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

[T'Ressa Dax]

Late May - July 2381 according to the Historian's note. Right after Unworthy. I forgot how that matches up with the Typhon Pact, but I'm pretty sure it's overlapped. And completely separate - one has nothing to do with the other. Read them in publication order if you like.

[Christopher]

Children of the Storm falls entirely within the 7-month gap between Ch. 1-18 of Typhon Pact: Rough Beasts of Empire (Feb-Mar '81) and Ch. 19-end of same (Oct '81-Feb '82). The rest of Typhon Pact is set mostly in August to October '82, well after CotS. So strictly speaking, there's no overlap at all timewise, and none storywise either.

[Kes]

this book is just what i need and in the sample which is 4 chapters long kes was in it yes now im going get the tree version too.

AuntKate wrote:

---

^^Not really spoilers, but I'm reading a lot of names I don't recognize in your review. Are Tom and B'Elanna the only Voyager characters in the novel?

[Kirsten Beyer]

Hello folks,

Thanks to all those who have added their thoughts. Just thought I'd pop in and address a couple of things...

Christopher wrote:

---

And isn't Miral aging a lot more slowly that past Klingon kids we've seen? She's three and she's acting like a three-year-old, if that. By the time Alexander was three, the actor playing him was more like eight or nine, I think. But then, Miral is only a quarter Klingon, isn't she?

Yeah, she is 1/4 Klingon and I always figured having the kids play older on TV was more a casting thing than an iron-clad rule about how various species and hybrids age. Even if we accept that Klingon kids age faster, I think Miral is/should stick closer to a human child.

rfmcdpei wrote:

---

Might I add a me too?

I have all three novels--bought Full Circle twice after I thought I lost my first copy--and look forward to getting more as they come out. As others have said, you've gotten the whole optimistic Trek ethos down, of exploring new civilizations and types of beings and remaining hopeful throughout.

Would it be entirely wrong to say that your novels' major theme (one major theme) is the ongoing recovery of everyone involved--Alpha Quadrant, Delta Quadrant--from the Borg? I like good recovery sagas.

You may, and thanks for the compliments. I'm glad my vision appeals to you. As to the "recovery" theme...I don't know. It's not something I'm doing consciously. As a rule, I write from characters and less from a desire to explore larger themes overall. The nature and development of the Children in this story came from a particular real world idea I've been troubled by of late, but to go any bigger in terms of all three...I'll leave that to you guys and folks interested in more critical thinking about the stories. I honestly can't do both at the same time. If you're thinking like a literary analyst at the same time you're trying to create something, you end up censoring stuff. So I just kind of do what I do and leave it to others to analyze.

Kes wrote:

---

this book is just what i need and in the sample which is 4 chapters long kes was in it yes now im going get the tree version too.

I'm glad what you read inspired you to pick up the dead tree version, but do be aware that though Kes is referenced in the story in terms of her impact and to note that she is still very much in the hearts and minds of the characters, she's not actually physically present in the novel. I'm worried something you read might have given you the wrong impression there, so...you know...fair warning.

Best,
Kirsten Beyer

[AuntKate]

kimc wrote:

---

Yes, I have. And while yours is an interesting pop psychology theory it has nothing to do with the desire to read stories containing the Janeway character. Nice try though.

Kim, you are too kind here. "Interesting pop psychology theory"? This comment is much worse than that.

Actually, the poster has a pretty condescending attitude toward readers who miss Janeway. He wonders if we have ever experienced a personal loss in our lives. Really? Is he implying that we are too young, too inexperienced, or just too stupid to understand how people continue to influence others after their deaths?

He implies that we are unfamiliar with the stages of grief that Voyager’s crew has gone through. Does he think that we are too uneducated to be familiar with Kubler-Ross’s excellent work on the subject? Honestly, I much prefer to learn about it from her writing than some Trek novel, thank you very much.

He suggests that we should be satisfied with Janeway’s “influence” on her crew as an adequate substitute for her presence as a living, breathing character in the novel. That suggestion is beneath contempt.

Finally, he seems to think that the refusal to read these novels as some sort of judgment on the quality of the writing, which is hardly the case. I’ve enjoyed Beyer’s writing in the past, and I’m upset that once Voyager finally hires someone who understands the characters (and maybe even watched the series), she is handicapped because of a poor, even frivolous editorial decision to send Janeway off to the Q Continuum in a poorly-written TNG novel.

How refreshing it would be to have PB and their writers admit that the Janeway “death” in “Before Dishonor” was a big mistake instead of having to endure this woefully inadequate lecturing about life and death and the "meaning" of grief. How tiresome it is to get the PB party line over and over again, with a strong dose of condescension on the side. Instead of criticizing unhappy, loyal readers, instead of bemoaning their complaints, how about sympathizing with them for having been deprived of the chance to read novels that include Voyager’s most popular character, alive and well?

[Kestrel]

Hmm... last I checked, 7 of 9's still being written about...

[bok2384]

Kestrel wrote:

---

Hmm... last I checked, 7 of 9's still being written about...

Aswell as The Doctor.

Anyway, enough of this Janeway nonsense. I demand to know when PB is bringing back Keiran Duffy!?! I refuse to buy any of the latest Corps of Engineers products until this occurs.

[Judith Sisko]

bok2384 wrote:

---

Aswell as The Doctor.

Anyway, enough of this Janeway nonsense. I demand to know when PB is bringing back Keiran Duffy!?! I refuse to buy any of the latest Corps of Engineers products until this occurs.

LOL! I miss CoE.

I, for one, have enjoyed 7 of 9's story arc since Full Circle. Kirsten writes her (and the other tv characters) spot on. I loved The Doctor's scenes with Tom, B'Elanna, and Miral in this book and hope to see more of the same.

I also hope we see a story in the future featuring the USS Galen. I've always wanted a medical mini-series somewhat along the lines of CoE. Perhaps the opportunity for that is in the DQ.

I have to add Commander O'Donnell to my list of favorite new characters along with Afsarah Eden (can't wait to have her story unfold) and Hugh Cambridge (loved his appearance in the holodeck with Tom and Harry!)

Have any of you seen this?
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...oyagerRelaunch

[David cgc]

Christopher wrote:

---

Like Commander O'Donnell of the Demeter. He was a really cool character. The hallucinations were a bit much, but aside from that I really liked his gentle quirkiness, and the surprising effectiveness he revealed in spite of everyone's expectations.

He reminded me a bit Dr. Rush from "Stargate: Universe".

The visions of his wife are probably what started me thinking that way, but there was also the fact that he had the best idea of what was going on and how to resolve the situation effectively, but his single-minded dedication to doing everything himself and his lack of communication with the crew made it look like he was a babe in the woods with no idea what he was doing. That's pretty much the same process that led to everyone in "Universe" thinking Rush was a shifty son-of-a-bitch.

All in all, I really enjoyed O'Donnell, and I hope we get to see more of him soon. On the one hand, I realize that might not be likely, since there are eight ships to cover and he's not in the one that's going to be in every book, but on the other hand, his actions in the book did create a loss in the fleet that can be resolved on-screen as well as off.

I thought the thread with Drafar was resolved a little abruptly, but I suppose it was more about showing B'Elanna's parenting than his cultural conditioning.

[scnj]

Parenthood was, unsurprisingly, a prominent theme throughout the whole book.

[Freman]

Soooo....when's the next VOY book coming out? I wants more, dammit!!

[JD]

I think we still have some open spots next year.

[MatthiasRussell]

scnj wrote:

---

Parenthood was, unsurprisingly, a prominent theme throughout the whole book.

I think Beyer captured the emotion of parenthood as only a parent can. She captured many of my emotions in those scenes. And as VOY was about family and Janeway was very maternal to her crew, this feeling is very much what makes VOY unique. Beyer has a solid grasp of this concept.

[DeafPoet]

Just finished it. Excellent stuff as always, Kirsten! I didn't like it quite as much as Full Circle or Unworthy, but it was still very enjoyable. I think the difference is that there wasn't as much focus on the core Voyager people. After the nice development and deepening they received in the prior books that was a bit of a letdown. That's basically my only gripe though. The stuff with O'Donnell and Eden almost makes up for it.

Speaking of Eden, surely it's almost time to pull the trigger on that juicy story, right?

Freman wrote:

---

Soooo....when's the next VOY book coming out? I wants more, dammit!!

This. Get crackin'.

[AuntKate]

^^But don't leave out the most important factor in BD--Janeway's visit with the Q. She's bored and causing trouble, constantly whining about the minor bipedal species she left behind.