Customer Reviews

Star Trek: Myriad Universes: Infinity's Prism (Bk. 1)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

So, I really like Star Trek, and science fiction in general. But one of the most annoying problems with the genre is the inability to tackle the consequences of being human. Recently I've been trying to branch out into science fiction and really found it barely comprehendable, because of the inability to make the worlds convincing in a human fashion. Particularly the use of genetic enhancements and super elongated life spans. Otherwise known as a literary device known as deus ex machina. Commonwealth Saga and The Dreaming Void, I'm looking at you. Star Trek isn't completely immune to this, but in Deep Space 9 TV and books and the Alternate Universe they just nail this. People are PEOPLE. While there are many many great things to say about this collection of stories, all of these stories just get it right, to a greater or lesser extent, but on a fundamental level.

For this review, I'll tackle each story individually and then look at the themes that run through each of them and how they fit together as a whole, in comparison to the rest of recent Star Trek books. For brief story summaries, go the the book's Amazon Page.

A Less Perfect Union is a great start to the collection. First of all, the story flows in a natural fashion, particularly if you have a rough grasp of the background of the original series. These alternate or 'myriad' universes as they call them can create authorial nightmares in terms of exposition and development. Because of the established characters and the mental acknowledgement the reader has that these are going to be different, particularly The Original Series characters, its way too easy to overload on plot exposition and positioning characters within the new universe, but this story just does that very well. Particularly by gradually introducing characters in a natural fashion, like Doctor McCoy. The story itself isn't all that strong, mostly because a significant plot point requires a significant oversight by a major character, but the strength of the universe as a realistic and well-developed setting really makes this story work.

8.5/10

Places of Exile is in my opinion the weakest story of the three, but not really by the fault of the author, who did a fine job of building the characters of the arguably the worst Star Trek series. Where the story kind of hiccups is in Species 8472/Scourge/Groundskeepers, which I can't really blame the author for again because they were really difficult to flesh out. I was intrigued by the general plot premise, and thought the developing of the Delta Coalition to be just a whole lot of fun to experienced. Immigration issues are touched on in a political way, but again like a great deal of this collection just flows naturally. One thing that I really appreciated is the consequences of the deaths of the major characters. B'Elanna's collapse after the death of Tom was totally believable, espeically since it reminded my of the earlier seasons of Voyager, before it all descended into madness. Not only that, I missed Tuvok. There were moments where I just wanted to see Tuvok. So while the plot is a bit iffy, again the new setting works really well, the development of the Delta Coalition was natural (if way too fast timewise. No way Voyager could create a Delta Federation in under two years.) and well fleshed out, and they touched a grand scale that was great to see.

8.0/10

Seeds of Dissent is one of the best stories I've ever read period. Despite being the shortest story of the three, it flows in a natural fashion over a short period of time that makes it feel like you have experienced these events. The pacing is masterful, and the creativity on display was masterful. The development of the characters of Julian Bashir and Ezri Dax in particular were very well done. One of the literary techiniques that Swallow uses is a natural perspective shift. As the story begins, it begins through the perspective of Bashir, but as the plot quickens the perspective gradually to Ezri Dax. Not only that, but the characterization of Bashir is wonderful, and the universe-in-a-bottle that is created in the Defiance just feels authentic and very very unique. The only real weakness I feel is the crew of the Botany Bay, who feel like filler rather than actualy characters, but that just seems like a consequence of the direction of the plot. But overall, quite simply on of the best stories I've ever read.

9.5/10

As a whole, these stories work really well together. The universes are each truly unique, touching on great points. Thematically though with each universe, is that the standard Star Trek universe isn't necessarily better. The best example is Places in Exile, where the what-if scenario is explicitly 'better' than how the canon universe turned out to be. In most other alternate universe stories, the universe is distinctly worse, but these scenarios aren't necessarily worse. While A Less Perfect Union and Seeds of Dissent universes had discintly negative turning point, but these universes have a natural feel to them that even the Alternate Universe doesn't have. In the end, the transition from the Alternate Universe to these Myriad Universes is a great transition for the Star Trek book series, that allows a creative foundation while freeing the authors to create very realistic and unique universes. Kudos to the authors for taking this concept and executing it exceptionally well.

Overall 9.0/10

All three stories in this collection were enjoyable, and I read it in a day and a half. Of the three, my favorite was the Voyager story, "Places of Exile." The characterizations are spot-on, and in my opinion, the developments that take place for each of the characters (the ones who make it, anyway) are more interesting and fulfilling than what actually happened on the show.

The other two stories are equally good, but are much more reference-heavy (especially "Seeds of Dissent"; make sure you've read Greg Cox's Khan books and seen "Tomorrow is Yesterday" (TOS), "11:59" (VOY), and "Future's End" (VOY)) and the casual fan may not get it. Still, great stories.

I like the whole Myriad Universe idea, especially now that the Mirror Universe stuff is about at mined-out as it can be. Good read, can't wait for the sequel next month.

Alternate universes and what-ifs are -- obviously -- the life-blood of science fiction. Two of the three stories in this volume live, one just sags.

"A Less Perfect Union" features Christopher Pike at the helm and James T. Kirk as his second in command. Characters from throughout the original canon appear, including the animated series. I rated it tops until I read "Seeds of Dissent" the DS9 version in the book.

Again, capturing elements from earlier mainstream stories, it ranks as one of the few stories I've ever read that I could not stop once I had started it, and that is in the Trek universe or any other work of fiction -- and I write from the perspective of a 61 year old Trekker (I was there when it started). When Kirk banished Khan to Ceti Alpha 5, Spock wondered what it would be like to see what crop sprang from the seed they had planted. James Swallow lets us see what happened when Khan won the Eugenics War. Outstanding!

"Places of Exile," the Voyager installment, reads like one of the early Next Generation TV shows -- tea and talk. If you don't have anything else to read, read it, but you won't miss much by skipping it.

But don't let that stop you from buying this book!

This book and other like it are the only outlet of Star Trek I have left in my life. I have been an avid Star Trek book reader, but of late, Star Trek book fiction has gone in a very confusing direction and I have refused to read any of them until they get back on the right track. This book was thankfully a nice return to normalcy or atleast as normal as a Star Trek book can get.

Star Trek: Myriad Universes - 'Infinity's Prism' is an ambitious project that's been in the works for years. This is the 'what if' series of novellas exploring all the avenues and paths not taken in the various Star Trek series and movies. The question is, does "Myriad Universes" please the audiences or does it fall victim to being over-the-top, glorified fan fiction? For me, was by far one of the stronger anthologies and mini series put out in the past few years. Usually, there is one story included that feels far weaker and unworthy of print and makes me regret purchasing the book. That wasn't the case with "Myriad Universes: Infinity's Prism". It has some minor flaws that keep it from being perfect but in all, it's a wonderful work of fiction that definitely makes you wish the shows had been willing to take these bold chances and directions with plots and characters.

You'll enjoy how each story tends to capture the spirit of the original series. Each story, to me, comes with a lesson or moral that the writer is putting out for the audience to pick-up on. I was beside myself with the greatness of 'A Less Than Perfect Union'. This story is a blend of Star Trek: Enterprise and the Original Series. This was your classic original series episode with a twist; what would have happened if Starfleet and the Star Trek universe had not been as open minded and in turn was xenophobic? An elderly T'Pol (seen on the cover) is the last surviving member of Archer's Enterprise and through her, we see the alternate history of Enterprise and Pike/Kirk dealing with an Earth that isn't so great. The last novel, 'Seeds of Dissent' takes on a similar theme of exploring the question of 'who writes the history?' as Khan manages to reign over Earth and a rather interesting group of people threaten Khan's legacy and force a genetically enhanced Bashir to re-evaluate the past. Both of these stories, for me, were on the epic scale and a fun read with an actual lesson.

What you may not like is the quick-pace of many of the stories. While it worked for "A Less Than Perfect Union" and "Seeds of Dissent", it didn't work as well for "Places of Exile". The Voyager story came off as the most fan-fiction of the novellas. This was more like a different take or spoof of "Year of Hell" as there are few lessons to be learned and this was just pure entertainment. It wasn't bad but by the end, the story felt rather forced and cheesey. I also felt that even with this being a 'different view' of Star Trek: Voyager, the characters felt very off and unbelievable. This problem also arises in 'Seeds in Dissent' as Kira and Dukat, as well as Bashir, aren't really given any foundation and read as if they are rather plain and stiff, if not over-the-top.

In all, a good read. Yes, there is a fan-fic lining to some of the stories but that's to be expected. What made 'Infinity's Prism' such a good read was that it accomplished the goal of exploring some interesting 'what if' situations in Trek and as you're reading it, your mind begins to run wild with your own ideas of other stories that could be told. I liked that some stories, such as "A Less Than Perfect Union" weren't just entertaining - it was thought provoking and a great allegory to modern times. I enjoyed the 'dark' theme seen in 'Deep Space Nine' running throughout "Seeds of Dissent" which features a host of DS9 characters. Definitely worth your time and money.

Infinity's Prism is well written and interesting I could not put it down wanted to keep reading. For the star trek fan it is one of the best reads and it should be part of any star trek book collection.

The first story in this trio features characters from the Original Series as well as T'Pol from the Enterprise Series. The second novella stars much of the cast of Voyager. The third relates to an episode from the Original Series, but is about characters from Deep Space Nine. These stories are all well done, but I especially enjoyed the second and third. I think most fans of the shows really like these alternate universe and alternate timeline stories.
Michael Travis Jasper, Author of the Novel "To Be Chosen"

Seeds of Dissent the ultimate Hitler Wins scenario is the best of this collection it was good to see Bashier as a "bad" guy and O'Brian as a ragging psychopath the story is certainly interesting I hope we see installments set in this universe again. A less Perfect Union actually held my interest in a major way and I hated Enterprise. The only misfire was Places of Exile maybe it will improve on a second reading but I doubt it the author while talented tries to fit 10 pounds of food in a 5 pound bag which could have been spaced out and improved if the author had been given more space and time.

Despite my problems all of these stories are interesting enough that if they had each been 350 pages I would not have minded. Excellent stuff.

I stumbled upon this book while visiting the Star Trek Exhibit in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I started reading it on Monday, September 14, 2009 and finished reading it today, Thursday, September 17, 2009. I just could not put the book down until I finished reading all three stories!!!!!

The third story, "Seeds of Dissension", had me on the edge of my seat!! Princeps, Khanate, Oh My!!!!! I can't wait to read through Book Two!!!!!

Of all the stories in this collection; the one with the former Dr. Bashir was the most compelling of all. In this one it shows how he fought the decendents of Khan's Eugenic Wars. This one should have been expanded into a full novel! I wish the editor could have expanded this concept into a larger format. It certainly was the best of all of them and was hoping for more of a story.