Spoilers VOY: Architects of Infinity by Kirsten Beyer Review Thread
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Below average. The worst of Beyer's Voyager novels for me. They have been slowly digressing since Janeway took control of the fleet for me. Nancy Conlon is my favorite addition to the "regular characters" and I hate that she was sidelined in this book. This book seemed like more of a B plot than a full story.
Still, I'm excited for the next one!
Still, I'm excited for the next one!
You'll have to wait a long time
Another great novel by Kirsten Beyer. I voted outstanding, partly because of the final pages. Another cliffhanger that keeps us waiting for the next novel.
And I loved Kirsten's acknowledgement part where she explains how she came to writing all those fantastic books.
And I loved Kirsten's acknowledgement part where she explains how she came to writing all those fantastic books.
I agree with Starbreaker - with the exception of Pocket full of Lies, IMO the series has declined in quality quite a bit. So far that I actually was so bored by Architects that I even put it aside for the time being, a third of the way in.
Just one thing: I think that artificial womb thing is a cop-out. The embryo is at 6 weeks, and it can survive in an artificial womb? Where did that thing come from? Why even consider full-term pregnancy especially with women on the frontlines (such as Troi, Crusher in more recent times - or even B'Elanna in this series, just a few parts ago)? The whole disaster with Troi in Gods of Night could have been avoided if she'd just have transferred the embryo to the artificial womb as soon as possible, not when the defect was detected but from the beginning since body pregnancies aren't really necessary anyway. Beyer circumvented quite a few ethical dilemmas by inventing that... such as abortion, the rights of the father during (unwanted) pregnancy etc. Granted, that's been dealt with multiple times but that doesn't reduce the relevancy. Instead, she focussed on an overzealous doctor who puts the mental health of a crewmember with cultural/historical taboos at risk. All for saving a patient - but at the risk of manipulation/coercion someone else? That was about the state when I stopped reading, maybe it went in a different direction later on, still... not happy with that.
Just one thing: I think that artificial womb thing is a cop-out. The embryo is at 6 weeks, and it can survive in an artificial womb? Where did that thing come from? Why even consider full-term pregnancy especially with women on the frontlines (such as Troi, Crusher in more recent times - or even B'Elanna in this series, just a few parts ago)? The whole disaster with Troi in Gods of Night could have been avoided if she'd just have transferred the embryo to the artificial womb as soon as possible, not when the defect was detected but from the beginning since body pregnancies aren't really necessary anyway. Beyer circumvented quite a few ethical dilemmas by inventing that... such as abortion, the rights of the father during (unwanted) pregnancy etc. Granted, that's been dealt with multiple times but that doesn't reduce the relevancy. Instead, she focussed on an overzealous doctor who puts the mental health of a crewmember with cultural/historical taboos at risk. All for saving a patient - but at the risk of manipulation/coercion someone else? That was about the state when I stopped reading, maybe it went in a different direction later on, still... not happy with that.
Why not? It's the 24th century. That kind of technology will probably exist long before then, given the rate of real-world research on such things. If anything, I'm surprised the artificial womb wasn't a more exact match for a real one. The Doctor once kept Neelix alive with holographic lungs until he could get a lung transplant from Kes. So we know that medical-grade holography can exactly replicate functional internal organs.
As stated in the book, a developing embryo needs the stimulation and contact of its mother's womb, or a reasonable facsimile. But there's nothing like the real thing. Just because an emergency backup exists, that doesn't make it a total replacement for the thing it's backing up.
That's an interesting point. I'm not sure, but it may have been addressed in Destiny. Deanna may have been unwilling to take that option, for some of the same reasons as her unwillingness to terminate the pregnancy. Or maybe it was explained that the child's defect was such that it couldn't survive the procedure. I'm guessing, though; I don't recall for sure.
Then again, the Galen has exceptionally advanced medical and holographic technology, so maybe the option simply wasn't available on the Titan.
On the contrary, she merely showed how the nature of the ethical dilemmas had evolved along with the technological options. Really, it's rather primitive for the only alternative to pregnancy being termination. Kirsten is hardly the first science fiction author to posit artificial gestation as a futuristic alternative (I alluded to the concept in my first published story 20 years ago), though it's interesting how she doesn't portray it as a simple cure-all, but explores how it raises new questions of parental rights, consent, and fetal personhood. And the assumptions made by Federation law reveal a lot about how the debate over abortion ended up being resolved. For instance, it's taken for granted that a woman has the right to abort an embryo/fetus until it's able to survive outside her body, at which point it's regarded as a legal person. (Which implies that the laws were written before artificial gestation at such an early stage of development became practical, since it's kind of a loophole.)
We weren't supposed to be happy with the doctor's choices. Neither were the other characters once they found out.
KMFB writing DTI? Sounds like fun.
Sorry. KMFB?
I still think it's beneath her dignity to self-identify with a nickname involving one of the seven words you can never say on television. But the last time I voiced that opinion, she mistook me for a male-sexist-pig.
I guess you haven't watched The Magicians.
Nor heard of it.
Note that there's nothing undignified or credibility-defeating about having characters (or even a narrator, especially an unreliable one) speak Army Creole.
It's a fantasy show on Syfy, Canadian-made and therefore freer to use profanity. This season, Syfy got special permission to let the F-word be spoken uncensored up to 10 times per episode, even though it's on basic cable. (Although oddly they still overdub the F-words on The Expanse, another Canadian import on the same network.) And lots of basic cable shows these days use the S-word. Honestly, I'd say Carlin's 7 words are down to 3 or 4 by now, depending on the network. And they're all permitted on pay cable or streaming.
Just finished the book. I rated it above average. It was nice to see the entire fleet (or what remains at this point) together in one place. I was intrigued as well by the unusual planet they found and the mystery is only just beginning.
I also found it interesting how Beyer focused on a number of original characters, particularly Patel and Gwyn. Particularly how Patel felt sidelined on Voyager by the original Voyager crew still on the ship and how she felt Seven had basically taken over her job. The solution to that was pretty satisfying.
Conlon was a major focus of the book, while at the same time she was sidelined much of the book. If you read it you'll get my meaning. It does resolve the Kim-Conlon-Baby relationship, though the future does remain a bit murky. Beyer also wades into the whole mother's rights vs. baby's rights and even a bit of father's rights debate. I don't think in any sort of offensive way either, though others might feel differently. What I mean is it was presented in a fact based way and no opinions were really given. It was just these are the options, this is the law sort of thing.
Finally, I was starting to feel this was sort of a fairy tale story, where everything turns out ok in the end. But it doesn't. Just when you think everything is going to be ok, tragedy strikes....or did it really? I'm not entirely sure. One thing I've learned about Star Trek is things may not always be what they seem. I guess we'll have to wait for "To Lose the Earth" to find out.
And unfortunately, to date, I have yet to see an anticipated release date for that novel, other than it is planned for this year. I'm curious if anyone has heard any updates on her progress on the next Voyager novel (has she started writing it yet, has a draft been submitted).
I also found it interesting how Beyer focused on a number of original characters, particularly Patel and Gwyn. Particularly how Patel felt sidelined on Voyager by the original Voyager crew still on the ship and how she felt Seven had basically taken over her job. The solution to that was pretty satisfying.
Conlon was a major focus of the book, while at the same time she was sidelined much of the book. If you read it you'll get my meaning. It does resolve the Kim-Conlon-Baby relationship, though the future does remain a bit murky. Beyer also wades into the whole mother's rights vs. baby's rights and even a bit of father's rights debate. I don't think in any sort of offensive way either, though others might feel differently. What I mean is it was presented in a fact based way and no opinions were really given. It was just these are the options, this is the law sort of thing.
Finally, I was starting to feel this was sort of a fairy tale story, where everything turns out ok in the end. But it doesn't. Just when you think everything is going to be ok, tragedy strikes....or did it really? I'm not entirely sure. One thing I've learned about Star Trek is things may not always be what they seem. I guess we'll have to wait for "To Lose the Earth" to find out.
And unfortunately, to date, I have yet to see an anticipated release date for that novel, other than it is planned for this year. I'm curious if anyone has heard any updates on her progress on the next Voyager novel (has she started writing it yet, has a draft been submitted).
When we spoke with Kirsten on the Literary Treks podcast, she was unfortunately unsure of when we would be seeing it, too. Her job (on Discovery) is understandably taking a huge amount of her time, and we didn't get a definite answer as to when she would be writing the novel, but she did say that it is definitely happening. Knowing Kirsten, it will be well worth the wait either way!
Average.
It averages out to average.
"Drak" sounds to me like an intentional nod to Enemy Mine (The Children of Tama have reminded me of the Drac ever since TNG: "Darmok")
The living tar that attacks Gwyn strikes me as a nod to Armus.
The things that dragged it down to "average" were the DTI thread that never went anywhere (can you say, "Chekhov's Gun unrealized"?), and the ending (can you say, "''Skin of Evil' on steroids?).
It averages out to average.
"Drak" sounds to me like an intentional nod to Enemy Mine (The Children of Tama have reminded me of the Drac ever since TNG: "Darmok")
The living tar that attacks Gwyn strikes me as a nod to Armus.
The things that dragged it down to "average" were the DTI thread that never went anywhere (can you say, "Chekhov's Gun unrealized"?), and the ending (can you say, "''Skin of Evil' on steroids?).
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