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Star Trek: Voyager: Dark Matters #2
Ghost Dance
Scientific theory holds that ninety percent of all matter in the universe is "dark matter," unable to be detected by ordinary means. The gravitational force of that mysterious material ensures the continuance of all reality, but now a cosmic conspiracy plans to use excess dark matter to bring about the death of the universe.
While Chakotay and Paris are lost in a mysterious shadow dimension, Captain Janeway and the remainder of her crew struggle to contain the deadly dark matter wreaking havoc on the ship -- and deep in space. But malevolent forces are working against the Starship Voyager™, and they have seduced the Romulan Empire to their cause!
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 2000
14 people are currently reading
398 people want to read
About the author
Christie Golden
170 books1,871 followersAward-winning author Christie Golden has written over thirty novels and several short stories in the fields of science fiction, fantasy and horror. She has over a million books in print.
2009 will see no fewer than three novels published. First out in late April will be a World of Warcraft novel, Athas: Rise of the Lich King. This is the first Warcraft novel to appear in hardcover. Fans of the young paladin who fell so far from grace will get to read his definitive story.
In June, Golden’s first Star Wars novel, also a hardcover, sees print. Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi—Omen is the second in a nine-book series she is co-authoring with Aaron Allston and Troy Denning. Also in June comes the conclusion of Golden’s StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga with the release of Twlight, the third book in the series. The first two are Firstborn and Shadow Hunters.
2004 saw the launch of an original fantasy series called The Final Dance, from LUNA Books. The first novel in the series, On Fire's Wings, was published in July of that year. The second, In Stone’s Clasp , came out in September of 2005. With In Stone’s Clasp, Golden won the Colorado Author’s League Top Hand Award for Best Genre Novel for the second time. The third book, Under Sea’s Shadow, is available only as an e-book
Golden is also the author of two original fantasy novels from Ace Books, King's Man and Thief and Instrument of Fate, which made the 1996 Nebula Preliminary Ballot. Under the pen name of Jadrien Bell, she wrote a historical fantasy thriller entitled A.D. 999, which won the Colorado Author's League Top Hand Award for Best Genre Novel of 1999.
Golden launched the TSR Ravenloft line in 1991 with her first novel, the highly successful Vampire of the Mists , which introduced elven vampire Jander Sunstar. Golden followed up Vampire with Dance of the Dead and The Enemy Within . In September of 2006, fifteen years to the month, The Ravenloft Covenant: Vampire of the Mists enabled Jander Sunstar to reach a whole new audience.
Other projects include a slew of Star Trek novels, among them The Murdered Sun , Marooned , and Seven of Nine , and "The Dark Matters Trilogy," Cloak and Dagger , Ghost Dance and Shadow of Heaven .
The Voyager novel relaunch, which includes Homecoming and The Farther Shore , were bestsellers and were the fastest-selling Trek novels of 2003. Golden continued writing VOYAGER novels even though the show went off the air, and enjoyed exploring the creative freedom that gave her in the two-parter called Spirit Walk, which includes Old Wounds and Enemy of my Enemy .
Golden has also written the novelization of Steven Spielberg's Invasion America and an original "prequel," On The Run , both of which received high praise from producer Harve Bennett. On The Run, a combination medical thriller and science fiction adventure, even prompted Bennett to invite Golden to assist in crafting the second season of the show, if it was renewed.
Golden lives in Loveland, Colorado, with her artist husband and their two cats.
2009 will see no fewer than three novels published. First out in late April will be a World of Warcraft novel, Athas: Rise of the Lich King. This is the first Warcraft novel to appear in hardcover. Fans of the young paladin who fell so far from grace will get to read his definitive story.
In June, Golden’s first Star Wars novel, also a hardcover, sees print. Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi—Omen is the second in a nine-book series she is co-authoring with Aaron Allston and Troy Denning. Also in June comes the conclusion of Golden’s StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga with the release of Twlight, the third book in the series. The first two are Firstborn and Shadow Hunters.
2004 saw the launch of an original fantasy series called The Final Dance, from LUNA Books. The first novel in the series, On Fire's Wings, was published in July of that year. The second, In Stone’s Clasp , came out in September of 2005. With In Stone’s Clasp, Golden won the Colorado Author’s League Top Hand Award for Best Genre Novel for the second time. The third book, Under Sea’s Shadow, is available only as an e-book
Golden is also the author of two original fantasy novels from Ace Books, King's Man and Thief and Instrument of Fate, which made the 1996 Nebula Preliminary Ballot. Under the pen name of Jadrien Bell, she wrote a historical fantasy thriller entitled A.D. 999, which won the Colorado Author's League Top Hand Award for Best Genre Novel of 1999.
Golden launched the TSR Ravenloft line in 1991 with her first novel, the highly successful Vampire of the Mists , which introduced elven vampire Jander Sunstar. Golden followed up Vampire with Dance of the Dead and The Enemy Within . In September of 2006, fifteen years to the month, The Ravenloft Covenant: Vampire of the Mists enabled Jander Sunstar to reach a whole new audience.
Other projects include a slew of Star Trek novels, among them The Murdered Sun , Marooned , and Seven of Nine , and "The Dark Matters Trilogy," Cloak and Dagger , Ghost Dance and Shadow of Heaven .
The Voyager novel relaunch, which includes Homecoming and The Farther Shore , were bestsellers and were the fastest-selling Trek novels of 2003. Golden continued writing VOYAGER novels even though the show went off the air, and enjoyed exploring the creative freedom that gave her in the two-parter called Spirit Walk, which includes Old Wounds and Enemy of my Enemy .
Golden has also written the novelization of Steven Spielberg's Invasion America and an original "prequel," On The Run , both of which received high praise from producer Harve Bennett. On The Run, a combination medical thriller and science fiction adventure, even prompted Bennett to invite Golden to assist in crafting the second season of the show, if it was renewed.
Golden lives in Loveland, Colorado, with her artist husband and their two cats.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
July 15, 2016
4 ½ stars. I love this book and would say that it's even better than the first one in this trilogy. Christie Golden being one of my favorite authors for Voyager this is not in any way a surprise to me. She has a way of always staying true to the characters and everything that happened during the series run. That said, she's also a great writer and has managed to draw me in to her stories more than once.
In this book the story is pretty much divided into three sub stories that occur simultaneously. Them being what happens on Voyager, what's going on with Chakotay and Paris on the planet they ended up on in the last book and what the Romulans and Lhiau are up to back on Romulus. I like this way of storytelling. It might seem like there's a lot going on at once, but Golden never loses me as a reader. I felt that I could connect all the different sub stories to each other in the bigger picture and sees this as one of the strengths of this book. And it doesn't help that I also found all of them to be very interesting, but I'll tell you more about that.
On the planet Chakotay and Paris ended up transporting to there's a species that's divided into two different casts; the Culilann and the Alilann. They live separated and with extremely different lifestyles. I found these lifestyles and their culture to be of great interest. The way it was written made it come alive and I could see it pictured before me almost like I was there myself. It pretty much couldn't have been any better than that.
Back on Voyager Captain Janeway and the rest of the crew are working on getting started with the task of cleansing the quadrant of the mutated dark matter with the help of the orb given to them by the Shepherd Tialin in the previous book. B'Elanna Torres, Seven and Telek R'Mor are in charge of understanding and implementing the technology that the orb provides. Early on in their work the orb gets the nickname That Damned Ball from B'Elanna which was a detail I just loved and smiled about several times. That just felt so spot on for B'Elanna's character to come up with something like that.
On Romulus we specifically get to follow Jekri Kaleh, the Chairman of the Tal Shiar, and I found myself really taking an interest to her character. I came to feel a little bit like I was on her side and that I was rooting for her. Yes, I'm aware of the fact that she's not "one of the good guys", but still, the way that she was portrayed made me like her. More so the farther along I got in the book.
Added to these sub plots we also get short passages, interludes, of following an entity that we never really get to know who or what it actually is. I loved those small parts, and in fact, I think I might have an idea as to what the entity is. I'll have to wait to the next book to find out if I'm on the right track, though. But if you're curious as to my guess, I wouldn't want you to be disappointed, so here goes:
I'm looking forward to getting the conclusion to all of this. Also, I'm hopping to get a somewhat better idea of all of this mutated dark matter-stuff and how it affects not only our universe but also the other ones. I guess I feel I can understand it partly to some extent, but it's still like seeing it through a broken mirror where you think you might see part of the bigger picture, but you're still lacking some of it.
In this book the story is pretty much divided into three sub stories that occur simultaneously. Them being what happens on Voyager, what's going on with Chakotay and Paris on the planet they ended up on in the last book and what the Romulans and Lhiau are up to back on Romulus. I like this way of storytelling. It might seem like there's a lot going on at once, but Golden never loses me as a reader. I felt that I could connect all the different sub stories to each other in the bigger picture and sees this as one of the strengths of this book. And it doesn't help that I also found all of them to be very interesting, but I'll tell you more about that.
On the planet Chakotay and Paris ended up transporting to there's a species that's divided into two different casts; the Culilann and the Alilann. They live separated and with extremely different lifestyles. I found these lifestyles and their culture to be of great interest. The way it was written made it come alive and I could see it pictured before me almost like I was there myself. It pretty much couldn't have been any better than that.
Back on Voyager Captain Janeway and the rest of the crew are working on getting started with the task of cleansing the quadrant of the mutated dark matter with the help of the orb given to them by the Shepherd Tialin in the previous book. B'Elanna Torres, Seven and Telek R'Mor are in charge of understanding and implementing the technology that the orb provides. Early on in their work the orb gets the nickname That Damned Ball from B'Elanna which was a detail I just loved and smiled about several times. That just felt so spot on for B'Elanna's character to come up with something like that.
On Romulus we specifically get to follow Jekri Kaleh, the Chairman of the Tal Shiar, and I found myself really taking an interest to her character. I came to feel a little bit like I was on her side and that I was rooting for her. Yes, I'm aware of the fact that she's not "one of the good guys", but still, the way that she was portrayed made me like her. More so the farther along I got in the book.
Added to these sub plots we also get short passages, interludes, of following an entity that we never really get to know who or what it actually is. I loved those small parts, and in fact, I think I might have an idea as to what the entity is. I'll have to wait to the next book to find out if I'm on the right track, though. But if you're curious as to my guess, I wouldn't want you to be disappointed, so here goes:
I'm looking forward to getting the conclusion to all of this. Also, I'm hopping to get a somewhat better idea of all of this mutated dark matter-stuff and how it affects not only our universe but also the other ones. I guess I feel I can understand it partly to some extent, but it's still like seeing it through a broken mirror where you think you might see part of the bigger picture, but you're still lacking some of it.
June 21, 2014
Voyager is now trying to contain all the dark matter in the delta quadrant, a long and difficult job. Chakotay and Tom have been sent to a planet with an unusual social structure.
The 2nd in the trilogy, the plot moved along very quickly and was a decent read. You probably need to have read the first one to really get what is going on. I wonder why Seven is on the front cover as its not really her story. A good read.
The 2nd in the trilogy, the plot moved along very quickly and was a decent read. You probably need to have read the first one to really get what is going on. I wonder why Seven is on the front cover as its not really her story. A good read.
March 3, 2012
Another save the universe with help from an ominpotent being. Need to read the trio to get the whole story.
April 26, 2022
More of the same as the first. Really hoping the Jekri storyline goes somewhere as it took up a good chunk of the book. Well the first book had Naomi time and this one had Kim relationship issues plus a Kazon moment. This is ticking all the boxes of the weakest parts of Voyager (although Kim's relationship issues are usually pretty funny due to how bad he is at it) Poor Kim crying on his bed hugging his clarinet...sigh... Anyway, I enjoyed the problem solving of Torres, Seven and the Romulan which is the A story in the book and Chakotay and Paris's story line as well.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 25, 2018
Definitely a filler book
July 20, 2021
On par with the first book in the trilogy, with a deep plot, overall, I enjoyed.
September 27, 2021
This one is dedicated to Mark Lenard
March 5, 2022
Didn't keep my attention as well as the first one. Less action but enjoyed the plot, the problem solving and the World building. Intrigued how this series will end!
May 9, 2024
Golden continues the multi-threaded plot with the characters advancing their own concerns separately. Harry Kim gets some much-needed development.
November 18, 2025
This one ended with what I kinda feel is a cheap cliffhanger.
February 17, 2014
This second book in the Dark Matters series was better than the first.
The premise: Mutated dark matter has infiltrated the Delta Quadrant after the Romulan scientist Telek (who once contacted Voyager early in their voyage through a tiny wormhole that also jumped 20 years into the past) is forced by the Tal Shiar to use his research to find the lost ship. Using technology provided by an alien called the Shepherd, the Romulans hope to capture Voyager and use its advanced technology to take over the Alpha Quadrant. But the mutated dark matter destroys the Romulans' plans. In order to save the ship, Janeway contacts the Shepherds in the Delta Quadrant and learns that the one helping the Romulans is rogue, and that they need Janeway's help to find and contain the mutated dark matter that's been released. They give Janeway a sphere that contains all of the dark matter that had infected Voyager. They need to use the sphere to figure out to help the rest of the Delta Quadrant.
Meanwhile, Chakotay and Paris have jumped through a portal to another world with two alien cultures that on the verge of clashing after hundreds of years of peaceful coexistence. Can Janeway and crew figure out how to use the Shepherd's sphere in time? And will Chakotay and Paris find a way to contact their ship and make it back safely?
As I said, this book was much better written than the first one in this trilogy. I think it was because the plotlines here focused much more on characters and much less on set-up, which is what the first book felt like--only set-up, no real engagement with the characters. The loose plot threads in that first book continue here, mostly unresolved (there is a third book), but they are much more engaging because of the character involvement. We follow the Voyager crew as they try to figure out the sphere. We also follow the head of the Tal Shiar as the rogue Shepherd abandons her and seduces the Empress, humiliating her in the process. And of course we follow Chakotay and Paris in the alien culture. All of these plotlines were engaging, those involving the head of the Tal Shiar being the most interesting.
So a much better book than the first in this trilogy. I'm still hoping that all of the plotlines come together at some point, but we'll see what happens in the third book.
The premise: Mutated dark matter has infiltrated the Delta Quadrant after the Romulan scientist Telek (who once contacted Voyager early in their voyage through a tiny wormhole that also jumped 20 years into the past) is forced by the Tal Shiar to use his research to find the lost ship. Using technology provided by an alien called the Shepherd, the Romulans hope to capture Voyager and use its advanced technology to take over the Alpha Quadrant. But the mutated dark matter destroys the Romulans' plans. In order to save the ship, Janeway contacts the Shepherds in the Delta Quadrant and learns that the one helping the Romulans is rogue, and that they need Janeway's help to find and contain the mutated dark matter that's been released. They give Janeway a sphere that contains all of the dark matter that had infected Voyager. They need to use the sphere to figure out to help the rest of the Delta Quadrant.
Meanwhile, Chakotay and Paris have jumped through a portal to another world with two alien cultures that on the verge of clashing after hundreds of years of peaceful coexistence. Can Janeway and crew figure out how to use the Shepherd's sphere in time? And will Chakotay and Paris find a way to contact their ship and make it back safely?
As I said, this book was much better written than the first one in this trilogy. I think it was because the plotlines here focused much more on characters and much less on set-up, which is what the first book felt like--only set-up, no real engagement with the characters. The loose plot threads in that first book continue here, mostly unresolved (there is a third book), but they are much more engaging because of the character involvement. We follow the Voyager crew as they try to figure out the sphere. We also follow the head of the Tal Shiar as the rogue Shepherd abandons her and seduces the Empress, humiliating her in the process. And of course we follow Chakotay and Paris in the alien culture. All of these plotlines were engaging, those involving the head of the Tal Shiar being the most interesting.
So a much better book than the first in this trilogy. I'm still hoping that all of the plotlines come together at some point, but we'll see what happens in the third book.
September 9, 2016
This book wasn't without its problematic elements, like the backward, noble savages on the planet where Chakotay and Tom find themselves. Go figure, Chakotay is seduced by a culture that reveres nature, and Harry has fallen in love with yet another completely unattainable woman. Ignoring that, however, this was a pretty fun read. The characters are mostly correct (I feel like Golden has trouble nailing Janeway's voice, but maybe that's just me), and the story is much better than the boring first book in the trilogy, which is probably why so much time has passed between reading that one and this one.
November 9, 2015
Voyager is on a mission to find dangerous dark matter than has been scattered throughout the universe and render it inert. There is political intrigue in the bastion of Romulan Power.Harry and his new alien friend become closer.
Chakotay and Paris are in another place of existence learning about a new culture and finding themselves getting caught up in locale politics. A war is brewing.
This book begins to tie up the storylines begun in Cloak and Dagger and it is well written. Fast paced and the characters are 'in character.
A point off though for once again having Tom Paris become involved with a beautiful alien woman. Its the twentieth book in the series and I have lost count as to how many times this trope has been used. Why couldn't his companion Chakotay have become infatuated with her instead? That's just a pet peeve of mine and in no way detracts from the actual writing but I admit it put up a roadblock that kept me from enjoying the book as much as I could have otherwise.
Chakotay and Paris are in another place of existence learning about a new culture and finding themselves getting caught up in locale politics. A war is brewing.
This book begins to tie up the storylines begun in Cloak and Dagger and it is well written. Fast paced and the characters are 'in character.
A point off though for once again having Tom Paris become involved with a beautiful alien woman. Its the twentieth book in the series and I have lost count as to how many times this trope has been used. Why couldn't his companion Chakotay have become infatuated with her instead? That's just a pet peeve of mine and in no way detracts from the actual writing but I admit it put up a roadblock that kept me from enjoying the book as much as I could have otherwise.
June 8, 2015
In this book 2 of 3, the characters and the plot move much more smoothly than they did in the rather clunky book one of the series. This leaves me with a dilemma; it is difficult to recommend this book, given that it has neither beginning nor ending of its own and therefore should not be read without first reading book one of the series, "Cloak and Dagger", and I do not recommend reading that one. All I can say is, if you HAVE read that one, and considered not continuing the miniseries because it was so unsatisfying, you may want to continue with this book; rather than continue the bad taste that book one may have left in your mouth, this one may help to correct the problem. At least by reading this book and book three, you will eventually get a moderately tolerable conclusion to the plot, which is better than leaving things where they were at the end of book one, given that this book is a much better read.
July 21, 2010
A good continuation of the previous book in the trilogy. I appreciated that there weren't a whole lot of explanatory passages to remind me of events that occurred in the previous novel. It's as though the author assumes you'll have read it, and I liked that. I like that the discussion of scientific concepts and theories is approachable, as well as the fact that such discussions don't take up huge portions of the text. The plot progresses well throughout the novel, and I wanted to read the third book for certain by the time I was done.
February 5, 2015
Book 2 in a series of 3. There were quite a few things I enjoyed. The discussion of the stark differences between the Culilann and the Alilann peoples (who are actually the same race) was quite fascinating. Too much of a good thing is not always a good thing. Also the growth of Jekri Taleh as a person and the decisions of Kahlaa to grow despite trepidation. But this is definitely the middle book in a trilogy -- I wouldn't say it was really capable of standing on its own. Still, looking forward to the conclusion of all of the stories.
March 28, 2011
Even more exciting than being chased by a Horta on steroids, with this one Golden has certainly redeemed herself for the lackluster original series novel The Last Roundup (one of the poorest Star Trek books I've ever read). Ghost Dance (book 2 in the Dark Matters trilogy) has 4 parallel yet intertwined plot lines, a cliffhanger, and a murder mystery to boot! I started book 3 the same night I finished this one. A terrific Star Trek Voyager read.
September 11, 2013
i liked this book i liked that were three stories in one the bits with chakotay and paris and the chairman of the tal shiar and what was going on voyager i liked that they were all linked overall very good book looking forward to book 3
May 27, 2012
This middle part of a pretty interesting trilogy offers some fascinating scientific concepts and plausiblr characterization.
April 5, 2013
Good Trilogy
June 21, 2016
It was enjoyable, I didn't love the bits about the Romulans although I did really like what happened to the Romulans at the end. I think I am going to put off number 3 for a little while.
May 12, 2016
Great middle segment to a trilogy.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews