I obtained my copy of this trade paperback the middle of last week and finished the third story late last night. I have read virtually all of the Star Trek fiction from Pocket Books (with the exception of the Klingon Empire and New Frontier series...they just never "clicked" with me) and Myriad Universes is a very welcome new format!!!
The first story, "A Less Perfect Union," was simply wonderful. William Leisner did an excellent job of writing for Pike, Kirk, McCoy, Sarek, and of course T'Pol in this alternate universe tale. I felt that this story brought some much-needed closure to Star Trek:Enterprise by building upon that series' vision of interstellar co-operation and optimism about humanity's potential. As a fan of Enterprise, I have never seen T'Pol written so perfectly. Her evolution and growth throughout the story parallelled the path of Earth's belated entry into the Coalition. The end of the story was excellent...an aged Sarek and the Romulan Commander from BOT, in the TNG-equivalent era, leaving on the Coalition ship Enterprise for peace talks with the Romulans. The fact that the Coalition ship is named Enterprise signifies that United Earth did eventually join the Coalition. I won't deny the fact that this was my favourite tale from Infinity's Prism.
The second story, "Places of Exile," is a well-told Voyager story. Although I prefer Bennett's TOS work (Ex Machina was incredible...can we please have a follow-up novel?
he is a very skilled writer with any Trek era. One of Bennett's greatest talents is his creation of alien cultures, and he brings wonderful depth to the various species depicted in this story, particularly the Vostigye, the Voth, and of course Species 8472. However, my attention did begin to drift when the story became somewhat convulted with discussions about additional timelines and realities...plot complications which threatened to really bog down the story's flow. I also could not make myself like this story's version of Annnika Hansen; she was as interesting as wallpaper until her Borg memories were re-awakened. Fortunately everything came together in the end and this story presents an intriguing alternate path which the U.S.S. Voyager could have (and perhaps should have) taken at the end of the series' third season.
The final story, "Seeds of Dissent," reminded me most of the Mirror Universe. Perhaps this is because DS9 visited the Mirror Universe on so many occasions. It might be because The Khanate is eerily similar to the brutal empires of the Mirror Universe. In any event, this excellent tale depicts an intriguing universe in which Khan won and the Alpha Quadrant is controlled by human augments. I did find a few of the story's elements to be a bit too "convenient," such as there being SO MANY 20th/21st century characters seen or referenced in the various series ALL present together on the Botany Bay. I also found it hard to swallow that the vessel's centuries-old hull, which was designed for sub-light travel, could withstand the stresses of self-propelled warp speeds (despite whatever modifications were made by the Defiance's crew). The Kira/Dukat romance was also quite awkward and, for me, rang hollow. Despite these concerns, James Swallow told an excellent tale; Princeps Bashir, Ezri Dax, and O'Brian are all intriguing characters in this story. However, of the three stories, I felt that this one ended too prematurely. I would have liked to have witnessed the aftermath of both the Illustrious' arrival at the Defiance and the escape of the rebels on the Botany Bay. Did the information stored in the Botany Bay's memory banks bring about the fall of The Khanate and lead to the formation of a new political and social order in the Alpha Quadrant? Like "A Less Perfect Union" this story could have "jumped ahead" at the end to give us more closure.
Overall, this is an excellent collection of stories!!!!
The first story, "A Less Perfect Union," was simply wonderful. William Leisner did an excellent job of writing for Pike, Kirk, McCoy, Sarek, and of course T'Pol in this alternate universe tale. I felt that this story brought some much-needed closure to Star Trek:Enterprise by building upon that series' vision of interstellar co-operation and optimism about humanity's potential. As a fan of Enterprise, I have never seen T'Pol written so perfectly. Her evolution and growth throughout the story parallelled the path of Earth's belated entry into the Coalition. The end of the story was excellent...an aged Sarek and the Romulan Commander from BOT, in the TNG-equivalent era, leaving on the Coalition ship Enterprise for peace talks with the Romulans. The fact that the Coalition ship is named Enterprise signifies that United Earth did eventually join the Coalition. I won't deny the fact that this was my favourite tale from Infinity's Prism.
The second story, "Places of Exile," is a well-told Voyager story. Although I prefer Bennett's TOS work (Ex Machina was incredible...can we please have a follow-up novel?
he is a very skilled writer with any Trek era. One of Bennett's greatest talents is his creation of alien cultures, and he brings wonderful depth to the various species depicted in this story, particularly the Vostigye, the Voth, and of course Species 8472. However, my attention did begin to drift when the story became somewhat convulted with discussions about additional timelines and realities...plot complications which threatened to really bog down the story's flow. I also could not make myself like this story's version of Annnika Hansen; she was as interesting as wallpaper until her Borg memories were re-awakened. Fortunately everything came together in the end and this story presents an intriguing alternate path which the U.S.S. Voyager could have (and perhaps should have) taken at the end of the series' third season. The final story, "Seeds of Dissent," reminded me most of the Mirror Universe. Perhaps this is because DS9 visited the Mirror Universe on so many occasions. It might be because The Khanate is eerily similar to the brutal empires of the Mirror Universe. In any event, this excellent tale depicts an intriguing universe in which Khan won and the Alpha Quadrant is controlled by human augments. I did find a few of the story's elements to be a bit too "convenient," such as there being SO MANY 20th/21st century characters seen or referenced in the various series ALL present together on the Botany Bay. I also found it hard to swallow that the vessel's centuries-old hull, which was designed for sub-light travel, could withstand the stresses of self-propelled warp speeds (despite whatever modifications were made by the Defiance's crew). The Kira/Dukat romance was also quite awkward and, for me, rang hollow. Despite these concerns, James Swallow told an excellent tale; Princeps Bashir, Ezri Dax, and O'Brian are all intriguing characters in this story. However, of the three stories, I felt that this one ended too prematurely. I would have liked to have witnessed the aftermath of both the Illustrious' arrival at the Defiance and the escape of the rebels on the Botany Bay. Did the information stored in the Botany Bay's memory banks bring about the fall of The Khanate and lead to the formation of a new political and social order in the Alpha Quadrant? Like "A Less Perfect Union" this story could have "jumped ahead" at the end to give us more closure.
Overall, this is an excellent collection of stories!!!!
). I definitely thought it was a cool idea to have Khan himself as a holographic counsellor on all Khanate ships, especially since it has been known to take command itself on some occasions...
