Full Circle Review Thread (Spoilers)

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I'm sorry if this has already been answered in this thread but I have one question (I haven't read the book yet, it may be awhile before I can):

It's regarding the use of slipstream drive. With it, how long will the fleet take to get to the Delta Quadrant, and how long (assuming their mission is successful) will it take them to get back?

Meaning: They're not considered "stuck" in the DQ (as Voyager originally was)? They can come back home within a reasonably short amount of time?

(I'm not that familiar with slipstream drive, I don't know how fast it's supposed to be or how much of an improvement it is over regular warp drive)

 

[DimesDan]

The impression I got was that it would be a few weeks and maybe a month tops. The fleet will also be in "radio" contact with the Federation though dropping long range subspace comms devices along the way. Also it's stated that crew can rotate out of the fleet as well which means I guess Aventine or another Vesta or Slipstream vessel can rendezvous with the fleet if and when they need to.

So no, Operation Full Circle's fleet will not be stuck in the Delta Quadrant.

 

[Newspaper Taxi]

Provided nothing goes wrong, of course.

 

[DimesDan]

Well there is that and no doubt things may go tits up as thats the way these things go.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I guess Aventine or another Vesta or Slipstream vessel can rendezvous with the fleet if and when they need to.

Aren't all of the vessels in this fleet equipped with slipstream? That's what the Memory Beta link says, anyway.

Nice to see that the mission isn't "permanent", though. I wonder if any Voyager crewmembers expressed concern over returning to an area of space they had been stuck in for so long and tried so hard to get out of? If I were on that ship, I wouldn't set foot in the DQ again for the rest of my life. (What about the Wildmans, for example? I bet ol' Greskrendregtk wouldn't want to lose them again...)

 

[DimesDan]

I guess Aventine or another Vesta or Slipstream vessel can rendezvous with the fleet if and when they need to.

Aren't all of the vessels in this fleet equipped with slipstream? That's what the Memory Beta link says, anyway.

Nice to see that the mission isn't "permanent", though. I wonder if any Voyager crewmembers expressed concern over returning to an area of space they had been stuck in for so long and tried so hard to get out of? If I were on that ship, I wouldn't set foot in the DQ again for the rest of my life. (What about the Wildmans, for example? I bet ol' Greskrendregtk wouldn't want to lose them again...)

Yes they are.

It makes more sense for a seperate ship to transverse the galaxy and rendezvous with the fleet or another ship than say have one of the ships in the fleet break off and go home every once in a while.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Ah, I see. So another vessel might rendevous with the fleet every so often, for crew replacements, supplies, repairs, etc., then go back home? That makes sense.

 

[JD]

I don't think they went into alot of details about how this is going to happen, just that it will.

 

[Tino]

I [...] think Eden [...] will instead learn more about that artifact and perhaps find her people or possibly go off on a soul-searching mission of her own and resign.

Artifact? Have I missed something? Where's anything written about an artifact? *puzzled*

 

[Paris]

I [...] think Eden [...] will instead learn more about that artifact and perhaps find her people or possibly go off on a soul-searching mission of her own and resign.

Artifact? Have I missed something? Where's anything written about an artifact? *puzzled*

In Voyager's logs, there is a picture of a symbol that, for some reason, was familiar to Eden. Since Eden is thought to be from the DQ (as established in FC) it is believed that this symbol has something to do with her "people". I believe this is the "artifact" to which Lightning Storm was referring. Unless of course, it was actually an artifact and not just a picture...my memory on the exactness of it, is a bit fuzzy. Reason #47 to re-read FC.

 

[Christopher]

Well, an artifact is anything made or modified by a sentient being (the word literally means "made by craft"), so the term could technically apply to a painting or written text. As I recall, what Eden recognized were the undeciphered symbols that Zahir showed to Kes at the Mikhal Travelers' outpost in "Darkling":

http://voy.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/3x18/darkling_080.jpg

 

[LightningStorm]

In Voyager's logs, there is a picture of a symbol that, for some reason, was familiar to Eden. Since Eden is thought to be from the DQ (as established in FC) it is believed that this symbol has something to do with her "people". I believe this is the "artifact" to which Lightning Storm was referring. Unless of course, it was actually an artifact and not just a picture...my memory on the exactness of it, is a bit fuzzy. Reason #47 to re-read FC.

Yep, that's what I was talking about.

 

[Paris]

Well, an artifact is anything made or modified by a sentient being (the word literally means "made by craft"), so the term could technically apply to a painting or written text. As I recall, what Eden recognized were the undeciphered symbols that Zahir showed to Kes at the Mikhal Travelers' outpost in "Darkling":

http://voy.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/3x18/darkling_080.jpg

This just goes to show how much time and effort Kirsten has put into the Voyager relaunch. She's weaving loose threads from the original DQ voyage into the tapestry of the new voyage. This makes me believe that even after only one book, this series is set to be on par with the DS9 relaunch. Bravo .

 

[JD]

I agree. That's been one of the things I've loved about the DS9R, and I'm glad to see that they're doing in VGR-R too.

 

[DS9forever]

Wait a minute. Eden doesn't know who her species are and she hopes to find them in another quadrant? Thats not familar at all...

 

[Christopher]

Wait a minute. Eden doesn't know who her species are and she hopes to find them in another quadrant? Thats not familar at all...

The idea is, she doesn't remember her origins, but the image from Voyager's records triggered a memory that she'd seen something like it before. She recognizes it, which is a clue that her origins can be found in the place it came from. Kind of like when Odo recognized the Omarion Nebula even though he had no memory of having seen it before -- it was a crucial clue that led him to his place of origin.

 

[BrotherBenny]

Wait a minute. Eden doesn't know who her species are and she hopes to find them in another quadrant? Thats not familar at all...

The idea is, she doesn't remember her origins, but the image from Voyager's records triggered a memory that she'd seen something like it before. She recognizes it, which is a clue that her origins can be found in the place it came from. Kind of like when Odo recognized the Omarion Nebula even though he had no memory of having seen it before -- it was a crucial clue that led him to his place of origin.

And eventually to a species who waged war against everything he held dear. Let's hope the same is not true of Eden's origins.

 

[andersonh1]

Excellent book. And the first Star Trek novel I've read in some years now.

What drew me in was my recent "conversion" from being anti-Voyager to really enjoying the show and the characters. I finished the DVDs and didn't want things to end, so the books became the logical next step, and since Full Circle is the Voyager book currently on shelves, I picked it up. I'm glad I did, because it's been nice to follow up on the characters.

The only other relaunch novel I've read was Homecoming part 1, and I wasn't too impressed with it. I didn't find the plot all that engaging, and I thought that so much potential story material was glossed over and dealt with rapidly, such as Tuvok's illness and the rapid, out of nowhere breakup of Seven and Chakotay for arbitrary reasons. And Libby the secret agent?

So I was relieved when Full Circle turned out to be much more to my liking. I wasn't terribly happy that Janeway was killed off, but her death is used to good effect in this book, particularly in regard to Chakotay. Having only recently watched season seven for the first time, I enjoyed the storyline following up on Miral and the prophecies about her. The new characters that have been introduced seem almost like interlopers among the familiar TV-originated Voyager characters, but the expansion of the cast is logical and needed to keep things fresh, so I'm sure I'll be interested in reading about them.

I haven't quite finished Full Circle yet. I'm on page 507, so I"m nearly there. I actually bought the book about six weeks ago, and have read it in several sessions of just a few pages, mixed with about three lunch hours where most of the hour was spent reading. So I've gotten my money's worth out of the word count.

The return to the Delta Quadrant makes sense. That was always Voyager's unique slant on the Star Trek formula, and it makes sense to distinguish the ship and its crew from TNG or DS9. And it seems as though there are plenty of plot threads and aliens that we saw on the TV show that would provide material for new stories.

In short, I care about the characters now, and that motivated me to pick up Full Circle. I find that the book does them justice, and I'm very much looking forward to finishing it and reading Unworthy.

 

[Christopher]

The only other relaunch novel I've read was Homecoming part 1, and I wasn't too impressed with it. I didn't find the plot all that engaging, and I thought that so much potential story material was glossed over and dealt with rapidly, such as Tuvok's illness and the rapid, out of nowhere breakup of Seven and Chakotay for arbitrary reasons.

Well, considering that the beginning of the Seven/Chakotay romance was just as rapid, out of nowhere, and arbitrary, isn't that appropriate? As I see it, they had a bit of tentative flirtation or dating in "Endgame" and then decided not to pursue it in Homecoming, which came immediately afterward. So you can't really call it a breakup, since they were never really together anyway.

 

[andersonh1]

The only other relaunch novel I've read was Homecoming part 1, and I wasn't too impressed with it. I didn't find the plot all that engaging, and I thought that so much potential story material was glossed over and dealt with rapidly, such as Tuvok's illness and the rapid, out of nowhere breakup of Seven and Chakotay for arbitrary reasons.

Well, considering that the beginning of the Seven/Chakotay romance was just as rapid, out of nowhere, and arbitrary, isn't that appropriate? As I see it, they had a bit of tentative flirtation or dating in "Endgame" and then decided not to pursue it in Homecoming, which came immediately afterward. So you can't really call it a breakup, since they were never really together anyway.

I've discussed this a bit over on the Chakotay/Seven thread in the Voyager section, so I won't belabor the point, but the setup in Human Error is enough for me, following on as it does from Unimatrix Zero and Seven's reminder that she once experienced love and romance. The ending of the relationship with Chakotay in the book literally comes out of nowhere, and is done for a very strange bit of reasoning. "We're not going to be on Voyager, so I'm dumping you." Huh? And as hard as Chakotay fights to keep her when she tries to break things off in Endgame, it struck me as out of character for him to give up so easily in Homecoming. His deep funk over Janeway in Full Circle is much more in character.

That was one of many things I didn't care for in the book, and hardly the biggest failing of the plot. But it was very much a "clearing of the decks" type plot moment, where the plot drove the action of the character rather than the other way around.

Full Circle, on the other hand, finally gives us the Janeway/Chakotay romantic subplot that the show would never quite commit to, and it's a pity that Janeway's death prevents further exploration of the idea. Poor Chakotay.