Protectors

Star Trek: Voyager

by Kirsten Beyer

An all-new novel that continues the epic saga of the Starship Voyager!Following the destruction of four fleet vessels at the hands of the Omega Continuum, the U.S.S. Voyager and U.S.S. Demeter set course for a region of the Delta Quadrant far beyond any­thing previously explored. Captain Chakotay is determined to prove to Starfleet Command that the fleet’s ongoing mission is vital to Federation interests . . . and the key to doing so may lie in a distress call Voyager received nine years earlier but could not investigate. Meanwhile, Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway is recalled to the Alpha Quadrant for an evaluation period to determine her next assignment. Given the trauma she has recently endured, Admiral Akaar, Starfleet’s commander in chief, is questioning Janeway’s fitness to command the fleet. Janeway’s primary concern remains the fleet’s safety— for their mission to continue, she must find a way to secure the resources they require. But the uncertainty of her superior officers has left her powerless to act in their best interests.

Genres: Star Trek, Science Fiction, Star Trek Voyager, Fiction, Ebooks, Science Fiction Fantasy, Aliens

401 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2014

Reviews

[John Carter McKnight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kirsten Beyer's post-series Voyager novels are maybe my favorite transmedia stories these days. We see Starfleet as an actual organization, along with the complexities of fleet operations among the group of ships exploring the Delta Quadrant.

Protectors brings us really alien aliens, and a first contact that's a worthwhile intellectual struggle, along with a serious debate over the Prime Directive. This is real Star Trek: discovery, exploration, ethical challenge. There's lots of time spent on personal stories of friends old and new, from Tom and B'Elanna to Seven's new relationship with an acerbic and self-tormenting counselor, to the interesting dynamic between the captain and first officer of Voyager's other fleet member, the biology-specialist vessel Demeter.

There's also a new plotline involving a medical issue which may be leading senior Starfleet and Federation officials down a very morally dubious path, which I hope will be cross-referenced in the other line of Star Trek novels, focusing on galactic politics.

Protectors can be a bit heavy-handed at times, and lacks the sheer sense of wonder of some of Beyer's previous books, but it's a damn good evening's read.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I had expected from Beyer's latest contribution to the Voyager series was a new point of interest in the Delta Quadrant and Janeway resolving her psychological issues.
What we got was a whole load more.

Kathryn's plot had me gesticulating wildly and stomping around the kitchen clutching a bar of chocolate. While scenes with Picard are always a pleasure, I thought this was a fantastic way of demonstrating that the 'traditional' stubborn and unflinching tactics of previous Starfleet captains isn't necessarily the best way to do things. Following orders has always been a grey area in Star Trek, and as an audience we often forget that the orders given out by Starfleet are actually supposed to be obeyed - they aren't suggestions that are to be taken with a pinch of salt and ignored when another option presents itself (as many previous situations would lead us to believe).

There was a terrifying hour where I honestly believed that Kathryn had given up on the fleet and was resigned to live with her mother! It was refreshing to witness a prominent Starfleet officer such as herself actually take some respite before taking on a mammoth task, instead of miraculously charging through and coming out alright at the other end! Hearing that they'd given her the fleet back was made that bit more satisfying by knowing that she had proven her capability to lead and not just beaten Montgomery and Akaar into submission or ignored them completely. I have only minor concerns over her and Chakotay's personal relationship, I'm sure they can work out whatever problems they may face and I look forward to a wedding (marriage was mentioned twice!!!).

I liked how 'realistic' Vorik, Pheobe, Montgomery and a few others' reaction to Kathryn was, Beyer isn't afraid to have characters react badly to situations - it was a good balance to have characters be angry at her when we sympathized completely.

Speaking of reacting badly - Julia Paris' declaration came out of nowhere. I had to put the book down and breathe for a minute. If Julia won custody of Miral it would be devastating, not only for Tom and B'Elanna, but for the rest of the crew - not to mention if they lost their son as well. My initial reaction was 'how could she do something like this?' but it's clear that Mrs. Paris is not in her right mind and I am praying that Tom can talk her round.

And Axum! Where did that come from?? Poor Seven's got a lot on her plate at the moment. Cambridge is feeling understandably threatened by Axum's sudden appearance while the Doctor seems to be still in love with Seven and is causing himself all kinds of damage in the process! How will Axum react to Seven? How will Seven react to Axum? Is this the end for Seven and Cambridge? What is the Doctor going to do in the midst of all this? Will they be able to fix him? As per usual, Beyer has left us with plenty of loose ends.

And of course, the Worlds of The First Quadrant are ready and waiting to be explored! Do we have new allies? Or will these high-tech beings become formidable foes?

I am incredibly impressed with these new works and I am anticipating September as patiently as possible! This installment has set us up for a whole new world of exploration and I have no doubts that the resolutions will be every bit at satisfying as the journey.

Definitely a read for fans of Voyager and the rest of the reboot series!

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Voyager but come on. Really. We're not getting stories we're getting plot points. 300 pages into a sci-fi book and I'm getting discussions about living arrangements and an admiral worried about what her sister thinks and child custody battles. The actual problem probably took less than 30 pages. Where's the story?

My theory is that the publishers don't think they could have sold two separate books: either a stand-alone Janeway story or a book about Chakotay leading the crew in the Delta quadrant. So they've decided to mash them up and string them out.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm loving the continuation of the Voyager crew. I loved that Janeway came back. I was totally willing to suspend my disbelief for that one. The development of the characters is on track and going well. I'm still not sold on the Janeway/Chakotay relationship, but maybe it's just because I never shipped them at all on the show. They make sense, just don't do anything for me.

I am very intrigued by the Confederacy in the Delta Quadrant. They could end up as strong allies or another threat on par with the Typhon Pact. I look forward to seeing how that develops further in the next book.

I am not at all pleased with Tom's mother, Julia, or her reaction to learning about his and B'Elanna's actions in hiding Miral. What they did was in an effort to keep her safe. Yes, Julia's anger is warranted. I'd be furious, too. But to take the actions she is saying she will take are beyond the pale. I hope things do not go in her favor.

Overall, I'm pleased with the direction the continuing Voyager books are going and look forward to more.

[Aron · Rating 4 out of 5]

This installment of the Voyager series picked back up right where the previous novel left off. Since the previous novel brought alot of things to a close this one begins to develop some pretty interesting new plots,...first contact with Fedaration like culture with a dark past, a mysterious plague associated Caeliar catoms, & some issues with the Dr.'s programming just to name a few. Beyer has done an amazing job with this series & this book was no exception, it was alot of fun & extremely well written. I wish she could've wrote some episodes because she's made Voyager alot more interesting to me than it was in its actual production run. I don't know what it is about her writing style but it flows really smooth & plays like a spectacular Voyager movie in my minds eye. Add that to the fact that her characters are dead on accurate & she has developed them well from the start of the reboot back in Full Cicle. I just can't say enough good things about Beyer & the Voyager series,...I hope to see her writing for ST for years to come. Highly recommend!

[Jimyanni · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a well-written book, with very good character development and some interesting plot twists. I dock it a star and hesitate to refer to it as a novel, because it is far from a complete story in and of itself; it builds on previous books in the series and if you haven't read all of the books leading up to it, you will certainly not want to read it until you've read them, nor does it give any sense of closure; you will definitely want to read what comes next if you read this one. It is just one installment in the "what happens to the Voyager crew after the end of the TV series" set of books. Some of those books, however, have had plots sufficient to themselves and could be read by themselves; this one can't.

[Frank Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

*spoilers to earlier litverse events*
This is a very dramatic book. There are new worlds and new civilisations to explore but the major contribution of this story was in the strides of character development.

Janeway is copping flak for decisions made before she was assimilated and with her unanticipated resurrection some are now questioning her ability to command. The family issues that arise for Tom and B'Elanna are at a new level of crazy and I'm guessing that you won't see it coming.

In some ways Beyer's writing reminds me of Diane Duane's Trek writing, Duane is my favourite Trek author and I think both regularly demonstrate a capacity to look further outside the standard square when creating new stories for our beloved Star Trek.

[Regina Peters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kirsten Beyer’s latest installment in the Star Trek: Voyager series does not disappoint; quite the opposite. Like their characters, these books go above and beyond the call of duty, delivering not only the exciting space battles, exotic aliens and heartwarming idealism at the base of the Star Trek franchise, but also highly nuanced, thoughtful, and compassionate characterization, of OC’s (even minor ones) as well as characters from the show. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who hasn’t read the previous volumes, as there are dozens of side characters and subplots to catch up on; let alone a working knowledge of the TV series, which is essential. If you haven’t heard of the starship stranded 70, 000 light years from home, its epic journey, and its lovable misfit crew led by the fearless Kathryn Janeway, you will be every bit as lost as they once were. Warning: spoilers!

There are several parallel plotlines, with strong and creative references to the original episodes. Firstly, with Janeway under evaluation to determine her fitness to command the Full Circle fleet, only two out of nine vessels remaining in the Delta Quadrant, and over eight hundred crewmembers lost, Captain Chakotay is determined to prove to Starfleet Command that the fleet’s mission is worth continuing. His search for a mission interesting enough to be worth the trouble, but not so dangerous as to risk another catastrophe, leads to a communication that Voyager received in the early years of the TV series (season 2, “Twisted”), but was unable to decipher. Ms. Beyer extrapolates it as a distress call, sent by the titular “Protectors”: the distortion ring that twisted the ship in the original episode is one of a swarm of unknown technological creations trying to save a dying ecosystem, the so-called Ark Planet. Chakotay and Commander O’Donnell, the only fleet captains present, get into a classical Trek debate about how to respond to the distress call: are the protectors sentient, and if not, would terraforming the planet for them be a violation of their non-interference directive? It’s not often that the peaceable Chakotay finds someone he can’t get along with, but his anxiety about proving themselves to Starfleet Command does not mix well with O’Donnell’s unconventional command style. It speaks well for Ms. beyer, however, that she can write about characters with conflicting opinions while keeping them both relatable and even sympathetic. Also, O’Donnell’s and his first officer’s character development since Children of the Storm is satisfying to watch: Fife has learned to trust his eccentric captain, while O’Donnell has emerged from his lab and actually contributes to the running of his ship.

Secondly, at the same time, Seven of Nine is dreaming vividly of Axum, her first love from “Unimatrix Zero”. This is not as pleasant as you might imagine; not only is she over him and dating Counselor Cambridge (who, for once, is in need of counseling himself over this situation), but Axum is in danger and needs her. As freed members of a collective of cyber organisms, their bodies contain technology (“catoms”) they themselves do not fully understand. The Starfleet doctors who discovered his badly injured body have more things on their minds besides his recovery; namely a disease they fear is spread by catoms like his. Voyager’s holographic Doctor, the only known catom expert, becomes fiercely protective of Seven and Axum, afraid of them being experimented on – but there is something “off” about his protectiveness, since at the same time, he is more clinical and indifferent to Seven than he has been for years. Has someone been interfering with his program, or is it there something wrong between the two old friends? Lewis Zimmerman, the Doctor’s programmer, plays a small, but important role in this subplot. His fatherly feelings for his creation, usually buried under layers of sarcasm, come out in a very touching, if questionable way. Here is the only minor criticism I had with this book, apart from the length of time until the arrival of its sequel; Zimmerman’s attempt to help his son is understandable, but after so many times on the TV show where the Doctor tried something similar, he really should have known better.

Thirdly, we come to what I believe is the heart of the Voyager saga: Kathryn Janeway. She has died horribly, come back to life with the help the omnipotent Q family, and it’s affected her in ways she’s only beginning to understand - all this on top of an entire lifetime of pushing herself to impossible achievements and tormenting herself when she fails. She wants to lead the fleet, but her superiors’ distrust and her own misgivings make her doubt herself at every turn. Ms. Beyer captures the essence of this character on every page: the intense love and loyalty that is her greatest strength, as well as her greatest weakness. She blames herself for any harm that comes to her friends, whether it really is her fault or not, and then turns the universe inside-out trying to save them. If anyone needed therapy, she does, and Counselor Austen, who has a flower garden in her office and the wry, incisive wisdom of her namesake, is the perfect person to provide it. This part of the story is much less action-oriented than the others’, but no less interesting; Janeway’s own emotional landscape is as wild, mysterious and lovely as any alien planet, and readers will be rooting for her to explore it with her customary courage.

All three of these major storylines, and the minor ones as well, involve some form of protection, as promised by the title. Janeway, Chakotay, the Doctor, the wave form creations, almost every character is trying to protect something or someone. However, not all forms of protection are healthy or helpful, either for the protector (Janeway, burning herself out for her crew) or for the one being protected (the Ark Planet, which the wave forms crowded with too many organisms at once). Sometimes it comes with the price of dishonesty: Tom Paris, who faked the deaths of his wife and daughter to protect them from a terrorist sect that believed the little girl to be an omen of the apocalypse, now has to face the rage of his own mother for not telling her the truth. Sometimes it is a thin disguise for selfishness, as with Mrs. Paris contesting her son’s fitness to raise her granddaughter, or Phoebe Janeway demanding that Kathryn leave Starfleet because she cannot stand the risk of losing her again. The best form of guardianship, in this novel, requires compromise: taking into account the needs and wishes of everyone involved, finding a balance between kindness, courage, common sense and personal well-being.

In this way, the Voyager novels are much more than just written echoes of a TV series, or a way for the franchise to make money; they are solid works of literature in their own right. Ms. Beyer’s heart is in her writing; if you read her dedications and acknowledgements, you will find that her own beloved family and friends inspire the bonds between her characters, and that Star Trek: Voyager is a shared source of joy and inspiration among them. More than ten years after the end of the show, they still inspire us fans to “set a course for home” – wherever, and whoever, home may be.

Also published on my blog: https://eatdrinkreadlisten.blogspot.ca

[Harold Ogle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm ashamed to admit that I did not finish this. I picked this up from the library on a whim and started reading it without knowing it was deep into a novel series that is itself a sequel to an earlier novel series. But that was made clear pretty early on when the characters' conversations include a recap of a VERY gonzo, over-the-top plot line of what has come before this book. There is a lot of entertainment value just from that one-page summary. But the rest of the book that I read - the first half of the book! - had almost no plot. It was all scenes of various characters processing what had happened in earlier books, and characters talking about their relationships. That's what made it really hard to continue; I kept setting the book down and not coming back to it, to the point that I could not renew the book from the library any longer and had to return it. The really sad thing is that none of the libraries in my area have ANY of the other books in either of the two series that are relevant to this one. So I don't know if I'm intrigued enough to try to hunt them down through used book stores just to get some closure. It's tempting, but it's also a big investment of time to hunt for all of them.

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Less clear was how she could be of service. And try as they might, none of those around her now could help her see that path clearly. Her blood relations were on Earth, but as she gently rubbed the dirt from Chakotay's badge and pips, she knew that her family was thousands of light years away.

4 ½ stars. Kirsten Beyer has done it again! I loved the idea of getting to continue on my Voyager adventure once again and, of course, I couldn't help but to have high expectations of this book. And, as usually when it comes to Beyer and her relaunch novels, I wasn't disappointed. Not in the least. You can tell from her writing that she doesn't just write these novels to make a living, but that she's passionate about Star Trek and about Voyager.

I absolutely loved Protectors! I loved the story line that focused on Janeway and where she was at psychologically after all that she's been through. If you've been following some of my Voyager reviews, it might not come as a surprise to you that Kathryn Janeway is my favorite character and inspiration. So I loved getting to follow her in this uncertainty back on Earth as to what would happen to her career and leading the Full Circle Fleet. I loved getting to follow her through the evaluations and along her path to making sense of it all. Beyer made some really good character development with Janeway here.

Whatever internal scale Janeway used to weigh her achievements, they were measured against a deep and abiding love for her crew. The risk that came with exploration were too great for most starship captains to allow that kind of attachment. It was the quickest path to heartache. Yet, the fearlessness with which Janeway embraced it, even now, was astonishing. Clearly, it could lead even the best intentioned into trouble. Farkas had rarely crossed that line, but Janeway had clearly long since ceased to even acknowledge its existence. In some, it might be evidence of inappropriate need. In Janeway, it might be the source of her formidable strength.

Another thing that really stood out to me a little extra was the love and familiarity between Janeway the crew on Voyager, and how what they went through being lost in the Delta Quadrant for seven years shaped them into a family. Yes, it might be unusual concerning Starfleet crews, and especially when a Captain/Admiral is involved. But it is also their strength.

For me, this was the greatest part of this book. But with that said, I also love how Beyer builds the story line that takes place in the Delta Quadrant on a previous Voyager episode. Here we get to know what that distortion ring that twisted the ship as they moved through it was really all about... and let's just say it got interesting. And especially considering what embarking on that mission led to and what they found. I won't ruin it for you, but I can say as much as I think that the continuation of this could be very interesting to read about in Acts of Contrition. So yes, it ends in a cliff hanger. But I don't mind that. It just means that I'll get more of this.

[Maurice Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Admiral Janeway is alive again and ready to resume her duties- or so she thinks. Admiral Akaar isn't convinced that she doesn't need a whole lot of rest and recovery time before getting back into her routine, but the admiral wants desperately to take over as fleet commander of the fleet currently exploring the Delta Quadrant.

While Janeway returns to Earth for debriefing and rest, Captain Chakotay and his crew, and the captain and crew of the Demeter continue the mission alone until further notice. They must do so short-handed- Seven of Nine and Commander Paris went with Admiral Janeway to Earth. Seven was requested to help with a growing medical crisis and Tom was called in to stand up for his family. Having learned that B'Elanna and Miral are in fact alive, his mother announced her intent to take over custody of Miral due to Tom and B'Elanna being in her opinion unfit parents.

Plenty of intrigue to go around, and plenty of questions to answer. Will Admiral Janeway get command of the fleet? Will Seven be able to help solve this medical crisis- and will her relationship with Counselor Cambridge survive her absence? And whats the deal with the years old distress call Lieutenant Kim discovered? Good story, and can't wait for the next book.

[Jonathan Maas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Zipped through this one because I knew the characters. This one takes place after Janeway and company's return to our area of space, and has a lot of detail. Kirsten Beyer has great writing all around, and this should satisfy any Voyager fans hungry for that next part of the saga. Very good!

[Alejandro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Old topics return and Janeway’s in a crossroad!


This book is a tie-in original prose novel of “Star Trek: Voyager”. The ninth in the Expanded Universe line of this spin-off series.


TO GO OR NOT TO GO

In this new book of the “Relaunch” expanded universe (previously canon but nowadays an alternate universe), the story is parted in two main paths…

…first, in the previous book, under quite unusual circumstances, Kathryn Janeway resurrected from the death, and no wonder, Starfleet Command is teensy weensy worried about the mental state of one of its admirals having the command of a whole fleet far away from Federation space, therefore she’s called back to give a report about it and being examined physically and mentally.

About this, it’s something logical but it’s kinda dragging since one of the major issues (if not, THE major issue) is if Janeway should remain active in Starfleet, and she’s quite ambivalent about it, annd even she asked for advice to none other than…

…Captain Jean-Luc Picard!!! (OH YEAH!!!)

…but silly Janeway seems of not taking the advice of Picard, and trust me, if there’s something that you shouldn’t do in Star Trek is not following the advice of Picard (in Picard we trust! (at least I do!)), but besides the issue of Picard’s advice, if this book or the next one would be written by other author, I may be worried, but this baby is solely of Kirsten Beyer, so it would be dumb having all that trouble (even losing other characters in the process) to get back to life to Janeway only to get her out of Starfleet, that’s not logical or a smart move, therefore, wasting half of this book in that topic is kinda pointless and anticlimatic.

…second, Captain Chakotay want to make follow up of the impact of USS Voyager in the Delta Quadrant, investigating the aftermath of some of their missions in its original seven-year travel through it, and Harry Kim gives the idea of choosing the events of their mission in the Second Season Episode Twisted (also, because Kim was investing since then a lot of time researching the topic), and due that Chakotay agreed about it.

In the middle of both major plots, there is a tertiary minor plot, involving Axum (the kinda romantic interest of Seven of Nine during the events of Unimatrix Zero) which is still a Borg drone but he didn’t join the Caeliar Gestalt (like almost all other Borg drones did).

So, while the part of Chakotay’s mission is interesting, the other half involving an anticlimatic suppossedly crossroad decision (that even not matter what happens here, it will become pointless in the following books) definitely makes difficult to rate any better this novel (at least in my humble opinion).

[Andy Stjohn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two in one book Review: TOS: Section 31: Cloak and Voyager: Protectors

A two in one book review! Having been on vacation, I’ve been able to clear out my list of Trek books to read (still have 30 left to go in the list).
So I’ve read all the other Section 31 that were apart of the Quadilogy and the Voyager was my favorite. It didn’t have Section 31 in the book a lot but it was quite enjoyable otherwise. This is also the case with the TOS book, as the reveal of Section 31 isn’t revealed until the end of the book with Kirk setting up his cabal to defeat it. While, their presence is felt throughout the book in the form of creating the Omega Molecule and setting up the backstory of the Omega Directive which we later see play out in Voyager.

Overall, it was more of a decent TOS novel filling in several parts of Spock’s and McCoy’s backstory. It particularly set up well McCoy getting diagnosed with a terminal illness. Seeing Spock interact with the Romulan commander was very enjoyable and I wish we could have gotten more of it, as that was a great part of the Entreprise Incident (I hope there are books involving her character lol). Anyway, it was a decent book with some great twists and turns, but not enough spy stuff for my liking.

Onto to Protectors next.

This book felt very much like a filler episode after the Eternal Tide. I enjoyed Eternal Tide as it brought back Janeway and gave the books the ompfh that they needed. I also like any book involving Q, so that may enjoyed it even more. But it wasn’t filler in a bad way. It was a good character piece, particularly in the case of Janeway and coming to grip with being assilmated by the Borg, brought back to life by Q jr, the Omega crisis and dealing with choices she made in the past and the future in the case of Admiral Janeway. It also put a good spotlight on her own psyche and how she always put other ahead of herself and how damaging that was to her.

Every character is given a new interesting arc, particularly Cambridge with Seven, the Doctor, and Janeway herself. It also felt a decent palette cleanser and the Coalition of the Worlds of the First Quadrant are shaping up to be an interesting bad guy going ahead. Overall a 7/10. Onto My Enemy, My Ally, Invasion #4 and the Romulan Way

[Bron · Rating 4 out of 5]

In some ways this feels like a bridging book to carry to the story of the Full Circle fleet from its encounter with the Omega Continuum - an encounter which had far-reaching effects on several characters including Q and which saw the resurrection of Kathryn Janeway - to whatever major plot twist comes next. However, it is a fairly satisfying book even if it does leave you feeling the story is far from over! Kathryn returns to earth for some recuperation time while Voyager and the Demeter go on further into the Delta quadrant. There they encounter what seems to be an ark planet, a planet that is full of plants and animals from very different ecosystems. It looks as though some one transferred from in an attempt to save them from a catastrophe, but the experiment isn't working very well. Fortunately the bio scientists on the Demeter feel they can help.

I like Star Trek book which give you more details about characters, places, species and phenomena which are touched on briefly in the tv episodes and several of these pop up in Protectors, and it looks as though they are going to play a bigger role later on. One such is Axum who was Seven of Nine's friend in Unimatrix Zero, and another are the dinosaur people, the Voth.

It finished with Janeway returning to the delta quadrant in the newly refitted Vesta, but leaves you with a number of loose ends such as what is going to happen to Seven in Starbase Medical, will Tom Paris be able to keep his family together, and how will Janeway repair her relationship with Chakotay - to list just a few!

[Edmund Bloxam · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the first litverse (the serialised Star Trek book series which recently concluded) novel in which comes with a warning: if you haven't read the others (in the Voyager subseries), this book will be meaningless to you. Frankly, I found it hard going because there was nothing to sustain or justify this book.

There is no coherent purpose to this book. It sets up three different narratives (not to mention a number of sub-narratives), none of which cohere. In fact, so much series maintanence is on offer, it isn't even clear what these narratives are until well after page 100. When it became clear that this was, in fact, a Part One, this was all the more frustrating, as I sat through 350 pages of what amounted to uncompelling introduction.

I liked that Janeway received some well-needed psychological evaluation (I mean explaining what happened to her would take a few paragraphs), but the fact that she seems to resolve this within one meeting with a new counselor...

The stories needed to cohere better and we needed to have more than what amounts to wordy introduction (or one narrative that resolves far too straightforwardly). I'm still not really sure of the purpose of this book. To show that Counselor Cambridge can be a dick too?

[Felix · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kathryn Janeway is back in the Delta quadrant and now commanding a fleet of starfleet starships.
Really enjoyed this novel. It describes Janeways emotional and mental situation as she tries to
reconnect with her family and try to convince the ST brass to give her back control of the Full
Circle fleet in the Delta Quadrant. The story is developing with Axum and Seven looking to
be reunited, something about the Doctor's programming was changed by his creator, Dr. Zimmerman
and the Voyager crew tries to solve the mystery of the "Ark Planet".

I love it that Star Trek is morphing now into being composed of a fleet of ships instead of just
one. It makes sense to have a fleet of ships ala Battlestar Galactica if you want to investigate
dangerous parts of the galaxy.

Looking forward to reading the next novel Thanks Kirsten for continuing to write about Kathryn
Janeway and the Voyager crew! I hope the stories keep on going forever :-)

[Gabe Waggoner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exceptional Janeway character development

Overall, I enjoyed the book. Janeway is one of my favorite characters (not just in Voyager or in Star Trek but across all fiction). The parts dealing with Janeway's thoughts and feelings as she readjusts to mortal existence were fantastic, on par with Jeri Taylor's grasp of the character in Mosaic. As I often find in the new-era Trek novels, though, the array of new characters is hard to follow or connect with sometimes. The plot set in the Delta Quadrant was only of passing interest to me, and I found myself skimming a lot of it so that I could get to the next section involving Janeway. I'm debating whether to read the next book in the series, which is to focus more on the Delta Quadrant adventures of the fleet. My Janeway-loving nerdboy self will probably win out.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

The voyages of Voyager, Demeter, et al. in the Delta Quadrant continue in this installment. What did I think? Well, there's not much to separate it from the previous one. It is very well written, showcasing Beyer's always-solid grasp of the characters, of Trek lore, and ability to create a good story, but I'm still waiting to be blown off my feet. There is still a lot of moping and soul-searching, some of which is understandable given that a certain beloved character is back and the fallout leaves a lot of people with mixed emotions, but the long declamations and speeches in this series start to lose their power the more I come across them.
Not much else to say about this one; it's about the same as the previous one. Impeccably well-written, with a final climactic space skirmish that was exciting, but ended with a sudden, inexplicable deus ex machina that disappointed me a bit. It's a good novel, but I felt like I was reading it more out of obligation than actually enjoying it.

[Gabrielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow, this book did not have much happening in the first two-thirds. I almost abandoned it several times. Just many of the main threads of this story were extremely boring or felt implausible. Tom's mother trying take Miral, Janeway recovering, Seven and the counselor's relationship (which I hate with the passion of a thousand suns - who better to pair emotionally immature Seven with then a smart-ass counselor. Axum, save us all from this fate!)

Finally communicating with the proctors was somewhat interesting, as well as the new confederacy (poor naming choice I think). I may continue this series, but I have to say this has been the worst Voyager book written by Beyer I have read so far.

[Fate's Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my favorite relaunch novel so far, I think. The plot was cohesive and interesting even if it slowed down in a few places. The characters felt true to themselves, possibly more than I've yet seen. I'm staying to really like some of the new characters. My only complaint is Janeway's magical revelation start talking to a therapist for half an hour, then suddenly deciding to go be a Stepford gardener with no dates and no attachment to her old crew for a few weeks. Huh? It's also a little weird that the Vulcans seem to be the only ones really holding grudges and freezing her out. I guess it's all that repression.

[Kat S · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book not knowing it was part of a series.

It's ok as a stand alone. All of the events in the previous books makes it feel like a mystery your slowly uncovering as the plot develops.

Sadly there are some major plot points that are prominent for the sole purpose of baiting you to buy the next book, while having little to do with the current plot. While understanding the need for this device in the series, I take issue with how blatantly obvious it is.

Over all a good book, however I don't think I'll be buying the rest of the series (anytime soon), or will re read this book.

[The Honest Book Reviewer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This felt more like a soap-opera for most of the novel rather than Star Trek. Where the first few I've read in the relaunch by Kirsten Beyer were amazing, this and the last novel have started to go downhill. The saving grace is the new confederacy they've discovered - are they good or evil? The new plague - will it be stopped?

There's a lot to love about this new series when it's on the money - when the sci-fi and science takes a ring side seat and petty dramas and love stories are not so prominent.

I'm hoping the next in the series is better than this.

[Amy Tudor · Rating 3 out of 5]

It felt like this was mainly a whole load of set up for the next story. We have lots of interesting plot points all of which will continue on. The main sci fi story didn’t really do much, again it seems it’s only leading on to the next book. There were a lot of dramatic relationship developments among the crew members, so will be interesting to see where these go next.
It is the first book I’ve finished in a while so bonus points for that. I love these characters, and I can’t get enough time spent in their world. On to the next!

[Bookreader1972 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Possible spoilers........

This book stories are split in two, with Admiral Janeway going back to Earth for evaluation of her fitness to command the fleet, while the fleet remains in the delta quadrant, & comes across a strange area of space.

My problem & the reason for the 3 star rating is I liked the Janeway on earth chapters far more then the Fleet chapters.
The part with Janeway i would give 4.25 stars, while the Delta Quadrant parts are 2.5 stars IMHO.
It is the first in a trilogy.

[Scott Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not the first person to praise Kirsten Beyer's work on the Voyager series and I'm sure I won't be the last. Her novels are a joy to read. Beyer understands the Voyager characters well and creates compelling new characters to join them in their continuing missions. This novel has several links to events and species from the TV series that I enjoyed. I'm looking very forward to the next book. I also get more and more excited to experience Beyer's work on Star Trek: Discovery.

[Teresa Cage · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too Many Plotlines

For me, while I very much enjoyed the read I felt that all the plot lines going on too away from the novel as a whole. It lead to so much switching around of locations my head was spinning. Some of them felt forced and wrong. Both Paris family story lines felt wrong and out of character. Every time the story shifted to them it took me out of the book completely. Sorry, not one of my favorites.

[Hundred Pic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kirsten Beyer is back with yet another Star Trek: Voyager novel. Protectors finds Admiral Janeway sent back to Earth for psych evaluations, while Chakotay and crew head out to re-investigate the spatial anomaly from the second season episode Twisted, in which Voyager encountered an anomaly which twists and distorts the ship’s internal layout.
Please check out my full review, and leave a comment! https://scifibooks.club/reviews/star-...

[Vic Page · Rating 2 out of 5]

I understand that this was a well written and characterised novel. And I find the idea of the catomic plague interesting.
However the whole book really dragged for me and I don't feel like anything was really done in it.
I think the catomic plague is a great concept but we don't really spend any time on the interesting parts of it.
Kathryn's homecoming arc was well done though.
Have to keep going because everything that's happening feels too important to the canon... UNFORTUNATELY!

[Apostolos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last book of 2021 😂
Interesting story, and interesting to see another federation-type organization in the Delta quadrant but without all the tech of the federation. The story expands upon something (I think) we saw briefly screen. Cool idea, but I do question the "let's stay in the Delta quadrant and explore" when stuff is happening elsewhere in the galaxy...