Just started Kirsten Beyer's stuff...

[stonester1]

Specifically, Full Circle, the first Voyager novel I bought. I've used to be a Voyager hater way back when, but I've since mellowed and have become a fan. Janeway's presence in the other Trek novels made me go, "Alright", and I'm liking it muchly.

She seems to have a "soft touch", almost letting the characters do their own thing, rather than the author being the one obviously pushing them along.

I REALLY can't wait for the stories of Voyager leading that fleet into the Delta Quadrant, post Destiny.

 

[RonG]

you're in for a treat!

I never used to like Voyager when it was on TV, and I think I'd liked the novels even less (except for a very select few like Echoes and Mosaic).

I bought Full Circle only to stay up to date on the Destiny aftermath / fallout, and to my surprise is was not only the best VOY novel, but one of my favorite trek novels of the last few years

Unworthy was a great follow up to Full Circle, and while that opening duology is a great complete package in itself, I eagerly await Kirsten's next VOY novel in 2011

BTW, if you check the "State of Trel Literature" thread elsewhere on this board, you'll see that Kirsten's VOY novels were IIRC very highly regarded by most (if not all) posters..

 

[garoo1980]

I'm in much the same boat. I watched Voyager but not very often, can't say I was really a fan. I picked up the books just because of the Destiny connection and I'm really glad I did. I read them back to back, it must 1000+ pages of Voyager and it didn't drag at all.

I found myself really liking Chakotay in those books. Some of the parts with him feeling sorry for himself didn't quite jell with me but overall I thought it was great insight into the man. Maybe I missed some character development on the series but after the first episode I thought it would be great watching him struggling to hold his crew together, joining the Starfleet crew but then it seemed to be done. After that I didn't see much from him at all. This book was quite the change

 

[Thrawn]

You really didn't miss character development on the series; it wasn't there. Robert Beltran was... heh, kind of pissed off about how his character was handled. To put it mildly. (From his Memory Alpha entry: He once remarked in an interview that he thought Star Trek: Voyager was "punishment for everything in my life up till that point.")

I, too, was impressed at how Beyer was able to repair 7 years of stunted characterization and give us an amazing person worthy of a Captain's role. Great stuff.

 

[Christopher]

^I wouldn't say seven years; more like three or four. When VGR began, the writing staff was under the leadership of the late Michael Piller, and nobody was more dedicated to character development than Michael Piller. That was the angle from which he approached every script: "How does it affect our characters?" Even the weakest episodes in the early seasons, like "Twisted" and "Threshold," were somewhat redeemed by their character focus.

It wasn't until Piller and then Jeri Taylor left that Chakotay's personality completely evaporated.

 

[Thrawn]

^ I see where you're coming from, but I actually disagree. The story arcs Chakotay had in the first couple seasons were basically all about him being stupid or weak. He didn't know about Seska. He got captured by Seska, and rescued by someone else. He kicked Paris off the ship, without being told about the whole plot, because they knew how he'd act. He was repeatedly established as a character kicked around, without the willpower or force to do anything about it.

I mean, after that, his character evaporated even further, but even that guy... the idea that someone could've made that character into a believably inspiring Captain would've been laughable to me before I read Full Circle.

 

[Christopher]

True, Chakotay was the most gullible guy in the Delta Quadrant, but I don't see that as the result of stupidity or weakness, just an optimistic, spiritual nature that made him inclined to trust others by default. And at least his personality had some texture -- his deep spirituality, his anthropological studies, his Maquis background. All of that, especially the spirituality, was lost in later seasons. You might not have liked his characterization much in the early seasons, but that doesn't mean he lacked characterization.

 

[garoo1980]

His trusting spiritual nature? I'd never thought of that. Interesting. That's not an asset in the terrorist/freedom fighter arena.

I didn't know Michael Piller left Voyager. His work on TNG was great. He definitely built on Gene's vision and made it exceptional. I think he was a big part of the reason TNG was superior to TOS.

Wow totally off topic. None of that has to do with Kirsten Beyer. Hope that's cool around here

 

[William Leisner]

Wow totally off topic. None of that has to do with Kirsten Beyer. Hope that's cool around here

Give her shoes a nice tongue-polish, and I'm sure she'll forgive you.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

True, Chakotay was the most gullible guy in the Delta Quadrant...

More gullible than Eternal-Ensign Harry Kim? Damn, that takes some skill.

 

[chelly]

I say Harry was the more gulible. Though I wouldn't trust Chakotay with a shuttlecraft. They seemed to go through more shuttlecrafts then all the other series did.

 

[Christopher]

More gullible than Eternal-Ensign Harry Kim? Damn, that takes some skill.

What does being gullible have to do with not getting promoted? Especially on a ship with nobody transferring off and therefore very little upward mobility?

I don't recall a lot of episodes about people tricking Harry into trusting them or otherwise deceiving him. But it happened a lot with Chakotay -- Seska, Tom, Riley. That's gullibility.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

Hm, just off the top of my head, Harry was taken in by Quark, Lokan and Dayla of the Nightingale... At the least he could be said to be equally as gullible. Or perhaps naive is the better word (though by season seven, he really should have outgrown the worst of it, but that's the failing of the show, not the liturature based on it).

At any rate, I tend to think of Harry as 'the Eternal Ensign' in my head, so it just kind of came out as I was typing, not specifically tying his gullibility to his lack of promotion. AND I was just trying to make a joke.

 

[Cybersnark]

Though I wouldn't trust Chakotay with a shuttlecraft. They seemed to go through more shuttlecrafts then all the other series did.

I wouldn't trust Tuvok with a shuttlecraft.

(The Star Trek magazine did a "by-the-numbers" breakdown years ago of Voyager's shuttle crashes. Turns out that, while Tom was in the most shuttle crashes [by simple virtue of having the most flight time], Tuvok has demolished every shuttle he's ever been in.)

Then, given what happened in the first couple of Titan books, I like to call Tuvok the Universe's Unluckiest Vulcan.

 

[JoeP]

(The Star Trek magazine did a "by-the-numbers" breakdown years ago of Voyager's shuttle crashes. Turns out that, while Tom was in the most shuttle crashes [by simple virtue of having the most flight time], Tuvok has demolished every shuttle he's ever been in.)

OMG, that's too damn funny.

 

[chelly]

Though I wouldn't trust Chakotay with a shuttlecraft. They seemed to go through more shuttlecrafts then all the other series did.

I wouldn't trust Tuvok with a shuttlecraft.

(The Star Trek magazine did a "by-the-numbers" breakdown years ago of Voyager's shuttle crashes. Turns out that, while Tom was in the most shuttle crashes [by simple virtue of having the most flight time], Tuvok has demolished every shuttle he's ever been in.)

Then, given what happened in the first couple of Titan books, I like to call Tuvok the Universe's Unluckiest Vulcan.

Oh my, Poor tuvok I agree he is not the luckiest Vulcan in the universe. Which is probably why he is on titan, he figures since no one really knows him he might have better luck.

 

[Warp Coil]

Specifically, Full Circle, the first Voyager novel I bought. I've used to be a Voyager hater way back when, but I've since mellowed and have become a fan. Janeway's presence in the other Trek novels made me go, "Alright", and I'm liking it muchly.

She seems to have a "soft touch", almost letting the characters do their own thing, rather than the author being the one obviously pushing them along.

I REALLY can't wait for the stories of Voyager leading that fleet into the Delta Quadrant, post Destiny.

I was never really a fan of VOY. I suffered through seven seasons of mediocrity. The initial batch of relaunch novels (written by Christie Golden) were a massive letdown in terms of story and character. I was essentially finished with VOY. I had no interest in it at all.

But the praise for Kirsten Beyer's new direction piqued my interest. I gave Full Circle a chance, and was so glad that I did. It's really impressive how I suddenly became interested in a series that I'd abandoned and written off as a waste. I'm really happy to see VOY finally get itself on track for the first time in...well... ever. I hope it continues!

 

[JoeP]

Specifically, Full Circle, the first Voyager novel I bought. I've used to be a Voyager hater way back when, but I've since mellowed and have become a fan. Janeway's presence in the other Trek novels made me go, "Alright", and I'm liking it muchly.

She seems to have a "soft touch", almost letting the characters do their own thing, rather than the author being the one obviously pushing them along.

I REALLY can't wait for the stories of Voyager leading that fleet into the Delta Quadrant, post Destiny.

I was never really a fan of VOY. I suffered through seven seasons of mediocrity. The initial batch of relaunch novels (written by Christie Golden) were a massive letdown in terms of story and character. I was essentially finished with VOY. I had no interest in it at all.

But the praise for Kirsten Beyer's new direction piqued my interest. I gave Full Circle a chance, and was so glad that I did. It's really impressive how I suddenly became interested in a series that I'd abandoned and written off as a waste. I'm really happy to see VOY finally get itself on track for the first time in...well... ever. I hope it continues!

I'm in the same boat. After Homecoming and Farther Shore, I was quite underwhelmed, and skipped Spirit Walk entirely. But with Janeway's fate, specifically how it fueled Full Circle, and with Unworthy, I've completely bought into Kirsten's Voyager. 2011 cannot come fast enough.

 

[CaptainDonovin]

I read Full Circle, and with Unworthy when they came out and am actually rereading Unwotrhy. I had high hopes for these, like a few of the other posts I never fully embraced the first relaunch novels. I find these new characters especally Voyager's councilor Hugh Cambridge. Gotta admit after reading his parts (especally after he called Chakotay and idiot) I picture Hugh Laurie (House) as that character.

 

[JoeP]

I read Full Circle, and with Unworthy when they came out and am actually rereading Unwotrhy. I had high hopes for these, like a few of the other posts I never fully embraced the first relaunch novels. I find these new characters especally Voyager's councilor Hugh Cambridge. Gotta admit after reading his parts (especally after he called Chakotay and idiot) I picture Hugh Laurie (House) as that character.

I think Kirsten has said before that he was basically the inspiration behind him.