The Farther Shore (Star Trek Voyager, Book Two of Two) (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author) "THE WATER WAS hardly inviting..." (more)
Key Phrases: comm badge, phaser fire, door hissed, Seven of Nine, Royal Protocol, Trevor Blake (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

When an unstoppable Borg plague breaks out upon Earth, blame quickly falls on the newly returned crew of the Starship Voyage ™. Did Kathryn Janeway and the others unknowingly carry this insidious infection back with them? Many in Starfleet think so, and Seven of Nine, in particular, falls under a cloud of suspicion.

Now, with a little help from the Starship Enterprise ™, Admiral Janeway must reunite her crew in a desperate, last-ditch attempt to discover the true source of the contagion and save Earth itself from total assimilation into a voracious new Borg Collective.

But time is running out.

Has Voyager come home only to witness humanity's end?

About the Author

Award-winning author Christie Golden has written over thirty novels and several short stories in the fields of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Golden launched the TSR Ravenloft line in 1991 with her first novel, the highly successful Vampire of the Mists. She is the author of several original fantasy novels, including On Fire's Wings, In Stone's Clasp, and Under Sea's Shadow, the first three in her multi-book fantasy series ?The Final Dance? from LUNA Books.

 

Among Golden's other projects are over a dozen Star Trek novels and the well-received StarCraft Dark Templar trilogy, Firstborn, Shadow Hunters, and the forthcoming Twilight. An avid player of Blizzard's MMORPG World of Warcraft, Golden has written several novels in that world (Lord of the Clans, Rise of the Horde) with three more in the works. She has also written two Warcraft manga stories for Tokyopop, ?I Got What Yule Need? and ?A Warrior Made.? Golden is currently hard at work on three books in the major nine-book Star Wars series ?Fate of the Jedi.? Golden lives in Colorado with her husband and two cats.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 275 pages
• Publisher: Star Trek (July 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743467558
• ISBN-13: 978-0743467551
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #232,706 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #9 in	Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Media > Star Trek > Voyager
  #18 in	Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > ( G ) > Golden, Christie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ST-Voyager: The Farther Shore Book Two, July 9, 2003

By	Joe Zika "Khemprof" (Cincinnati, Ohio) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Star Trek - Voyager: The Father Shore book two is the conclusion to Homecoming of a two part series about the return of the Voyager and her crew to Earth. I must say this, the author will make you think as you enjoy this latest adventure to the relaunch of the Voyager series.

As "The Father Shore" begins right where "Homecoming" left off we are in the middle of a conspiracy, the Voyager crew is being questioned, some of the crew are in prison (the Doctor, Seven and Icheb) and there is a hologram strike as the people of Earth try to cope with a cut in services. But, that is only half of the adventure as B'Lanna Torres is searching for her mother on Boreth a highly religious planet in the Klingon Empire, there is also a Borg virus spreading on Earth.

There is suspense, intrigue, and mystery in this book as the Voyager crew trys its best to solve these trials by fire that have erupted since their return. I found the story to be very engrossing and entertaining as I read through the book... I didn't want to put it down as the adventure kept my interest and I wanted to find out what happens next.

If you're a TREK fan, Christie Golden's two part series will keep you very well entertained. I just hope that this relaunch of Voyager will continue as the members of the Voyager crew lead their lives on Earth, Vulcan and Boreth. The book leaves some very interesting possibilities opened for the author or others to explore.

The character development and the plot were excellent... there are some real good twists in this book and I'm not going to ruin it for you. "The Farther Shore" is a solid 5 star book as it will shake the reader up, just like the author intended, and make you think along the read. Being an avid Star Trek reader, I must say, "Homecoming and The Farther Shore" are a welcome addition to the Star Trek genre known as Voyager.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars What's that clunking noise?, November 19, 2004

By	David Roy (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

What is it with Star Trek two-part stories? The television series always had problems with conclusions, and now the book series is following suit. Unlike the television series, though, the book series is just taking flaws in the first book and expanding on them in the conclusion, making the final installment a step down from the first. Such again is the case with Voyager's relaunch novel, The Farther Shore. After writing my review for Homecoming, I read some other reviews that mentioned that Christie Golden's writing had way too many romance novel tropes. While I don't necessarily agree with that for Homecoming (or at least I don't agree that they were prominent), it is true in spades with A Farther Shore. The writing is trite and evokes too many "bodice-ripper" images for my taste. If this is the way the relaunch is going to continue (and it evidently is completely Golden's ball, handed to her by the editors), then I hope she learns to rein them in.

There are a lot of problems with this book, so I'll start with the good stuff. Golden continues to write the regulars well, as far as characterization goes. She's obviously a fan of the Janeway/Chakotay relationship, though she avoids them falling into bed together, instead giving them a "very close friends who could almost have been lovers" feel. Hopefully, she'll keep it that way in subsequent books. The friendship between them is very well done. Seven is still a little too emotional, but she otherwise is also written well. Torres, off on her own quest for her mother, is finally coming to terms with her dual-heritage, and the scenes between Torres and her mother are very interesting. In fact, the sequences on Boreth with Torres are the best part of the book. Too bad that they didn't have anything to do with the main plot. Also, the Borg plot is interesting in its own way, though I truly hope this is the last gasp of the Borg. Thankfully, the problem ends up being a lot less predictable than "they brought the virus with them," which is nice.

Unfortunately, while the regular characters are done pretty well, the others are not. The main villain of the piece, once revealed, is *way* overdone, sounding shrill at times. The Starfleet admirals that Janeway and others have to deal with also seem way too strident in their feelings toward the Voyager crew. Also, the final resolution, as hard as it is to get there, ends up being way too simple when it finally occurs. It's almost an afterthought, which is not a good thing. The leader of the holographic rebellion is written way over the top, especially when we get the scenes in his fantasy world. I found myself shaking my head way too many times in this book. I also have to wonder at the abrupt end to the holographic rights plot. Perhaps this is going to be picked up in future books?

Which leads me to the main problem with A Farther Shore: the writing. I can live with descriptions of men and women as "muscular" and "beautiful" without thinking a lot about it. I think that's what many reviewers had a problem with in Homecoming. But A Farther Shore takes it one step further, especially with characters we care nothing about. There is a sequence where many Starfleet personnel, as well as other workers, are replaced by holograms, and the real people are placed in some holographic world where they are slaves to the holograms. This is supposedly to teach them what it's like to be oppressed. These scenes involve characters we aren't familiar with at all, and the limited scenes they have in the book before this happens just didn't make me care about them. What's even worse, though, is the way the sequence is written. It seriously is like a romance novel come to life. Lieutenant Andropov is described as being extremely muscular, and the woman who he takes under his wing is quite beautiful. He's old enough to be her father, and thankfully we are spared any romantic entanglements, but we still get prose that's ripped from the bodice of those novels. It made me cringe every time Golden went back there.

Finally, there is one major internal continuity gaffe that is so bad only because the scenes happen one right after the other. In the first scene, the Trill doctor suggests that Data go off for the rendezvous with the other Voyager crewmembers by himself while he continues to work with the holographic Doctor in sickbay. The very next scene, however, is the rendezvous, and the Trill is right there. He speaks quite a lot, and it's obvious not a communication from sickbay. He is right there. Surely this should have been caught in editing even if Golden was writing the scenes out of order and forgot this?

A Farther Shore has an interesting premise with some good characterization (but some horrible characterization too), but the writing just fails it. Romance-lite, overbearing and overdrawn, this book just seems such a let-down after Homecoming. Problems that were below the radar rear their ugly head, and don't bode well for the series. I hope Golden can do better than this.

David Roy

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars quenches your thirst, June 29, 2003

By A Customer

The second book of the Homecoming adventures picks up from where book one left off. However, with all the catchup handled in the first book you get right into the meat as soon as the second book begins.

Finally, after a bit of inaction in the first book the Voyager crew gets back together and starts moving. Our favorite charactes are once again put together and put in a familiar setting. It was great having them back on Voyager and working in their old posistions.

The books ends comfortably enough, giving readers the feeling that all has been wrapped up nicely. Most fans of the TV show loved how it ended but have been left wanting to find out more. Even after the first book, I had the feeling that I needed more and wondered how they would all move on after such a huge adventure. I have to say that this book quenched my thirst for info on my favorite crew and TV show, although it would be great to see them in movies and even more follow up books. I think most readers will feel comfortable with how all ends up.

As a reviewer stated from the first book, the plot is not all that original with the Borg and all and it almost was too easy and making Libby into a super spy was a bit much. However, I don`t know if we who were waiting for this book were really looking for a great plot in as much as we were looking to find out what happened to all these people we almost grew to know over the past seven years on TV. If you were looking for the later, as I was, you won`t be disapointed.