Full Circle Review Thread (Spoilers)

[Kathryn J.]

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.

I very deeply agree with you! I hope one of the writers and Pocket Books would have the courage to realize the further exploration of the J/C relationship. No one less than Lady Q took care of Janeway's spirit in Before Dishonor. It would be an exciting novel what Lady Q has up her sleeve.
Chistopher... Kirsten... what would you think about it???
Should we miss Janeway for all eternity? I hope not...

 

[Sci]

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.

I very deeply agree with you! I hope one of the writers and Pocket Books would have the courage to realize the further exploration of the J/C relationship. No one less than Lady Q took care of Janeway's spirit in Before Dishonor. It would be an exciting novel what Lady Q has up her sleeve.
Chistopher... Kirsten... what would you think about it???
Should we miss Janeway for all eternity? I hope not...

I for one hope we do. Characters tend to be resurrected far too often and far too easily in the TrekVerse, and it undermines the dramatic integrity of a franchise whose stories are often built on the premise of the threat of imminent death.

 

[T'Ressa Dax]

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks so, Sci. If everyone keeps getting reanimated, readers just won't care when someone 'dies'.

 

[Square]

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks so, Sci. If everyone keeps getting reanimated, readers just won't care when someone 'dies'.

And it cheapens their sacrifice.

If Janeway pops up again, I hope it's as a Q-ish something, but I don't see how to write that without it being hokey. Alas, we know Chakotay talks to "dead" people in visions, so maybe we'll get to see Janeway one last time before we move on.

 

[captcalhoun]

oh, god, not the Janeway Wars again!

*runs screaming for the hills*

 

[JB2005]

^Okay quick everyone hide before a militant Janeway fan appears...

*spots a militant Janeway fan*

bah!

Seriously though, we went through like a thousand posts not long after I joined and we came to the conclusion "Janeway's death was controversial"

 

[captcalhoun]

and

"you can't please all the people all the time. sometimes you can't please any of the people any of the time"

 

[JB2005]

not to mention:

"We all had waaaay too much time on our hands"

 

[Elemental]

I just finished this book a few minutes ago. In one word: WOW. This is easily one of the best Trek books I've read. Kirsten clearly loves and respects Voyager and reading the novel was like a spine-tingling walk down memory lane.

This novel probably contained the best "Chakotay-story" of any episode or novel. Watching his pained dealings with Janeway's death through all stages of grief until finally reaching acceptance was pure gold. Never once did I feel that this was untrue to his character. In truth, this novel was probably the first story that felt to legitimize Janeway's death. When any major character dies, if there isn't some kind of meaning given to their death, it feels cheap and unpurposeful. As with many others, that's how I initially felt about her death. But finally now being able to see her crew's (and especially Chakotay's) reaction to it really created the sense of respect that her character deserved. I can now look back at her death with more than just a sense of disappointment.

I am very intrigued with the direction this series is to be headed now in this post-Destiny universe. The whole concept of the Voyager fleet returning to the Delta Quadrant has enormous potential and is truly a first for Star Trek. The concept feels similar to Ron Moore's BSG, but that series' characters and universe never really drew me in the way this does. Other than A Singular Destiny, this is the first post-Destiny novel I have finished. If the other series' follow-up novels are anywhere near as good as this one at setting the sights on where the series will be heading from here, then we're going to be in for some interesting stories.

There were a number of things that genuinely shocked me in this novel. I think I let out an audible gasp when I read that Kaz had been killed. He was one of my favourite parts of the Voyager relaunch thus far. His death (along with others) does help though to show the tragedy of the events of Destiny brought home for Voyager. I guess I also always expected that Chakotay would still end up being the one to captain Voyager but that didn't happen. This new Captain Eden does seem very interesting in her own right though and I am intrigued to see where this story of her origins leads.

"When in doubt, look here." This line came to Chakotay's mind at the end in front of Janeway's memorial. Where did this come from again? Was it a piece of text that was on her memorial?

I'm sure there's more that will come to mind later but for now I'll leave it at that. Bravo!

 

[Kirsten Beyer]

^Thanks Elemental! I'm glad this worked for you. The line you reference is what Chakotay engraved on the mirror he tried to give Janeway in the Delta Quadrant (from Isabo's Shirt) and was planning to give her again in Venice in the prologue when he learned that she died.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on Unworthy.

Best,
Kirsten

 

[TenLubak]

i bought this back in April, finished in a week! It was my fist post VGR ending book, I really liked this novel. I can't wait for the next one, and getting to know the new captain!

 

[Elemental]

What exactly was it at the end of the book that inspired Chakotay to leave Starfleet? Did he figure he wasn't doing it for himself but had been doing it for Janeway? What happens with Chakotay from here? I can't imagine that he and Seven won't play an important role in the upcoming Voyager novels but how will they be fit in?

 

[Christopher]

What exactly was it at the end of the book that inspired Chakotay to leave Starfleet?

From what I recall, it's the endpoint of a complex journey that's hard to do justice on a BBS. Well, as much a beginning as an endpoint. Really, you'd be much more satisfied reading the book than just reading someone's post summarizing it online.

 

[William Leisner]

Really, you'd be much more satisfied reading the book than just reading someone's post summarizing it online.

Well, that's just crazy talk!

 

[Thrawn]

^ Did you both miss Elemental's review of the book three posts further up? When you snark, snark accurately

 

[Christopher]

How is it "snark" to suggest a way that someone could gain greater satisfaction? I was making a recommendation, not a criticism. And no, I didn't realize the poster had read the book, because the question as phrased implied s/he hadn't. Since Elemental's review was posted ten days earlier and the board jumps me right to the first unread post, I didn't make any connection with the earlier review when I read the question.

 

[Elemental]

Thanks Thrawn, yes I did read the book and that's what sparked the question. It never really gave a great idea of what made Chakotay come to this decision and I wasn't sure if this was an attempt to leave things open-ended or if I had missed something. Chakotay seems like a pretty natural born leader and seems like he fit into Starfleet material quite well but left because he was sympathetic with the Maquis. It's not that I don't think there's good story potential with him being outside Starfleet now; I think we need more characters of the civilian variety. But I think Full Circle traced the growth of Chakotay more than any other character and, while this was an interesting end, I don't know that I fully understand it, and based on Christopher's response, I'm wondering if others are in the same boat.

 

[William Leisner]

^ Did you both miss Elemental's review of the book three posts further up?

Oh, I probably read it a week and a half ago when he initially posted it, sure. I'm sorry to say, though, that most of the posts on this board do not get a permanent slot in long-term memory. And I'm also sorry to say that, when someone comes onto the board and asks, "What happened in Book X?" my initial thought is not, "Hey, let me scroll back and see if this person has posted a review."

 

[Elemental]

Or, one might actually give someone some benefit of the doubt rather than jumping to the assumption that they must not be living up to others' high standards and then proceeding to tell them as much.

I think my post implies some degree of knowledge of the novel where it at least would not be unreasonable to assume I might know something of what I'm talking about. Seeking clarification of something that was not exactly flashing in neon letters within the book, as well as discussion of where plotlines might go from here, also seems a fair course of action on a forum designed for the discussion of Star Trek novels. And seeing as how no one has actually answered my question, perhaps I'm not the only one wondering about this.

Or maybe that's just crazy talk.

 

[BrotherBenny]

I assumed he left Starfleet so he was able to properly grieve for the woman he loved and to find himself again.

And now of course we know that both Chakotay and Seven will go to the DQ to the rest of their shipmates for some unknown reason, we can speculate that this is Chakotay trying to find himself...and where better than the "family" he knew for seven years through thick and thin.