Equinox crew??

[Sophie74656]

"Pathways" is a good book. It's interesting to read about the different characters background stories.

Unfortunately, there are some contradictions here and there in the stories which I find a bit annoying.

According to the series, Chakotay and his father weren't on good terms when Chakotay's father was killed. Chakotay searched for him in his vision quests but never got any reply until the events in "Tattoo". In the book, Chakotay and his father had made up the last time he visited the colony and he had spoken to him many times in his vision quests.

Paris had a bad relationship to his father and in the series we get the impression that Admiral Paris was something of a house tyrant. In the book, the problems are soothed over and most blame is put on Tom. In fact, in the book we were never told why Tom disliked his father so much.

According to the book B'Elanna's rebellious attitude in youth and at the Starfleet Academy is all about her relationship to her father, who left when B'Elanna was just a small kid. From the series, I got the impression that it had all to do with her Klingon temper.

The relationship with fathers also show up in "Mosaic" where Janeway's biggest issue is her relationship to her father.

In the book, Tom and B'Elanna did seem to know each other from the Maquis where Tom did save B'Elanna from drowning. When they meet in "Caretaker", they obviously don't know each other.

In "Jetrel", when Neelix tells janeway about how Rinax was destroyed, he mention his little brothers. In the book, it's stated that Neelix had three sisters.

I also find it strange that kes should save Jabin's life during a Nistrim attack on the Ogla settlement, considering the rough treatment Jabin was giving her before and after the Nistrim attack.

Despite such oddities, it's good reading. I find Neelix's story the most interesting and Kim's the least interesting.

The main story is a bit weak and predictable. I see it a bit odd that all the senior officers but Janeway are captured on an alien planet, I mean they could as well have been telling their stories at Sandrine's between pool playing. However the Subu are interesting aliens.

The main story in "Mosaic" is better and more exciting.

Yes some things are contradicted but it doesn't bother me personally since the books aren't canon

 

[Tracy Trek]

A question: As far as I know, PATHWAYS is a lot of books. Is it enough to read the VOY one(s) only or do you need to read boring as hell Picard? If the latter's the case, I surely won't read it ...

Pathways is a Voyager only book. It's backstory for all of the Voyager characters (except Seven), but she got her own book later. Similar to Mosaic being backstory for Janeway. Perhaps you are thinking of Gateways which does have a novel for each series.

As a fellow Tom fan i think you HAVE to read The Nanotech Wars

It's very good.

In "Jetrel", when Neelix tells Janeway about how Rinax was destroyed, he mention his little brothers. In the book, it's stated that Neelix had three sisters.

Well, to be fair, they did state later in the series (in Rise, Mortal Coil and Once Upon a Time) that Neelix had at least one sister Alixia. So lets head canon it to he had sisters and little brothers both.

 

[Lynx]

Yes some things are contradicted but it doesn't bother me personally since the books aren't canon

I consider the events in the books as canon as long as it doesn't contradict things on screen.
When I read something which contradicts facts, like when Janeway's former fianceé is called "Mark Mason" instead of Mark Johnson and when it mentioned that kes and Neelix shared the same quarter, I just skip it and move on.
In fact, the Voyager books are easy to fit into an ongoing Voyager timeline. Not that many contradictions in them.

 

[fireproof78]

I'm sure some wouldn't

I find that highly amusing.

 

[Thomas Eugene]

As a fellow Tom fan i think you HAVE to read The Nanotech Wars

All right, thanks. What's NANOTECH WARS? I think that's the one with Tommy and Seven on the cover, isn't it? I own that one but I've never read it. Anyway what can I expect? Tommyboy at his best?

Pathways is a Voyager only book. It's backstory for all of the Voyager characters (except Seven), but she got her own book later. Similar to Mosaic being backstory for Janeway. Perhaps you are thinking of Gateways which does have a novel for each series.

I see, I must have mixed up the two. So is PATHWAYS a series of short stories?
What about GATEWAYS? Do you need to read boring Picard et al for that one?

 

[Sophie74656]

All right, thanks. What's NANOTECH WARS? I think that's the one with Tommy and Seven on the cover, isn't it? I own that one but I've never read it. Anyway what can I expect? Tommyboy at his best?

I see, I must have mixed up the two. So is PATHWAYS a series of short stories?
What about GATEWAYS? Do you need to read boring Picard et al for that one?

With Gateways I only read the Voyager one and it made sense to me. If I remember correctly it ends on a cliff hanger and there is another book that has the conclusion.

As for The Nanotech War, without giving too much away....Voyager encounters a species that heavily uses nanotechnology in basically every aspect of their lives. A civil war of sorts erupts on their planet when they learn about Seven and her nanoprobes. Tom is kidnapped, brainwashed, and sold as a servant. It's beena while since I've read it and now I'm wanting to read it again.

 

[Guy Gardener]

What we can do, is a group of us can read assigned chapters of a selected book out loud to the voice recorder on our phones, and then assemble the chapters with at the very least "eeeeeemail".

Or is that copyright infringement?

 

[Tracy Trek]

I see, I must have mixed up the two. So is PATHWAYS a series of short stories?

It's a series of mini biographies for the Voyager crew.

Gateways is where each of the crews from the different series (except Enterprise, which didn't exist yet) are encountering the Iconian gateway technology* technology that was introduced in the TNG episode Contagion. It's been ages since I've read them and I don't recall anything about them other than the main premise.

*Portals through time and space.

 

[Lynx]

All right, thanks. What's NANOTECH WARS? I think that's the one with Tommy and Seven on the cover, isn't it? I own that one but I've never read it. Anyway what can I expect? Tommyboy at his best?

I see, I must have mixed up the two. So is PATHWAYS a series of short stories?
What about GATEWAYS? Do you need to read boring Picard et al for that one?

"Patways" is about all the main characters, except for Janeway being captured by a race called the Subu and placed in a war prison camp.
While they are planning their escape, they tell their life stories to each other

 

[Sophie74656]

"Patways" is about all the main characters, except for Janeway being captured by a race called the Subu and placed in a war prison camp.
While they are planning their escape, they tell their life stories to each other

I liked the plot about them being captured and their escape better than the backstories of the crew

 

[Thomas Eugene]

Thanks for all the info, everyone. Once I have caught my breath, I might read one these books. I haven't read a VOY book for two years at least.

 

[stardream]

Once again I think about starting a thread about the Voyager numbered books....some of the later ones were pretty good, Greg Cox wrote a good one and the String Theory trilogy was good. A little wordy and dense but good.

 

[Sophie74656]

Once again I think about starting a thread about the Voyager numbered books....some of the later ones were pretty good, Greg Cox wrote a good one and the String Theory trilogy was good. A little wordy and dense but good.

The later ones were great! I enjoyed one of the early ones. I think it was called The Escape. I believe it was written before a lot of season one so some of the characters' behaviors are a little off. But i liked the concept in the novel. Another numbered boo that stands out to me is Echoes

 

[stardream]

I remember I kind of liked CyberSong.

The biggest frustration with me about the numbered series is they were 'stuck' in the first three seasons long after Seven had joined the crew. (Lynx-feel free to scroll on past this ) It seemed forever before we got the Seven of Nine story (which should have been called something else btw-A Pocket Full of Sixpence or something. It was just another adventure but centered around Seven. It wasn't 'her' story).

So many of the early stories were 'Voyager is starving, beautiful planet, the planet is evil or strange' and throw in Paris being mixed up with an alien woman in some fashion. Greg Cox said he started his story 'The Black Shore' before the show had even started and he admitted to using those tropes because the story of a lost ship was all he had to go on. It's a good book but the frustration was it was released long after Kes had left the show and some of us were ready to move on. (Lynx-go take a walk or something...yes, I"m just teasing).

We didn't even get into the Torres/Paris relationship until Marooned and even then it was very early days. I vaguely remember one after Seven joined the crew that had Tom being briefly smitten with an alien woman. Uh...no. The Tom/B'Elanna relationship and Seven arriving happened at the same time. It was a minor thing but it still bugged me.

 

[Sophie74656]

I remember I kind of liked CyberSong.

The biggest frustration with me about the numbered series is they were 'stuck' in the first three seasons long after Seven had joined the crew. (Lynx-feel free to scroll on past this ) It seemed forever before we got the Seven of Nine story (which should have been called something else btw-A Pocket Full of Sixpence or something. It was just another adventure but centered around Seven. It wasn't 'her' story).

So many of the early stories were 'Voyager is starving, beautiful planet, the planet is evil or strange' and throw in Paris being mixed up with an alien woman in some fashion. Greg Cox said he started his story 'The Black Shore' before the show had even started and he admitted to using those tropes because the story of a lost ship was all he had to go on. It's a good book but the frustration was it was released long after Kes had left the show and some of us were ready to move on. (Lynx-go take a walk or something...yes, I"m just teasing).

We didn't even get into the Torres/Paris relationship until Marooned and even then it was very early days. I vaguely remember one after Seven joined the crew that had Tom being briefly smitten with an alien woman. Uh...no. The Tom/B'Elanna relationship and Seven arriving happened at the same time. It was a minor thing but it still bugged me.

Completely agreed. That's one of the reasons I enjoy The Nanotech War so much. It's set in season 7 so there's the Seven story line and a fair amount of Tom/B'Elanna.

 

[Lynx]

I remember I kind of liked CyberSong.

The biggest frustration with me about the numbered series is they were 'stuck' in the first three seasons long after Seven had joined the crew. (Lynx-feel free to scroll on past this ) It seemed forever before we got the Seven of Nine story (which should have been called something else btw-A Pocket Full of Sixpence or something. It was just another adventure but centered around Seven. It wasn't 'her' story).

So many of the early stories were 'Voyager is starving, beautiful planet, the planet is evil or strange' and throw in Paris being mixed up with an alien woman in some fashion. Greg Cox said he started his story 'The Black Shore' before the show had even started and he admitted to using those tropes because the story of a lost ship was all he had to go on. It's a good book but the frustration was it was released long after Kes had left the show and some of us were ready to move on. (Lynx-go take a walk or something...yes, I"m just teasing).

We didn't even get into the Torres/Paris relationship until Marooned and even then it was very early days. I vaguely remember one after Seven joined the crew that had Tom being briefly smitten with an alien woman. Uh...no. The Tom/B'Elanna relationship and Seven arriving happened at the same time. It was a minor thing but it still bugged me.

That's why I love the numbered series books.

They take place in seasons 1-3, they are so many and they are so incredibly good!

As for "The Black Shore" by Greg Cox which happens to be my favorite book, I must question the statement about Greg Cox writing the book before the show had started because the book has a lot of references to events which had happened in the season 1 and season 2 episodes, about Seska, Jonas and Suder among others. The events in the book takes place shortly after Voyager had left Kazon space (see my book reviews at the Kes Website for more information). I get the impression that "The Black Shore" must have been written during the time season 3 was aired in the US.

In the book "Voyages Of Imagination" which is a sort of encyclopedia about Star Trek books, its stated that the books "The Escape", "Ragnarok" and "Violations" were written before the series was aired and none of the authors of those books had seen any episodes before writing the books. Maybe you are messing up Greg Cox with those authors?

 

[stardream]

That's why I love the numbered series books.

They take place in seasons 1-3, they are so many and they are so incredibly good!

As for "The Black Shore" by Greg Cox which happens to be my favorite book, I must question the statement about Greg Cox writing the book before the show had started because the book has a lot of references to events which had happened in the season 1 and season 2 episodes, about Seska, Jonas and Suder among others. The events in the book takes place shortly after Voyager had left Kazon space (see my book reviews at the Kes Website for more information). I get the impression that "The Black Shore" must have been written during the time season 3 was aired in the US.

In the book "Voyages Of Imagination" which is a sort of encyclopedia about Star Trek books, its stated that the books "The Escape", "Ragnarok" and "Violations" were written before the series was aired and none of the authors of those books had seen any episodes before writing the books. Maybe you are messing up Greg Cox with those authors?

No, it's something Cox said himself in the thread 'Describe a Novel terribly' in reply to what I said about weird planets and Tom Paris getting mixed up with alien women.

I'll cop to committing both of those.

In my defense, the show hadn't debuted yet when I plotted my VOYAGER book, so all I had to go on, really, was the basic premise of a lost ship on a long voyage home. So I basically raided "The Odyssey": Circe, the Lotus Eaters, etc.

And I suspect I wasn't the only author cribbing from Homer.

 

[Sophie74656]

No, it's something Cox said himself in the thread 'Describe a Novel terribly' in reply to what I said about weird planets and Tom Paris getting mixed up with alien women.

Very interesting to see the author's actual thoughts on the matter

 

[Lynx]

No, it's something Cox said himself in the thread 'Describe a Novel terribly' in reply to what I said about weird planets and Tom Paris getting mixed up with alien women.

OK, then I guess that he did plot his story before the first episode was aired but wrote it later.
As a matter of fact, he occasionally post on this forum so let us hope that he will come up with a comment about this.
Anyway, "The Black Shore" is a great book!

 

[Tracy Trek]

I just thought some of the earlier Voyager novels felt a bit out of character to me. Maybe it's the ones that were written before any of the show aired. I think Seska was still with them in the one called The Escape.