Future Perfect

Past Imperfect #3

by Fletcher DeLancey

As usual, Seven of Nine knows exactly what she wants. Unfortunately Revi is not cooperating, for reasons she's keeping to herself. While Lynne settles into her new job and Janeway adjusts to a whole new relationship, the crew of Voyager find themselves one step closer to home — and beset with betrayal.

179,500 words

Genres: Science Fiction, Romance, LGBT, Lesbian, Lesbian Fiction, Fan Fiction, Fantasy

659 pages, ebook

First published October 1, 2007

About the author

Fletcher DeLancey spent her early career as a science educator, which was the perfect combination of her two great loves: language and science. These days she combines them while writing science fiction.

She is an Oregon expatriate who left her beloved state when she met a Portuguese woman and had to choose between home and heart. She chose heart. Now she lives with her wife and son in the beautiful sunny Algarve, where she writes full-time, teaches Pilates, tries to learn the local birds and plants, and samples every regional Portuguese dish she can get her hands on. (There are many. It’s going to take a while.)

She is best known for her science fiction/fantasy series, Chronicles of Alsea, now comprised of four novels and a novella. Among them, the Alsea books have won an Independent Publisher's Award (2017 bronze medal), a Golden Crown Literary Society Award, a Rainbow Award, and been shortlisted for a Lambda Literary Award.

Fletcher believes that women need far more representation in science fiction and fantasy, and takes great pleasure in writing complex stories with strong, believable women heading up the action. Her day is made every time another reader says, “I didn’t think I liked science fiction, but then I read yours.”

Reviews

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely riveting relationship drama, and amazing Sci-Fi dynamics both physical and psychological.
Even better the second time around.

[Arn · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.4 stars. I liked this one slightly less than the first two books in the series mainly because drama felt too overblown in some places while it was on point in the first two. It's still a very good read though. The characters keep growing, the Voyager is getting closer to home and life on a spaceship is never dull.

[Joc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captain Janeway and Lynne Hamilton's relationship is, for the most part, on track but Seven and Revi are struggling. Well, that is until they come across a ship full of Arnett, an alien species in desperate need of assistance.

Another good installment in the series although I found this one a little slower than the first two.

[Alealea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so into the story (safely on the other side of the paper), I was jumpy reading it, speaking aloud to characters, laughing, crying, or getting mad...

I guess I can add FD on my top writers list the diagnostic just came: I'm hooked and a lost cause.

[Pin · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's getting better and better...

[Jem · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
A must-read if only for the Risan Joystick ;-)

[Lexxi Kitty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm 48% into the next DeLancey Voyager book so it's a little too late to write anything in here. Things merge, and stuff.

There was a lot of funny moments that occurred in this book, which was something of a nice change for all the melodrama. It's not that there wasn't humor before, just that there was enough that I could actually put this book on that shelf. There was also a lot of sex. And sex toys.

Hmm, see, as I said, I can't really say anything in here. Separating out what happened in this book from what has occurred during the first 48% of the next book has turned out to be impossible.

[Ted · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seven redeemed this book. It was definitely extremely difficult for me to finish. The sheer amount of bad feels and the sads was.... Ugh.

[Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars. This series gets better and better with each installment. This one was almost 700 pages and yet this series is such an easy and engaging read that they are so easy to breeze through. Which is great because these books just get longer and longer from here.

Janeway and Lynne got married! That was exciting and wow was their honeymoon night hot. This was the spiciest book of this series thus far and I loved it. Their chemistry is everything and I love that they are constantly growing and even when they have their issues and fights they end up loving each other even more.

Aside from those two Seven of Nine and Revi are just as much the main characters now as them and I am not mad about it at all. I love those two and I think the development of their relationship was so well done. They really had to overcome things to even be together and it was great and I loved how patient Revi is with Seven. They are adorable.

Outside of the romance, the action on the Voyager is always entertaining. There’s always something going on and I’m excited to read the next book and see what happens next.

[Betty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably closer to 3.5* but not enough to go to 4.

There are parts of this I adored. Really. And there are parts I just thought, well just get it done already. It just seemed like 2/3 sex. It isn't. But there are things which stand out.

The evolution of the relationship between Seven and Revi is wonderful.
Too much sex, but cross that out and keep the joystick.
The Arnett in the cargo bay at the end. They didn't need to do it that way surely? Plot hooks and the inability to speak.
And yet stuck in a void space was a story waiting to be written and it was passed over as an aside.

Time for a break from the series.

[Kalamah]

I started this with the intent to finish it quickly, got to page 107, and decided I'd really much rather take a break from this series and read other things. I'll come back to this eventually.

[Celesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

any mistakes or errors that is in this review wrote this on my phone Auto speak sometimes makes mistakes and I fix the best I could.



So I guess I want to give this a review like I said I did in my previous review I think that was on book two so I finished this up actually when I woke up this morning and United States time frame in Michigan is I think I finish it between 8:00 and 10:00 or somewhere around in the morning I went to school about 3:00 so I have not started the third book yet I got out of school about 5:50 and I just been laying around the house since then so I have not started book 4 yet but currently is 9:38 p.m. I will be start book 4 as soon as I get done with this review however I did take another reviewers suggestion I think they reviewed it on book 4 which was to take a break between books because book 4 and book five are the biggest out of the entire series look for if my understanding is bigger than I think book two combined twice I think someone has said and then the final book book 5 is bigger than twice the biggest down or three times the bigger is that or something like that so again I love this I'm a big fan of big huge story so that doesn't bother me at all but I didn't want to kind of just absorb everything I read from this book with that being said I'll get to the things that liked other things I didn't.


What I did like I liked it in progression and growth of seven of nine which I think a lot of us enjoyed there were times I did do a little bit of skipping but other than that I truly love the growth that seven had in this book this was truly a seven of nine book despite still having Lynn in Janeway a part of the story this is really seven of nine and Revi book we got to learn a lot more about both women since we were introduced to Revi in the previous book and I have to say her character is very unique I think her mechanical arm is awesome and her being a doctor and Borg is is very fascinating because of what has happened to her with the time with the Borg and I love her and connection that they share with one another that no one else shares and I'm not talking about the connection that they have but the synchronous of being able to hear one another I'm not just talking about that connection but it's just the connection in general they have of being people who were forced to be something they did not want to be and they're forced to live with the consequences and actions that they did under the collective's mind control so they share something that no one else unless you went through it understands and then you add on that supernatural bond that they share with being able to communicate with one another no matter how far they are I'm curious to know if that can be across like galaxies in two different like planets maybe it has its limitations I don't know but that just popped in my head as I was reading this book so I absolutely love their parts again there was some times that kind of dragged and I I did do a little skipping when it did but for the most part I enjoyed it now I've read one or two sex scenes I think they had but after a while multiple sex scenes gets tedious for me unless sexy just for sex scenes don't do it for me I have to have some type of meaning behind it that's just the type of reader I am I can do without too give me enough to kind of let my imagination runs that's fine so this book does have a lot of sex scenes in it like I said one or two of fine but after a while I get tired of it and I just start skipping that stuff.


(those who are either uncomfortable with sex scenes or are asexual I hope got this right does that this whole entire book series will probably make you very uncomfortable so that's a warning for anyone that has a slight uncomfortable with sex thought I'd put that in there.)


2 so the next part of the thing that I did enjoy from this particular story. We'll have to be Lynn and Tuvok sparring session / graduation training they did and I absolutely love the culture with Tuvok and not a lot of people at least the Star Trek Story I've come across doesn't really dive into that particular culture and I absolutely love the fact that the author did this it was a nice touch it made this stood out this particular part is probably one of my favorite parts in the story is definitely number one and my second part which I will bring up in a second but this was the first time even though it was through Katherine's eyes which I eventually like I said before I got used to that we at least got to see Lynn show what she can actually do and that has been nagging the hell out of me since she started this progression and training it would have been interesting though to either read it from Lynn's point of view just to see how her mind works when she's in that mindset when she's in fighting which I absolutely love it when other stories does do that with their original characters it makes me feel grounded in that character but I understood in this particular scene why it was from Katherine's point of view there's a reason for that and it was us to see not only Captain's thoughts and reactions but it kind of like we are The outsiders along with Janeway how would we respond to seeing this type of fighting and she responding just like I thought she would now of course this did lead to a confrontation with Janeway and Lynn more on Janeway side than from being honest with the grief and the guilt and the she made a mistake there but it wasn't out of militia it was actually out of protection so other than that. That was my favorite scene with Lynn and Tuvok.

3 so the next one which kind of goes with the top a little bit this is the one I mentioned that was number two my favorite thing on the list now there's also a negative thing to this too but I'll get down to that when I hit what I did not like it has to do with Lynn and it does kind of it's a spoiled by this time I'm assuming pretty much everyone is read this series so I'm a spoil the hell out of it or at least this part most of the book pretty much I won't call it tedious but it really wasn't no action for the most part it was like pretty much a day on a spaceship but it was very realistic I do I will say that so but eventually they do rescue some aliens and eventually which actually took me by surprise because I wasn't expecting it just like the rest of the crew wasn't expecting it they betrayed them and skipping a lot of other stuff Janeway ends up getting hurt I won't say how but she does get hurt really badly and unfortunately Lynn is unable to interfere for plot reasons I won't explore why she couldn't interfere,

I will say it affected her and when everything was happening I was expecting to get a really good action scene from right because I mean she's been training all this time and she's made a really really big accomplishments with her training and she's a badass like she's one of the most dangerous persons on the ship at this point so this is what I was expecting the author to really let us see Lynn in action like give her a real cool like fight scene right but that didn't happen put your best and dangerous warrior on your captain and that's kind of what she did. fast for a little bit more lint ends up will it taking care of the ones that betrayed them but because this is Captain Janeway ship and because of the rules that she must follow her crew did not kill these individuals honestly when you end up attacking someone's ship you should really shoot the kill I'm just saying someone shooting to kill you. I don't understand thing that baffles me.

The aliens that are responsible for hurting Katherine let's just say Lynn gets a hold of them with some assistance and this was the first time I got to see a land that I didn't expect to see which was someone that was able to once again show how dangerous she is now she did beat them up but she didn't quote unquote torture them she allowed them to make the first move so to speak and I was very pleased with that scene cuz I hadn't seen that side of her yet like I said before I feel like there was this opportunities where Lynn was concerned as far as seeing her as a warrior and I understand that the author is dealing with a lot of different characters a lot of characters that she's trying to juggle but damn I mean I'm hoping book four and five really allows Lynn to open up that I'm saying and just show me what she can do especially with the I think it's book five saying in the summary is that assassination attempts are going to be made on Lynn so I'm really hoping that we get to really see what all that training she did all that time she pushed herself I want to see that you know I'm just an action fan and when you give me a character like Lynn who has a capability and skill sets to be a badass I would like to see it more.


I guess to conclude everything I like I said they won a lot of things in the story that caught my attention I did do a little bit of skimming cuz someone just kind of felt regurgitated of course that doesn't mean this is a bad story or a bad series it's just very angsty and again this is more of a seven story than anything this book is really more about seven which I enjoy those parts.



So did this one might be short because of the fact that everything kind of ties into this so right off the bat I would have to say angst between Lynn and Janeway is tired it really sucks the story sometimes it and I know it's going to get even worse from what I read on the comments and book for but it's just how many times can I love a couple constantly have these up and down emotional angsty roller coasters I mean I've never had a story that had the love interest get together get married live together and then they make ups and downs cuz I understand that the relationship is not supposed to be perfect by all means I'm not saying give me a perfect relationship but I mean damn like this is the third book and they're still up and down and I have to admit I wasn't feeling Katherine in this book outside of her being the captain she rocks that but the mistake she made as a wife I just didn't I just didn't agree with that and it had negative effect on a Lynn so I was just like damn that was unnecessary. Is it realistic I think the challenges of struggling in a relationship is very realistic in here but I wish that there was less confrontation between both women that their struggles could have been shown in a different light that didn't have them constantly felt like taking one step two steps back or three steps back and two steps forward again so I can't say it was realistic to be honest I just know that eventually it got tedious and I start skipping.





The conclusion of this review it wasn't the bad book despite my initial complaints of top I did read majority of the book before I even start skipping that kind of happened later down when they start having their relationship issues other than that and I did Skip most of not all of the sex scenes I think I got like one or two sex scenes from each couple and then I just start skipping once happened more than once that's me thing not not an issue with the authors writing or anything like that. And I think the one thing that keeps nagging me as a person I keep saying is over and over again in my review I prefer to be more Lynn like if I'm not mistaken she was absent from majority of half of the book after her test with Tuvok I'm pretty sure and that was very disappointing cuz I was like I want more like show me what she does every day on the ship as a security guard what does she do and that's not something was answered yes she protects Katherine or when Katherine needs to go off ship but outside of that what did she do so I would love to see more of that I hope that going into before and book five that she keeps her job because she work really hard to be able to do the things that she can do as a very high profile security guard so I would love to see her venture into that more or at least not give it up completely I don't know how that's going to work out because of the fact that she technically has a company.

And I guess just to clear up a review I think I'll book two cuz I didn't want to offended anyone but Lynn in this book kind of as far as personality wise and have it wise she does strike me as a tomboy type of woman right but style wise more casual and laid back with her style then when she does have to dress up she does tend to fall either on a dress depending on where she's going or a slack type of style with a nice silk button-up shirt that's usually how she carries herself and I have no issue with that so I guess I just wanted to make that clearer cuz I wasn't sure I made it clear on my previous review and I don't want to offend anyone because I couldn't explain it. but either way she's an amazing character she designed amazingly and if I didn't like the story or didn't like her in general I won't keep reading something I don't like I won't even comment on it so with that being said this is a really good series it have flaws but it is a fanfiction there's going to be some mistakes here and there is not going to fit everybody's personal taste but if you can get through the flaws that it has this is a really good Star Trek Voyager story is the biggest one I have been able to find especially with Captain Janeway having an original love interest and it's the only story I found with the love interest who is a badass warrior in her own right even though the author doesn't show it as much as she should with that being said it's really good this book may not be as action-packed as I wanted. But it kept my intention a lot more. I was able to understand the characters growth and their trials and tribulations that they have to go through so when I jump into book four in a few minutes it does pay off to understand this book first and that's my review.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Fletcher Delancey for renewing my love affair with Voyager. I am so grateful to FF authors for bringing beloved characters into situations and relationships that were never possible on broadcast television. These stories are better than the series that inspired them. SO GOOD!

[MEC · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-4 stars - The Voyageur fanfic continues.

[Alena · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of Lynne and the Captain keeps on entertaining me. I love how Fletcher DeLancey can keep reading about them entertaining and exciting.