Spoilers VOY: Architects of Infinity by Kirsten Beyer Review Thread
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I let it sink in a bit now. I am still shocked by the ending that came out of nowhere. I am not sure what to make of it, to be honest. Right now, there's no proof what we shall believe happened did really happen.
As for the whole novel I must say that I had a hard time understanding this one - as a non-native speaker I needed three or four chapters to finally find a way into the story.
The whole idea of the biodomes caught me immediately. I liked the idea behind it a lot, even though we didn't actually get any answers yet. I figure that the next novel must be something like a "conclusion" to what we got here.
Yet, unfortunately, I don't think that AOI is as strong as APFOL. I am certainly interested in the characters Kirsten Beyer brought to life, but some of the back storys felt a bit like filler material to me. I caught myself skipping paragraphs here and there, because I simply didn't care about every detail of the Kriosian history, even if it was necessary to understand what was going on with Gwyn.
The whole plot didn't feel "thick" enough for 400 pages and that makes me a bit sad. It is still nothing but pure joy to go back to my favourite Star Trek characters and share some time with them.
My questions to Ms. Beyer would be.
1.) How did you come up with the biodome idea?
2.) Did you have any help on the research regarding rogue stars? I always wonder how you connect all the astronomic details to a story that makes sense after all. This is just astonishing enough to rate this novel "above outstanding".
3.) Will we see the Edrehmaia in the next novel?
4.) When will this novel possibly be out with you being busy on STD?
No question, but:
5.) Thanks for another entertaining novel, even if it is not my favourite book of yours... ! I know it is always hard to release a "baby" and then get critizised.. must be painful somehow.
As for the whole novel I must say that I had a hard time understanding this one - as a non-native speaker I needed three or four chapters to finally find a way into the story.
The whole idea of the biodomes caught me immediately. I liked the idea behind it a lot, even though we didn't actually get any answers yet. I figure that the next novel must be something like a "conclusion" to what we got here.
Yet, unfortunately, I don't think that AOI is as strong as APFOL. I am certainly interested in the characters Kirsten Beyer brought to life, but some of the back storys felt a bit like filler material to me. I caught myself skipping paragraphs here and there, because I simply didn't care about every detail of the Kriosian history, even if it was necessary to understand what was going on with Gwyn.
The whole plot didn't feel "thick" enough for 400 pages and that makes me a bit sad. It is still nothing but pure joy to go back to my favourite Star Trek characters and share some time with them.
My questions to Ms. Beyer would be.
1.) How did you come up with the biodome idea?
2.) Did you have any help on the research regarding rogue stars? I always wonder how you connect all the astronomic details to a story that makes sense after all. This is just astonishing enough to rate this novel "above outstanding".
3.) Will we see the Edrehmaia in the next novel?
4.) When will this novel possibly be out with you being busy on STD?
No question, but:
5.) Thanks for another entertaining novel, even if it is not my favourite book of yours... ! I know it is always hard to release a "baby" and then get critizised.. must be painful somehow.
Actually one more thing that bothered me.
There's a whole sequence in the middle where the science team are finding lots of strange things, Seven and Glynn are running into trouble along with Kim in charge on Voyager and most of the rest are of the main cast are relaxing on the planet but there doesn't seem to be the slightest bit of communication between the groups. Given what Seven finds and what it does to the shuttle you think it might occur to someone that maybe the people on the planet should be warned what's going on. By that time Farkas is already uneasy, you think she might show some interest.
It isn't unusual in the Voyager books that the different ships have to operate independently without full information of what the others are up to but that's normally because they aren't in the same place which isn't the case here.
There's a whole sequence in the middle where the science team are finding lots of strange things, Seven and Glynn are running into trouble along with Kim in charge on Voyager and most of the rest are of the main cast are relaxing on the planet but there doesn't seem to be the slightest bit of communication between the groups. Given what Seven finds and what it does to the shuttle you think it might occur to someone that maybe the people on the planet should be warned what's going on. By that time Farkas is already uneasy, you think she might show some interest.
It isn't unusual in the Voyager books that the different ships have to operate independently without full information of what the others are up to but that's normally because they aren't in the same place which isn't the case here.
Exactly, we don't know what twist there is to that ending. I can see at least three different twists to that that are well within KMFB's amazing writing range, all of which I won't put here, even in spoiler tags (in case she hasn't written the next one yet & they'd actually be story ideas), but... yeah. Completely unexpected & eagerly awaiting the payoff.
@Kirsten: Is the next one far enough along in the process that you can tell us it exists & when you might have time to write it?
@Kirsten: Is the next one far enough along in the process that you can tell us it exists & when you might have time to write it?
Enjoyable book overall. Lots of interesting character development across the board, plot twists and thought provoking
Was really looking forward to some extended time with the different crews interacting and exploring the planet/local space from a variety of different angles sans being under an emergency. Naturally the plot needs to move, and it ramped up in interesting ways, but then suddenly it all went to wrap 10 and everyone was running around in dealing with the latest urgent life or death situation of the hour. But then again - it's a book, not a dissertation.
The ending was really enjoyable - did not predict what happened between the planet and the star. Left a lot of interesting clues and threads to be picked up in the next book about the people and their goals for that system. Why did they do what they did?
And not too concerned over the cliffhanger - like @Annorax says - plenty of ways to deal with that.
Was really looking forward to some extended time with the different crews interacting and exploring the planet/local space from a variety of different angles sans being under an emergency. Naturally the plot needs to move, and it ramped up in interesting ways, but then suddenly it all went to wrap 10 and everyone was running around in dealing with the latest urgent life or death situation of the hour. But then again - it's a book, not a dissertation.
The ending was really enjoyable - did not predict what happened between the planet and the star. Left a lot of interesting clues and threads to be picked up in the next book about the people and their goals for that system. Why did they do what they did?
And not too concerned over the cliffhanger - like @Annorax says - plenty of ways to deal with that.
My review is up at TrekCore! I really enjoyed this book...yes it took a break from the Krenim story of the previous novel, but I loved the way it dived into a scientific mystery that the crew wanted to solve, because that's very uniquely Star Trek. Great character work as always, and I enjoyed seeing the different perspectives of the various novel-original characters. This had a "Lower Decks" feel to it a little bit, and I thought that was great.
Link:
http://trekcore.com/blog/2018/03/book-review-star-trek-voyager-architects-of-infinity/
Link:
http://trekcore.com/blog/2018/03/book-review-star-trek-voyager-architects-of-infinity/
I finished reading this book and Liked it's lower decks story with other Crew members was well written. All the science and the mysterious technology leaves alot of unanswered questions of what willl happen after that cliff hanger ending. I hope someday we'll get another novel to continue the Voyager book series.I voted Above Average. Doctor Sal certainly did questionable things when it came to medical decisions when it came to treating Nancy Conlon and Ensign Gwyn . She and Captain Farkas certainly had a suprising storyline about a past mission in this book. It certainly was a complicated storylarc in this book.when it comes to medical ethics and values and what's best for the patients..
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It's so tempting to read all your messages but I'm only about 20% in. Reading a chapter a day during lunch break if I can. Honestly, not a lot has happened yet...and I love it! I missed these characters so much and its great to see them again. I think what I love most about Beyer's take on Voyager is how she gradually adds these new characters to the family and actually make them part of the family. I have been dying to see what happens with Icheb and Bryce, Nancy and Kim, Seven and Hugh...or what kind of trouble O'Donnel and Fife, the Doctor and Reg, or Farkas and Sal can get themselves into. Voyager as a book series has a huge cast and I want to know everything about them. I would read a book that has no actual story in it, and just enjoy following these people through their day, if Beyer wrote it.
And then you have DS9 and its gallery of 'whats that guys name again?'.
And then you have DS9 and its gallery of 'whats that guys name again?'.
Finished this yesterday. Completely loved it... literally couldn't put it down. (I had originally thought I would stop before the end, and finish today. No. 
)
It was so nice to get some character focus on Patel and Gwyn. Patel's been there since the beginning of the re-relaunch, but has usually seemed nothing more than a minor background character (and the book nicely addresses her sidelining, too).
I found the mystery of the biodomes nicely intriguing. (Although it was rather odd that out of all the species who had investigated previously, it was only the Federation crew who "broke" everything. As Lasren (I think?) said, "We're good!" )
My main problem was actually with me, not the book... I have literally no recollection of the Krenim plotline, so much so that I begin to question if I had read the previous book. Even though I know I had, and I remembered the other plot threads. I suspect someone has intentionally wiped that memory from the timeline!
Fortunately, other than the report at the beginning, it really didn't have that much impact on the current story anyway.
All in all, totally enjoyable. Voted "outstanding".
And seriously, when will people learn... Just listen to Farkas, already!
)It was so nice to get some character focus on Patel and Gwyn. Patel's been there since the beginning of the re-relaunch, but has usually seemed nothing more than a minor background character (and the book nicely addresses her sidelining, too).
I found the mystery of the biodomes nicely intriguing. (Although it was rather odd that out of all the species who had investigated previously, it was only the Federation crew who "broke" everything. As Lasren (I think?) said, "We're good!"
)My main problem was actually with me, not the book... I have literally no recollection of the Krenim plotline, so much so that I begin to question if I had read the previous book. Even though I know I had, and I remembered the other plot threads. I suspect someone has intentionally wiped that memory from the timeline!
Fortunately, other than the report at the beginning, it really didn't have that much impact on the current story anyway.All in all, totally enjoyable. Voted "outstanding".
And seriously, when will people learn... Just listen to Farkas, already!
I tried to interrupt my reading sessions to extend the overall experience but it’s hard to put down, and I’ve just finished this book.
The lower-decks and crisis-free exploration that take up the majority are enjoyable. Blissful.
The description of Patel as a Human woman with an almost Vulcan-like attitude reminded me of Burnham.
As for the Galen...
The lower-decks and crisis-free exploration that take up the majority are enjoyable. Blissful.
The description of Patel as a Human woman with an almost Vulcan-like attitude reminded me of Burnham.
As for the Galen...
We know the ship survives - or is replaced with the crew intact - because Barclay transfers from it to Challenger in 2383, and has a FaceTime conference with Data from there in 2385. Sources: TNG novels Indistinguishable from Magic and The Light Fantastic.
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Indistinguishable from Magic has been ignored before by other writers. The Light Fantastic has used the Leah Brahms relationship from IfM, but no other novel after that ever has. So, there's a good chance that Beyer will totally ignore those. Actually, there's no rule at all that the other writers MUST follow the other novels to the letter. As with episodes themselves, it's canon (got I hate that canon bullshit) untill a new episode (or in this case novel) changes it.
No, but the way the various Trek writers have collaborated with each other to support each other's tales has, for me, been one of the best aspects of the books. It's a very neat reflection of the aspirations of the source material as it were.
Oh sure, totally. But I was just pointing out that Kirsten is in no way restricted.
I wonder where the small Galen (described as looking like a Nova saucer in a Miranda-configuration) has space for a runabout. But then, if it has Miranda-style shuttlebays, that could do the trick.
I was surprised to learn that Demeter is smaller than Galen. Somehow, I thought it would be the other way round.
I was surprised to learn that Demeter is smaller than Galen. Somehow, I thought it would be the other way round.
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