Voyage of the Wanderlust: A Tri-Galactic Trek Novel

by Mary E. Lowd

Unexpectedly thrown to the far side of the universe, can a cat and a squirrel convince their warring crews to work together long enough to survive the voyage home?

When Janessa Carroway finally gets her long-overdue promotion to captain, it comes with unfortunate strings attached. She’s sent on a suicide mission with a barebones crew to commit a war crime. Why, it’s almost a relief for the Norwegian Forest cat captain when everything goes completely wrong, and she finds herself on the far side of the cosmos, trying to befriend her enemy, so they can all get home together.

Follow a crew that includes cats, dogs, squirrels, cyborg rabbits, and even a sentient mushroom as they wrestle with their predicament and try not to wrestle with each other.

Join them as they face impossible odds, the perils of space, the failures of technology, ethical quandaries, and a fleet of attacking Zakonraptors!

250 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 1, 2024

About the author

Mary E. Lowd is a prolific science-fiction and furry writer in Oregon. She's had more than 180 short stories and a half dozen novels published, always with more on the way. Her work has won numerous awards, and she's been nominated for the Ursa Major Awards more than any other individual. She is also the founder and editor of Zooscape. She lives in a crashed spaceship, disguised as a house and hidden behind a rose garden, with a large collection of animals, both real and imaginary, who collectively serve as her muse.

Reviews

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun book with imaginative "uplifted" creatures that have characteristics that are true to the animal of origin. It's kind of an animal variant fan fiction of Star Trek Voyager, with the main character being a Norwegian Forest Cat, Captain Carroway. It took me awhile to get through the book because I kept getting interrupted by real life, but it otherwise was a quick read. The "science" was very imaginative, and while much of it is completely fantastical, you can see many elements of the Star Trek universe being incorporated into this story.

This is the third series in the Tri-Galactic Trek Novel, and I believe the author plans on releasing two sequels to this particular book, and I plan on reading them. However, she has said they probably won't be released until next year.

In the meantime, I will probably check out the other two Tri-Galactic novels, one that seems to be based on The Next Generation, and the other which seems to be based on Deep Space Nine.

Overall, this author is new to me, but I'm glad the cover caught my eye. I think this book could be classified as "cozy sci-fi" if there is such a thing and could be enjoyed by nearly all ages, especially those who enjoy reading books with anthropomorphized animals.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from BookSirens. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Shawna Z]

I’m not giving this one a rating as I DNF, but I do want to leave a review as to why.

I’m in my mid-50’s and have no doubt that I would have loved this back in my 30’s, back when I was still in my Star Trek days and enjoyed anamorphic entertainment. The idea of a cat as captain of a Starfleet-style spaceship with dogs and rabbits, squirrels and rabbits for crew mates- sign me up!

For some reason I made it halfway through the book before I finally had to set it aside. Why?

Mostly I was not a huge fan of Trek’s Voyager series, which this is heavily based on. Secondly, while the author has a good grasp of the concept and her interpretation is clever, her wordplay is just too juvenile for me. Every other sentence we are reminded Captain Jan Carraway is a Norwegian Forest Cat. Her second-in-command, First Officer (formerly Captain) Chestnut, is a golden squirrel, and Jan has a thing for squirrels, especially in uniform. But she even refers to him as a “little squirrel man” twice in the same sentence as soon as he’s on board the Wanderlust.

It’s annoying to me now as I am smart enough to remember what breeds these animals are- I do not need the breeds repeated or a description of what they look like on every page. The older I get the more I view that as means to stuff your word count unnecessarily. If you need make your word count goals, pick new words.

There is some confusion to me- first it’s TGN, the Tri-Galactic Navy but then all we hear about is the TGU, the Tri-Galactic Union. Maybe closer to Earth it’s the Navy and once you get closer to the outskirts it’s all lumped into the Union?

There is also too much of why I call “clever wordplay” where a sentence is stuffed with more than one version of the same word as if that somehow is supposed to make it sound more intelligent. It’s not a crime, but it’s annoying to me as the author is just repeating themselves for no purpose.

Again, it’s a peeve for me and not to many other readers. Again, the premise is good- I just was not able to fall into the story as these just kept pulling me out of the story and I found myself wondering if Jan keeps meowing her words and Lee the dog is woofing his answers back- how does everyone understand one another?

If you are a Trek fan and love cute images of cats and dogs in uniform and chuckle at the idea of a cat unable to function without cups of coffee, then this is definitely for you. There is even a sequel out now for you to also enjoy as the TGU Wanderlust and her mixed crew of enlisted and rebel officers finds its way from the far-flung Tetris galaxy back to the Milky Way.

[Marina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book.

Don't know what it is about this writing style but in my opinion it has a nice flow and connect so many actions within a couple of sentences without feeling overflowed with information.

The main character is captain Carroway who, in her first mission with her first ship, gets an assignment that leaves her bewildered.

"this was one of those mornings. a morning when she looked at lt. cmdr. Vossies's computerimplant, flickering peacefully on his brow, beneath his long ears, and just wanted to yank it right out and jam it into her own head, hoping for just a little touch of the restful sleep it could grant."

Dedicated as she is to her work, she tries to make the best of it.

From there on, everything gets into a whirlwind of actions and reactions.

Captain Carroway has to make sense of everything that happens and she has to be the one that makes the decisions aboard with a divided crew.

They discover and interact with an alien race living on a waykeeper, rescue them from their enemies and have to find a way home.

The other characters get their time to shine too but less than the captain.

In a galaxy where humans have dissapeared the crew excists of a variety of beings with animalistic appearances and behaviour. This all told from a human point of view as the writer is still on this earth and has a vivid imagination.

It makes me think of a star trek world and the writing style of Becky Chambers.

The ending of the story was very satisfying to me.

There are plans of another book about the Wanderlust crew and this book will be on my tbr list for sure.

I recieved an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this honest review voluntarily.

[Ingrid]

This book can be summed up in one line: "Captain Carroway could never have imagined what a strange crew she would find herself in charge of, nor the sheer scope of the mission they would be on."

I enjoyed this book for a number of reasons, some of which most people won't understand (for ex: I raised baby squirrels, had a gray Norwegian Forest cat, etc.). I'm just waiting for a pot-bellied pig to appear in the crew in a sequel…

Mary Lowd does a fantastic job bringing these animals to life as real, living, authentic characters I could love. Every action or description brings their real-life (un-lifted) counterparts into their behaviors and decisions. It's really fun to be inside a cat's brain as she takes on a very challenging role of leadership with a hot cup of coffee. And however Carroway feels about Mike… I adore Mike. They're going to be fun to watch grow over a series.

The story is simple and not as action-packed as I'd hoped for, given the parallels to Star Trek: Voyager, but there's plenty of tensions and conflict, as well as problem-solving, space battles, and other fun stuff you'd expect in a classic space opera. The story and characters are also very clean, and this would easily appeal to younger audiences.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I would give it a 4.4 stars, but the rating only lets me choose a whole number… And I'm sure others will enjoy it.

[Alexander Keane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Janessa Carraway is an uplifted Norwegian Forest Cat and an officer in the Trigalactic Union navy. She arrives to a new assignment to learn she's been made captain in an unorthodox series of events. She and her cybernetic rabbit best friend must think quickly when what should have been a suicide mission ends with them stranded far from home.

The book to me feels a lot like Star Trek Voyager (and in fact the dedication is to girls who grew up inspired by Janeway and to Kate Mulgrew for giving us the character). Captain Carraway and her crew formed, much like that of Voyager, by fusing two enemy crews together, have to work together if any of them are to have any hope of returning home.

There's quite a big theme throughout the book about making choices which might benefit the greater good even to a personal detriment. The writing and the characterization continually feed into that central theme in a really effective way.

I really got a feeling for Captain Carraway and for Vossie, her first officer. Even just for the characters I kept reading to see what happened to them, whether they'd solve the current issue in front of them, whether they'd make it out and make it home.

I got through this book in about a day because I couldn't put it down. I highly recommend it.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[BookishDramas · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars for me.
My thanks to BookSirens, the publisher and the author for this ARC.

This review is based on my reading this story and is an honest feedback based on my experience while reading this story.

This is a tremendously enjoyable story which is in the sci-fi sphere and is a fantasy and fantastic adventure. Mary's imagination and musings filled with animals who have been upgraded genetically to human and above levels. These animals interact with each other and personify this story.
My first impression of this story is that of a hard science fiction story more Star Trek and Project Hail Mary both fantastic tales.
Mary's style of writing light hearted stories in this universe goes several steps further here with a great adventure at the heart of the story. The book has copious amounts of tension, science, suicide mission, black hole, a seemingly improbable time travel, an even more improbable incident in space but all controlled in the story and providing even amounts of tension and pleasure.
The story like others by Mary also has some strong moral points which reflect in the storyline and in the characters and this strong moral fabric is knit into the story seamlessly.

The adventure is continuous and enjoyable.

Recommended.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Voyage of the Wanderlust is adorable. If you've ever looked at your pets and imagined they have an imagination, and with that imagination, they pretend they're on a spaceship - that's what this book is. It's so cute!

The Wanderlust is a spaceship. Its captain is a Norwegian Forest Cat, Captain Carroway. Her first officer is a rabbit (Morphican cyborg) named Lt. Cmdr. Vossie. Their mission is to resolve a problem between Anti-Ra rebel colonists and their reptilian oppressors. The job is a suicide mission and a war crime. When things go wrong, they need the help of a squirrel captain and his crew to get back home.

Despite being genuinely adorable, this is actually a legitimate science fiction novel. It also incorporates bits and pieces of animal characteristics to explain some behaviors, or anticipated behaviors, of the different characters. I kept thinking about my pets and how I've sometimes wondered what they were thinking. That is what this book does - it plays out that question. It's just so cute. Even if this isn't the type of novel you would normally read, I highly recommend this book.

[Delphia Von Heeder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Voyage of the Wanderlust is book 1 in A Tri-Galactic Trek Novel by Mary E Lowd. I was drawn in by the book cover, but I found this SiFi story to be very enjoyable and fun. The Captain is a Norwegian Forest Cat with her Lt Cmdr a cyborg bunny. All of the characters are animals and I think that the story is a bit of a spoof, it is written seriously as though writing about aliens and humans. I thought that the story was interesting and I am looking forward to reading book 2. I received an arc for free and am leaving my review voluntarily.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A suspenseful and engaging story for nearly all ages, which I think would fit into a category of "cozy sci-fi" if such a thing exists. The cast of characters includes "uplifted" animals (given sentience and rational thought by humans before they disappeared) and other aliens as well (not "cutsie", don't worry). When Jan, a Norwegian Forest Cat, gets her first command, it's a suicide mission - and nothing turns out the way anbody thought. I very much enjoyed this and look forward to the sequels! - I received a review copy and freely leave this honest review.

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read how different animals will work together when a space mission goes wrong. A wonderful tale for your child to read over and over again
I received an advance copy from hidden gems and I want to review

[Jennifer Loschiavo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its like star trek was animals playing dnd….. very cozy quarky and sarcastically dark humor kinda… good read overall. A refreshing new style of book

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I love the animal characters and the story line. I can’t wait to read the rest of the series. I received a free advanced copy and left this review voluntarily.

[Joan Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you, Mary E. Lowd

This science fiction story has strong Captain Janeway vibes. Loved the characters, especially their animalistic features. It was a fun book