Customer Reviews

Cloak and Dagger (Star Trek Voyager, No 19, Dark Matters Book One of Three)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Dark Matters" continues and expands the story line began in the TV episode "Eye of the Needle", bringing back the Romulan Scientist Telek R'Mor, accompanied by one of the most implausible pieces of Trek science I ever encountered. The properties of dark matter, its technical application and side effects make very little sense, not to mention the fact that the stuff is purely hypothetical, not a scientific fact as the cover blurb would have us believe.

That aside, "Cloak and Dagger" is well-done, by Star Trek novel standards. One of its highlights is the Romulan subplot which gives the reader a rare insight into the higher echelons of the Romulan power structure, introducing characters that the TV shows have so far paid little attention to, such as the Romulan Empress, the Praetor and the Proconsul, and featuring the chairman of the Tal Shi'ar, Jekri Kaleh, in a lead role. Kaleh is a one-dimensional villain at first, but, surprisingly, becomes more interesting and psychologically credible as the story progresses. Eventually, the reader even starts to feel sympathy for her, a feeling that only intensifies in volumes two and three.

"Cloak and Dagger" was a page-turner for me, and it left me eagerly waiting for the second volume.

Oh wow! I have to tell you, as I read this book I couldn't wait for the next chapter, and now the next book, and was quite glad that I have the next one to read! I don't know what I'm going to do when I finish that one and have to wait until the end of November for the last one to ship out!

I won't give anything away. It wouldn't be fair. =) Suffice it to say, this book has more than caught my interest, and I am most happy to go get the next one and continue reading this intruiguing saga. There are enough "cliff hangers" to keep you interested into what will happen in the next two intallments. I couldn't put the book down, and read it in one day. That's how good it is!

I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

Christie Golden is an excellent and descriptive writer, and this trilogy was full of never before thought of ideas. However, the reason I only gave it 3 stars is because you could literally pick up the 3rd book and know what went on through the entire trilogy. It gives a review of what has been happening in the second and third books at the begining for the first few chapters. That was sort of an annoyance to me. I felt I was re-reading unnecessary things. At least you can never get lost in them. The idea for a dark matter cloak was a great one, and the characters, even the "bad guys" (or gals) were very likeable. Except Lhiau, I never liked him, and that's what was so great about these books. Lhiau genuinely thought what he was doing was the right thing, and to me, that makes a good villain. The characters all had their own complications they had to work through. The trilogy in general was a good read.

Cloak and Dagger is yet another great Voyager book written by one of the best authors in the Star Trek genre, Christie Golden. This first book in the Dark Matters series begins slowly and in the past. Remember Telek R'Mor, the Romulan doctor who traveled across a micro-wormhole that spanned not just light years but also time (from the television episode 'Eye of the Needle')? When he returned to Romulus, his government was very interested to hear of his encounter with Voyager and her crew. With the assistance of a sinister new race called the Shepherds, they set out to capture Voyager in its own timeframe by using Telek's wormhole technology and the Shepherds' ability to manipulate dark matter. If successful, the Romulans would have a great advantage over the Federation and its Starfleet of the past. But does the Shepherd's help come at too great a price?

Dark matter can mutate, becoming highly lethal and able to infect anything it comes into contact with. After the Voyager crew becomes deathly ill and the ship's systems begin to fail, Captain Janeway sets out to find the Shepherds of her time. And then an even greater mystery surfaces when a planet flips in and out of existence, crew members go missing and a 'magical' orb in the hands of a determined Voyager crew holds the fate of the entire Universe. I hope I didn't give too much away! ;-)

Author Christie Golden is excellent at creating fascinating stories with intriguing plots. The suspense in this novel is palpable, and it reads as smoothly as watching a television episode. I can't wait to get to the final two books in the Dark Matters series!

I'm not a huge Voyager fan and I'll admit that I've not picked up a lot of the Voyager books that are out there. (Usually the only time I go out of my way to buy a Voyager book is when it's part of an on-going series such as the Captain's Table). But when I saw the description of this book and heard some good on-line buzz about this series and Ms. Golden in particular, I was interested enough to give the series a try.

And to be honest, after reading the first third of this trilogy, I'm not too eager to tackle the rest. Part of the problem stems from the fact that while there is some decently done plot points covered in the book, they are too few and far between. I like seeing the Romulans and seeing their shadowy conspiracy and plots within plots. Those scenes, in the beginning work. That is, until we find out what their real plot is, it's far too full of holes to be very convincing. (I find it hard to believe the Romulans would devote so much energy to a plan that is so inherintly doomed to fail as finding Voyager and bringing it back through time).

But sometimes holes in logic can be forgiven if the characters are done well. Unfortunately, they aren't. None of the characters gets a very accurate, intelligent look at them. Indeed, if you watch Voyager regularily, you may find yourself wondering just who these people are in the book. There is an attempt to explain this via a force called dark matter, but it's not convincing enough. Also, once the characters are no longer affected by the dark matter, they act in the same ways, thus making the characterizations that much more disconcerting.

I can honestly say this was a dissapointing read for me. I've got the other two books in the series, but they have slid down my reading list and it may be a while before I get back to them. If you haven't bought them, I'd recommend you try another Trek book. If you're looking for Romulan intrigue, try Vulcan's Heart or the Rhinansu books by Diane Duane. Those are great reads and make Dark Matters 1 pale in comparison.

Even though, as an Original Series fan, I tend to lean only to books dealing with Kirk, Spock, McCoy, etc., sometimes I read other incarnations of Star Trek, such as The Next Generation and, in this case, Voyager. And this book certainly lived up to the legend we know as Star Trek. I have added it to space opera and sci-fi books such as: "2001", "Rendezvous with Rama", "Childhood's End", "Foundation", "Ringworld", "Advent of the Corps", and so forth.

This book is definitely not Star trek writing at it's best, but I find that is typical of most of the Voyager books written. Don't get me wrong, I really like the Voyager series, but most of the books have been second rate.
I won't reveal too much of the plot, but suffice to say it involves a mysterious wormhole phenomena and the Romulan Empire. I really like the idea of the dark matter, but it wasn't really used properly, the idea of so many wormholes opening near Voyager is ridiculous, and even more ridiculous is the idea that Telek R'mor was so successful at making them, in 2344 I might add.
There are numerous errors, within the Romulan Empire, it has been established in a great many episodes that the Praetor has the real power, the Emperor is merely a figurehead, much like the Queen of England nowadays. The central character, the head of the Tal Shiar, is fairly hollow, the old story of a person who has struggled against the oppresive forces of society to a position of great power. She seemed more like some sort of rogue that the head of one of the most feared organisations in existence. If you want to see a real Romulan, look no further than Koval from 'Inter arma enim silent leges', although he was a traitor, he had so much more poise about him, something about him just said 'Romulan'.
Another problem is the continuity of the plot. 'Vulcan's Heart' clearly established the Romulan figureheads in 2344, this book, set in the same era, is nearly perpendicular in it's characters. I'm not a nitpicker, but Christie Golden really should of picked that one up, 'Vulcan's Heart' was very popular.
Other than that, I thought the actual story on Voyager itself was alright, a bit predictable at times, but nonetheless enjoyable.
This isn't a great book, I doubt it will be a great series, only pick it up if you're desperate for some Star Trek Voyager.

Voyager: Cloak and Dagger was one of the best Voyager books I have ever read.(and I have read plenty)The whole plot makes this a book you will not want to put down. Of all the Voyager books, Cloak and Dagger (as well as the other two in the trilogy) was the fastest read. I really enjoyed Golden bringing back Telek R'Mor, and the way it was done was magnificient! Christie Golden has gone beyond expectations.Again. If you are a Voyager fan or a fan of other Star Trek; you must read this trilogy.

This book was really very good. It gives us a glimpse of the Romulans and also shows how well the crew works together. I really felt that the characters were well written and true to their TV personalities. A great setup for the next book!

This was a very good introduction on the trilogy "Dark Matters". I've enjoyed Christie Golden's books for some time now and this is one of them. If you love Star Trek Voyager, this is great story to read. You'll be pining for more! :)