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Star Trek: Voyager
Erbsünde
Admiral Kathryn Janeway hat das Kommando über die Full-Circle-Flotte übernommen. Ihre erste Mission: In den Delta-Quadranten zurückkehren und diplomatische Beziehungen zur Konföderation der Welten des Ersten Quadranten aufnehmen, eine Zivilisation, deren Macht es mit der der Föderation in nichts nachsteht. Captain Chakotay weiß, dass seine Entscheidungen eine potenzielle Allianz verhindern könnten. Obwohl der Captain der Voyager der Interstellaren Flotte der Konföderation dankbar ist, dass sie sie vor einer fremden Armada gerettet hat, kann er nicht vergessen, auf welchen Gräueltaten die Konföderation gegründet wurde.
Besorgniserregender ist der Anschein, dass einige der alten Widersacher der Voyager ein eigenes und unerwartetes Bündnis eingegangen sind, und es sich zum Ziel gesetzt haben, die Konföderation mit allen Mitteln zu Fall zu bringen. Während die Besatzung der Full-Circle-Flotte versucht, einen Kurs in die Zukunft zu finden, werden sie von ihren früheren Sünden heimgesucht. Wird es zu spät sein, bis sie begreifen, dass manche Sünden nie vergeben werden können … oder in Vergessenheit geraten?
Besorgniserregender ist der Anschein, dass einige der alten Widersacher der Voyager ein eigenes und unerwartetes Bündnis eingegangen sind, und es sich zum Ziel gesetzt haben, die Konföderation mit allen Mitteln zu Fall zu bringen. Während die Besatzung der Full-Circle-Flotte versucht, einen Kurs in die Zukunft zu finden, werden sie von ihren früheren Sünden heimgesucht. Wird es zu spät sein, bis sie begreifen, dass manche Sünden nie vergeben werden können … oder in Vergessenheit geraten?
480 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 1, 2014
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December 2, 2014
Star Trek: Voyager: Acts of Contrition by Kirsten Beyer This is the second part of a trilogy that began with Protectors earlier this year. I have to say that this book leaves me ambivalent - there are strong points, but also passages that simply made me angry... angry enough to want to abandon it.
Let's start with those - and they almost exclusively pertain to the trial between Paris and his mother over custody of his daughter. Miral's wellbeing wasn't in any danger, she's a happy, well-adjusted child, living with parents who adore her and would do anything to protect her. So what's really in question here? Tom and B'Elanna's fitness at parenting clearly not. Their characters? Having lied to protect Miral? Having hurt others while doing so? But actually, what does that have to do with them having custody? I don't dispute that Tom and B'Elanna made questionable choices. Choices that had an impact on the people around them. But then again, nobody is exempt from making bad decisions. But if we start there, who's left to be allowed to have children?
Then there's Julia Paris who admits herself that she apparently made mistakes raising Tom... so shouldn't her claim be turned around to herself? Can't it be said: Well, you messed up the education of one child, who says you won't mess up another one? So, what makes her fit to raise Miral? She's a woman who has so much anger for her son that it's not a far leap to predict she'll influence the child against her parents. And while we're at it, her anger stems from the fact that Tom simply doesn't meet her expectations in him, he's a disappointment - but is that Tom's fault? Or is she at fault for not being able to let go of her wishes and see her son for who he really is... with his faults but also his qualities.
And now Starfleet's way of dealing with this issue. First of all, there never should have been a trial or mediation - the claim should have been dismissed from the start because Miral's wellbeing was never in question, Tom and B'Elanna's characters were and their relationship with family. Do I think this relationship needs work? Sure. But not in a court of law. At the first session at the latest the matter should have been redirected to family counseling. The final ruling, while at least factually correct (thank God, I feared it would go the other way), left quite a bit to desire: Tom's selfish? Where did that judge get that idea from? I grant you he was selfish back in the early TV-seasons, but now? Julia's the only one who acted selfishly in this whole case. *She* felt slighted. *She* was disappointed by her son. *She* felt it necessary to remove Miral. It was all about her feelings, but did she ever wonder why Tom felt he couldn't confide in her? Why their relationship doesn't work? No, it's easier to put the blame squarely on his shoulders.
Secondly, the whole concept of the trial, the possible consequences (every child of B'Elanna and Tom's being removed!) just reeks of the American judicial system where everyone can sue everyone on some ridiculous notion or other. There's got to be some due process, especially in family law - so where was social services, investigating Miral's situation? How's it supposed to be possible to make an objective ruling over what's best for the child if said child's living conditions aren't researched? How's it possible to even consider ruling Tom and B'Elanna unfit parents for all time, thusly making it possible to remove any future child as well? That's just ludicrous... and makes me angry. Removing a child from its parents should be based on the welfare of the child, on the current situation and be judged on a case-by-case base. Not like this. This just goes against everything I believe in a judicial system. And if this is the way Starfleet/the Federation handles such sensitive issues... well, let's leave it at that.
Of course, raising children while on a space ship is, generally speaking, an issue which should be addressed. Is it wise to take children on missions that are potentially dangerous? Is it good for them to have practically no companions close in age and be surrounded only by adults? And how do you get around that general issue? Forbid couples to have children while in service? Or on ship-duty? This, along with the Paris/Torres-family situation, both having their childhood traumas, both being raised by single parents (Tom because his father was on ship-duty, B'Elanna because her father left them), both left with trust issues because of their upbringing. That should have been explored instead of the whole issue being reduced to one woman's problems with her own son and lonely existence. The appearance of B'Elanna's father raising just those trust-issues were very much appreciated. I'd like to see more of him in the future.
Sadly, this whole matter dampened my enjoyment of the rest of the book quite immensely.
The Voyager fleet explores options of an alliance with the Confederacy it met back in Protectors. Again, it's not so much the what, it's the how it's written that bothers me. Everywhere, the Starfleet ships find issues that go against their philosophy: a strong influence of a commerce consortium that withholds technologies from the population to rule the market, minorities being barred from health care, women being relegated to child bearing, no regard for ecological balance in agriculture and the list goes on and on. There's a certain sense of superiority that all the Starfleet officers display that just rankles. Because even if all of the above is going against Federation ideals, one should not forget his or her own history. Just 400 years ago (Star Trek-time), Earth was at the same stage as the Confederacy - and look at where they are now. So instead of frowning, of criticizing, of looking down at the Confederacy's way of life, of judging and finding them lacking, they should just accept things the way they are. And if those differences turn out to be insurmountable, well, then just move on. Is there room for improvement? You bet there is. But it's one thing to address the issue, it's another to try and force your own point of view on others.
One of the things that bothers me most in ST is the fact that there's very rarely a grey area in first contact situations. Either they're with us, which also includes they conform to Starfleet ideals (or learn to do so very quickly and/or at least recognize the error of their ways of life...), or they're against us. It's friend or foe. But can't there be a treaty without it being all-encompassing? Well, of course, one grey area is: Let's just ignore moral issues if they have something we want (oil... er... dilithium, right of passage...). So it's mostly what's best for us, sometimes regardless of the cost. In this case the Voyager fleet meets someone who in turn asks, what's best for *us*?
Anyway, that plotthread twists and turns - Janeway twists and turns... and considers self-sacrifice when it turns out (again) that her decisions in the past might have unknown consequences. Duh... live with it and move on. But is that a reason to suddenly interfere with internal Confederacy-politics? To actually side with them in battle? And then there's the fact that the Indign and that advanced hologramm Zimmermann created as companion for the Doctor might be influencing the political landscape of the Confederacy... and everything is put in question. I liked the way old enemies turned up - but apparently not of their own volition... So what's coming next here? And how'll the apparent coup d'etat in the Confederacy turn out? And what about the fragile alliance between Chakotay and Mattings, O'Donnell's interference etc? There's quite a lot of room to cover yet.
And that brings me to the last issue - to me the most interesting one which is the catomic plague. Well, and isn't that a mess. Starfleet Medical and its "Commander" reminds me awfully of Section 31 - secrecy, lack of morals in experimentations on living sentient beings, no access... and no one to question it. I wonder why that is. This is another one of those annoying things that puts a dark shadow over Starfleet while it itself frowns upon other peoples' customs. So, what's the Commander really after? Trying to cover up his mistakes? Genetically reviving extinct species - to what purpose? Using Coridan as a huge experiment? Using Seven, Axum and other former Borg as guinea pigs?
While Sharak's plot trying to uncover more about the plague was interesting enough, Seven's was quite lacking. I really don't want to know more about her sex life - and that's what she's been reduced to lately. The Doctor, Cambridge, Axum... Seven's perceptions of her relations with Cambridge contrasting those with Axum - boring, boring, boring.
I was looking forward to seeing her interaction with Axum, because I thought he was the only good thing that happened in "Unimatrix". So I was glad to see him return. But what has he been reduced to? Someone who, again, only lives in a fantasy, and forces others (i.e. Seven) to conform to his wishes? His mentally influencing Seven was just creepy, the deliberations of the sex scenes and the emotions they evoke in Seven due to their mental link... it really gave me the shivers to read this, and I wonder if Seven actually had a choice in any of this, being overwhelmed (subdued?) by Axum's presence in her mind.
From the beginning I doubted if any of it took place in the real world... the isolation, Axum's overwhelming presence, his apparent neglect of events happening around them - something just smelled wrong. And I was happy to be proven right when Seven finally managed to escape her gilded cage and returned to the real world - but to what end?
And then, finally, perhaps the most tragic part of the whole story was the Doctor's disintegration. It reminded me a lot of what happened in "The Swarm" and "Latent Image". Zimmermann tampered with his programme to make him forget his love for Seven - forgetting that the Doctor evolved beyond his programme. How could you excise something so vital to his very being without damaging everything else? And was it right to do that, even if the Doctor himself wanted it? On the other hand, do we "real" people have the chance to just make ourselves forget/not care any longer if something gets too much? And isn't that where many psychological illnesses have their origin - coping mechanisms running awry? So why should it be any different for the Doctor?
Again, there's much shade in this book, but there are the occasional rays of light as well which keep me interested in the overall story. So I guess I'll keep reading and hope that some of the issues will get properly addressed in the final book of this trilogy. There's one thing I've been afraid of since Janeway's return - that is that the focus of the relaunch will once again return to her, with Seven and the Doctor in second place (interspersed with the occasional B'Elanna-Klingon issue) and everyone else taking the backseat again. Cambridge is reduced to pining over Seven, Chakotay wasn't present much, either. B'Elanna's is reduced to her pregnancy, and Harry... well, at least he had something to do other than sitting at some console. O'Donnell had the opportunity to irritate his first officer by being unconventional, again, so that's something. I exaggerate but you catch me drift, I guess.
I think right now the Voyager-relaunch is at a crossroads. Since Children of the Storm, which to me still is its highlight, the quality went down considerably. Some characters, which where so painstakingly introduced, feel stagnant now, some, who where finally allowed to take the spotlight, lost their forward momentum... and the whole character dynamics are on the verge of falling back on old patterns. Which would be a real shame. So I guess, Atonement will be a deciding point for me on whether to keep following the Voyager relaunch.
Let's start with those - and they almost exclusively pertain to the trial between Paris and his mother over custody of his daughter. Miral's wellbeing wasn't in any danger, she's a happy, well-adjusted child, living with parents who adore her and would do anything to protect her. So what's really in question here? Tom and B'Elanna's fitness at parenting clearly not. Their characters? Having lied to protect Miral? Having hurt others while doing so? But actually, what does that have to do with them having custody? I don't dispute that Tom and B'Elanna made questionable choices. Choices that had an impact on the people around them. But then again, nobody is exempt from making bad decisions. But if we start there, who's left to be allowed to have children?
Then there's Julia Paris who admits herself that she apparently made mistakes raising Tom... so shouldn't her claim be turned around to herself? Can't it be said: Well, you messed up the education of one child, who says you won't mess up another one? So, what makes her fit to raise Miral? She's a woman who has so much anger for her son that it's not a far leap to predict she'll influence the child against her parents. And while we're at it, her anger stems from the fact that Tom simply doesn't meet her expectations in him, he's a disappointment - but is that Tom's fault? Or is she at fault for not being able to let go of her wishes and see her son for who he really is... with his faults but also his qualities.
And now Starfleet's way of dealing with this issue. First of all, there never should have been a trial or mediation - the claim should have been dismissed from the start because Miral's wellbeing was never in question, Tom and B'Elanna's characters were and their relationship with family. Do I think this relationship needs work? Sure. But not in a court of law. At the first session at the latest the matter should have been redirected to family counseling. The final ruling, while at least factually correct (thank God, I feared it would go the other way), left quite a bit to desire: Tom's selfish? Where did that judge get that idea from? I grant you he was selfish back in the early TV-seasons, but now? Julia's the only one who acted selfishly in this whole case. *She* felt slighted. *She* was disappointed by her son. *She* felt it necessary to remove Miral. It was all about her feelings, but did she ever wonder why Tom felt he couldn't confide in her? Why their relationship doesn't work? No, it's easier to put the blame squarely on his shoulders.
Secondly, the whole concept of the trial, the possible consequences (every child of B'Elanna and Tom's being removed!) just reeks of the American judicial system where everyone can sue everyone on some ridiculous notion or other. There's got to be some due process, especially in family law - so where was social services, investigating Miral's situation? How's it supposed to be possible to make an objective ruling over what's best for the child if said child's living conditions aren't researched? How's it possible to even consider ruling Tom and B'Elanna unfit parents for all time, thusly making it possible to remove any future child as well? That's just ludicrous... and makes me angry. Removing a child from its parents should be based on the welfare of the child, on the current situation and be judged on a case-by-case base. Not like this. This just goes against everything I believe in a judicial system. And if this is the way Starfleet/the Federation handles such sensitive issues... well, let's leave it at that.
Of course, raising children while on a space ship is, generally speaking, an issue which should be addressed. Is it wise to take children on missions that are potentially dangerous? Is it good for them to have practically no companions close in age and be surrounded only by adults? And how do you get around that general issue? Forbid couples to have children while in service? Or on ship-duty? This, along with the Paris/Torres-family situation, both having their childhood traumas, both being raised by single parents (Tom because his father was on ship-duty, B'Elanna because her father left them), both left with trust issues because of their upbringing. That should have been explored instead of the whole issue being reduced to one woman's problems with her own son and lonely existence. The appearance of B'Elanna's father raising just those trust-issues were very much appreciated. I'd like to see more of him in the future.
Sadly, this whole matter dampened my enjoyment of the rest of the book quite immensely.
The Voyager fleet explores options of an alliance with the Confederacy it met back in Protectors. Again, it's not so much the what, it's the how it's written that bothers me. Everywhere, the Starfleet ships find issues that go against their philosophy: a strong influence of a commerce consortium that withholds technologies from the population to rule the market, minorities being barred from health care, women being relegated to child bearing, no regard for ecological balance in agriculture and the list goes on and on. There's a certain sense of superiority that all the Starfleet officers display that just rankles. Because even if all of the above is going against Federation ideals, one should not forget his or her own history. Just 400 years ago (Star Trek-time), Earth was at the same stage as the Confederacy - and look at where they are now. So instead of frowning, of criticizing, of looking down at the Confederacy's way of life, of judging and finding them lacking, they should just accept things the way they are. And if those differences turn out to be insurmountable, well, then just move on. Is there room for improvement? You bet there is. But it's one thing to address the issue, it's another to try and force your own point of view on others.
One of the things that bothers me most in ST is the fact that there's very rarely a grey area in first contact situations. Either they're with us, which also includes they conform to Starfleet ideals (or learn to do so very quickly and/or at least recognize the error of their ways of life...), or they're against us. It's friend or foe. But can't there be a treaty without it being all-encompassing? Well, of course, one grey area is: Let's just ignore moral issues if they have something we want (oil... er... dilithium, right of passage...). So it's mostly what's best for us, sometimes regardless of the cost. In this case the Voyager fleet meets someone who in turn asks, what's best for *us*?
Anyway, that plotthread twists and turns - Janeway twists and turns... and considers self-sacrifice when it turns out (again) that her decisions in the past might have unknown consequences. Duh... live with it and move on. But is that a reason to suddenly interfere with internal Confederacy-politics? To actually side with them in battle? And then there's the fact that the Indign and that advanced hologramm Zimmermann created as companion for the Doctor might be influencing the political landscape of the Confederacy... and everything is put in question. I liked the way old enemies turned up - but apparently not of their own volition... So what's coming next here? And how'll the apparent coup d'etat in the Confederacy turn out? And what about the fragile alliance between Chakotay and Mattings, O'Donnell's interference etc? There's quite a lot of room to cover yet.
And that brings me to the last issue - to me the most interesting one which is the catomic plague. Well, and isn't that a mess. Starfleet Medical and its "Commander" reminds me awfully of Section 31 - secrecy, lack of morals in experimentations on living sentient beings, no access... and no one to question it. I wonder why that is. This is another one of those annoying things that puts a dark shadow over Starfleet while it itself frowns upon other peoples' customs. So, what's the Commander really after? Trying to cover up his mistakes? Genetically reviving extinct species - to what purpose? Using Coridan as a huge experiment? Using Seven, Axum and other former Borg as guinea pigs?
While Sharak's plot trying to uncover more about the plague was interesting enough, Seven's was quite lacking. I really don't want to know more about her sex life - and that's what she's been reduced to lately. The Doctor, Cambridge, Axum... Seven's perceptions of her relations with Cambridge contrasting those with Axum - boring, boring, boring.
I was looking forward to seeing her interaction with Axum, because I thought he was the only good thing that happened in "Unimatrix". So I was glad to see him return. But what has he been reduced to? Someone who, again, only lives in a fantasy, and forces others (i.e. Seven) to conform to his wishes? His mentally influencing Seven was just creepy, the deliberations of the sex scenes and the emotions they evoke in Seven due to their mental link... it really gave me the shivers to read this, and I wonder if Seven actually had a choice in any of this, being overwhelmed (subdued?) by Axum's presence in her mind.
From the beginning I doubted if any of it took place in the real world... the isolation, Axum's overwhelming presence, his apparent neglect of events happening around them - something just smelled wrong. And I was happy to be proven right when Seven finally managed to escape her gilded cage and returned to the real world - but to what end?
And then, finally, perhaps the most tragic part of the whole story was the Doctor's disintegration. It reminded me a lot of what happened in "The Swarm" and "Latent Image". Zimmermann tampered with his programme to make him forget his love for Seven - forgetting that the Doctor evolved beyond his programme. How could you excise something so vital to his very being without damaging everything else? And was it right to do that, even if the Doctor himself wanted it? On the other hand, do we "real" people have the chance to just make ourselves forget/not care any longer if something gets too much? And isn't that where many psychological illnesses have their origin - coping mechanisms running awry? So why should it be any different for the Doctor?
Again, there's much shade in this book, but there are the occasional rays of light as well which keep me interested in the overall story. So I guess I'll keep reading and hope that some of the issues will get properly addressed in the final book of this trilogy. There's one thing I've been afraid of since Janeway's return - that is that the focus of the relaunch will once again return to her, with Seven and the Doctor in second place (interspersed with the occasional B'Elanna-Klingon issue) and everyone else taking the backseat again. Cambridge is reduced to pining over Seven, Chakotay wasn't present much, either. B'Elanna's is reduced to her pregnancy, and Harry... well, at least he had something to do other than sitting at some console. O'Donnell had the opportunity to irritate his first officer by being unconventional, again, so that's something. I exaggerate but you catch me drift, I guess.
I think right now the Voyager-relaunch is at a crossroads. Since Children of the Storm, which to me still is its highlight, the quality went down considerably. Some characters, which where so painstakingly introduced, feel stagnant now, some, who where finally allowed to take the spotlight, lost their forward momentum... and the whole character dynamics are on the verge of falling back on old patterns. Which would be a real shame. So I guess, Atonement will be a deciding point for me on whether to keep following the Voyager relaunch.
October 1, 2014
I love Star Trek novels that focus on the on-screen characters. In order to do this well, the writer has to have watched the series and learned the characters well--maybe even come to love them. Beyer is a Voyager expert. It is obvious that she has watched the series closely and that she has nailed the characters. This intimate knowledge makes her novels especially gratifying.
This novel deals with a ticklish situation where Janeway and her fleet are getting to know a new Delta Quadrant "federation" in order to determine whether they would be suitable allies. I was fascinated by the way Beyer gradually revealed the problems and failings of this alien society and by the way the Starfleet people were careful to see what they needed to see instead of what the aliens wanted to show them. I was also interested in what wasn't shared and why. I can't remember a better description of how this process might occur.
A second plot concerns a dangerous disease that is being mishandled by the research arm of Starfleet. I thought it was a great explanation of how a bureaucracy works, how important research might be delegated to someone based on his/her reputation and then inadequately monitored. The Federation and Starfleet are often portrayed as perfect, yet there are times when they fail miserably, only to be discovered and corrected. This situation was handled especially well and kept my attention.
Perhaps the weakest link in the novel is the family issue over custody of children when the parents are in deep space. I thought it went a bit too far; I can't imagine that a family would allow their relationships to get so dysfunctional. The mediation process, in this case, is less than satisfactory, yet I think it is resolved properly. Perhaps in the next novel, there will be better resolution to the family rift.
Finally, I must say that the book builds to a very satisfying and exciting conclusion--that morphs into an even worse problem. Bravo on that. I'm looking forward to the next book, for sure.
If you like Trek in general and Voyager in particular, this is a book made for you. The only things missing (and the reason I didn't give this five stars) are the scenes that explore the relationships between people in depth. I'd love to see more of Janeway/Chakotay or Paris/Torres or Seven/Cambridge (at least we see Seven/Axum in some detail). I feel that Voyager's strength lies in their close family like bond; I would love to see more of that in the novels--and more humor in general.
Buy it! You'll like it! :D
This novel deals with a ticklish situation where Janeway and her fleet are getting to know a new Delta Quadrant "federation" in order to determine whether they would be suitable allies. I was fascinated by the way Beyer gradually revealed the problems and failings of this alien society and by the way the Starfleet people were careful to see what they needed to see instead of what the aliens wanted to show them. I was also interested in what wasn't shared and why. I can't remember a better description of how this process might occur.
A second plot concerns a dangerous disease that is being mishandled by the research arm of Starfleet. I thought it was a great explanation of how a bureaucracy works, how important research might be delegated to someone based on his/her reputation and then inadequately monitored. The Federation and Starfleet are often portrayed as perfect, yet there are times when they fail miserably, only to be discovered and corrected. This situation was handled especially well and kept my attention.
Perhaps the weakest link in the novel is the family issue over custody of children when the parents are in deep space. I thought it went a bit too far; I can't imagine that a family would allow their relationships to get so dysfunctional. The mediation process, in this case, is less than satisfactory, yet I think it is resolved properly. Perhaps in the next novel, there will be better resolution to the family rift.
Finally, I must say that the book builds to a very satisfying and exciting conclusion--that morphs into an even worse problem. Bravo on that. I'm looking forward to the next book, for sure.
If you like Trek in general and Voyager in particular, this is a book made for you. The only things missing (and the reason I didn't give this five stars) are the scenes that explore the relationships between people in depth. I'd love to see more of Janeway/Chakotay or Paris/Torres or Seven/Cambridge (at least we see Seven/Axum in some detail). I feel that Voyager's strength lies in their close family like bond; I would love to see more of that in the novels--and more humor in general.
Buy it! You'll like it! :D
February 16, 2017
3.5 stars. I am a little torn by this book. Once I had managed to recall parts of the storyline from the first book that I finished quite some time ago, the story once again grabbed me, and the action and the tension ratcheted up until a delicious climax. Sadly, then the wheels fell off, since the resolution resolved nothing whatsoever, and indeed was even worse than that, because all it did was raise more questions. The cliffhanger ending was rather interesting, and makes me want to read the next book in the series now.
January 30, 2016
So. This was a good one. Possibly my favorite out of the reboots so far. From what I can remember. Which apparently isn't a lot because I forgot half of the non-canon crew.
Anyway.
First Contact is my favorite thing, and the amount and depth of conflict on a social level (and not the age-old SPACE BATTLE trope that ST books tend to fall into) just tickled my pickle.
I also enjoyed the introspective look at capitalism through the eyes of starfleet, even if it was a bit heavy handed..And one sided? In some capacities I do think a space-faring society could exist working off some sort of monetary based system and it surprised me that a lot (perhaps all?) of the POV characters thought otherwise. I think the problem is not with exchanging currency for services at its center but that in the Confederacy there was basically nothing and no one to help the handicap, poor etc. Class division often spurs conflict which deters from advancement, I get that. But is the existence of poverty itself stand for societal infancy in the Space Age? Interesting to think about.
On the nope front: Can we please leave Seven alone for a while? Haven't you ever heard of "working on yourself?" Not only was it wildly inappropriate (even if he "technically" stopped being her counselor) and stupid that she is dating Cambridge, we gotta bring Axom into it? With a bunch of abusive subtext? -- He basically Stockholm Syndrome-d her into having sex with him in some made up faction of his mind. No. I do not want to read about this. I do not see any point to this in the plots development at all, really. Frankly at this point I hope she runs off with a woman because the text only continues to enforce the idea that, in relation to Seven, all men are terrible and make terrible decisions.
On the subject of men in Sevens life... The Doctor. Now, in the last book he was modified to get over "being in love" with Seven. Hopefully when the cast deals with this (next book I imagine) we address how fucked up it is that Zimmerman thought it was OK to do that to a sentient being to "spare him pain" when an integral part of being sentient is... knowing emotional pain??
Why is everyone so obsessed with heterosexual romance anway? Where are the asexuals, the polyamorous, homosexual people? The nontraditional families?
More nope: Custody battle over Miral. Tom and B'elanna have basically been reduced to Mom and Dad and do not exist out of that. Their plots have revolved around nothing else since Miral was born. Having a kid is a big deal and your life begins to centralize on them but you can have interests and conversations outside of your kid. Let's capitalize on that. I would have liked to see B'elannas concern about the Fertility clause be taken further.
ULTIMATE NOPE: Ending. How dare you, Beyer? How dare you
Anyway.
First Contact is my favorite thing, and the amount and depth of conflict on a social level (and not the age-old SPACE BATTLE trope that ST books tend to fall into) just tickled my pickle.
I also enjoyed the introspective look at capitalism through the eyes of starfleet, even if it was a bit heavy handed..And one sided? In some capacities I do think a space-faring society could exist working off some sort of monetary based system and it surprised me that a lot (perhaps all?) of the POV characters thought otherwise. I think the problem is not with exchanging currency for services at its center but that in the Confederacy there was basically nothing and no one to help the handicap, poor etc. Class division often spurs conflict which deters from advancement, I get that. But is the existence of poverty itself stand for societal infancy in the Space Age? Interesting to think about.
On the nope front: Can we please leave Seven alone for a while? Haven't you ever heard of "working on yourself?" Not only was it wildly inappropriate (even if he "technically" stopped being her counselor) and stupid that she is dating Cambridge, we gotta bring Axom into it? With a bunch of abusive subtext? -- He basically Stockholm Syndrome-d her into having sex with him in some made up faction of his mind. No. I do not want to read about this. I do not see any point to this in the plots development at all, really. Frankly at this point I hope she runs off with a woman because the text only continues to enforce the idea that, in relation to Seven, all men are terrible and make terrible decisions.
On the subject of men in Sevens life... The Doctor. Now, in the last book he was modified to get over "being in love" with Seven. Hopefully when the cast deals with this (next book I imagine) we address how fucked up it is that Zimmerman thought it was OK to do that to a sentient being to "spare him pain" when an integral part of being sentient is... knowing emotional pain??
Why is everyone so obsessed with heterosexual romance anway? Where are the asexuals, the polyamorous, homosexual people? The nontraditional families?
More nope: Custody battle over Miral. Tom and B'elanna have basically been reduced to Mom and Dad and do not exist out of that. Their plots have revolved around nothing else since Miral was born. Having a kid is a big deal and your life begins to centralize on them but you can have interests and conversations outside of your kid. Let's capitalize on that. I would have liked to see B'elannas concern about the Fertility clause be taken further.
ULTIMATE NOPE: Ending. How dare you, Beyer? How dare you
October 19, 2014
Beyer's Voyager relaunch had been one of the best things to come out of Trek in ten years, but this book flounders. I gave it three stars, but some of its subplots would barely make two, while one gets a solid four. The overall problem with this book is that everyone's been hit with the Idiot Stick, the author's Axe To Grind, or both. And, the story arc just isn't as much fun with Janeway back in command of the fleet: the new Voyager series was both superb and different because it told the story of a full fleet of ships, with a good dozen subplots involving really enjoyable new characters and something of a lesser role for the old Voyager crew. This time out we get the Janeway story and the Seven story, with the new characters largely sidelined.
There are two major plots. The first involves Janeway negotiating with a major interstellar power in the Delta Quadrant, one that's contemporary America with set dressing by The Hunger Games's Capitol. It's hugely axe-grindy: the fleet's senior officers, who have apparently forgotten that the Federation is allied with the Klingons and the Cardassians, is alternately pearl-clutchy and mouth-frothingly outraged that this society has inequality, Social Darwinism, and mega-churches.
The other plot involves Seven's involvement with a patently hinky Starfleet Medical team investigating a mysterious, and dubious, plague outbreak. Any reasonably suspicious five year old would be pointing and screaming, but a whole pack of Starfleet's finest takes absurd reassurances at face value and lets Nazi-level medical experimentation roll happily along.
All this is strictly two-star stuff. The novel's saving grace is a smaller plot involving The Doctor (the hologram, not the Time Lord) having a truly terrifying breakdown as the result of his creator's attempt to spare him the pain of relationship heartbreak. It's creepy, moving, solid SF.
Oh, and to top it off, the book ends with a huge cliffhanger: it's actually just half of a single novel published in two volumes. Whether this was the author's choice or the publisher's is unclear, but it's the kind of crap that damaged the Star Trek novel brand seriously in the last decade after a great run. It's not a good sign at all.
There are two major plots. The first involves Janeway negotiating with a major interstellar power in the Delta Quadrant, one that's contemporary America with set dressing by The Hunger Games's Capitol. It's hugely axe-grindy: the fleet's senior officers, who have apparently forgotten that the Federation is allied with the Klingons and the Cardassians, is alternately pearl-clutchy and mouth-frothingly outraged that this society has inequality, Social Darwinism, and mega-churches.
The other plot involves Seven's involvement with a patently hinky Starfleet Medical team investigating a mysterious, and dubious, plague outbreak. Any reasonably suspicious five year old would be pointing and screaming, but a whole pack of Starfleet's finest takes absurd reassurances at face value and lets Nazi-level medical experimentation roll happily along.
All this is strictly two-star stuff. The novel's saving grace is a smaller plot involving The Doctor (the hologram, not the Time Lord) having a truly terrifying breakdown as the result of his creator's attempt to spare him the pain of relationship heartbreak. It's creepy, moving, solid SF.
Oh, and to top it off, the book ends with a huge cliffhanger: it's actually just half of a single novel published in two volumes. Whether this was the author's choice or the publisher's is unclear, but it's the kind of crap that damaged the Star Trek novel brand seriously in the last decade after a great run. It's not a good sign at all.
March 18, 2015
The second book of what we will call "the Confederacy" trilogy is a triumph. Multiple plots lines are juggled with extreme care, while an entirely new civilization is explored with great depth & detail. By rights, this book covers so much that it should have imploded under the weight of so much plot & so many expectations to fill...but it manages to succeed in spite of the odds. Easily the best of the "Star Trek-Voyager" novels I've read to date.
February 22, 2016
Excellent story line through out! Can't wait to see what happens next!
October 17, 2021
much better than previous books
I almost did not start reading this series once the new author started writing the books. The early books were filled with events and descriptions that really weren’t necessary. It made for a very long reading, so much so that I had to just skip ahead so I wouldn’t get bored. But this book and the previous one were very well written and kept my interest all the way through. Now I can’t wait to read the next one.
I almost did not start reading this series once the new author started writing the books. The early books were filled with events and descriptions that really weren’t necessary. It made for a very long reading, so much so that I had to just skip ahead so I wouldn’t get bored. But this book and the previous one were very well written and kept my interest all the way through. Now I can’t wait to read the next one.
January 5, 2018
Admiral Janeway is back in command of the Full Circle fleet, and that's good. Ever the devoted Janeway fan, I had to read this next installment. Although I enjoyed the Delta Quadrant story more in this book than I did in the last (mainly because Janeway was there this time), I skipped over some of it toward the end of the book.
Back in the Alpha Quadrant: I enjoyed the fleshing out of Tom Paris's character (with nice cameos from Samantha Wildman and Vorik). But the soap opera plot line with his mother, Julia Paris, and her custody battle for Tom's kids is farfetched. (I didn't read the book describing the adventures of B'Elanna and Miral that prompted the grandmaternal rage, but I didn't need to: Acts of Contrition refers to it repeatedly.)
And I wish that writers would stop confusing Starfleet cadet Nicholas Locarno with Starfleet officer Tom Paris. The same actor played both, and they have similar backstories. But that's it. Even the powers that be got this wrong in the series, with B'Elanna telling Tom once, "You were expelled!" (from Starfleet Academy). This book perpetuates the error by crossing those two characters, too. It asserts that Tom was separated from Starfleet Academy after lying about the accident that claimed the lives of three of his fellow cadets. (No. Nick Locarno was expelled from Starfleet Academy after he lied about the shuttle accident that killed one cadet, Joshua Albert. The series pilot makes clear that Tom Paris, as a Starfleet officer, lied about having made a pilot error that killed three fellow officers, not cadets. Then he was separated from Starfleet service, joined the Maquis, got captured, and landed in prison. [Edited to add: The author wrote me to explain the reasoning behind the Paris discrepancy, so at least it was a conscious choice and not an oversight.])
Seven of Nine gets good development here, too, and the book offers insights into her relationship with Axum. Icheb and Naomi Wildman are fun diversions back home, too (the book heroically tries to account for her rapid aging, since she's a Starfleet cadet herself now).
Evidently, this idea of the Caeliar, their "catoms," and the absorption of the Borg into the gestalt is here to stay, again because everyone insists on treating the David Mack version of the Star Trek universe as though it were canon. However, ordering Janeway to keep her quarters aboard the Vesta to avoid fraternizing with Chakotay is ridiculous. (Starfleet Command would never meddle in officers' personal lives this way, even in this post-Borg universe we seem to be stuck in. Though what do I know? I maintain that Picard would never have sobbed openly on the bridge after the Borg were destroyed.)
The book also has a few errors that a good copyediting or proofreading would have caught (such as "The admiral's primary focus now was to find a way to diffuse this situation"). Nobody's perfect, but the effect is nonetheless jarring.
Fortunately, I can take the nuggets of good in these new-era books without being bound by the rest. Its implausible plots notwithstanding, the book is worth a read just for character development.
Back in the Alpha Quadrant: I enjoyed the fleshing out of Tom Paris's character (with nice cameos from Samantha Wildman and Vorik). But the soap opera plot line with his mother, Julia Paris, and her custody battle for Tom's kids is farfetched. (I didn't read the book describing the adventures of B'Elanna and Miral that prompted the grandmaternal rage, but I didn't need to: Acts of Contrition refers to it repeatedly.)
And I wish that writers would stop confusing Starfleet cadet Nicholas Locarno with Starfleet officer Tom Paris. The same actor played both, and they have similar backstories. But that's it. Even the powers that be got this wrong in the series, with B'Elanna telling Tom once, "You were expelled!" (from Starfleet Academy). This book perpetuates the error by crossing those two characters, too. It asserts that Tom was separated from Starfleet Academy after lying about the accident that claimed the lives of three of his fellow cadets. (No. Nick Locarno was expelled from Starfleet Academy after he lied about the shuttle accident that killed one cadet, Joshua Albert. The series pilot makes clear that Tom Paris, as a Starfleet officer, lied about having made a pilot error that killed three fellow officers, not cadets. Then he was separated from Starfleet service, joined the Maquis, got captured, and landed in prison. [Edited to add: The author wrote me to explain the reasoning behind the Paris discrepancy, so at least it was a conscious choice and not an oversight.])
Seven of Nine gets good development here, too, and the book offers insights into her relationship with Axum. Icheb and Naomi Wildman are fun diversions back home, too (the book heroically tries to account for her rapid aging, since she's a Starfleet cadet herself now).
Evidently, this idea of the Caeliar, their "catoms," and the absorption of the Borg into the gestalt is here to stay, again because everyone insists on treating the David Mack version of the Star Trek universe as though it were canon. However, ordering Janeway to keep her quarters aboard the Vesta to avoid fraternizing with Chakotay is ridiculous. (Starfleet Command would never meddle in officers' personal lives this way, even in this post-Borg universe we seem to be stuck in. Though what do I know? I maintain that Picard would never have sobbed openly on the bridge after the Borg were destroyed.)
The book also has a few errors that a good copyediting or proofreading would have caught (such as "The admiral's primary focus now was to find a way to diffuse this situation"). Nobody's perfect, but the effect is nonetheless jarring.
Fortunately, I can take the nuggets of good in these new-era books without being bound by the rest. Its implausible plots notwithstanding, the book is worth a read just for character development.
January 14, 2015
Acts of Contrition was a fairly well executed continuation of the Voyager story from the previous novel, Protectors.
The Full Circle fleet has begun a diplomatic mission with the Confederacy of the World of the First Quadrant, a coalition of 53 member worlds who's subspace corridors had previously saved the crews of starship Voyager and Demeter. Meanwhile, Seven of Nine has been recalled to Earth to help stop a plague possibly tied to her former Borg nature. And Tom Paris has returned to Earth to face his mothers' charges that he and B'Elanna are unfit parents and should give up their daughter Miral.
The diplomatic story is an easy parallel to Capitalism and how we treat and view the less fortunate in society. Viewed through the lens of the Starfleet personnel sent to evaluate a potential ally. This is something Star Trek does well and Ms. Beyer does not disappoint. The intrigues of two superpowers meeting is not overly simplified, espionage, diplomacy, internal politics, all are present to give the story proper dimension.
The Seven/Sharak story is somewhat muddled. It proceeds slowly and not always in proper sync with events elsewhere but that can be forgiven in the reveal. The portions between Sharak and Samantha Wildman I found the strongest in this portion of the novel as I'd always wanted to understand the Tamarians and their relationship allowed the author to tackle their language head on for the benefit of the reader.
Finally the family story to parallel the mistakes (Sins) that Voyager had made during it's first transit through the Delta Quadrant. I feel this also offered the author perhaps a chance to admit her own sins. After all, when my daughter is threatened, I feel faking my death, building a souped up runabout with slipstream drive, transphasic torpedoes and running away to the Delta Quadrant while letting my family believe I'm dead is a reasonable course of action.
Overall a solid novel and did leave me hungry for the continuation (and hopefully some conclusion) "Atonement".
The Full Circle fleet has begun a diplomatic mission with the Confederacy of the World of the First Quadrant, a coalition of 53 member worlds who's subspace corridors had previously saved the crews of starship Voyager and Demeter. Meanwhile, Seven of Nine has been recalled to Earth to help stop a plague possibly tied to her former Borg nature. And Tom Paris has returned to Earth to face his mothers' charges that he and B'Elanna are unfit parents and should give up their daughter Miral.
The diplomatic story is an easy parallel to Capitalism and how we treat and view the less fortunate in society. Viewed through the lens of the Starfleet personnel sent to evaluate a potential ally. This is something Star Trek does well and Ms. Beyer does not disappoint. The intrigues of two superpowers meeting is not overly simplified, espionage, diplomacy, internal politics, all are present to give the story proper dimension.
The Seven/Sharak story is somewhat muddled. It proceeds slowly and not always in proper sync with events elsewhere but that can be forgiven in the reveal. The portions between Sharak and Samantha Wildman I found the strongest in this portion of the novel as I'd always wanted to understand the Tamarians and their relationship allowed the author to tackle their language head on for the benefit of the reader.
Finally the family story to parallel the mistakes (Sins) that Voyager had made during it's first transit through the Delta Quadrant. I feel this also offered the author perhaps a chance to admit her own sins. After all, when my daughter is threatened, I feel faking my death, building a souped up runabout with slipstream drive, transphasic torpedoes and running away to the Delta Quadrant while letting my family believe I'm dead is a reasonable course of action.
Overall a solid novel and did leave me hungry for the continuation (and hopefully some conclusion) "Atonement".
October 17, 2014
Once again, Kirsten Beyer has knocked it out of the park. This story was beyond outstanding. I barely touched on the sub-plot that had Tom Paris fighting in family court for custody of his own children against his mother. Scenes in that courtroom were incredibly moving. Also barely mentioned in my review was the catomic plague that Seven and Dr. Sharak are investigating. Kirsten Beyer has said that Acts of Contrition acts as the middle book of a trilogy, consisting of the previous novel, Protectors, and the up-coming Atonement. I believe that we will learn more about this catomic threat in that novel. Unfortunately, it looks as though Atonement won't be released until September of 2015. That's a long time to wait, especially given the cliffhanger ending of this novel! Ah, well. It will most certainly be worth the wait, at least!
Full review: http://treklit.blogspot.com/2014/10/A...
Full review: http://treklit.blogspot.com/2014/10/A...
October 19, 2017
I continue to enjoy Beyer's Voyager novels. In this one, she creates a new civilization that both mirrors the Federation and is quite different from the UFP. I enjoyed learning more about these people and seeing Janeway as a diplomat again. I don't think this is the strongest of these books. It does a lot of set up that pays off at the very end. I think the next instalment will be quite interesting.
July 15, 2018
This one suffers a bit from being the middle book of a trilogy (and ending on a heck of a cliffhanger) and maybe from a bit too much technobabble, but I still sat here most of the afternoon finishing it. And downloading the next book. Glad I started reading this series so long after it started -- I would have hated to have to wait a year for the next one, leaving Captain Janeway . . . well, no spoilers.
July 5, 2016
The book is a decent read, don't get me wrong; but I am sick and tired of Starfleet being the bad guy. Starfleet is the acme of the future utopia that is Gene Roddenberry's vision, and too many people forget that. Furthermore, there is no conclusion in this book, so you'll have to read the next one.
July 6, 2015
Great Voyager novel with an interesting group of aliens and several engrossing story lines- the Tom Paris one on Earth being my favourite. Can't wait to see what happens next!
September 20, 2019
Whew, there is so much to talk about here. My feelings are kind of torn with this book- for about the first half of it, it's a slog and mostly uninspired. There are a bunch of different storylines going on at once, and while intriguing, it took me a while to really become interested. The second half of the book picks up the pace a lot, though; had the rest of the book been like that I might feel inclined to rate it higher. But since there's a lot to talk about here I'll boil it down to some pros and cons.
Pros:
- I am really beginning to enjoy Dr. Sharak's character. He is a Tamarian (remember "shaka, when the walls fell?) who has learned English and become a Federation doctor. In this book we see him investigating a "catomic plague," and the story is quite pleasant to read.
- The diplomatic storyline has a lot of intrigue and subtlety that I found fun to read. Basically, the Federation is beginning a relationship with a newly discovered interstellar power called the Confederacy, an advanced but problematic society that doesn't quite gel with the Federation's core values- more on that later.
-The ending chapters of the novel were.....page turners!! It's been a while since I've been that enthused while reading a Trek novel.
Cons:
- The Tom Paris courtroom drama with his mother was uninteresting, to say the least. It really added nothing to the story and seemed like filler space.
-I didn't feel like the Seven of Nine/Axum/Riley Frazier line made much sense. First off, Seven of Nine having a romantic fling with Counselor Cambridge is nauseating and distasteful, in my opinion; how many dudes has Seven hooked up with in Trek lore up to this point now? Seven is supposed to be intellectual, focused, a bit uptight maybe, so giving her a romance seems like a good unexpected way to add interest to her character, but now that she's done it with everyone from Chakotay to the freaking EMH to Cambridge to this Axum guy it seems way overused. Next, what exactly are Seven and Axum doing at Starfleet Medical? I realize she had to go see him, and wanted to contribute to curing this "catomic plague," but they just...don't really do much while they're there. There's a lot of razzle-dazzle telepathic-like nonsense happening, but not much else.
- Of course, I knew I was going to run into political nonsense sooner or later. It's no secret that Trek writing for both screen and books is a steaming leftist circlejerk, and this book is a good example. This "Confederacy" (and no there's absolutely nothing ironic about that name) is a pretty obvious straw man of capitalism, and the author is apparently trying to show us her bent-up idea of the U.S. in space, and how horrifying we would look to a near-perfect society like the Federation because we don't give everyone who lives here free crap. This Confederacy would, of course, be a much worse place to live than the modern-day United States, but that point is probably lost on most readers of these books. The Federation is a post-scarcity society, meaning that, thanks to advances in science, technology, and space travel, society has access to virtually unlimited resources, meaning no one goes hungry, doesn't have a place to live, or lacks basic necessities. As impossible as it is for you guys to admit, we do NOT have unlimited resources or boundless technology; we have billion of humans, limited supplies to go around between them, and limited means to distribute those supplies. Hence, why trade and economies exist. As great as it would be for us to be like the Federation, we are NOT there yet. We are ALSO not at the point where we all put aside ambition, clasp hands, sing kum-ba-yah, and "work to better ourselves and the rest of humanity." Naturally, most readers arrogantly think they themselves have reached that supposed pinnacle and it's only the evil capitalists who haven't, but unfortunately, as a species, a desire to acquire and retain is part and parcel of a species that evolved in a battle to survive over limited resources. Writing books with boneheaded "messages" like this isn't going to change that, and neither is pushing for economic cyanide such as "universal healthcare" going to either. My point here is mainly to point out the absurdity of comparing the Federation to any 21st-century Earth nation, but I will say a word in the United States' defense- there isn't any country its size that has as high a quality of life as it does. The grass looks greener in Norway or Sweden or wherever the author/readers think we're closest to the Federation, but they also don't have 330 million people to take care of.
That's all.
Pros:
- I am really beginning to enjoy Dr. Sharak's character. He is a Tamarian (remember "shaka, when the walls fell?) who has learned English and become a Federation doctor. In this book we see him investigating a "catomic plague," and the story is quite pleasant to read.
- The diplomatic storyline has a lot of intrigue and subtlety that I found fun to read. Basically, the Federation is beginning a relationship with a newly discovered interstellar power called the Confederacy, an advanced but problematic society that doesn't quite gel with the Federation's core values- more on that later.
-The ending chapters of the novel were.....page turners!! It's been a while since I've been that enthused while reading a Trek novel.
Cons:
- The Tom Paris courtroom drama with his mother was uninteresting, to say the least. It really added nothing to the story and seemed like filler space.
-I didn't feel like the Seven of Nine/Axum/Riley Frazier line made much sense. First off, Seven of Nine having a romantic fling with Counselor Cambridge is nauseating and distasteful, in my opinion; how many dudes has Seven hooked up with in Trek lore up to this point now? Seven is supposed to be intellectual, focused, a bit uptight maybe, so giving her a romance seems like a good unexpected way to add interest to her character, but now that she's done it with everyone from Chakotay to the freaking EMH to Cambridge to this Axum guy it seems way overused. Next, what exactly are Seven and Axum doing at Starfleet Medical? I realize she had to go see him, and wanted to contribute to curing this "catomic plague," but they just...don't really do much while they're there. There's a lot of razzle-dazzle telepathic-like nonsense happening, but not much else.
- Of course, I knew I was going to run into political nonsense sooner or later. It's no secret that Trek writing for both screen and books is a steaming leftist circlejerk, and this book is a good example. This "Confederacy" (and no there's absolutely nothing ironic about that name) is a pretty obvious straw man of capitalism, and the author is apparently trying to show us her bent-up idea of the U.S. in space, and how horrifying we would look to a near-perfect society like the Federation because we don't give everyone who lives here free crap. This Confederacy would, of course, be a much worse place to live than the modern-day United States, but that point is probably lost on most readers of these books. The Federation is a post-scarcity society, meaning that, thanks to advances in science, technology, and space travel, society has access to virtually unlimited resources, meaning no one goes hungry, doesn't have a place to live, or lacks basic necessities. As impossible as it is for you guys to admit, we do NOT have unlimited resources or boundless technology; we have billion of humans, limited supplies to go around between them, and limited means to distribute those supplies. Hence, why trade and economies exist. As great as it would be for us to be like the Federation, we are NOT there yet. We are ALSO not at the point where we all put aside ambition, clasp hands, sing kum-ba-yah, and "work to better ourselves and the rest of humanity." Naturally, most readers arrogantly think they themselves have reached that supposed pinnacle and it's only the evil capitalists who haven't, but unfortunately, as a species, a desire to acquire and retain is part and parcel of a species that evolved in a battle to survive over limited resources. Writing books with boneheaded "messages" like this isn't going to change that, and neither is pushing for economic cyanide such as "universal healthcare" going to either. My point here is mainly to point out the absurdity of comparing the Federation to any 21st-century Earth nation, but I will say a word in the United States' defense- there isn't any country its size that has as high a quality of life as it does. The grass looks greener in Norway or Sweden or wherever the author/readers think we're closest to the Federation, but they also don't have 330 million people to take care of.
That's all.
August 14, 2019
This is a direct continuation of the story in Protectors. After visiting the Ark Planet, Voyager and Demeter are taken through a 'gateway' by the waveforms known as protectors in order to escape a hostile fleet. There they discover what appears to be the Federation's opposite number in the Delta quadrant, the Confederacy of the First Quarter, a group of allied worlds encompassing a number of different species that seem to work together much as the Federation worlds do. Admiral Janeway returns to open diplomatic relations with the Confederacy, while Tom Paris, Seven of Nine and Dr Sharak are recalled to Earth. Tom Paris has to face a custody hearing instituted by his Mother who believes he and B'Elanna are not caring for their daughter Miral adequately.
Seven of Nine has been recalled supposedly to help combat a plague that has broken out on three worlds that experienced heavy casualties during the Borg attack. However, the Doctor is suspicious about this so Dr Sharak has been assigned to look after her. I grow quite fond of Dr Sharak as the story progressed, he's a Tamarian, the species that communicates in metaphor but fortunately he has learned to speak Standard. As Seven is put into quarantine, he, Icheb and Samantha Wildman come to the conclusion that all is not right at Starfleet Medical and that Seven is in great danger.
Meanwhile back in the Delta Quadrant, events transpire that show the Confederacy is not quite as wonderful as its officials are trying to make it appear. Janeway is still hopeful of some kind of alliance until the whole question is put on the back burner when the fleet of hostiles reappears. It's made up of several species that Voyager managed to offend during their first trip through the delta quadrant and now they want their revenge. But who has given them the idea that they could band together to defeat the Full Circle fleet and the Confederacy? There's just a hint at the end. Hopefully we'll learn more in the next book.
I really enjoyed this one. The chapters kept switching between Earth and the delta quadrant leaving you with a mini cliff hanger most times so it feels pretty exciting and fast paced.
Seven of Nine has been recalled supposedly to help combat a plague that has broken out on three worlds that experienced heavy casualties during the Borg attack. However, the Doctor is suspicious about this so Dr Sharak has been assigned to look after her. I grow quite fond of Dr Sharak as the story progressed, he's a Tamarian, the species that communicates in metaphor but fortunately he has learned to speak Standard. As Seven is put into quarantine, he, Icheb and Samantha Wildman come to the conclusion that all is not right at Starfleet Medical and that Seven is in great danger.
Meanwhile back in the Delta Quadrant, events transpire that show the Confederacy is not quite as wonderful as its officials are trying to make it appear. Janeway is still hopeful of some kind of alliance until the whole question is put on the back burner when the fleet of hostiles reappears. It's made up of several species that Voyager managed to offend during their first trip through the delta quadrant and now they want their revenge. But who has given them the idea that they could band together to defeat the Full Circle fleet and the Confederacy? There's just a hint at the end. Hopefully we'll learn more in the next book.
I really enjoyed this one. The chapters kept switching between Earth and the delta quadrant leaving you with a mini cliff hanger most times so it feels pretty exciting and fast paced.
December 7, 2025
Janeway is finally in full command again!
This book is a tie-in original prose novel of “Star Trek: Voyager”. The tenth in the Expanded Universe line of this spin-off series.
FEDERATION V. CONFEDERANCY: DAWN OF DIPLOMACY
As many other entries in the “Relaunch” prose novels of Star Trek: Voyager, the book contains a major plot but several side-plots with minor stories, but all of them keep developing different personal stories of certain characters of the crew.
After a pointless delay of Admiral Janeway of deciding if she’d leaving Starfleet, finally she is where everyone wants her…
…in full command of the Full Circle Fleet!
However, she doesn’t have any time to enjoy the position since she’s ordered to negotiate diplomatic relationships with the Confederancy, a mullti-world political organization in the Delta Quadrant and it’s quite powerful, maybe even more than the Federation, therefore Starfleet Command is highly interested to accomplish the peace talkings and achieving an strategical alliance.
However (once again!), she doesn’t find quite easy the mission since the Confederancy isn’t like the Federation in key ways to deal with its world members, a sensitive situation is that if a world doesn’t cooperate with something essential to the strength of the Confederancy, it’s denied food supplies and even medical aid.
All these is complicated even more, with the surging of an insidious pact of several old foes of Janeway & Crew, making a dangerous more to avoid the alliance between the Federation and the Confederancy.
In minor plots, Tom Paris deals with his mother and an intention of taking him away the custody of his daughter. Also, the Doctor in a risky attempt of erasing any romantic feeling for Seven of Nine puts in jeopardy all his memories. And also, Seven of Nine gets trapped in a mental ruse.
This book is a tie-in original prose novel of “Star Trek: Voyager”. The tenth in the Expanded Universe line of this spin-off series.
FEDERATION V. CONFEDERANCY: DAWN OF DIPLOMACY
As many other entries in the “Relaunch” prose novels of Star Trek: Voyager, the book contains a major plot but several side-plots with minor stories, but all of them keep developing different personal stories of certain characters of the crew.
After a pointless delay of Admiral Janeway of deciding if she’d leaving Starfleet, finally she is where everyone wants her…
…in full command of the Full Circle Fleet!
However, she doesn’t have any time to enjoy the position since she’s ordered to negotiate diplomatic relationships with the Confederancy, a mullti-world political organization in the Delta Quadrant and it’s quite powerful, maybe even more than the Federation, therefore Starfleet Command is highly interested to accomplish the peace talkings and achieving an strategical alliance.
However (once again!), she doesn’t find quite easy the mission since the Confederancy isn’t like the Federation in key ways to deal with its world members, a sensitive situation is that if a world doesn’t cooperate with something essential to the strength of the Confederancy, it’s denied food supplies and even medical aid.
All these is complicated even more, with the surging of an insidious pact of several old foes of Janeway & Crew, making a dangerous more to avoid the alliance between the Federation and the Confederancy.
In minor plots, Tom Paris deals with his mother and an intention of taking him away the custody of his daughter. Also, the Doctor in a risky attempt of erasing any romantic feeling for Seven of Nine puts in jeopardy all his memories. And also, Seven of Nine gets trapped in a mental ruse.
March 28, 2023
Voyager: Acts of Contrion by Kirsten Beyer
This book was a massive step up for the last one, Protectors. While I didn’t hate it outright, it left a lot to be desired. It felt very filler and in a weak way. But overall, I did enjoy the character work and it set up the CIF in an interesting way. We get to see that here and this is a major step up from the previous.
The idea of a Federation like empire (is the right thing to call it?) existing in a place as lawless as the Delta Quadrant was great. It was like it a mirror image for the Federation as the CIF still had capitalism being the driving dominant force in its society. I very much enjoyed the ethical dilemma Janeway and crew found themselves, wondering if an alliance is worth it with them.
The other subplots such as Seven and Axum were great as it followed up UniMartix Zero and answered some questions for us. I just really appreciate the job Beyer has done here, tying up various dangling plot threads from the series and working then into Lit canon with Destiny. Probably, the standout character for me would be Dr.Sharak as it was an interesting look at the Tamarians, who we have only seen on screen a few times. Also the ending was killer. Overall a massive improvement over the last one and I very much look forward to Atonement.
I could care less though for the Tom Paris/Julia Paris child custody battle. It felt out of place with all the sci-fi shenanigans going on. It was a bit jarring with the overall plot.
8/10
This book was a massive step up for the last one, Protectors. While I didn’t hate it outright, it left a lot to be desired. It felt very filler and in a weak way. But overall, I did enjoy the character work and it set up the CIF in an interesting way. We get to see that here and this is a major step up from the previous.
The idea of a Federation like empire (is the right thing to call it?) existing in a place as lawless as the Delta Quadrant was great. It was like it a mirror image for the Federation as the CIF still had capitalism being the driving dominant force in its society. I very much enjoyed the ethical dilemma Janeway and crew found themselves, wondering if an alliance is worth it with them.
The other subplots such as Seven and Axum were great as it followed up UniMartix Zero and answered some questions for us. I just really appreciate the job Beyer has done here, tying up various dangling plot threads from the series and working then into Lit canon with Destiny. Probably, the standout character for me would be Dr.Sharak as it was an interesting look at the Tamarians, who we have only seen on screen a few times. Also the ending was killer. Overall a massive improvement over the last one and I very much look forward to Atonement.
I could care less though for the Tom Paris/Julia Paris child custody battle. It felt out of place with all the sci-fi shenanigans going on. It was a bit jarring with the overall plot.
8/10
January 22, 2022
First of all, it's clear this story line was always intended to follow through into the next novel, considering the cliff hanger. As this is a series of novels, I'm not surprised, but it will annoy some readers.
I'm on the fence with this novel. I enjoyed the first contact aspect. It's always enjoyable when we get me meet new species. However, I didn't enjoy the Seven story line this time, or the Tom Paris story line. Anything to do with Seven now seems to be based on her male relationships - that does not play to the character's strengths. The Tom Paris story line never really has made sense. It feels like filler to get the page length from 330 to 390.
The medical experimentation story line could have been interesting, but it was written in such a way that anybody would expect Starfleet to immediately question. Everybody seemed to accept poor excuses at face value. What could have been a strong part of this series ended up falling flat.
On the whole, I've enjoyed this series so far, but it's a little up and down. I'm not sure if that's because the publisher has asked for more novels than the writer planned for, or if some sections were not thoroughly scoped, but I would say Trek fans would enjoy this series as a whole.
I'm on the fence with this novel. I enjoyed the first contact aspect. It's always enjoyable when we get me meet new species. However, I didn't enjoy the Seven story line this time, or the Tom Paris story line. Anything to do with Seven now seems to be based on her male relationships - that does not play to the character's strengths. The Tom Paris story line never really has made sense. It feels like filler to get the page length from 330 to 390.
The medical experimentation story line could have been interesting, but it was written in such a way that anybody would expect Starfleet to immediately question. Everybody seemed to accept poor excuses at face value. What could have been a strong part of this series ended up falling flat.
On the whole, I've enjoyed this series so far, but it's a little up and down. I'm not sure if that's because the publisher has asked for more novels than the writer planned for, or if some sections were not thoroughly scoped, but I would say Trek fans would enjoy this series as a whole.
August 24, 2017
This is a continuation of the Voyager story, following "Protectors". As usual, Beyer tells a good story, with excellent pacing and competent characterization. There are complex issues explored, and nothing is cut-and-dried as far as what the best actions for the characters would be, but the Voyager crew generally manage to do a fine job of acting in a way that lives up to the ideals of the Federation, even when the rest of the Federation doesn't always. I appreciate the continuing storyarc, as opposed to a collection of one-off stories, but I do wish there would be more feeling of conclusion at the end of each book rather than the continual cliffhanger endings with "to be continued next book" non-endings, especially since these books aren't numbered. It makes it a challenge, sometimes, to make sure that the books are read in their proper order, without which the plots would be nearly incomprehensible. If you aren't current going in to this book, you won't want to read it until you read the previous entries in the series, and once you start, it will be difficult to stop. But if you've read the previous entries and enjoyed them, you'll definitely want to continue with this one.
November 18, 2017
This series is beginning to have too many POV characters with disparate plot threads, and it's getting frustrating. Tom Paris has to go to Earth to fight his mom for custody of his daughter (which is extra weird because her case is based on "he hurt my feelings and I'm very angry".) Seven is basically kidnapped by the government to be a lab rat. The Doctor is having a weird meltdown over unrequited love. Each of the captains have their own perspectives because the fleet splits up. I think there are more, but it's exhausting just trying to list them all. It's not that they were hard to keep straight so much as, I wasn't able to stick with any one character or thread long enough to feel invested. On the other hand, this book was almost violently anti-capitalist, which I found delightful and entertaining. More Fife and O'Donnell please! And I want a Declan.
Anyway, the main plot was decent even if the subplots felt gratuitous and like just a way to keep half of this annoyingly huge cast busy.
Anyway, the main plot was decent even if the subplots felt gratuitous and like just a way to keep half of this annoyingly huge cast busy.
December 3, 2018
O.K. Now I get it. This is a continuation. Maybe it's a trilogy? Was the first book: "Protectors"? Is the third book: "Atonement"? If you don't realize this, these books are very abrupt. They don't stand alone. They don't say clearly anywhere that they are a series. If we read Kirsten B's mind then we can tell that the bracketed reference: "(Star Trek Voyager: Protectors)"in the "Historian's Note" actually means: "Please read "Protectors" in order to understand the story so far." Otherwise, the reader is thrown into the deep end with a raft of unexplained characters/situations etc.
It's a complex story involving many characters and many foci which readers are forced to jump from and to even within each chapter.
Entertaining. Fairly interesting. Imaginative. Not "gripping" but it holds the reader's attention.
Clever enough basic commentary on theology and social welfare.
It's a complex story involving many characters and many foci which readers are forced to jump from and to even within each chapter.
Entertaining. Fairly interesting. Imaginative. Not "gripping" but it holds the reader's attention.
Clever enough basic commentary on theology and social welfare.
July 26, 2019
Due to the pacing, the story arc of Seven/Axum/Doctor Sharak was considerably less engaging and I found myself skipping those parts. I also realised that I had limited interest in anything to do with holograms, probably because they do not appear as multidimensional as their real life counterparts.
In contrast, Tom Paris' story arc makes for an interesting read because of the unpredictable nature of his actions.
Fortunately, the pace of the story escalated quickly towards the end.
However Utopian Starfleet officers painted the Federation to be to their Confederacy counterparts, you can't help but think that if you probe under the façade, you are bound to see some cracks caused by the interactions of species. Another example is the research to deal with the catomic plague at Starfleet Medical, which appears to be spearheaded by a reputable scientist with inadequate oversight.
In contrast, Tom Paris' story arc makes for an interesting read because of the unpredictable nature of his actions.
Fortunately, the pace of the story escalated quickly towards the end.
However Utopian Starfleet officers painted the Federation to be to their Confederacy counterparts, you can't help but think that if you probe under the façade, you are bound to see some cracks caused by the interactions of species. Another example is the research to deal with the catomic plague at Starfleet Medical, which appears to be spearheaded by a reputable scientist with inadequate oversight.
October 27, 2022
This is a Part Two that may as well be a Part One. Nothing particularly significant happened in 'Protectors'.
This is where the disparate elements come together.
Well, mostly. I found the arbitration hearing interesting, on the bizarre grounds the case is based on. But, in truth, is has little to do with the rest of the book.
As the relationship with the Confederacy begins to sour, I wondered what outcome there could possibly be. I was pleasingly surprised with the results.
This is definitely a proper book. Although it ends on a cliffhanger, it is an effective entity on its own, unlike its predecessor. There's a lot going on here. And each scene progresses to something significant. Is there a link between the plague and the Confederacy stuff? Dunno yet. But both progress with plenty of surprises and intrigue of their own.
This is where the disparate elements come together.
Well, mostly. I found the arbitration hearing interesting, on the bizarre grounds the case is based on. But, in truth, is has little to do with the rest of the book.
As the relationship with the Confederacy begins to sour, I wondered what outcome there could possibly be. I was pleasingly surprised with the results.
This is definitely a proper book. Although it ends on a cliffhanger, it is an effective entity on its own, unlike its predecessor. There's a lot going on here. And each scene progresses to something significant. Is there a link between the plague and the Confederacy stuff? Dunno yet. But both progress with plenty of surprises and intrigue of their own.
April 9, 2021
Another great entry in the Voyager series by Kirsten Beyer.
Just like the others set in this universe, there are multiple storylines this book follows. Even if sometimes, only for a very, very short amount of time, one particular storyline doesn't feel all that interesting, just wait another page, and you're fully engrossed only to have a switch in the next chapter. Annoying at times, but so rewarding in the end. No single storyline overstays its welcome, no interaction gets boring... its just really, really good writing.
I can't even express how happy I am with her Star Trek books, that finally portray the characters I've come to know over decades in character.
Loved this book. Will move on to the next until there are no more left, and I'll probably start over again.
Just like the others set in this universe, there are multiple storylines this book follows. Even if sometimes, only for a very, very short amount of time, one particular storyline doesn't feel all that interesting, just wait another page, and you're fully engrossed only to have a switch in the next chapter. Annoying at times, but so rewarding in the end. No single storyline overstays its welcome, no interaction gets boring... its just really, really good writing.
I can't even express how happy I am with her Star Trek books, that finally portray the characters I've come to know over decades in character.
Loved this book. Will move on to the next until there are no more left, and I'll probably start over again.
August 31, 2023
the story is getting a bit more exciting in this one. we have the confederacy who are the bad-federation in the delta quadrant (i enjoyed janeway using patents to uncover the secrets of the market consortium). I also loved the family court ordered mediation scenes where tom's interesting family dynamics & entertaining personality can truly shine.
however it still struggles from a lot of dragging and seemingly repeated scenes. i am happy to see the end of voyager books for now. and the end of meegan, who i was nOT excited to see again. there's something about cliche-hot-evil-robot that just doesn't excite me at all.
however it still struggles from a lot of dragging and seemingly repeated scenes. i am happy to see the end of voyager books for now. and the end of meegan, who i was nOT excited to see again. there's something about cliche-hot-evil-robot that just doesn't excite me at all.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 11, 2023
I think the Delta Quadrant storyline was great and really strong (I would have liked to see more J/C though). But the Alpha Quadrant story was not as good. Seven's storyline was super hard to follow, which I guess was sort of the point, but I found myself not being very invested in it. Tom's difficulty with the custody issue didn't seem very believable, especially with what we know of Julia Paris in the past. Overall, an enjoyable read but not as good as others in the series. The ending was a great setup for the next book though!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 21, 2020
Too many storylines
Once again this author has chosen to overfill the canvas of this novel. There are far too many moving pieces to do justice to them. So you get snippets of time with each with even more logical pieces totally ignored. For example what about B’lanna? Clearly she can’t just be behaving as if her life is normal, and yet we get nothing from her. I definitely want to read the story but I don’t have high hopes.
Once again this author has chosen to overfill the canvas of this novel. There are far too many moving pieces to do justice to them. So you get snippets of time with each with even more logical pieces totally ignored. For example what about B’lanna? Clearly she can’t just be behaving as if her life is normal, and yet we get nothing from her. I definitely want to read the story but I don’t have high hopes.
January 19, 2016
Star Trek: Voyager is a series with an interesting relationship to my teenage years. It's probably my second-to-least favorite Star Trek but I know all of the cast intimately and was invested in their quest to get home. If I had to explain it in simple terms, I probably liked the cast of Voyager more than anyone else save the Original Series' crew but they had really bad plots. Some really good ones too, mind you, but not so much to balance things out.
As such, I was interested in the Voyager novel relaunch more than the other stories. Taking the crew into a situation different from their travels across the Delta Quadrant was an intriguing prospect. I was curious to see how the various crew members dealt with with the changes in their absence. The Maquis had been destroyed, the Dominion War had created a harsher Federation, and technology had advanced that a return trip to the Delta Quadrant was feasible.
Acts of Contrition picks up after a number of these events, including the death and resurrection of Captain Janeway, with a new mission to the Delta Quadrant in order to investigate if there's any remnant of the Borg. Along the way, they have encountered a powerful species called the Confederacy which may be the Federation's most powerful allies ever but who have powerful differences of opinion on how to treat their citizens.
Meanwhile, a plague is ravaging the Federation which appears to be based on the Caeliar (the species which created the Borg) nanotechnology. Despite the Federation's best minds working on it, there's no sign of any progress so Seven of Nine goes to investigate. The fact one of her old lovers is being held under house arrest by its scientists makes the mission doubly important despite the fact she's currently with another.
Finally, in a break from the usual Star Trek plots, we have a custody case in the future. Having been lied to by her son about his wife and daughter's death (to protect them from a Klingon cult), Tom Paris' mother is suing for custody of his child. This, despite the fact said child has shown no sign of physical danger at their hands, is provided for adequately, and is deeply attached to her parents. The Federation treats this suit seriously, though, which makes me wonder what sort of standards they hold parents to and whether or not Tom and B'Elanna be better off raising their daughter in the Delta Quadrant.
I must confess, I'm reading this out of order because I was intrigued by the Tom Paris plot. I'm a sucker for seeing things I haven't seen before in Star Trek and was interested in what custody hearings would be like in the 24th century. The depiction isn't terribly encouraging because it's clear Julia Paris is using the court as a method of getting revenge on her son for deceiving her with Miral Paris as a pawn.
If there was any evidence of mental abuse in one of the parties then that would qualify right there. She doesn't even bring up the dangerous life of a Starfleet child or the murder-cult, which further hardened my opinion against her. The fact Tom isn't more angry at his mother struck me as the only thing unrealistic about the proceeding, though, as I've seen many otherwise stable family relationships destroyed by much less in real-life.
The lion's share of the book, though, is devoted to the discussion of the Confederacy and whether or not it can ever reach an accord with the Federation. This is notable only because the Confederacy is, well, the present-day United States IN SPAAACCCE. It's a government ruled by capitalism, few safety nets, religious dogma, poor health care, and manipulation of the government by corporations.
The Confederacy is a bit worse in some respects as there's, thankfully, some safety net in the United States despite attempts by certain parties to eradicate them. Instead, the Confederacy reminds me a bit of Bioshock's Rapture where concepts of wealth=deserving to be wealthy are foundational principles.
I'd like to think that was a concept too stupid to make much traction but the Prosperity Gospel exists so what do I know. There are many people who have worked to be rich, many people who have inherited money, and many people who make their fortunes through illicit means. Watching the post-scarcity socialist Federation try to comprehend a mindset like this is an interesting experience.
Honestly, I think the book overdoes the Federation's troubles with the Confederacy since they're allied with the Klingons who are a violent oligarchy as well as the Ferengi who are built on capitalism despite Rom's reforms. Hell, you'd think the Federation would be used to making alliances with people they don't share the values of in order to enact positive change by example. The characters sometimes act as if the culture were the most surreal and callous one they've ever encountered.
Overall, I'd liked Acts of Contrition and would recommend it to Voyager fans. I'll buy just about anything with Seven of Nine, the Doctor, Tom Paris, or B'elanna in it. I also think this is a story which goes in an interesting direction with some fairly pointed social satire. It's got some flaws and I think the Seven story could have gone faster but, overall, I give it two thumbs up.
9/10
As such, I was interested in the Voyager novel relaunch more than the other stories. Taking the crew into a situation different from their travels across the Delta Quadrant was an intriguing prospect. I was curious to see how the various crew members dealt with with the changes in their absence. The Maquis had been destroyed, the Dominion War had created a harsher Federation, and technology had advanced that a return trip to the Delta Quadrant was feasible.
Acts of Contrition picks up after a number of these events, including the death and resurrection of Captain Janeway, with a new mission to the Delta Quadrant in order to investigate if there's any remnant of the Borg. Along the way, they have encountered a powerful species called the Confederacy which may be the Federation's most powerful allies ever but who have powerful differences of opinion on how to treat their citizens.
Meanwhile, a plague is ravaging the Federation which appears to be based on the Caeliar (the species which created the Borg) nanotechnology. Despite the Federation's best minds working on it, there's no sign of any progress so Seven of Nine goes to investigate. The fact one of her old lovers is being held under house arrest by its scientists makes the mission doubly important despite the fact she's currently with another.
Finally, in a break from the usual Star Trek plots, we have a custody case in the future. Having been lied to by her son about his wife and daughter's death (to protect them from a Klingon cult), Tom Paris' mother is suing for custody of his child. This, despite the fact said child has shown no sign of physical danger at their hands, is provided for adequately, and is deeply attached to her parents. The Federation treats this suit seriously, though, which makes me wonder what sort of standards they hold parents to and whether or not Tom and B'Elanna be better off raising their daughter in the Delta Quadrant.
I must confess, I'm reading this out of order because I was intrigued by the Tom Paris plot. I'm a sucker for seeing things I haven't seen before in Star Trek and was interested in what custody hearings would be like in the 24th century. The depiction isn't terribly encouraging because it's clear Julia Paris is using the court as a method of getting revenge on her son for deceiving her with Miral Paris as a pawn.
If there was any evidence of mental abuse in one of the parties then that would qualify right there. She doesn't even bring up the dangerous life of a Starfleet child or the murder-cult, which further hardened my opinion against her. The fact Tom isn't more angry at his mother struck me as the only thing unrealistic about the proceeding, though, as I've seen many otherwise stable family relationships destroyed by much less in real-life.
The lion's share of the book, though, is devoted to the discussion of the Confederacy and whether or not it can ever reach an accord with the Federation. This is notable only because the Confederacy is, well, the present-day United States IN SPAAACCCE. It's a government ruled by capitalism, few safety nets, religious dogma, poor health care, and manipulation of the government by corporations.
The Confederacy is a bit worse in some respects as there's, thankfully, some safety net in the United States despite attempts by certain parties to eradicate them. Instead, the Confederacy reminds me a bit of Bioshock's Rapture where concepts of wealth=deserving to be wealthy are foundational principles.
I'd like to think that was a concept too stupid to make much traction but the Prosperity Gospel exists so what do I know. There are many people who have worked to be rich, many people who have inherited money, and many people who make their fortunes through illicit means. Watching the post-scarcity socialist Federation try to comprehend a mindset like this is an interesting experience.
Honestly, I think the book overdoes the Federation's troubles with the Confederacy since they're allied with the Klingons who are a violent oligarchy as well as the Ferengi who are built on capitalism despite Rom's reforms. Hell, you'd think the Federation would be used to making alliances with people they don't share the values of in order to enact positive change by example. The characters sometimes act as if the culture were the most surreal and callous one they've ever encountered.
Overall, I'd liked Acts of Contrition and would recommend it to Voyager fans. I'll buy just about anything with Seven of Nine, the Doctor, Tom Paris, or B'elanna in it. I also think this is a story which goes in an interesting direction with some fairly pointed social satire. It's got some flaws and I think the Seven story could have gone faster but, overall, I give it two thumbs up.
9/10
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