Section 31: Shadow Bk. 4 (Star Trek: Voyager)
£31.75
Pretty poor all round... - This is the third Star Trek novel I ve read by these authors in recent months. I made excuses for their Enterprise book given the series had just started, but after reading this, I will be wary to pick up anything by them again. Shadow is supposed to be set towards the end of the fifth season, and indeed was written after the series had finished (or at least close to the end of its run), and yet I felt not a single character was portrayed accurately.Section 31 s role in this is practically zero, indeed, the agent isn t even on board Voyager for any of this tale, instead being loosely linked in with a season 4 episode. The scheme employed by the agent isn t particularly original either, when you consider Seska s holodeck assassination attempt in season 3.Janeway, without any real warning, decided she doesn t trust the crew, except for the three crewmembers who have probably been taken over, brainwashed, or tried to mutiny the most times out of anyone.Seven apparently only has two settings. Irritated and hostile. But according to the authors, she finds her the irritation of being irritated irritating (repetition is a failing of these authors that s annoyed me before). Also, she says things in this book that just didn t happen in the show - I never recall her calling anyone by their first name, least of all B Elanna.The Doctor is in season 1 setting here, when he was snappy and rude, not the more sedate and compassionate Doctor in Equinox.Tom makes weak jokes, or worries, Torres has a complete disregard for the Rhawnians, mainly because they re purple (hmmm). Only Harry and Chakotay are accurately portrayed, in that they rarely speak.The B story of Lyspa and Andra is actually pretty pointless in the whole scheme of things, and could ve been left out without affecting the story. In fact, the idea that they d build one massive ship for 800 million people, rather than a convoy of escape ships actually defies logic.Voyager itself causes concern as well. Season 5 introduced the Malon, who hadn t managed (or wanted to) learn how to dispose of harmful by-products of warp drive. Voyager is proud of the fact they mastered it, and want to share it. Yet this book makes mention of toxic trilithium resin tanks, the evil exhaust of warp cores (given that trilithium only seemed to be discovered shortly before Voyager was launched, this is unlikely), and also we have the semi-sentient computer, which apparently has enough consciousness to target specific crewmen.All in all, this book, and the authors, seemed (again) to change or distort established facts in order to propel their story along, and in the end, it served to affect my enjoyment of the book. Easily the weakest in the Section 31 series, certainly not a patch on the DS9 entry. I d probably recommend you to avoid this one.
Another fine book in the Star Trek universe - This is a section 31 book, taken place onboad Star Trek Voyager. Section 31 is a secret organization within the Starfleet that doesn t feel the need to follow Starfleet roules and regulations.You dont need to know anything about section 31 before reading the book.The story takes us to a place where two starsystems are about to collide. When observing the collision Voyager finds a pre-warp ship trying to flee from one of the starsystems and from the collision. Voyager itself gets in trouble when it gets serious computer malfunctions while trying to help the other ship. While Seven seems to be a target to someone or something, Janeway learns about Section 31. Could they be behind all this and if so, why are they targeting Voyager? Or is this somehow all related to the finding of the pre-warp ship? The time is running out for the crew of Voyager while trying to solve the mystery. The stars are just about to collide.This is a very exciting story, and if you like Voyager, you will just love this story.
A dramatic tale of betrayal and self-discovery - Shadow is the Voyager part of the Section 31 series. Even though Voyager is thousands of light years away, the mysterious and deadly organisation which calls itself Section 31 still manages to put in a dramatic and shocking appearance. Whilst Voyager is on its way to observe two colliding stars, someone or something aboard decides to launch several homicidal attacks on Seven of Nine. At first the attacks only pose a threat to the crew, but as the story progresses they place not only the lives of 150 crewmen in danger, but also jeopardise the lives of 800 million others. The book is made up of two main intertwining storylines, each of which is so compelling that I finished the book inside a day - I couldn t put it down! The first is the story of the crew of Voyager. As they desperately attempt to save the last remnants of the Rhawnian civilisation, they must also fight a pitched battle against a hidden enemy in their midst. Captain Janeway must face the most unexpected enemy of all, as the shocking truth about the accidents on the ship comes out, shattering her belief in the principals of Starfleet in the process. Seven of Nine learns that she is more vulnerable that she thought possible as the entire crew battles against her unknown enemy, and B Elanna finds it hard to take purple aliens seriously. The second story line is told from the viewpoints of two of the Rhawnians. Their primitive ship Traveller has been trying to escape the destruction of their solar system for the last ten years with 800 million of their people on board, all that could be saved of their civilisation. Their Emperor Aetayn faces his worst fear as he is told that their ship and will not survive the disaster that destroyed their home after all. He must also come to terms with the existence of aliens, and as Voyager works to save his people he embarks on a voyage of self discovery which leads him to a new philosophy in life and a new attitude towards his people. A common Rhawnian named Lyspa also faces her fears, as she faces her daughter s death, after an asteroid hit to the ship, when they were so near to surviving the collision of the suns which destroyed their home world and killed her beloved husband, who sacrificed all he had to get her onto the ship. I really enjoyed this book. The authors have written a lot of fantastic stories, but I would count this among their best. The interwoven threads from each story form a gripping novel which is exciting, mysterious, heart rending and hopeful all at once. If you like Star Trek, this book will get you hooked!
An average tale with rushed ending. - After a promising prologue the story descends into an average tale centering on a plot to assasinate seven-of-nine. The section 31 story line isn t really used to its full potential which is a shame given the excellent DS9 episodes based around the secret organisation. Lets hope the other books are of a higher standard.
An exciting new slant on the star trek universe - This book is well written and it packed with excitement - it has the Borg [well, Seven does count], the shadow of Section 31,a new race and problem of life-and-death to solve and is a thrilling mystery to the end. Yes, I will leap out to buy the others in the series!