Just Finished Reading "Children of the Storm" ...

[Gatekeeper]

Everyone:

... and, by God, it's one of the *best* Star Trek books I've *ever* read. Seriously. You are to be commended, Kirsten Beyer, for a job well done.

CotS, to me, embodied what Star Trek is all about — exploration and learning, along with a good dollop of suspense. It was an especially refreshing read in the post-Borg Invasion era of novels. CotS has restored, to a great deal, my belief that if there is to be a future for humanity, I want it to be a Star Trek one.

Don't get me wrong. I've read many "darker" Star Trek books (especially in the post-Borg Invasion era), and can appreciate their tones. But, honestly, Kirsten Beyer's work felt like a nice, hot shower in the morning right after one wakes up — in other words, refreshing and empowering.

I absolutely recommend "Children of the Storm" to any reader out there. You don't even have to be a Star Trek fan to appreciate it. It's *that* good. Get it. Now. And enjoy it!

Gatekeeper

 

[Mage]

The entire series of VOY novels by Kirsten are among the best out there, and made me appreciate Voyager again. Her new novel, out next year, is one of the books I'm most excited about!!

 

[Judith Sisko]

Everyone:

... and, by God, it's one of the *best* Star Trek books I've *ever* read. Seriously. You are to be commended, Kirsten Beyer, for a job well done.

CotS, to me, embodied what Star Trek is all about — exploration and learning, along with a good dollop of suspense. It was an especially refreshing read in the post-Borg Invasion era of novels. CotS has restored, to a great deal, my belief that if there is to be a future for humanity, I want it to be a Star Trek one.

Don't get me wrong. I've read many "darker" Star Trek books (especially in the post-Borg Invasion era), and can appreciate their tones. But, honestly, Kirsten Beyer's work felt like a nice, hot shower in the morning right after one wakes up — in other words, refreshing and empowering.

I absolutely recommend "Children of the Storm" to any reader out there. You don't even have to be a Star Trek fan to appreciate it. It's *that* good. Get it. Now. And enjoy it!

Gatekeeper

QFT

 

[Thrawn]

Yeah, pretty much.

 

[nickyboy]

I have heard so much good stuff about Kirsten Beyer's relaunch that I have finally decided to dip my toe in the water and try Full circle. I was never a huge fan of Voyager, I found most the characters boring and the character development was awful. I am interested to see if Miss Beyer has been able to turn things around.

 

[Thrawn]

Yeah. You are about to have your socks rocked right the hell off.

 

[Gatekeeper]

SPOILER ALERT!



One thing did catch my attention, but it's a minor thing: As a DS9 fan, I know Starfleet had starfighter-type ships, because you could see them on-screen sometimes during the battles against the Dominion and its allies.

Yet, in CotS, the two dozen starfighters in Achilles' storage bay are treated as if the concept is new to Starfleet. Doesn't this sort of conflict with what viewers saw and readers read in DS9? Or am I missing something?

Gatekeeper

 

[Epsilon IX]

^I'm under the impression that they're some radically advanced new design which are completely unlike the ones we saw on DS9, which probably have some really advanced gadgetry, such as bioneural circuits, batmobile armour, wing mirrors, cupholders etc.

Kudos to Gatekeeper: Children of the Storm is an excellent read. Voyager re-launch writer Kirsten Beyer still continues to deliver. If you're reading this, Kirsten well done, and keep up the good work.

 

[Warp Coil]

I have heard so much good stuff about Kirsten Beyer's relaunch that I have finally decided to dip my toe in the water and try Full circle. I was never a huge fan of Voyager, I found most the characters boring and the character development was awful. I am interested to see if Miss Beyer has been able to turn things around.

I was largely underwhelmed and disappointed with VOY the television series. It's astonishing to see how Kirsten Beyer managed to make these characters so complex and interesting in her three (so far) VOY relaunch novels. I never thought that I'd actually give a damn what happened to these people. Now the series is a must-read.

 

[Cybersnark]

I've been assuming the new fighters are just a new evolution of the Valkyrie-class (seen in Star Trek: Invasion) --equally assuming that the Valkyrie program was a fairly covert/security-minded one that most of the Voyager crew was never briefed on (since it would've been over by the time they got back, and they had more pressing concerns).

 

[Thrawn]

I have heard so much good stuff about Kirsten Beyer's relaunch that I have finally decided to dip my toe in the water and try Full circle. I was never a huge fan of Voyager, I found most the characters boring and the character development was awful. I am interested to see if Miss Beyer has been able to turn things around.

I was largely underwhelmed and disappointed with VOY the television series. It's astonishing to see how Kirsten Beyer managed to make these characters so complex and interesting in her three (so far) VOY relaunch novels. I never thought that I'd actually give a damn what happened to these people. Now the series is a must-read.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[Turtletrekker]

I have heard so much good stuff about Kirsten Beyer's relaunch that I have finally decided to dip my toe in the water and try Full circle. I was never a huge fan of Voyager, I found most the characters boring and the character development was awful. I am interested to see if Miss Beyer has been able to turn things around.

I was largely underwhelmed and disappointed with VOY the television series. It's astonishing to see how Kirsten Beyer managed to make these characters so complex and interesting in her three (so far) VOY relaunch novels. I never thought that I'd actually give a damn what happened to these people. Now the series is a must-read.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Agreed.

 

[Gatekeeper]

^I'm under the impression that they're some radically advanced new design which are completely unlike the ones we saw on DS9, which probably have some really advanced gadgetry, such as bioneural circuits, batmobile armour, wing mirrors, cupholders etc.

You really can't go wrong with cupholders. I shall definitely be looking forward to Beyer's next Voyager title, especially to see what becomes of these uber-starfighters.

Gatekeeper (who thinks ST should have always had starfighters to help defend the capital ships ... better late than never)

 

[Gatekeeper]

I've been assuming the new fighters are just a new evolution of the Valkyrie-class (seen in Star Trek: Invasion) --equally assuming that the Valkyrie program was a fairly covert/security-minded one that most of the Voyager crew was never briefed on (since it would've been over by the time they got back, and they had more pressing concerns).

*whistles* I'll take a Mark III 3b model, please.

 

[Christopher]

Gatekeeper (who thinks ST should have always had starfighters to help defend the capital ships ... better late than never)

Fighters make no sense in space combat. Their only real value in Earth combat is to allow ships or ground facilities to extend their defensive/offensive reach beyond the horizon, but there are no horizons in space. And there's nothing that a manned fighter could do that couldn't be done equally well with a smart missile, and with less need to expend energy and mass on a cockpit and life support for a living pilot, and less need to throw away the lives of living pilots.

Besides, fighters are Star Wars's thing. Star Trek should have its own distinct flavor.

 

[BrotherBenny]

Starfleet ships should carry a bunch of Cardassian Dreadnoughts instead of fighters.

 

[Edit_XYZ]

Gatekeeper (who thinks ST should have always had starfighters to help defend the capital ships ... better late than never)

Fighters make no sense in space combat. Their only real value in Earth combat is to allow ships or ground facilities to extend their defensive/offensive reach beyond the horizon, but there are no horizons in space.

Perhaps.
Of course, if we want to be fully realistic, human/vulcan/etc captains and crew make no sense in an universe with computers as fast and smart as repeatedly showed in star trek.
Organics are just too slow - and, as 'Destiny' showed, their creativity is overrated.

And there's nothing that a manned fighter could do that couldn't be done equally well with a smart missile, and with less need to expend energy and mass on a cockpit and life support for a living pilot, and less need to throw away the lives of living pilots.

And there's nothing that a fully crewed ship can do that couldn't be done by a smart probe - no need to risk/waste lives.

Besides, fighters are Star Wars's thing. Star Trek should have its own distinct flavor.

If, after the Dominion War and Destiny, starfleet didn't even try to improve its lacking military capabilities, then it truly doesn't care about the life and security of the Federation's citizens.

The fighters from "Children of the Storm' are, apparently, intended as an attempt to pack a lot of firepower (as much as possible) in a small package aka less resources to build, easier to replace if lost - which does make a lot of sense in star trek type battles.

 

[Cybersnark]

Fighters make no sense in space combat. Their only real value in Earth combat is to allow ships or ground facilities to extend their defensive/offensive reach beyond the horizon, but there are no horizons in space. And there's nothing that a manned fighter could do that couldn't be done equally well with a smart missile,

If by "smart missile" you mean "recoverable drone, with enough onboard weaponry to defend itself while completing its mission" then yeah, arguably (though remote controls can be jammed, and Starfleet's history with decision-making self-guided AI is. . . complicated, so having a flesh-and-blood pilot aboard does make sense).

A starship can (usually) be in only one place at a time. Fighters can spread out, attacking a target from multiple angles without providing a centralized weak spot (no "taking out its engines/weapons/life-support" --to disable a fighter squadron, you have to disable each ship individually).

The fighters in question might also be warp-capable, allowing for long-range strikes and recon passes beyond a mothership's sensor range, without endangering the ship itself.

A living (Starfleet-trained) pilot can also be used for diplomacy, of course (turning the "fighters" into high-speed couriers and single-person transports), and can easily get out of the fighter and continue to function on the ground or aboard ship.

Hell, just think of how much use Starfleet ships get out of their shuttlecraft, and how often said shuttles end up in trouble because they're lightly armed, have no wingmates, and are piloted by Tuvok (though that won't be a problem here).

 

[KQuita]

I can't say enough about Ms. Beyers Voyager Trilogy except that I sure hope there are more coming and fast. While Vanguard and Typhon Pact are wrapping up it would be great to see a continuation of these stories. Simon and Shuster please listen to the fans, we are the one spending the money buying the books. We want more Kristen Beyer Voyager books and more Klingon Series books.

Today is a Good Day to Buy
a quality Star Trek book

KQuita

 

[Thrawn]

^ She just announced, there's another one coming next year in the fall.