Voyager Books

[AdmiralSteven]

Hey everyone,

I started reading Voyager: Full Circle by Kirsten Beyer, and I'm loving it so far, but I noticed while reading The Complete Starfleet Library, in the Voyager series, that I started with the last book of the Post Finale Novels. I do like reading books in order, and was stupid in not looking this information up, but with this series does it matter? Do the previous books set something up that I ruined by starting with 'Full Circle'? I am planning on going back to 'Homecoming' after I finish this book and start going down the list, but I'm curious to know what I may have ruined.

Thanks everyone.

 

[William Leisner]

If you are enjoying the book you're reading, you have not ruined a blessed thing.

 

[brcarthey]

there are some characters that are introduced and developed in the first four books as well as you'll understand where and how each character ended up (except for tuvok) where they are, especially tom, b'elanna, the doc, and seven.

"homecoming" and "the farther shore" are the first duology and "old wounds" and "enemy of my enemy" (aka the "spirit walk" duology) have received very mixed reviews. people seem to either love 'em or hate 'em.

i think it's debatable if they are needed to be read beforehand. KB certainly did include as much background details introduced from the first four novels to necessitating reading them less important, but i still think it's helpful to read them anyway.

 

[ClayinCA]

If it helps you at all, I didn't read any of those earlier books, and I freakin' loved Full Circle.

 

[JD]

Me too. And just to warn you, alot of people on here dislike the first four VoyR books, and some people seem to even hate them. So if you do want to check them out, I'd keep that in mind.

 

[AdmiralSteven]

there are some characters that are introduced and developed in the first four books as well as you'll understand where and how each character ended up (except for tuvok) where they are, especially tom, b'elanna, the doc, and seven.

"homecoming" and "the farther shore" are the first duology and "old wounds" and "enemy of my enemy" (aka the "spirit walk" duology) have received very mixed reviews. people seem to either love 'em or hate 'em.

i think it's debatable if they are needed to be read beforehand. KB certainly did include as much background details introduced from the first four novels to necessitating reading them less important, but i still think it's helpful to read them anyway.

I'm right at 200 pages into the book and I don't feel like I've really missed anything. However, I probably will return to the earlier books to get the background. Actually, I've been wanting to read 'Homecoming' but haven't seen it in the book stores. I guess I'll have to order 'Homecoming' from Amazon or something.

If it helps you at all, I didn't read any of those earlier books, and I freakin' loved Full Circle.

As I've stated above, I'm right at 200 pages in and I'm loving this book. I really like the way Kirsten Beyer writes. I've read some of the Star Wars books that Timothy Zahn wrote, and while I love the way he writes, I sometimes feel as if he puts in so much detail that I actually get bogged down and then it becomes a chore to read; if that makes any sense. With Kirsten Beyer you don't get all the small details, so it's an easier read and therefore a pleasure. I don't want to give anything away, but as an example, when Kahless and B'Elana make their way off the ship, Ms Beyer skips all the small details and informs us later on how they did it...that I like.

Me too. And just to warn you, alot of people on here dislike the first four VoyR books, and some people seem to even hate them. So if you do want to check them out, I'd keep that in mind.

Thanks for the info.

 

[brcarthey]

If it helps you at all, I didn't read any of those earlier books, and I freakin' loved Full Circle.

As I've stated above, I'm right at 200 pages in and I'm loving this book. I really like the way Kirsten Beyer writes. I've read some of the Star Wars books that Timothy Zahn wrote, and while I love the way he writes, I sometimes feel as if he puts in so much detail that I actually get bogged down and then it becomes a chore to read; if that makes any sense. With Kirsten Beyer you don't get all the small details, so it's an easier read and therefore a pleasure. I don't want to give anything away, but as an example, when Kahless and B'Elana make their way off the ship, Ms Beyer skips all the small details and informs us later on how they did it...that I like.

i've read just about all of zahn's SW books and loved them. and it's funny you mention about the lack of details contained in FC b/c this is what KB told me when her editor told her to turn two ~100k-word novels into one ~135k-word novel. so she had to cut out some things. here is what she told me on another board:

In terms of what got left out...it's really more a matter of which sections couldn't be developed further. Examples...I would have actually shown the escape of B'Elanna from the Kortar. I might have also given us more of the Yaris Nebula mission we keep referring to but never actually saw.

It's not as if I had a ton of stuff to cut. I just refused to allow certain story paths to get big or bigger than I thought I'd have time for. It's an odd way to create but it's also a pretty standard part of the job.

 

[P0sitr0nic]

If it helps you at all, I didn't read any of those earlier books, and I freakin' loved Full Circle.

Agreed.

 

[Sci]

I read the first two books of the post-"Endgame" VOY novels. You're not missing anything. Full Circle is superior to everything that came before, and it's self-contained.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

I read the first two books of the post-"Endgame" VOY novels. You're not missing anything. Full Circle is superior to everything that came before, and it's self-contained.

While I enjoyed the previous four relaunch novels (despite none of them being anywhere near the top of my list of favourites), I must agree "Full Circle" is far superior. "Full Circle" elevates the Voy-relaunch to an equal positioning with the DS9-relaunch or post-Nemesis books (minus Before Dishonour).

 

[AdmiralSteven]

If it helps you at all, I didn't read any of those earlier books, and I freakin' loved Full Circle.

As I've stated above, I'm right at 200 pages in and I'm loving this book. I really like the way Kirsten Beyer writes. I've read some of the Star Wars books that Timothy Zahn wrote, and while I love the way he writes, I sometimes feel as if he puts in so much detail that I actually get bogged down and then it becomes a chore to read; if that makes any sense. With Kirsten Beyer you don't get all the small details, so it's an easier read and therefore a pleasure. I don't want to give anything away, but as an example, when Kahless and B'Elana make their way off the ship, Ms Beyer skips all the small details and informs us later on how they did it...that I like.

i've read just about all of zahn's SW books and loved them. and it's funny you mention about the lack of details contained in FC b/c this is what KB told me when her editor told her to turn two ~100k-word novels into one ~135k-word novel. so she had to cut out some things. here is what she told me on another board:

In terms of what got left out...it's really more a matter of which sections couldn't be developed further. Examples...I would have actually shown the escape of B'Elanna from the Kortar. I might have also given us more of the Yaris Nebula mission we keep referring to but never actually saw.

It's not as if I had a ton of stuff to cut. I just refused to allow certain story paths to get big or bigger than I thought I'd have time for. It's an odd way to create but it's also a pretty standard part of the job.

What's funny is I don't see these books as having too much detail, and maybe that's just my perception, but some of the Zahn books were too overloaded for my tastes. Kind of funny.

 

[Paris]

I think the first four Voyager-R books are definetly worth the read, with the first two, Homecoming & The Farther Shore, being the far better duology and the more important books (out of the first 4) in the relaunch. These two deal with the actual homecoming of Voyager (not just a clever title) that we got screwed out of in Endgame. You see our favorite crew members receive long overdue promotions (I still think Harry should be a Lt.Cmdr by now...) and you get to see the troubles that the Voyager crew experiences being back in the AQ. The fact they weren't there for the Dominion War and the fact that a third of the crew was Maquis. Sure, the Voyager starfleet officers made their peace with that years earlier, but the rest of the starfleet officers in the AQ still remember when the Maquis were just a bunch of traitors. Not to mention the holographic revolt story.
All this being said, I think Full Circle is far superior to the other four novels, but it's not the full story. It's not required to read the four previous novels so you can understand Full Circle, but Full Circle doesn't give you everything . Enjoy!

 

[AdmiralSteven]

I think the first four Voyager-R books are definetly worth the read, with the first two, Homecoming & The Farther Shore, being the far better duology and the more important books (out of the first 4) in the relaunch. These two deal with the actual homecoming of Voyager (not just a clever title) that we got screwed out of in Endgame. You see our favorite crew members receive long overdue promotions (I still think Harry should be a Lt.Cmdr by now...) and you get to see the troubles that the Voyager crew experiences being back in the AQ. The fact they weren't there for the Dominion War and the fact that a third of the crew was Maquis. Sure, the Voyager starfleet officers made their peace with that years earlier, but the rest of the starfleet officers in the AQ still remember when the Maquis were just a bunch of traitors. Not to mention the holographic revolt story.
All this being said, I think Full Circle is far superior to the other four novels, but it's not the full story. It's not required to read the four previous novels so you can understand Full Circle, but Full Circle doesn't give you everything . Enjoy!

Thank you for your response, I do appreciate hearing about the other books, be it good, bad, worth reading, or not. I have been wanting to read 'Homecoming' but can't find it in the stores, the Star Trek section in the book stores are rather small, so I'm going to have to order it online. When I bought 'Full Circle' it was the only Voyager book on the shelf, and since I've been wanting to get into reading Voyager, I snagged it. I've got so many books to read I can't wait to get to them all.

 

[Paris]

I think the first four Voyager-R books are definetly worth the read, with the first two, Homecoming & The Farther Shore, being the far better duology and the more important books (out of the first 4) in the relaunch. These two deal with the actual homecoming of Voyager (not just a clever title) that we got screwed out of in Endgame. You see our favorite crew members receive long overdue promotions (I still think Harry should be a Lt.Cmdr by now...) and you get to see the troubles that the Voyager crew experiences being back in the AQ. The fact they weren't there for the Dominion War and the fact that a third of the crew was Maquis. Sure, the Voyager starfleet officers made their peace with that years earlier, but the rest of the starfleet officers in the AQ still remember when the Maquis were just a bunch of traitors. Not to mention the holographic revolt story.
All this being said, I think Full Circle is far superior to the other four novels, but it's not the full story. It's not required to read the four previous novels so you can understand Full Circle, but Full Circle doesn't give you everything . Enjoy!

Thank you for your response, I do appreciate hearing about the other books, be it good, bad, worth reading, or not. I have been wanting to read 'Homecoming' but can't find it in the stores, the Star Trek section in the book stores are rather small, so I'm going to have to order it online. When I bought 'Full Circle' it was the only Voyager book on the shelf, and since I've been wanting to get into reading Voyager, I snagged it. I've got so many books to read I can't wait to get to them all.

From what i've seen/heard, both Homecoming and The Farther Shore are currently out of print, but you may be able to find them on Amazon. If they are too expensive there, you may want to try ebay. Some people complain about it, but in the last year i've ammassed a rather large collection of trek books, from when I wasn't really reading trek, from ebay. If you are patient and don't mind scrolling through some ebay pages, you can get just about everything worth reading and at a pretty good price. I know i've seen all the Voyager books recently at some pretty good prices. Good luck

 

[AdmiralSteven]

I think the first four Voyager-R books are definetly worth the read, with the first two, Homecoming & The Farther Shore, being the far better duology and the more important books (out of the first 4) in the relaunch. These two deal with the actual homecoming of Voyager (not just a clever title) that we got screwed out of in Endgame. You see our favorite crew members receive long overdue promotions (I still think Harry should be a Lt.Cmdr by now...) and you get to see the troubles that the Voyager crew experiences being back in the AQ. The fact they weren't there for the Dominion War and the fact that a third of the crew was Maquis. Sure, the Voyager starfleet officers made their peace with that years earlier, but the rest of the starfleet officers in the AQ still remember when the Maquis were just a bunch of traitors. Not to mention the holographic revolt story.
All this being said, I think Full Circle is far superior to the other four novels, but it's not the full story. It's not required to read the four previous novels so you can understand Full Circle, but Full Circle doesn't give you everything . Enjoy!

Thank you for your response, I do appreciate hearing about the other books, be it good, bad, worth reading, or not. I have been wanting to read 'Homecoming' but can't find it in the stores, the Star Trek section in the book stores are rather small, so I'm going to have to order it online. When I bought 'Full Circle' it was the only Voyager book on the shelf, and since I've been wanting to get into reading Voyager, I snagged it. I've got so many books to read I can't wait to get to them all.

From what i've seen/heard, both Homecoming and The Farther Shore are currently out of print, but you may be able to find them on Amazon. If they are too expensive there, you may want to try ebay. Some people complain about it, but in the last year i've ammassed a rather large collection of trek books, from when I wasn't really reading trek, from ebay. If you are patient and don't mind scrolling through some ebay pages, you can get just about everything worth reading and at a pretty good price. I know i've seen all the Voyager books recently at some pretty good prices. Good luck

I can be a patient man when I need to be, so I can wait. I also have a whole list of Klingon books I want to start getting into, so I can keep myself occupied.

 

[Paris]

I envy you dude ! You have some awesome books in your queue! The IKS books were some of the first things I read when I came back to trek-lit

 

[AdmiralSteven]

I envy you dude ! You have some awesome books in your queue! The IKS books were some of the first things I read when I came back to trek-lit

I'm looking forward to the Klingon books. And what's funny is, it wasn't until I picked up 'Full Circle' and started reading about Kahless in this book that I really became interested in reading the Klingon books. I'm looking forward to it.

 

[Paris]

I envy you dude ! You have some awesome books in your queue! The IKS books were some of the first things I read when I came back to trek-lit

I'm looking forward to the Klingon books. And what's funny is, it wasn't until I picked up 'Full Circle' and started reading about Kahless in this book that I really became interested in reading the Klingon books. I'm looking forward to it.

Make sure you check out the last three "A Time To..." books as well. Parts of them, especially A Time To Kill (#7) by David Mack, deals with the first part of the Klingon story from Full Circle. Kirsten just fleshed it out more.

 

[JD]

Just to warn you AdmiralSteven, you're probably going to run into the same problem with the Klingon books. Sadly alot of the Trek books over 1-2 years old are out of print.

 

[AdmiralSteven]

Just to warn you AdmiralSteven, you're probably going to run into the same problem with the Klingon books. Sadly alot of the Trek books over 1-2 years old are out of print.

Thanks for the heads up, JD. I'm very lucky that I have a huge used book store at the end of my street that I can go and look for the older trek books, so it looks as though I'll be perusing that book store's Trek section more often now that I know what I'm looking for.