Customer Reviews

Star Trek: Voyager: Full Circle (Star Trek Voyager (Paperback Unnumbered))

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Voyager fans have had a rocky few years. The first 4 Relaunch books were less than fantastic IMO, but at least we had something. Then 5 years without any major post-series action. Of course we had Tuvok in the extremely well written Titan series. There were cameos by multiple crew members in other titles. And we had the death of a beloved character in the shocking if moving 'Before Dishonor' by Peter David; a Next Generation title that starred Janeway & Seven. Seven also saw quite a bit of development in the exciting Destiny trilogy by David Mack.

But now we have 'Full Circle' and Voyager hasn't been this good in ages. The author, Kirsten Beyer previously wrote the excellent middle volume in the Voyager "String Theory" trilogy. She got the characters right then, and she's perfected them beyond my hopes in this new integral installment. Those who feel that the loss of 1 character from the ensemble is too much to bear may understandably want to skip this one, but if they choose to do so they are missing out on quite a ride - and easily the best post-series Voyager story yet. Those that felt that the first 4 Relaunch titles by Christie Golden were missing something need to give this one a shot! The characters have rarely been this well written. The story has never been this moving. The series feels reinvigorated. And I for one am very happy with what is happening in the post-Voyager landscape.

Yeah.

Backstory for anyone missing it: in 2007's Before Dishonor, Kathryn Janeway was killed. Well, actually, she's off having fun with the Q, but editorially, it's been made clear that she won't be coming back as a mortal for at least the foreseeable future (next couple years). Before that, Tuvok was moved as a regular character to the Titan series, begun in Taking Wing in 2005. And then last year, the Destiny trilogy did a huge Borg invasion that changed everything for the Federation, and Voyager was involved in that too.

So, in the 5 years of real time and 3 years of in-universe time since the last Voyager novel, some serious things have changed. These things are clearly not everyone's cup of tea (especially Janeway's death), and so I'm sure this book is going to get a ton of 1-star reviews based on that alone.

But that's unworthy of this magnificent, graceful epic. It gives us one last adventure of everyone from the show together again in the first half, then shows us what happens over the next three years as they drift apart, react to Janeway's death, change as people in startling but truly human ways, and then all end up at the end......well, that would spoil it. But suffice it to say "Full Circle" is an excellent title.

And suffice it also to say that anyone complaining about "only a few" characters being left apparently failed to read the novel. Going forward, aside from Janeway and Tuvok, every major Voyager character that made it back to the Alpha Quadrant has a huge role and a fascinating ongoing character arc. This book has one of the most surprising and layered endings of any Trek book you'll read, and it does everyone justice (including Janeway and Tuvok, though they are departed). I can't imagine there'd be a Voyager fan that didn't find something to like here.

If Janeway's death is a dealbreaker, well then this probably isn't for you. If a 560 page emotional journey that hits some seriously dark places before coming back to the light seems too intense for a Star Trek book, then maybe this isn't for you. But if you're on the fence at all, I would seriously recommend giving this a try. This is a book about people, flawed but powerful people, in a winding tale that shows more of what that really means than the show ever did.

What I mean is, for my money, it's one of the best Trek novels ever published, and easily the best Voyager novel ever published, even with Janeway dying. And while I see many totally valid reasons you could have for disagreeing, I hope that you don't just think "WELL THAT SOUNDS LAME" and give this a pass. There's much more to Full Circle than you expect.

Warning: You probably want to forgo FULL CIRCLE until you've read BEFORE DISHONOR and all of the STAR TREK: DESTINY trilogy. If you plan to do those things, don't read past the next paragraph. (FWIW, you can get by without having read any earlier Voyager novels, but you must have watched the show.)

The first 291 pages of FULL CIRCLE comprise a novel detailing the kidnapping of B'Elanna Torres and Tom Paris' daughter Miral from a Klingon monastery, the unlikely but heroic attempt to locate and rescue Miral (with the involvement of Admiral Janeway, Captain Chakotay, and Voyager), and an ending that is not as happy as it could be. This is a typical Trek novel, with its share of thrills, humor, defiance of orders and good sense, and revelations about the history of and threats to the future of the Klingon people.

As for the second half of the book ... To come "full circle" is to return to where you started, and you can guess what that means for Voyager and its crew. But don't expect anything so dramatic to happen in FULL CIRCLE; the second half of the book only prepares the way for the next Voyager novel, UNWORTHY. Most of this section consists of the history of Voyager during the year or so between Janeway's death and the beginning of Voyager's new journey. This is the "catch up" section of the book, relating what happened to the ship and its crew to the events in the larger Trek universe. I found this section confusing and much less satisfying than the initial novel. This was partly because I hadn't read the other novels, but more because it was poorly narrated, with little context or motivation for each of the historical snippets that were presented. It was freely interspersed with title pages bearing dates like "May 2381", but the date has no meaning unless you happen to be good at constructing chronologies in your head. I would have been helped much more by something like "Then, on our next mission, around the same time that the Enterprise was being attacked by a massive space wedgie in the Whosit system, ..."

In sum, FULL CIRCLE exists mainly to prepare readers for Voyager's new mission, which begins in UNWORTHY. I suspect that the entertaining novel that occupies the first half of the book is there mainly to make the second half of the book palatable to readers like me, who don't keep up with all the latest Trek happenings. In any event, I recommend reading BEFORE DISHONOR and the DESTINY series before turning to FULL CIRCLE.

Other notes:

1. I've never seen "imperiously" used so many times in a single book.

2. Why does Starfleet have to reserve spots in the admiralty for the biggest jerks in the galaxy?

3. There is no way to know from brief inspection of FULL CIRCLE that readers should have read other novels first. I would really have liked a notice saying that reading X, Y, and Z first would be a good idea. In the Star Wars universe each book has a little timeline in the front that gives you some idea where this book fits in relative to others. Surely, the Trek gods can do at least that much, right?

First of all I must say how shameful it has been 5 years since Pocket Books has released any Voyager re-launch novels from "Enemy of my Enemy" but have continuously focused on Titan, TNG, DS9, New Frontier which aren't even nearly as good as Voyager. I must say though Beyer does a great job at finishing up Golden's ideas and she greatly improves upon it. This is the re-launch novel that Voyager fans have REALLY been waiting for. I must say though how disappointed I was with the death of Janeway (why not kill off Picard, Sisko or Dr. McCoy?) Those characters are much older, and should be let go before Janeway. I didn't like the idea of Peter David killing her off in a TNG relaunch novel of "Before Dishonor". But Beyer certainly does not skip a beat on the thrills and going into details with her death (with some surprising romances- that fans have craved for years). Beyer did a great job at restoring Voyager back to it's roots and setting if off again in their home turf at the end of the novel. But I do not like the fact that Captain Eden is in command, when hardly any VOY crew members are left onboard except for Kim and Paris. Also B'lanna cheating death? That is so unlike her- I am sure her closets friends would help her out instead she runs around the quadrant in secrecy. Beyer does a great job at showing Voyager's role in the Desinty series (with tragic consequences- to some of the new characters in the relaunch). I hope Chakotay comes back in command- that is really his ship and Janeways. I believe the height of the show was with her and him in Command. I don't believe Eden will live up to that height. I also believe that the show isn't really much of a relaunch if they kill off the main characters and do little about the old ones. Overall Beyer made a masterpiece. I hope that Unworthy is certainly just as good- this has to be one of Voyager's best novels, if not the best.

Although no one more than myself was extremely depressed over Janeway's death, I thought that it was handled in a really good way. I had already read the reviews of Before Dishonor, so I was curious if this book would continue with that storyline. It does, but in a way that allows all of the characters to evolve and become more human. Each character gets their own story arch, but none of those really detract from the overall story. The story is a little disjointed, jumping within its three-year time frame, but once the story is finished it kinda makes sense. As readers, we aren't meant to see the whole story and how it all fits like puzzle pieces until the last few pages.

Thank you thank you for making the Janeway-Chakotay thing happen, if only for a short while. Those two really did deserve happiness together.

I am unsure about Captain Eden. Although her intentions are good, we'll see if she becomes more than just a brooding ex-wife of the most self-centered, pompous admiral ever written. I sincerely hope that Seven and Chakotay find their way back to the Delta Quadrant, perhaps with Tuvok in tow. And please, don't break the new slipstream technology!

This book's time line weaves in and out among the events of the TNG (Star Trek: The Next Generation) novel Before Dishonor. It opens after that book, as Mark Johnson brings Chakotay the news of Kathryn Janeway's death. It then flashes back and forth before reaching its conclusion one year later. In the pages between prologue and epilogue, author Beyer takes readers on an exciting but often painful journey through the events leading up to Admiral Janeway's death in the line of duty, and then through all that follows. Or not quite all that follows, actually, since this book is the first volume in a story that will continue with the October release of a second installment.

For Chakotay, this year brings his life's greatest crisis. He has spent the past decade loving Kathryn Janeway and waiting for her, even when they were both supposedly exploring the possibility of relationships with others. Always, it was duty that kept them apart. Finally he has her commitment, and assurance that his love is returned - and then comes her death in the line of duty. This makes the book's ending, bittersweet though it is, entirely believable for me.

For Voyager First Officer Tom Paris, the past three years have brought a different but equally profound conflict between love and duty. B'Elanna Torres, his wife and Voyager's former chief engineer, has another paramount obligation now: protecting their small daughter, Miral, from assassination by a Klingon sect (calling it a "Klingon warrior sect" would be redundant) that believes the child must be eliminated in order to prevent fulfillment of prophecy. By the book's end, Tom and B'Elanna have found their own resolution to the love/duty impasse, and it is a different one entirely from the resolution Chakotay decides upon.

For our other beloved Voyager characters, except Tuvok (who has become a "regular" in another Trek incarnation, I'm told), the same conflict plays out in different ways and with different resolutions - or, in some cases, with no resolution yet in sight. That is Beyer's theme for this novel, and probably for the one to follow as well. As a die-hard Janeway fan, I would have anticipated being thoroughly dissatisfied with any plot line that involved her death (assuming she would be staying dead - this is, after all, science fiction!). I stumbled on that development when I read Before Dishonor, by pure happenstance since I don't usually read TNG novels. I found that book an agreeable surprise. Yes, Janeway died; but the door remained open for her to continue as part of the Trek-verse. I found Full Circle thoroughly satisfying in its handling of the characters, and I even enjoyed the new ones such as Counselor Hugh Cambridge and Captain Afsarah Eden. The love story between Janeway and Chakotay came off beautifully, and the ending - not really a cliffhanger, but a gathering up of plot threads in preparation for the story's continuance - also worked for me.

However, I do have two problems with this book. First, its structure could only have felt comfortable if I'd had sufficient time to read straight through. As it was, I read it in hour-long sessions during a busy week, and its flashing back and forth consequently confused and annoyed me. Second, since I don't read TNG books I would have been lost - utterly - if I hadn't happened to have read Before Dishonor. I agree with others who have said that reading the Destiny trilogy before reading this book would also be useful, since I felt the lack of having done so. Perhaps Pocket Books wants to make it "necessary" for its Trek audience to read every novel published by that division? If so, I doubt that's going to work. Many of us are interested in one of the series far more than in the others. Then again, it may simply be easier to plot the story of the Trek-verse in 2380 and beyond as a whole instead of keeping the several casts as separate as possible. But in any case, for me the current strategy isn't an inducement to buy all of the books.

Despite my two quibbles, this is a wonderful Voyager tale. I will definitely grab up the next book as soon as it comes out!

--Reviewed by Nina M. Osier, author of 2005 EPPIE winner REGS and the MINDERS SERIES

I have to say right here and now that I hope that every Voyager book from here on out is written by Kirsten Beyer. She nails the characters. Interesting on every level. 561 pages, 2 nights. Couldn't put it down. SPOILERS>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hopefully, the next book will fix the mess made in Before Dishonor, and BRING BACK JANEWAY!!! Broke my heart....especially after reading the backstory Beyer created for Janeway and Chakotay, Voyager's ultimate love story. A definite read!

As a life-long Star Trek fan (I started watching TNG as a toddler), I have always felt that Voyager was the "red-headed stepchild" of the Trekverse. Although it had the most interesting and complex set of characters, it was mismanaged by both the network and the people at the top. It only added insult to injury when it was decided that Kathryn Janeway should be sacrificed for shock value at a time when both Ben Sisko and Jean-Luc Picard were married and playing happy families.

Full Circle is a Voyager where its' characters and their histories are finally treated with the respect that they deserve. All of the principals that made it to the Alpha Quadrant get the chance to shine, but it is really Chakotay who benefits the most.

The "philosopher and the soldier" (to paraphrase Janeway) was a character that was ill-served in the tv series, due to a more quiet subtle characterization than UPN was able to handle. Full Circle brought all of his best and worst qualities to the fore, including that beautiful subtle romance with Kathryn that the series so mishandled. The ease with which Beyer manages in just a few pages to paint the resolution of their protracted romance and the ease with which they slipped from friends to lovers makes you wonder what the producers were smoking when they said that it would never work.

Even after Janeway's death as he reels from her loss while their former crew remains oblivious, Chakotay 's characterization remains the highlight of an already excellent, though bittersweet book. The entire book is a tribute to the spirit of Kathryn Janeway and the family she kept together through blood, sweat, and tears in the Delta Quadrant. I am just sorry that it took Janeway's death, the destruction of "the family" and four years for it to happen.

This was the first Star Trek Voyager book I have read in a long time. I heard that it was suppose to be a great story, so I gave it a chance, and it delivered. Kirsten Beyer does an amazing job of making the characters beliveable and even adds on additional layers to make them more intriguing then what we saw on the TV show. It has all the elements of great science fiction, mixed with with some very heart warming and emotionally charged moments. It would make a fantastic TV movie and I would love to see what the actors would do with this!

As a fan of the Janeway/Chakotay relationship, this book did not disappoint and is a must read for any J/Cer.

The ending is a real shocker but also left me feeling a little uneasy about what the future holds for Chakotay, whose character outshines all the others in this book. My only hope is that Ms. Beyer doesnt revisit the C/7 relationship in "Unworthy." It would ruin the entire series for me.

You know, Star Trek used to be about the team overcoming terrible odds and having a bit of fun doing it. It seems that everything from Nemesis forward is about endings, good characters being killed off in "noble" ways, and change. Sure, change is a part of OUR lives, but some of us want to escape for a bit into a nice, stable place with interesting people like the crew of Voyager and the other ST shows.

I hated this book.

Giving it two stars because the writing is not bad, it's the darkness and hopelessness that bothered me the most. As far as I'm concerned, these books are just a way to cash in a little more on our love of the characters from the shows, and when you start killing them off, moving them around, well, I really don't care much for your new characters. So Voyager ended long before this book for me, with the crew getting home and the Captain defeating the Borg Queen. End of story.

If I want to come Full Circle, I'll start watching the episodes over with the pilot.