This novel was released in 1997 and takes place during Voyager's 3rd season (Stardate 49175) and mention is made of them moving beyond Kazon space. Interestingly this is Greg Cox's first solo Star Trek novel (lucky #13 no less). I was looking forward to this book because IIRC this is Greg's only solo full length Voyager novel and I was curious to see his take on a Voyager novel. Voyager is in need of shore leave and the ship is in an unusually barren sector of space. They come across a commercial, basically, for a planet that appears to be paradise, just what the doctor ordered. On the planet they encounter a species known as the Ryol. Everything seems just perfect for shore leave, the operative word being 'seems'. As we all know, all is not as it seems. The crew starts to appear a bit fatigued and absentminded at times, showing up late for shifts and so forth. And there is something unusual about the Ryol servants, called neffaler here. At first Captain Janeway dismisses this as just mission fatigue and maybe a bit of partying too much, though she advised Chakotay that they should keep and eye on things. Also Kes is hearing psychic screams while swimming at a beach that troubles her. Meanwhile Chakotay has a disturbing vision quest where he sees a vicious creature that tries to devour him. Torres, while looking for possible dilithium, comes across a shielded area of the planet coinciding with where Kes heard those psychic screams. They travel to the surface, with Neelix in tow, to find the source. They make a ghastly discovery (I won't ruin what they found). Meanwhile the Ryol, not being anything as they seemed to be, are intent on taking over Voyager and have unique 'soul' devouring abilities that they use against the Voyager crew. Janeway, cut off from the bridge and making a stand in engineering, attempts to find a way to stop the Ryol. I always enjoy Greg Cox's novels and this is no exception. I'd rate it as above average. He has an excellent handle of the Voyager crew. All the crew's characterizations were spot on. I never felt any character was out of place. It also had a good Kes story, a character that could have been utilized better I thought in the show. He even handled Neelix's sometimes annoying personality well, and all the other characters. You can always tell a good character story when you can imagine those characters doing and saying the things in the book as they would on the show. Also, as an avid horror movie fan I loved some of the more creepy angles of the story. The true nature of the Ryol and neffaler and what Torres, Kes and Neelix find. The feeling of dread as they get closer to the source of Kes' perceptions and what the Ryol are hiding. And like any good horror/action story there are well placed bits of humor. One is The Doctor's handling of the Ryol when they 'invade' his realm, sickbay (this was before he had his mobile emitter). And at one point Tom Paris uses a bunch of nonsensical technobabble to throw off the Ryol who are trying to take the ship. Voyager sometimes gets some flak for it's over-reliance on technobabble and in this case Paris uses it to his advantage. I nice little bit of ironic satire by Greg I must say . So why 'above average' and not 'excellent?' The only downside is the reveal of the true nature of the Ryol and neffaler happened maybe a bit too early in the book. And then the story got just a tad formulaic for Star Trek where some alien tries to gain control of the ship and they must overcome overwhelming odds to take back the ship. I thought the set up was excellent as was the resolution. Just a little bit around the 2/3 point of the book that lost me just a little bit. But that being said, it was a very enjoyable book. Not all the numbered Voyager novels have been particularly strong. This is definitely one of the better numbered Voyager novels and I'd certainly highly recommend it to any fan of the show (hell, I'd even say it's worth a read for a non-Voyager Star Trek fan). I know he's sort of indicated he prefers playing in the original series sandbox, but he handled this story with his usual deft hand. The only disappointment is this was his only solo Voyager novel. Makes me wish he had written more Voyager novels.
Nice to see people still reading this book, which was indeed my first solo Trek book after two collaborations (with John Gregory Betancourt and Kij Johnson, respectively). Some behind-the-scenes tidbits: 1) I actually plotted this book before seeing the actual show, based on a short "bible" for the series, although the show finally debuted while I was writing the book so I got to see the characters onscreen before turning in the ms. 2) At the time, the Trek book editor, John Ordover, was encouraging us prospective VOYAGER writers to think in terms of Homer's "The Odyssey" when chronicling the crew's long voyage home. Along those lines, The Black Shore owes a lot to the Lotus Eaters, with a touch of Circe's Island thrown in. 3) My original title was the rather uninspired Paradise, but this was rightly judged to be too similar to another early VOY book, The Garden by Melissa Scott (#11). Just as well; I like The Black Shore better. 4) Writing the book, I found myself wishing that I had given the EMH more to do in the original outline, since he turned out to be my favorite character on the show, but that original show bible hadn't conveyed just how fun "Doc Zimmerman" was going to be, as played by Picardo. 5) True story: So there was I was, lounging at a beach resort on Marco Island, Florida, trying to come up with an idea for Voyager novel, surrounded by sun, sand, and palm trees. No idea how I hit on the notion of shore leave on a tropical beach planet . . . .
Amazing to think you didn't see the show before plotting it out because your characterizations were right on target. I don't recall any character being off. Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Paris, Kim, Torres, Neelix, Kes and the Doctor were all as I remember them from the series. The depiction of the EMH was what I recall from his pre-mobile emitter days. The only thing maybe that I was a bit curious about was when he was struggling to lift one of the Ryol onto a bio-bed. I was thinking wouldn't a hologram be able to adjust his strength parameters so that wasn't an issue? But then I thought maybe that was part of his programming that he couldn't change at that point. Just a side thought I had. Your beach idea worked out well though. In a way it made things a bit creepier. When Kes is floating on the water then hears the psychic screams. Like I said, it made me wish you had written more Voyager books. A great Voyager book
Thanks! If nothing else, I finally got to do Seven of Nine in one of my TOS books, which also contains a chapter or two with Janeway and Tuvok and the rest.