrown into the Delta Quadrant. The means by which this deception was uncovered was quite clever, as Beyer makes use of the fact that Harry Kim and Naomi Wildman are not natives of the same universe as the rest of the Voyager crew; fans might remember that they were both replaced by their counterparts from an adjacent reality in the episode "Deadlock." This made them slightly out-of-phase with the rest of the crew, making "Phoebe's" attempts to alter their memories ineffective.

The fact that Harry Kim and Naomi Wildman come from a slightly different universe comes into play in this novel.

I also enjoyed the outcome of Tuvok's part in the story. He is presented with the opportunity to realize his deepest, most profound desire. Ultimately, however, he gives up this chance in order to help another, in a stunning display of self-sacrifice. This revelation of Tuvok's deepest feelings reminded me of a line that always resonated with me, from the season six episode "Muse." An alien playwright tries to explain to one of his actors the nature of Vulcans when the actor is unable to understand the Tuvok character's motivation, telling him that "beneath your unfeeling exterior is a heart that's breaking, silently, and in more pain than any of us can possibly understand, because that's what it is to be Vulcan."

If I have one major complaint about this novel, it's that there is a great deal happening in it, with much of it being somewhat confusing. The story does tend to get bogged down in the minutia of what is happening, and again, there is just so much of it that it is quite easy to get lost. However, a lot of that is mitigated by Beyer's deft handling of the characters, which is what I really connected to. Her firm grasp of these individuals and their motivations was the lifeline I clung to when trying to make sense of some of the complexities of the plot.

Like Book 1 with the fate of Tuvok left in the air at the end, Fusion ends with Tom and Harry missing, and the Doctor seemingly in the extradimensional realm referred to as "Exosia." We will, of course, have to wait until Book 3, Evolution, to pick up these plot threads.

Final thoughts:

I enjoyed Fusion for the most part, despite the overly-complex and often confusing plot. Though this is Kirsten Beyer's first Star Trek novel, one can see why she would go on to make the Voyager "relaunch" novels so compelling. Her grasp of the characters that she so obviously loves to write is impressive, and was the hook I needed to bring me along on the journey of this novel. There is also a great deal of cleverness in the story, with Beyer using past lore from Star Trek: Voyager to great effect. A competent and enjoyable middle entry in the String Theory trilogy.

More about Fusion:

• TrekBBS Review Thread
  
• Podcast: Literary Treks 304: Vulcans Do Not Cry

Star Trek: Voyager: String Theory:

• Book 1: Cohesion by Jeffrey Lang
• Book 2: Fusion by Kirsten Beyer
• Book 3: Evolution by Heather Jarman

Also by Kirsten Beyer:

• Star Trek: Voyager: Full Circle (2009)
• Star Trek: Voyager: Unworthy (2009)
• Star Trek: Voyager: Children of the Storm (2011)
• Star Trek: Voyager: The Eternal Tide (2012)
• Star Trek: Voyager: Protectors (2014)
• Star Trek: Voyager: Acts of Contrition (2014)
• Star Trek: Voyager: Atonement (2015)
• Star Trek: Voyager: A Pocket Full of Lies (2016)
• Star Trek: Voyager: Architects of Infinity (2018)

My next read:

Next up is my review of the recent Star Trek: Picard novel, the Seven of Nine-centric Firewall by David Mack!

Cohesion

Star Trek: Voyager

String Theory, Book 1
Cohesion by Jeffrey Lang
Published July 2005
Read May 13^th 2020

Previous book: Spirit Walk, Book 2: Enemy of My Enemy
Next book (published order): Distant Shores

Next book (String Theory): String Theory, Book 2: Fusion

Purchase:

Mass-market paperback: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

E-book (Kindle): Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

Spoilers ahead for Cohesion!

From the back cover:

Spirits unbroken by the failed promise of the USS Dauntless, Captain Kathryn Janeway’s indefatigable crew continues their odyssey of discovery through an enigmatic region of the Delta Quadrant, encountering a system inhabited by a species that, according to known physical laws, shouldn't exist.

These unusual beings, the Monorhans, hover near the edge of extinction; technology from the USS Voyager promises life. Janeway, compelled by the aliens’ plight, dispatches Seven of Nine and Lieutenant B’Elanna Torres to the Monorhan homeworld. But an unexpected shock wave crashes the shuttle carrying Torres and Seven, catapulting Voyager into a place beyond the fabric of space-time.

As B'Elanna and Seven wage an interpersonal war, Voyager struggles to prevail on an extradimensional battleground against an indefinable enemy. But fate has determined that one is inexorably linked to the other: the insurmountable chasm separating Voyager from her lost crew members must be bridged...or all will perish.

My thoughts:

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Star Trek: Voyager, Pocket Books decided to release a trilogy of novels set during the series' run. The first novel of the String Theory trilogy, Cohesion, establishes that this story is set in the period between seasons four and five. This was an ideal place to set the trilogy, as it was one of the few season breaks of Voyager to not feature a cliffhanger.

The end of season 4 gave us the episode "Hope and Fear," in which the crew was presented with a vessel, seemingly of Starfleet manufacture, equipped with a quantum slipstream drive. The entire thing turned out to be a ruse intended to deliver the Voyager crew to the Borg, leaving our Voyager heroes still stranded in the Delta Quadrant, but with a renewed determination to get home.

The events of the season 4 finale, "Hope and Fear," have taken their toll on the Voyager crew.

This story does a good job of using the situation between seasons 4 and 5 to craft a unique story. There are some nice touchstones to remind us of where we are in Voyager's journey without seeming forced or heavy-handed. For example, in the course of this novel, Tom Paris is working on creating his Captain Proton holo-adventure, which we see on-screen for the first time in the season 5 premiere, "Night."

One of my favorite aspects of this novel is how well Jeffrey Lang captured the voices of the characters. As someone who generally found the character development in the Voyager television series lacking, what little we got in the show was very much welcome. The tempestuous relationship between Seven of Nine and B'Elanna Torres, for example, was something that rang very true to me. In Cohesion, Lang explores that relationship quite well, giving us situations between the two of them that fit right alongside encounters between the two characters on the show. Adding in a plot contrivance that allows the two of them to see into each other's mind gives each of them a greater understanding of the other's perspective, which was especially interesting given the usual relationship between them.

The antagonism between B'Elanna Torres and Seven of Nine takes center stage in Cohesion.

The story itself is reminiscent of the Voyager tendency to encounter strange anomalies that push the boundaries of "weird space stuff." It works well for this story, however, and certainly will make Voyager fans feel right at home. The "aliens of the week," the Monorhans, are definitely interesting, and I'm curious to see where the story goes with them in the next two installments. 

Of course, given that this is book one of three, Cohesion leaves off with a cliffhanger ending, which is always a little frustrating. However, the story is well-written enough that I am engaged throughout, and invested to learn what comes next. 

Final thoughts:

An enjoyable start to the String Theory trilogy. At the heart of the story is the antagonistic relationship between Seven of Nine and B'Elanna Torres, which gets some fascinating evolution thanks to the events of this novel. Cohesion definitely grabbed my interest and has me curious to see how the story continues in the next book.

More about Cohesion:

• TrekBBS Review Thread
• Podcast: Literary Treks 303: A Pair of Legs in Sickbay

Star Trek: Voyager: String Theory

• Book 1: Cohesion by Jeffrey Lang
• Book 2: Fusion by Kirsten Beyer
• Book 3: Evolution by Heather Jarman

Also by Jeffrey Lang:

• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Section 31: Abyss with David Weddle (2001)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation: Immortal Coil (2002)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Left Hand of Destiny, Book One with J.G. Hertzler (2003)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Left Hand of Destiny, Book Two with J.G. Hertzler (2003)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Light Fantastic (2014)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Force and Motion (2016)

My next read:

Next up is book 2 of the String Theory trilogy: Fusion by Kirsten Beyer.

Seven of Nine

Star Trek: Voyager #16
Seven of Nine by Christie Golden
Published September 1998
Read April 14^th 2020

Previous book (Published order): Pathways
Previous book (Numbered): #15: Echoes
Next book (Numbered): #17: Death of a Neutron Star

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

Spoilers ahead for Seven of Nine!

From the back cover:

Once she was Annika Hansen, an innocent child assimilated by the fearsome, all-conquering Borg. Now she is Seven of Nine, a unique mixture of human biology and Borg technology. Cut off from the collective that has been her only reality for most of her existence, and forced to join the crew of the Starship Voyager, she must come to grips with her surprising new environment -- and her own lost individuality. 

Seven of Nine has already captured the imagination of fans all over the world. Now the most sensational new character of the twenty-fourth century stars in her first full-length novel. Resistance is futile.

My thoughts:

Going into this novel, I had a few expectations. First, given the title, I think I expected the story to be an origin story, or a biography, of Seven of Nine. Even the publisher's description on the back cover would seem to be written to make you think that this will be the definitive Seven of Nine story. It definitely isn't that, but is rather a fairly straightforward Voyager adventure, albeit with Seven as the primary character. I suppose when the novel first came out, it made a lot of sense to title it Seven of Nine. At the time, Seven was a brand-new breakout character, and there was likely a lot of thought given about how to capitalize on that. This was the first introduction of Seven of Nine into the Trek literary world, and the title would likely have meant greater sales. However, 26 years after publication, the title makes a lot less sense.

Having said that, we do learn a lot about Seven of Nine in this book, and the story does a good job of developing her character. Due to the unique circumstances she is presented with, we get to see a bit of Annika Hansen, Seven of Nine's identity pre-assimilation. This gives us an interesting juxtaposition between the two versions of her character. Seven of Nine, especially at this early point in her development as an individual, is cold and distant, keeping the rest of the Voyager crew at arm's length. In contrast, young Annika Hansen is warm, friendly, and open to the people around her. This makes Annika Hansen the person that Seven of Nine believes the Voyager crew would want her to be.

We learn more about Seven of Nine pre-assimilation, when she was Annika Hansen.

The main plot of the novel involves a species called the Skedans who live under the rule of an emperor named Beytek. Recently, a number of Skedans became victims of the Borg, assimilated and killed by the relentless cybernetic horde. Rather than being protected by their emperor, the Skedans were left to fend for themselves, and a small group of survivors have come aboard Voyager with what seems to be a plot against the emperor. While the crew of Voyager suspects that the Skedans' plot is an attack meant to kill the emperor using an orb they have brought aboard as a bomb, the truth is more poignant: the orb contains the memories of the dead and assimilated Skedans. When it is smashed at the feet of the emperor, he and the gathered crowd hear their final moments, an event that is far more meaningful than a physical attack would have been.

Throughout the novel, Seven is experiencing the memories of people she has assimilated over the years thanks to telepathic interference by the Skedans. This leads to a sort of dissociative identity disorder whereby Seven actually manifests the personalities of her prior victims. While the cause is different, this is very much reminiscent of a fifth season Star Trek: Voyager episode: "Infinite Regress." The similarity of the plots might lead one to think that one influenced the other; however, this novel was published in September of 1998, while "Infinite Regress" aired just two months later in November. It's likely that this is simply a case of two writers coming up with similar ideas around the same time.

Seven experiences a similar condition in this novel as she would in the season 5 Voyager episode "Infinite Regress."

For the most part, I enjoyed Seven of Nine. The author, Christie Golden, has a very good handle on the voices of the Voyager crew, and wrote the character of Seven of Nine deftly, especially considering she was such a new character at this point. This novel works as a great companion piece to another Voyager episode in which we learn a lot about Seven: season four's "The Raven." Thematically, there is much that is shared between these two stories, and if you're a Seven of Nine fan, this is one you don't want to skip. Again, however, don't expect a biography. This is something different.

Final thoughts:

In writing this review, I found myself having to travel back in time in my mind to the first introduction of Seven of Nine. At the time this novel was written, she was a very new character, and no one knew in which directions she might develop. Reading Seven of Nine, however, one can marvel at how much of a handle Christie Golden had on her character in those early days. Now, 26 years later, the character has grown so far past her origins in season four of Star Trek: Voyager (even more so in the Star Trek: Picard series and attendant novels), and one can see the seeds of that growth in this novel. While it is not the origin story for Seven that the title might imply, it is still a great foundational work for an exceptional and crucial character.

More about Seven of Nine:

• Podcast: Literary Treks 301: Sing a Song of Sixpence

Also by Christie Golden:

• 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)
• Star Trek: Voyager: Spirit Walk, Book Two: Enemy of My Enemy (2004)

My next read:

The next catch-up review is for the Kelvin Timeline novel The Unsettling Stars by Alan Dean Foster.

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.

The Farther Shore

Star Trek: Voyager
The Farther Shore by Christie Golden
Published August 2003
Read August 10^th 2018

Previous book (Voyager): Homecoming
Next book (Voyager): Spirit Walk, Book One: Old Wounds

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

Spoilers ahead for Homecoming and The Farther Shore!

From the back cover:

When the long-lost Starship Voyager returned home to Earth, did Kathryn Janeway and her crew unwittingly bring with them a deadly Borg infection from the heart of the Delta Quadrant? Many in Starfleet think so, and Seven of Nine finds herself the prime suspect as the carrier of the plague. Now, following the events of Homecoming, Admiral Janeway must reunite her crew in a desperate attempt to discover the source of the contagion -- and save the people of Earth from total assimilation into a voracious Borg collective.

My thoughts:

In Homecoming, the crew of the Starship Voyager finally makes it all the way back home to Earth. In a whirlwind of quick events, Janeway is promoted to Admiral, all the rest of the crew get promotions, Chakotay and the Maquis are pardoned, Chakotay and Seven of Nine end their relationship, Tom is chummy with his dad again, and Harry gets back together with Libby. And this is all in the space of just a few chapters!

The Farther Shore continues the break-neck pace of the plot as the "Borg virus" continues to spread throughout the planet. Voyager and her crew are naturally blamed due to the fact that they just returned from the Delta Quadrant, home of the Borg Collective, not to mention the fact that two of her crew are liberated Borg drones. However, the truth of what is behind this outbreak is certainly something no one imagined.

It turns out that an unhinged Admiral, Brenna Covington, who is the head of Starfleet Intelligence, is behind the outbreak that is rapidly turning people around the world into Borg drones. Stemming from her abuse at the hands of her step-father from a young age, Covington has come to see Borg as liberators as they ended up killing her abuser. Now, she has the ultimate goal of becoming a new Borg Queen and establishing dominion over the earth and its population, assimilating them as drones under her command. I have a few problems with this story-line. For one thing, I don't like the idea of someone suffering abuse as a shorthand for them turning evil and twisted. The abuse is shown in interstitial chapters throughout this book and the previous one, and in the end, all that comes of it is a small amount of empathy from Seven of Nine when Covington is finally defeated. Sure, have the abuse be what causes these events, but play that factor out a bit more rather than just sweeping it away in the end. I feel that this aspect of the character needed to be explored more to justify its use as her motivation.

The villian of this novel, Brenna Covington, intends to become a new Borg Queen.

The other major plot in The Farther Shore is the holographic rebellion instigated by a man named Oliver Baines, who was inspired by The Doctor's holonovel, Photons Be Free. This is another part of the story that I felt was lacking somewhat. Our main perspective on this part of the narrative is through the character of Vassily Andropov, a starfleet lieutenant who has been captured by Baines and replaced with a hologram. Andropov, trapped on a holodeck, experiences torture at the hands of Baines, ostensibly to learn what life as a hologram is like. I like the concept of having the roles reversed and learning different perspectives, but what happens to Andropov is nothing more than torture, which to me makes Baines just as bad as the force he is opposing. In the end, I think the message ends up somewhat muddled.

One aspect of the novel that I was really looking forward to was the inclusion of Lt. Commander Data into the plot. Janeway requests him for the purpose of arguing The Doctor's rights, in a similar vein to how Data's rights were argued for by Picard in the TNG episode "The Measure of a Man." However, this never comes to pass. Instead, Data accompanies the Voyager crew on an operation to rescue Seven of Nine and Icheb from imprisonment, and then aids them in taking down Brenda Covington. At no time is he used to further The Doctor's legal rights in any way, which was really disappointing to me. I was looking forward to a test of The Doctor's rights and an impassioned argument from Data for legal recognition of a fellow artificial intelligence. The fact that this plot element was dangled in front of the reader and never fulfilled frustrated me to no end.

The Voyager crew borrows Data, but I felt that his role in the story wasn't worth bringing him in. The potential for having Data in this story feels squandered.

In the end, The Farther Shore can be summed up as a book of missed opportunities. I feel like its pages were filled with good ideas that ultimately went in directions that were unsatisfying. A mentally disturbed person who suffered abuse wanting to become a new Borg Queen? Fascinating, but when the villain in question becomes nothing more than a mustache-twirling caricature with shaky motivations, it does a disservice to the story. Similarly, the promise of an intellectual argument for the rights of sentient artificial beings that ultimately goes unfulfilled is the worst kind of tease.

Final thoughts:

While Homecoming was an interesting, if rushed beginning to this story, I felt that The Farther Shore squandered a lot of the story's potential. There are certainly a number of truly interesting ideas in this book, but none of them are taken in particularly satisfying directions. A lot of the actions of both the main characters and the antagonists feel like they don't follow up on the promise that the story initially had.

More about The Farther Shore:

• Podcast: Literary Treks 240: It Rings a Bit Holo

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: Spirit Walk, Book One of Two: Old Wounds (2004)
• Star Trek: Voyager: Spirit Walk, Book Two of Two: Enemy of My Enemy (2004)

My next read:

Book 5 of the A Time To series: A Time to Love by Robert Greenberger.

Architects of Infinity

Star Trek: Voyager
Architects of Infinity by Kirsten Beyer
Release date: March 27^th 2018
Read April 4^th 2018

Previous book (Voyager): A Pocket Full of Lies
Next book (Voyager): To Lose the Earth

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

Publisher's description:

As the Federation Starship Voyager continues to lead the Full Circle Fleet in its exploration of the Delta Quadrant, Admiral Kathryn Janeway remains concerned about the Krenim Imperium and its ability to rewrite time to suit its whims. At Captain Chakotay's suggestion, however, she orders the fleet to focus its attention on a unique planet in a binary system, where a new element has been discovered. Several biospheres exist on this otherwise uninhabitable world, each containing different atmospheres and features that argue other sentient beings once resided on the surface. Janeway hopes that digging into an old-fashioned scientific mystery will lift the crews' morale, but she soon realizes that the secrets buried on this world may be part of a much larger puzzle—one that points to the existence of a species whose power to reshape the galaxy might dwarf that of the Krenim.

Meanwhile, Lieutenants Nancy Conlon and Harry Kim continue to struggle with the choices related to Conlon’s degenerative condition. Full Circle’s medical staff discovers a potential solution, but complications will force a fellow officer to confront her people’s troubled past and her own future in ways she never imagined…

My thoughts:

Click here to watch my video review of Voyager: Architects of Infinity, or click play on the embedded video below!

Final thoughts:

Another home run from Kirsten Beyer! The Voyager relaunch has consistently been among my favorite Star Trek novels, and Architects of Infinity is no exception. Previously, Children of the Storm was my favorite of her novels, but this one might seriously be giving it a run for its money. Top-notch work by one of the most talented writers working for Trek today, both on-screen and in the novels! 5/5.

More about Architects of Infinity:

• TrekBBS Review and Discussion Thread
• Podcast: Literary Treks 225: A Ship Full of Legends - Exclusive interview with Kirsten Beyer

Also by Kirsten Beyer:

• Star Trek: Voyager: String Theory, Book 2: Fusion (2005)
  
• Star Trek: Voyager: Full Circle (2009)
• Star Trek: Voyager: Unworthy (2009)
• Star Trek: Voyager: Children of the Storm (2011)
• Star Trek: Voyager: The Eternal Tide (2012)
• Star Trek: Voyager: Protectors (2014)
• Star Trek: Voyager: Acts of Contrition (2014)
• Star Trek: Voyager: Atonement (2015)
• Star Trek: Voyager: A Pocket Full of Lies (2016)

Next time on Trek Lit Reviews:

Next is a Deep Space Nine novel by Quark himself: The 34th Rule.

Echoes

Star Trek: Voyager #15
Echoes by Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, and Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Published January 1998
Read November 7^th 2017

Previous book (Voyager): #14: Marooned
Next book (published order): The Captain's Table #4: Fire Ship
Next book (numbered): #16: Seven of Nine

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

Spoilers ahead for Echoes!

From the back cover:

The U.S.S. Voyager finds itself in a system where a planet might have existed, but doesn't. Where the planet should have been, millions and then billions of people are appearing from nowhere and dying in the vacuum of space.

To solve the mystery and save billions of lives, Captain Janeway will have to face alternate versions of herself and the crew of Voyager -- not just one almost-mirror-image, but many. Janeway will have to find a way to work with her alternate selves, with whom she shares much but each of whom has a different agenda. At stake is the survival of Voyager and the lives of billions of innocent people.

My thoughts:

Echoes opens with a vivid scene: billions of people suddenly flash into existence in empty space, immediately exposed to hard vacuum and struggling to breathe. The struggle doesn't last long, however, as the billions die an excruciating death in the dark cold of space. It's an exciting (albeit incredibly dark) hook to immediately get the reader into the story!

Voyager encounters a subspace wave that doesn't seem to affect them in any way, but when they receive a distress call shortly thereafter, Captain Janeway orders the ship to the source to investigate. The subspace waves occur every two and a half hours, and correspond to small, barely noticeable changes on the planet's surface. For example, the leader with whom Captain Janeway speaks appears to change eye color from one pulse to the next. When an away team to the surface disappears during the pulse, with no one on the surface seeming to know anything about an away team in the first place, the strange curiosity turns into a crisis.

Additionally, every time a pulse occurs, a strange phenomenon is witnessed: the appearance of multiple planets, as well as multiple Voyagers orbiting those planets, stretching off into infinity. The effect is akin to two mirrors held up to one another, showing the person in them in an unending chain that goes on forever. Curiously, Voyager only appears to be present orbiting every other planet in this seemingly endless chain of planets. The reason for this is a fascinating one, and is related to the events of the second season episode "Deadlock."

Basically, when Voyager was duplicated in the episode "Deadlock," that event created a branching of quantum realities. When one of the Voyagers was destroyed, it resulted in Voyager being missing from every second quantum reality. I know, it's confusing; just go with it!

Echoes borrows heavily from that episode, as well as the TNG episode "Parallels." Each time a pulse happens, all of the people on the surface of the planet are shifted one universe over. Over time, tiny changes accumulate, and billions of people end up further and further away from their own reality. At one point in the chain of realities, there exists a reality in which a cataclysm in the distant past destroyed the planet, which is why billions of people are appearing in open space and dying in the vacuum every two and a half hours.

One of the most interesting aspects of Echoes is that the primary mystery of the book isn't one facing our main cast of characters, but rather their counterparts from over 2000 universes away - "to the right," in the parlance of the novel. This was a fascinating choice by the authors, and one that serves the story quite well. I love that "our" Captain Janeway and Voyager crew are just one of uncounted numbers of Voyagers who are working on this problem. This is a brave and realistic choice to make, as it would make no sense that "our" universe is necessarily the most important one to the story, when there are unlimited other universes revealed to be in the midst of this crisis.

By the time the end of the story comes around, it's pretty clear that a standard ending just won't do. Countless billions are dead, and uncountable more are displaced many universes away from their "original" universe, including away teams from multiple Voyagers. Unfortunately, this means that the story must rely on a crutch that the Voyager television series itself relied on far too often: the reset button. However, while the overuse of the reset button tends to infuriate me with regards to the television show, I didn't actually mind it all that much here, although I have a hard time figuring out exactly why that is. The story itself it certainly compelling and the mystery is a tantalizing one, and it's unfortunate the the reset ending undercuts all of that. However, I still really enjoyed this story and the imagination that went into crafting it.

Final thoughts:

Echoes presents a very Voyager-like problem, and fits really well into the structure of a Voyager story. There are some very interesting choices made by the authors that add to the enjoyment. A fascinating science fiction mystery that, while complex, doesn't get too bogged-down with technobabble. Definitely one of the better Voyager stories set during the series that I have read. 4/5 stars.

More about Echoes:

• Podcast: Literary Treks 210: Orange is the New Black

My next read:

A personal favorite of mine: Deep Space Nine: A Stitch in Time by Garak himself, Andrew J. Robinson!