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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
Excellent Star Trek Novel!
Intriguing Story, Solid Character Growth, & Good Conclusion!
Very much felt like a Star Trek story!
Intriguing Story, Solid Character Growth, & Good Conclusion!
Very much felt like a Star Trek story!
The Voyager relaunch is really pissing me off. It had such great promise. Janeway leads a fleet of ships back to the Delta Quadrant to wrap up loose ends. But instead of doing that, we keep getting sidetracked with boilerplate generic stories.
In this case, the opportunity to revisit one of Voyager's most ruthless enemies, the Krenim, is completely wasted. I thought it would have been cool to see them involved in the Temporal Cold War. Or trying to revive the Borg somehow. But instead we get a convoluted story about an alternate Janeway leading a rebellion on a planet. With a baby and a basketcase Tuvok thrown in too just to make it emotional. Meh.
In this case, the opportunity to revisit one of Voyager's most ruthless enemies, the Krenim, is completely wasted. I thought it would have been cool to see them involved in the Temporal Cold War. Or trying to revive the Borg somehow. But instead we get a convoluted story about an alternate Janeway leading a rebellion on a planet. With a baby and a basketcase Tuvok thrown in too just to make it emotional. Meh.
People have been raving to me about this book so my expectations may have been too high. Once I got past the fairly silly title, I quite enjoyed the first third of this novel. As I’ve said before, Kirsten Beyer is a talented writer and I enjoy her work. But, after the first third, the plot became so convoluted I found myself pulling out of the story. It was so far-fetched and complicated that I had trouble suspending my disbelief.
Beyer always seems to hold back some special bits until the very end. These bits help to tie things up and explain the rest of the story but I do wish she’d bring the reader in on the details a little earlier. It’s more fun if a reader can be more engaged during the journey instead of just waiting for the writer to let them in on things at the end.
I was glad to see Tuvok back in the Voyager novels even if it was only a “guest appearance.” He’s been fairly lost for a while and I hope his experiences here will bring him home.
Beyer always seems to hold back some special bits until the very end. These bits help to tie things up and explain the rest of the story but I do wish she’d bring the reader in on the details a little earlier. It’s more fun if a reader can be more engaged during the journey instead of just waiting for the writer to let them in on things at the end.
I was glad to see Tuvok back in the Voyager novels even if it was only a “guest appearance.” He’s been fairly lost for a while and I hope his experiences here will bring him home.
Before I say ANYTHING, for frame of reference, any future readers of this book need to watch the Star Trek Voyager episodes Before and After, Year of Hell Pts 1 & 2 and Shattered. Those are necessary background material to watch in order to understand what happens in this book.
Okay, onto the actual review.
I LOVED this book. This is exactly what I've wanted from ALL of the Star Trek relaunch novels. Don't get me wrong, I love the original plots and new characters that have been brought in but the Voyager relaunch novels are doing exactly what I wanted; they are revisiting plots from the TV series and making them new again. When the Full Circle fleet first set out for the Delta Quadrant in a proper mission, they were trying to do that. Their mission was to investigate the remnants if any of the Borg after Voyager's encounters with them and then their absorbing by the Caeliar gestalt. This was the first book however to actually delve into tidbits from the TV show's plots. I've missed the show dearly. Every Trekkie has that one series that brought them into the fandom and possibly have grown up with and Voyager was mine. 7 years was simply not enough so when I started reading the relaunch novels and in particular this one, it was like the show never ended. We just got more ships, a new mission and new characters along with old ones.
I fear going into more detail because I think I spoiled enough just by giving the episodes that one needs to watch before reading this book but let me tell you, Voyager fans you will not be disappointed. And again Kirsten Beyer does a great job giving plenty of "screen time" to our favorite old cast as well as the new cast (though I wanted the Phinn Bryce x Icheb subplot to develop more because I can't be the only one picking up on the chemistry there am I?).
A great book hands down and I can't wait to see what comes next! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE visit the site of the Borg Unicomplex we saw in Dark Frontier, Unimatrix Zero, and Endgame!
Okay, onto the actual review.
I LOVED this book. This is exactly what I've wanted from ALL of the Star Trek relaunch novels. Don't get me wrong, I love the original plots and new characters that have been brought in but the Voyager relaunch novels are doing exactly what I wanted; they are revisiting plots from the TV series and making them new again. When the Full Circle fleet first set out for the Delta Quadrant in a proper mission, they were trying to do that. Their mission was to investigate the remnants if any of the Borg after Voyager's encounters with them and then their absorbing by the Caeliar gestalt. This was the first book however to actually delve into tidbits from the TV show's plots. I've missed the show dearly. Every Trekkie has that one series that brought them into the fandom and possibly have grown up with and Voyager was mine. 7 years was simply not enough so when I started reading the relaunch novels and in particular this one, it was like the show never ended. We just got more ships, a new mission and new characters along with old ones.
I fear going into more detail because I think I spoiled enough just by giving the episodes that one needs to watch before reading this book but let me tell you, Voyager fans you will not be disappointed. And again Kirsten Beyer does a great job giving plenty of "screen time" to our favorite old cast as well as the new cast (though I wanted the Phinn Bryce x Icheb subplot to develop more because I can't be the only one picking up on the chemistry there am I?).
A great book hands down and I can't wait to see what comes next! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE visit the site of the Borg Unicomplex we saw in Dark Frontier, Unimatrix Zero, and Endgame!
• RE-READ BEFORE RELEASE OF 'ARCHITECTS OF INFINITY' •
Since first reading this, I had practically forgotten 80% of this. I basically lived for Janeway in this book and quite frankly, I still do.
The premise of this is great, but the word dumps that happened as everything unraveled and came together gave me quite the headache which decreased the enjoyment value for me. There were instances where the characters felt rather out-of-character for my liking. Voyager is my favourite show of life so I feel like I know these characters inside and out. I liked some of the twists and turns and some of the new original characters. Yet, for the most part, Janeway was the only character to fully hold my attention.
Since first reading this, I had practically forgotten 80% of this. I basically lived for Janeway in this book and quite frankly, I still do.
The premise of this is great, but the word dumps that happened as everything unraveled and came together gave me quite the headache which decreased the enjoyment value for me. There were instances where the characters felt rather out-of-character for my liking. Voyager is my favourite show of life so I feel like I know these characters inside and out. I liked some of the twists and turns and some of the new original characters. Yet, for the most part, Janeway was the only character to fully hold my attention.
I've had a... mediocre, and that's putting it generous, reading year so far, and just needed to read something I know I would love. Hence, this re-read. Of all the books in the series, I think this is the one that is the most standalone. Sure, there are minor plot points brought up from the previous installments, but by and large the main story is as self-contained as a tie in can be.
I love Beyer's relaunch novels, though some more than most. I would rank A Pocket Full of Lies third after The Eternal Tide and The Children of the Storm, in that order. This installment in the series does both credit and serves as a sequel to my favorite Trek of all time - the Year of Hell - and I couldn't be happier that it exits. Beyer knows this universe, and the Voyager cast in particular. Sure, some of her original characters, like Conlon, I find uninteresting, but I'm not here for them.
I love the character growth we see in Janeway. I love that Beyer somehow manages to make time-travel shenanigans make sense, which I've rarely seen any other author do. And I love the other Kathryn's story, hear-wrenching as it was. Also, I love the end of the denzit's story. It both brought a happy smile on my face, and tied off parts of the end of The Eternal Tide nicely.
While I gave this a 5 star on my first read, I was still riding high on the Eternal Tide adrenaline rush. On a re-read, a Pocket Full of Lies is realistically probably a 4 rather than a 5, but I still love it to pieces. Really, it's the minor secondary plots that are the only meh parts of the book. As I've stated, I don't particularly care about Conlon one way or the other, and Icheb's evaluation of the different engineering departments is whatever. But the Janeway stuff? *chef's kiss*
I love Beyer's relaunch novels, though some more than most. I would rank A Pocket Full of Lies third after The Eternal Tide and The Children of the Storm, in that order. This installment in the series does both credit and serves as a sequel to my favorite Trek of all time - the Year of Hell - and I couldn't be happier that it exits. Beyer knows this universe, and the Voyager cast in particular. Sure, some of her original characters, like Conlon, I find uninteresting, but I'm not here for them.
I love the character growth we see in Janeway. I love that Beyer somehow manages to make time-travel shenanigans make sense, which I've rarely seen any other author do. And I love the other Kathryn's story, hear-wrenching as it was. Also, I love the end of the denzit's story. It both brought a happy smile on my face, and tied off parts of the end of The Eternal Tide nicely.
While I gave this a 5 star on my first read, I was still riding high on the Eternal Tide adrenaline rush. On a re-read, a Pocket Full of Lies is realistically probably a 4 rather than a 5, but I still love it to pieces. Really, it's the minor secondary plots that are the only meh parts of the book. As I've stated, I don't particularly care about Conlon one way or the other, and Icheb's evaluation of the different engineering departments is whatever. But the Janeway stuff? *chef's kiss*
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It took me a while to get into this story as its premise is based on happenings in either the TV series or previous books, which I don't remember. The Year of Hell and the Kremin?
However once I had a bit of an idea what happened it picked up for me and I ended up enjoying it more.
However once I had a bit of an idea what happened it picked up for me and I ended up enjoying it more.