This week, when Captain Janeway worries that her chief of security has gone MIA, the search lands her ship clear on the other side of the galaxy. But as she struggles to find an easy way home, it becomes distressingly apparent that not even a two-parter may be enough to fix everything. Who do early writers perceive as Voyager‘s main character? Is Voyager’s entire stay in the Delta Quadrant Starfleet’s fault? And can I learn to stop worrying and love the Neelix? All this and more in Caretaker, the book that takes time to honor its fallen.
Tag: long way from home
This week, it’s clear the Romulans have been to the movies lately. Suddenly they’re planning their own peace initiative, with blackjack, and hookers. While they and the Federation put together dinner and a show, the probe from The Voyage Home drives through space with a trunk full of unanswered questions. And when it makes a U-turn to get the truth, Kirk and Spock realize it’s going to take a lot more than showing it a couple of whales to satisfy its curiosity this time. Which Romulans are serious about peace and which ones aren’t? What does the probe have to look forward to when it goes home? Is this yet another flippin’ “Enterprise Incident” sequel? All this and more in Probe, the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! of Star Trek novels.
This week, a jaunt to the Gamma Quadrant leads to love for Pike!Enterprise’s goofiest-looking crewman, but the premature closure of the gate that brought them there forces them to leave before she can engage his hyperdrive. Several years later, when the Enterprise returns for a hopefully rosier second outing, she dares to quit before her people can fire her, to which they respond by holding the Federation’s contact team hostage. Will Kirk figure out how to extract his people before the gap closes for another three decades? Will Jose Tyler finally get the sweet, sweet Gamma Quadrant strange he was denied all those years ago? Is it shorter to list the things that don’t offend a Tellarite? All this and more in The Rift, a romance 33.4 years in the making.
This week, when Geordi and Data poke around a derelict station, they wind up with a one-way ticket to a zero-G peace resort halfway across the galaxy. But even though the guy running the joint destroyed the entire nuclear arsenal of the planet below fifty years ago, discord continues to flourish. Meanwhile, Picard browbeats everyone in sight for answers, but Riker and Tasha end up taking the same joyride not much later. Could Geordi pretty much do Troi’s job? How is Worf’s first day of improv classes? Will Ensign Carpelli hole up in his quarters and cry it out with a pint of Ben & Jerry’s after his duty shift is over? It’s the book that dares to ask, “What about the Prime Directive?”
For the first time in recent memory, we’ve got an introduction. I think they fell by the wayside because authors realized we’re interested in our favorite crew and not their silly self-indulgent life stories, but mercifully it’s a short one. Still, even in only six short paragraphs, I found enough to give me pause (emphasis = my own):
“Over the years, it’s gotten ever harder to resist the temptation to watch the reruns, particularly when they’re showing gems like the Gary Seven episode, ‘Assignment: Earth,’ and ‘The Menagerie.'”
“Assignment: Earth” a gem? Really? “Assignment: Earth” is in my bottom five episodes. Should this seismic divergence of opinion worry me about the story ahead? Only one way to find out…