Scan barcode
chimichannika's review
medium-paced
2.75
This was the second of Cox’s trek novels I’ve read (the first being The Rings of Time, which I quite enjoyed) and while I did enjoy parts of it quite a bit, there were several detractors for me as well.
To start with some of the positives: while Cox’s writing can be a bit sparse at times, skipping over scenes or events that I would’ve wanted to read happen instead of reading an explanation that it had happened off-page, his writing is still on the whole an easily readable style that lets the plot take front and center. I loved whenHarry befriended the one neffaler and made him the flute, that part was so sweet and cute!! and I also enjoyed the moment between Neelix and Tuvok that was very reminiscent of Merry and Pippin. I also really enjoyed the one moment that, due to linguistic drift, seems to heavily imply P/T/K ot3 as well. The suspense and thriller-esque nature of the book was quite well done and as other reviews have mentioned, Cox’s descriptions were detailed and frequent— good setting the scene! The scenes with the Doctor being impervious to the Ryol’s controlling psychic abilities and calmly + sassily taking them down was a delight, along with the “I’m a doctor, not a…” phrase reference.
However, the cons… oh, the cons. I was initially elated to have another Indigenous crewman on Voyager, but this character ends up being the one from the ship (literally the only one!!) who dies in the story, full stop, and a pretty terrible death at that, too, and the only purpose it seems to serve is to make Chakotay and other characters—all except one, men, too— be narrated as upset about it. To have a white male author essentially fridge the one Indigenous woman (and one of his only ‘fleet OCs) was… racist, in bad taste, and even for the 1990s— yucky, and I expected better from him. This plot point isn’t going behind spoiler warnings, because it’s a racist and problematic trope and it needs to be transparent to potential readers that it’s a part of this book.
He also seemed to cling onto that overplayed trope of Tom uncontrollably falling for the ~ sexy mysterious alien woman ~ who, of course, turns out to be evil and using her sexuality to seduce him to her control. sigh. this trope was overplayed onscreen and it’s tiring seeing it pop up in the novels too— again, in bad taste even for the ‘90s. This trope is unoriginal and tired and it needs to stop being used.
There were a few random comments throughout the book that came off as sexist and others that were vaguely uncomfortable as well— such as describing aliens as “exotic” and sexualizing the women nearing the point of objectification— and the fact thatthe book later reveals that, surprise, they were intentionally *appearing* sexy to further their evil agenda isn’t redeeming that either.
That said— it took me a good long while to identify thevampire/werewolf combo type that was being used for these aliens, the neffaler were an immediately engaging and compelling concept, the scenes of Kes and Tuvok working together on their respective psychic abilities while acknowledging their differences was really good, and seeing B’elanna kicking ass was fantastic, as was seeing Janeway being both brains and brawn in a pinch, which I love about her. Those parts of the book were quite enjoyable, but the detractors keep me from rating it any higher than I did because, ultimately, those things are so far from what the entire idea of an idealized future of Star Trek is about— IDIC and equity— and made it much harder to appreciate the parts of the book that are good.
On the whole, a fun read at times and a problematic one as well. Lots of mixed feelings for this one.
To start with some of the positives: while Cox’s writing can be a bit sparse at times, skipping over scenes or events that I would’ve wanted to read happen instead of reading an explanation that it had happened off-page, his writing is still on the whole an easily readable style that lets the plot take front and center. I loved when
However, the cons… oh, the cons. I was initially elated to have another Indigenous crewman on Voyager, but this character ends up being the one from the ship (literally the only one!!) who dies in the story, full stop, and a pretty terrible death at that, too, and the only purpose it seems to serve is to make Chakotay and other characters—all except one, men, too— be narrated as upset about it. To have a white male author essentially fridge the one Indigenous woman (and one of his only ‘fleet OCs) was… racist, in bad taste, and even for the 1990s— yucky, and I expected better from him. This plot point isn’t going behind spoiler warnings, because it’s a racist and problematic trope and it needs to be transparent to potential readers that it’s a part of this book.
He also seemed to cling onto that overplayed trope of Tom uncontrollably falling for the ~ sexy mysterious alien woman ~ who, of course, turns out to be evil and using her sexuality to seduce him to her control. sigh. this trope was overplayed onscreen and it’s tiring seeing it pop up in the novels too— again, in bad taste even for the ‘90s. This trope is unoriginal and tired and it needs to stop being used.
There were a few random comments throughout the book that came off as sexist and others that were vaguely uncomfortable as well— such as describing aliens as “exotic” and sexualizing the women nearing the point of objectification— and the fact that
That said— it took me a good long while to identify the
On the whole, a fun read at times and a problematic one as well. Lots of mixed feelings for this one.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Genocide
Minor: Medical content
amyz001's review
4.0
Solid story, with characters written to their early Voyager traits. Really enjoyed this one, from the awkwardness of the party at the beginning to the action scenes at the end. I was engrossed all the way through. Only wish is that reset button at the end of each story - which meant the crew had a heck of a lot of plot armour and the attack at the end felt a little unrealistic with a lack of real danger. Certain members of the crew probably should've sustained worse injuries than what was in the story, and were miraculously fine again in the next scene. But that's Star Trek for you - nothing like a good hypospray!
frakalot's review
4.0
I loved it. Aside from the gory details, there wasn't much that was unexpected in this story, but it was written very well and was a pleasure to read.
polywogg's review
3.0
PLOT OR PREMISE:
Janeway and her crew are in desperate need of shoreleave...and they receive an invitation from an uncharted planet to visit and enjoy the paradise nature of the lands. All is not necessarily as it seems, including the citizens' treatment of their pets, the Neffaler, which seem surprisingly intelligent, almost sentient.
.
WHAT I LIKED:
Good descriptive prose, with lots of little sub-stories -- Kes' pre-occupation and disturbing telepathic forces, Paris' involvement with the daughter of the leader, and Torres' desire to find the source of some dilithium signatures.
.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
The sub-stories don't come together as well as they could, so the overall story is long and rather confused at times. Many of the characters seem "off" from their TV version, perhaps reflecting the author's pre-occupation with the characters' lives early in the series' history. Lots of descriptions are heavy on the visual, which would be impressive if it was a TV episode rather than a book, but it doesn't work as well here. The ending is rather fragmented, focusing on three different groups' of actions at the same time.
.
BOTTOM-LINE:
Would have worked better as an episode than a book
.
DISCLOSURE:
I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow him on social media.
Janeway and her crew are in desperate need of shoreleave...and they receive an invitation from an uncharted planet to visit and enjoy the paradise nature of the lands. All is not necessarily as it seems, including the citizens' treatment of their pets, the Neffaler, which seem surprisingly intelligent, almost sentient.
.
WHAT I LIKED:
Good descriptive prose, with lots of little sub-stories -- Kes' pre-occupation and disturbing telepathic forces, Paris' involvement with the daughter of the leader, and Torres' desire to find the source of some dilithium signatures.
.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
The sub-stories don't come together as well as they could, so the overall story is long and rather confused at times. Many of the characters seem "off" from their TV version, perhaps reflecting the author's pre-occupation with the characters' lives early in the series' history. Lots of descriptions are heavy on the visual, which would be impressive if it was a TV episode rather than a book, but it doesn't work as well here. The ending is rather fragmented, focusing on three different groups' of actions at the same time.
.
BOTTOM-LINE:
Would have worked better as an episode than a book
.
DISCLOSURE:
I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow him on social media.
dreamwanderer's review
3.0
First of all let me say that this book is extremely well written. The plot does not drag and there are highs and lows at all the right moments. Cox is probably one of my favorite ST Original Series authors.
I am sure there were reasons for this but I was disappointed to discover that this late in the series the book still had Kes as a part of the Crew. I have nothing against that character, no hate, but there was a dearth of the numbered books that included Seven of Nine. If we were to exclude the Dark Matter and String Theory trilogies I think there might have been a grand total of three.
The story used the much over used 'this practically perfect planet' is not so perfect after all trope. I realize there wouldn't be much of a story if the planet was perfect but at this point I felt it had been overdone in Trek.
There is another overused trope in the Voyager books which was how pre- B'Elanna relationship Tom is smitten or somehow become entangled with some beautiful but dangerous alien woman. We know from the series that happened but several of the authors latched onto that idea. We see it over and over in the books.
However despite that I would encourage those of you who do not have a problem with Kes or Tom's early series woman problems to read it simply because it is well written. I strongly recommend checking out some of Cox's other Star Trek books.
I am sure there were reasons for this but I was disappointed to discover that this late in the series the book still had Kes as a part of the Crew. I have nothing against that character, no hate, but there was a dearth of the numbered books that included Seven of Nine. If we were to exclude the Dark Matter and String Theory trilogies I think there might have been a grand total of three.
The story used the much over used 'this practically perfect planet' is not so perfect after all trope. I realize there wouldn't be much of a story if the planet was perfect but at this point I felt it had been overdone in Trek.
There is another overused trope in the Voyager books which was how pre- B'Elanna relationship Tom is smitten or somehow become entangled with some beautiful but dangerous alien woman. We know from the series that happened but several of the authors latched onto that idea. We see it over and over in the books.
However despite that I would encourage those of you who do not have a problem with Kes or Tom's early series woman problems to read it simply because it is well written. I strongly recommend checking out some of Cox's other Star Trek books.
More...