My problems with Kirstens Voyager Novels

[Christopher]

Could someone fill me in real quick on what the slipstream drive's capabilities and availability are? I assume it's a follow-up to that Voyager ep, but haven't reached that point in the novels yet.

Its capabilities as shown onscreen are variable; "Hope and Fear" asserted it would take three months to cover 60,000 light years at slipstream velocity, but "Timeless" showed Voyager covering 10,000 ly in a couple of minutes. In Kirsten's novels, it seems to be more toward the "Timeless" end of the scale, with the Delta Quadrant maybe around a week's travel from the Federation, give or take.

So who has it?

Only the UFP at this point.

Is there some scarceness built in, i.e. is it costly or difficult to use?

It requires benamite crystals, which are extremely rare and difficult to manufacture. Thus it's only used when it really needs to be used.

Also, the nature of slipstream puts some limits on ship design; we've established in the novels that the bigger a slipstream conduit is, the harder it is to keep stable, so it works best for small or narrow ships. So an Intrepid-class ship like Voyager can pull it off, and the Vesta class was designed for it and is thus narrow and dart-shaped, but it would be difficult to adapt a wider ship class like a Galaxy, Nebula, Sovereign, or Luna to slipstream drive as it currently exists.

 

[Sho]

Thanks everyone .

I'm growing increasingly curious about the Voyager post-finale books, though it's a bit disheartening that the ones leading up to Kirsten's don't seem to enjoy as good a reputation. Ah well, I just started on Vanguard now and then I want to catch up with the AQ first ...

 

[Lindley]

Thanks everyone .

I'm growing increasingly curious about the Voyager post-finale books, though it's a bit disheartening that the ones leading up to Kirsten's don't seem to enjoy as good a reputation. Ah well, I just started on Vanguard now and then I want to catch up with the AQ first ...

I barely remember Homecoming and the The Farther Shore. I don't know that I ever even finished Spirit Walk. But I had no trouble following Full Circle.

Most of what you need to know is set up by the TNG relaunch and the Destiny trilogy anyway, rather than the earlier VOY books.

 

[captcalhoun]

i read the full circle series without having read beyer's books and i got by just fine.

it's probably a bigger deal to read Destiny and the last A Time To book...

 

[Sho]

It will be a while ...

 

[Yevetha]

Had the books revisited any species or planet from the series?

 

[captcalhoun]

the Mikhal travellers have been mentioned, but that's all so far. oh, and 8472....

 

[Therin of Andor]

I barely remember Homecoming and the The Farther Shore. I don't know that I ever even finished Spirit Walk.

I recall really enjoying the preview of "Homecoming" which was tacked onto the back of the "Endgame" novelization. Not just opening chapters, but almost a compression of events to come. For those angered by the TV series ending before the ship arrived in Earth orbit, it was a more satisfying conclusion, perhaps.

As for the eventual duology, I was a bit bewildered that we had a new Borg threat already. And I hated the whole hologram revolt stuff, but otherwise "Homecoming" and the "The Farther Shore" are okay/interesting reads. I'm afraid that angry, negative reviews of the "Spirit Walk" duology made me start piling other unread ST novels on top of them. I can barely see them at the bottom of the pile now. They'll have to wait till I retire, methinks.

 

[Christopher]

I've always been surprised by the harsh reactions some people have had to Spirit Walk. I didn't have any major problems with it. A lot of the complaints I heard seemed to be about the spiritual aspects of the story, but I don't see how they're any more objectionable than DS9 storylines involving the Prophets, or any of the other Trek stories about hyperadvanced entities with godlike powers.

 

[Sho]

The plot summaries for Spirit Walk, especially book 2, sure made me go "ouch, corny" earlier today ...

 

[JD]

Had the books revisited any species or planet from the series?

the Mikhal travellers have been mentioned, but that's all so far. oh, and 8472....

There have also been appearances by Neelix, and at least references to the Talaxian colony where he lives now.

 

[Guest12]

Personally, I've really enjoyed Ms. Beyer's novels. But I also enjoyed the "Spirit Walk" duology a lot, though I may be in the minority there. My only problem with Ms. Beyer's novels was killing off Dr. Kaz. He was one of my favorite characters from TrekLit; I wish, at least, his symbiont had survived, but ...

And I suppose also killing off Akolo Tare without ever resolving the plotline of whether she was/was not raped/sexually assaulted by one of the holograms. But limited space, I guess. And I also think that the new pilot seems like she could turn out to be a really interesting character.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

My only problem with Ms. Beyer's novels was killing off Dr. Kaz. He was one of my favorite characters from TrekLit; I wish, at least, his symbiont had survived, but ...

I'm a little conflicted on the Kaz issue. I liked him too, and I'm sad he's gone; then again, I like the fact that the loss meant something. Voyager getting trashed at the Azure Nebula ended up having more of an impact when it killed off a character I'd become invested in. So, basically...the fact that I'm sad at his death balances out the fact that I'm sad at his death.

 

[Relayer1]

I've always been surprised by the harsh reactions some people have had to Spirit Walk. I didn't have any major problems with it. A lot of the complaints I heard seemed to be about the spiritual aspects of the story, but I don't see how they're any more objectionable than DS9 storylines involving the Prophets, or any of the other Trek stories about hyperadvanced entities with godlike powers.

With me it was both plot and writing - the colonists turned into monsters (and back) was hackneyed, outdated and unoriginal, and it didn't seem well done at all.

My only problem with Ms. Beyer's novels was killing off Dr. Kaz. He was one of my favorite characters from TrekLit; I wish, at least, his symbiont had survived, but ...

My take was that Ms Beyer resolved or tied off ALL of the dangling plot threads from the previous novels as quickly and definitively as possible in order to put her own stamp on the franchise.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

She explained her reasoning for each death or removal of the characters that had been previously introduced back in the Full Circle review thread. I don't have a link handy, but I do remember that her explanation for Kaz's death was essentially that the joined Trill had been done as characters already, explored from several angles, and, rather than reexplore a character from that species in the ongoing novels and wind up retreading territory already covered, she opted to instead introduce a character from another species who hadn't been explored and see what they're like.

 

[Guest12]

She explained her reasoning for each death or removal of the characters that had been previously introduced back in the Full Circle review thread. I don't have a link handy, but I do remember that her explanation for Kaz's death was essentially that the joined Trill had been done as characters already, explored from several angles, and, rather than reexplore a character from that species in the ongoing novels and wind up retreading territory already covered, she opted to instead introduce a character from another species who hadn't been explored and see what they're like.

I'm definitely not arguing that she had no reason to do it. I just liked the idea that Kaz had kind of been with these characters since their return, had built up his relationship with them/had even jeopardized his own career for them and then the "new crew" all kind of got re-booted again. But, like I said, I still enjoy Ms. Beyer's novels.

 

[SicOne]

It requires benamite crystals, which are extremely rare and difficult to manufacture. Thus it's only used when it really needs to be used.

Also, the nature of slipstream puts some limits on ship design; we've established in the novels that the bigger a slipstream conduit is, the harder it is to keep stable, so it works best for small or narrow ships. So an Intrepid-class ship like Voyager can pull it off, and the Vesta class was designed for it and is thus narrow and dart-shaped, but it would be difficult to adapt a wider ship class like a Galaxy, Nebula, Sovereign, or Luna to slipstream drive as it currently exists.

Wasn't there some kind of problem with the crystals; weren't they going through them at some accelerated rate and risked being stranded without slipstream? How was that resolved, or was it?

Also, I thought the Luna-class wasn't much wider than the Intrepid. I don't see why Lunas would have a problem with slipstream. And IIRC the Sovereign-class is the same width as the Vesta and basically the same shape so it shouldn't have problems with slipstream. I can certainly see how the very wide Nebula and Galaxy couldn't generate or maintain a slipstream corridor, but not why Lunas and Sovereigns would have difficulties. One would think that the Nova-class would be ideal for it.

Finally, has it been ascertained whether or not a slipstream corridor is round, or oval in nature?

 

[Christopher]

Wasn't there some kind of problem with the crystals; weren't they going through them at some accelerated rate and risked being stranded without slipstream? How was that resolved, or was it?

You'll find the answers in Unworthy.

Also, I thought the Luna-class wasn't much wider than the Intrepid. I don't see why Lunas would have a problem with slipstream. And IIRC the Sovereign-class is the same width as the Vesta and basically the same shape so it shouldn't have problems with slipstream.

The Intrepid class is about 133 meters wide; the Luna is 203.9 meters wide, 1.5 times the width of the Intrepid. The Vesta is 195 m wide and the Sovereign 250 m.

True, the Vesta's beam is very close to the Luna, but it's somewhat a matter of proportions, not just absolute width. A compact, narrow design works better.

Anyway, the bottom line is that the Luna and Sovereign are harder to upgrade to slipstream because we want them to be. The decision was made editorially that slipstream should be limited to the Vesta ships and the Voyager fleet for now, and the rest is just trying to rationalize that creative choice.

If I were to make up a handwave for it, I'd say that it's easier to keep the conduit stable the more the ship's mass is concentrated toward the central axis. If there are some bits sticking out substantially closer to the "walls" of the conduit, their mass could induce instabilities or something, and it would be harder to sustain the conduit.

Also, while these technical problems could theoretically be surmountable for a Sovvie or Luna given sufficient work and refinement, benamite crystals are as yet rare enough that they're being saved for more suitable classes. It might be theoretically possible to equip those classes for it, but it's not really practical to make the effort at present. Especially when it might be safer to wait a few years until the technology is better understood and its limitations can be more effectively overcome.

One would think that the Nova-class would be ideal for it.

Quite possibly.

Finally, has it been ascertained whether or not a slipstream corridor is round, or oval in nature?

Looks like a circular cross-section to me.

 

[Relayer1]

"Voyager needs to be in the DQ"
You mean they still have Dairy Queens in the 24th century?
Irrelevant....
Anyway...I think it's a good idea to do some additional exploration of the enigmatic Delta Quadrant. Who knows what else could be around?

Just looked up Dairy Queen on Wiki - was unfamiliar with it !

 

[ToddCam]

You seem to be defining "doing something" solely as "revisiting stuff we've seen before." I seem to recall that Star Trek has a different mission statement, something about boldly going where... something, something.

While that's well and good, but Titan already does that. The only thing that appeals to me about the Delta Quadrant is exploration of the worlds that Voyager barreled their way past never to be seen again.