VOY: Children of the Storm by Kirsten Beyer Review Thread (Spoilers!)

[Rosalind]

JD wrote:

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God, I swear it's getting to a point where I'm terrified ever time I see a Voyager thread on the boards. Ok, we understand you guys/ladies are mad that Janeway is dead, but we've been over this a million times so can we please just move the hell on, because this shit is getting old.

Not quite what I wanted to say, but close enough.

This thread is not about Janeway's death, we've have several thousand posts devoted to that topic in this forum since Before Dishonor. So, please leave Janeway out of this thread and let's go back discussing Chirldren of the Storm.

Thank you.

[Elias Vaughn]

Kathryn J. wrote:

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Why are a woman and her fans treated differently that men and their fans?

imo, it's more offensive to reduce a complex character down to one trait than it is to kill off said fictional character in the first place.

"Why are a black man and his fans treated differently than a bunch of white people and their fans?"

"Why are a French man and his fans being treated differently than a bunch of Americans?"

Janeway was more than just a woman. Sisko's more than the token black guy. Picard is more than a Frenchman. No one ever reduces Sisko or Picard down to just the one trait, because it's absurd.

I love reading Janeway threads, though. They're actually really amusing, when people start implying (purposely or otherwise) that Janeway's death was a personal slight against them and that there is no possible way a Voyager book could be any good without her.

Honestly, though, I wasn't huge on Children of the Storm, but it's not because of a lack of Janeway. Just wasn't my cup of tea.

[Turtletrekker]

Brit wrote:

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Christopher, you can talk and talk and talk. <snip>

Then you have the unmitigated arrogance... <snip>

Matthias, maybe one day when you have matured... <snip>

Project much?

We also demand respect because we deserve it,

Nope. As others have said, respect is earned, and neither you nor your cohorts have done anything to deserve it. If you want to be treated with respect, learn to do the same with others.

[Kertrats47]

Getting back to the topic at hand, I finished Children of the Storm yesterday and absolutely loved it! Great job Kirsten, I can't wait to see where this goes next. I was never a huge Voyager fan, but your stories have made me realize that these characters have true potential. I wish the writing had been half this good during the series!

[JoeZhang]

I was never a huge Voyager fan, but your stories have made me realize that these characters have true potential.

As I mentioned, I never liked the show at all - so it's a huge plus for me that it was so readable. Moreover, I think it's one of the few current Trek books where I'm interested to find out what happens to the new characters.

[JWolf]

I finished Children of the Storm last night. I really enjoyed it. One thing I really enjoyed was the way the new characters were introduced. They fit right in. There were not forced or just another name to have someone different.

The story was quite moving. It finally showed something good coming from tragedy. I think Eden is really growing as a person. I think she has things she can teach Chakotay as well as the other way round. I am glad that this is not just a Voyager centric arc. It features the others as well and that worked very well.

I liked that there was no "let's pull this out of our bag of tricks and save the day" type story. I think it's one of the best Trek books this year.

And I do feel that it gives homage to Janeway in how she managed to instill honor and values to the crew and it shows. To bring back Janeway would be a bad idea. It would cheapen these stories big time and that's not what should be. She's dead. Just let her be dead. Let her memory and what she brought to the crew live on in the crew.

[Galekarens]

Bringing KJ back would NOT cheapen the stories, in fact it would uplift them, since killing her was a low blow that turned a lot of Voyager fans off. And why should we spend our $ supporting those who so diffidently got rid of someone we admired and want to read about? This is science fiction, and all kinds of things can happen. Sisko was brought back and he was physically dead, did that cheapen the DS9 stories/Trek fiction???? Did those who are against KJ coming back protest that, probably very little. I read most of Unworthy and it was rather uninteresting without Janeway; it also frustrated and saddened me. Should I really buy another book that would probably do the same? That would be pretty silly, me thinks. No, I will not just "get over it," and I will not read another "Voy" book until Janeway, who IS Voyager, is brought back. It's too bad, since I do like the other (original) characters, but that's the way it is. And since I've found there are many, many people who agree with me, I can confidently say that those who are blithely telling me what I should like to read are just spouting the Pocket Book party line. Well, as a LONG time Trek fan, I can think for my self, thank you. And Trek lit now is in a sad state, and the death of KJ is a good example of what's wrong with it. Bring back Kathryn Janeway and also bring back the real Star Trek fiction, full of adventure and hope, not war and destruction, ugh.

[Kestrel]

Kathryn J. wrote:

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All top main characters which ever died in Trek like Kirk, Spock, Sisko, Data - they were brought back.

Um. Kirk and Data weren't brought back actually - they're still dead.

[Defcon]

Kestrel wrote:

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Um. Kirk and Data weren't brought back actually - they're still dead.

Sisko's fate was kind of ambiguous from the start (he said in the TV series that he would return), so that leaves only Spock (and Trip).

[CaptainDonovin]

JD wrote:

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God, I swear it's getting to a point where I'm terrified ever time I see a Voyager thread on the boards. Ok, we understand you guys/ladies are mad that Janeway is dead, but we've been over this a million times so can we please just move the hell on, because this shit is getting old.

It would be nice if threads like these would focus on the actual book the topic is about instead of flying off into rants & attacks.

I would coment on the book myself however its been on the way thru the mail since May 30 & I still don't have it. I just stop by this thread to see what the general consensis of the book was. (That was my personal rant, btw.)

[JD]

It's probably going to be a little while before I get to CoS but I'm really looking forward to it. Full Circle and Unworthy were two of the best Voyager stories in any medium and it sounds like Children of the Storm continues that trend.
I'm really glad to hear that Kirsten Beyer seems to actually be using the rest of the fleet instead of just tossing them in as part of the background every now and then.

[chelly]

I thought the thread was about the new book not about a character that died 3 books ago.

I almost don't want to come into the threads because the janeway fanatics seem to take over.

[JD]

Ooops, apparently Chelly posted while I was editing my last post, so the bit she's referring to is gone.
I was just complaining about what the thread has turned into, but decided to delete it and tried to get the thread back on topic instead. Sorry for any confusion.

[chelly]

Ah I kept changing my post because I didn't really want to get into the argument again. (I do apologize for that). I actually tried to delete it but I don't think I have enough posts to do that yet.

I am looking forward to the book, I loved the last two. I am waiting to get the interlibrary loan from the library. I am not in a situation where I can buy all the star trek books I want. When I am I will definitly buy Kirsten's books.

[CaptainDonovin]

JD wrote:

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Ooops, apparently Chelly posted while I was editing my last post, so the bit she's referring to is gone.
I was just complaining about what the thread has turned into, but decided to delete it and tried to get the thread back on topic instead. Sorry for any confusion.

The only confusing thing is how quickly the thread came to resemble a political debate. Hopefully the Vanguard thread is more civil.