Spoilers VOY: Children of the Storm by Kirsten Beyer Review Thread

[kimc]

Re: Star Trek: Voyager: Children Of The Storm Review Thread

I wonder if those Janeway fans who refuse to read anything set after Janeway's death have ever experienced a personal loss in their own lives. If they had, maybe they'd appreciate that it's possible to pay honor and tribute to someone even after they're gone, that they can still be a part of your life even if they aren't physically there. Maybe they'd understand that the grief and anger can't last forever, that loss is something that must eventually be accepted and coped with and integrated into your life as you move on. Janeway is a pervasive, influential presence throughout Unworthy and Children of the Storm. The books serve her character very well even though she isn't in them as a living person. I think these Janeway fans would appreciate the books if they allowed themselves to read them.

Yes, I have. And while yours is an interesting pop psychology theory it has nothing to do with the desire to read stories containing the Janeway character. Nice try though.

 

[kimc]

Re: Star Trek: Voyager: Children Of The Storm Review Thread

IThe Q was trying to teach Janeway a valuable lesson about over-self-confidence, a humbling I thought she could use.

Why Janeway in particular? Granted if the Trek Lit Janeway is the only one you're familiar with I can see where that opinion would come from. She was woefully out of character before her death, imo.

I'm sure she will be restored, myself, but the story can't be forced; VOY fans need to be patient and keep up with the story so they are ready when it happens.

If that day happens I would be more than happy to go back and read whatever is necessary to catch up. In the meantime, I'm finding plenty of other reading to catch up on like "The Mambo Kings Sing Songs of Love".

kimc, dancing

 

[Dark Gilligan]

Re: Star Trek: Voyager: Children Of The Storm Review Thread

We also demand respect because we deserve it

Wrong, Brit. Respect is earned, every single day. How amazingly arrogant to demand something for which you have no inherent right.

 

[JD]

Re: Star Trek: Voyager: Children Of The Storm Review Thread

God, I swear it's getting to a point where I'm terrified ever time I see a Voyager thread on the boards. Ok, we understand you guys/ladies are mad that Janeway is dead, but we've been over this a million times so can we please just move the hell on, because this shit is getting old.

 

[Christopher]

Re: Star Trek: Voyager: Children Of The Storm Review Thread

Christopher, you can talk and talk and talk. You can assume and you would still be wrong. You can mouth the Trek Philosophy and yet what Trek writers are producing now is the antithesis of it.

That's a false generalization. You're looking at one thing you strongly dislike and are projecting it onto the entire line. That's simply not true. There's a lot of upbeat stuff in Trek Lit these days. I should know, because I've written some of it. And I just read some of it. Like I said, I found Children of the Storm to be a very optimistic book and very true to the philosophy of Star Trek.

What this boils down to is that I don’t like the use of the death of a major character to sell books.

What's that got to do with Unworthy or Children of the Storm, though? These books are not about Kathryn Janeway's death. After all, she only died once. These books are about the enduring legacy of her life, the way that she lives on in the people whose lives she touched and transformed. I appreciate your love for Janeway, but you're so upset about the bad that you're blinding yourself to books that celebrate the good in her, and you're missing out on something very positive and touching.

Then you have the unmitigated arrogance to expect us to praise your efforts and to put money in your pocket for something we hate. You are acting like the school yard bully not only demanding our lunch money but expecting us to like giving it to you.

I don't know why you'd think that. I'm trying to reach out to you and help you see that there's something good and positive that you're cheating yourself out of experiencing, something I think you would enjoy if you gave it a fair chance because it honors and celebrates the character of Kathryn Janeway. I opened up to you and shared my own recent tragic loss, one very similar to yours, in hopes of making a connection to you and showing you that coping with death doesn't have to be a perpetually painful thing. It saddens me that you somehow perceive that as bullying.

But your suggestion that because we don’t like death and reading about death makes us somehow inferior is insulting.

I'm not talking about death. I'm talking about what happens after it, about the way people remember those they loved and honor their lives.

 

[Rosalind]

Re: Star Trek: Voyager: Children Of The Storm Review Thread

God, I swear it's getting to a point where I'm terrified ever time I see a Voyager thread on the boards. Ok, we understand you guys/ladies are mad that Janeway is dead, but we've been over this a million times so can we please just move the hell on, because this shit is getting old.

Not quite what I wanted to say, but close enough.

This thread is not about Janeway's death, we've have several thousand posts devoted to that topic in this forum since Before Dishonor. So, please leave Janeway out of this thread and let's go back discussing Chirldren of the Storm.

Thank you.

 

[Elias Vaughn]

Re: Star Trek: Voyager: Children Of The Storm Review Thread

Why are a woman and her fans treated differently that men and their fans?

imo, it's more offensive to reduce a complex character down to one trait than it is to kill off said fictional character in the first place.

"Why are a black man and his fans treated differently than a bunch of white people and their fans?"

"Why are a French man and his fans being treated differently than a bunch of Americans?"

Janeway was more than just a woman. Sisko's more than the token black guy. Picard is more than a Frenchman. No one ever reduces Sisko or Picard down to just the one trait, because it's absurd.

I love reading Janeway threads, though. They're actually really amusing, when people start implying (purposely or otherwise) that Janeway's death was a personal slight against them and that there is no possible way a Voyager book could be any good without her.

Honestly, though, I wasn't huge on Children of the Storm, but it's not because of a lack of Janeway. Just wasn't my cup of tea.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Re: Star Trek: Voyager: Children Of The Storm Review Thread

Christopher, you can talk and talk and talk. <snip>

Then you have the unmitigated arrogance... <snip>

Matthias, maybe one day when you have matured... <snip>

Project much?

We also demand respect because we deserve it,

Nope. As others have said, respect is earned, and neither you nor your cohorts have done anything to deserve it. If you want to be treated with respect, learn to do the same with others.

 

[Kertrats47]

Re: Star Trek: Voyager: Children Of The Storm Review Thread

Getting back to the topic at hand, I finished Children of the Storm yesterday and absolutely loved it! Great job Kirsten, I can't wait to see where this goes next. I was never a huge Voyager fan, but your stories have made me realize that these characters have true potential. I wish the writing had been half this good during the series!

 

[JoeZhang]

Re: Star Trek: Voyager: Children Of The Storm Review Thread

I was never a huge Voyager fan, but your stories have made me realize that these characters have true potential.

As I mentioned, I never liked the show at all - so it's a huge plus for me that it was so readable. Moreover, I think it's one of the few current Trek books where I'm interested to find out what happens to the new characters.

 

[JWolf]

Re: Star Trek: Voyager: Children Of The Storm Review Thread

I finished Children of the Storm last night. I really enjoyed it. One thing I really enjoyed was the way the new characters were introduced. They fit right in. There were not forced or just another name to have someone different.

The story was quite moving. It finally showed something good coming from tragedy. I think Eden is really growing as a person. I think she has things she can teach Chakotay as well as the other way round. I am glad that this is not just a Voyager centric arc. It features the others as well and that worked very well.

I liked that there was no "let's pull this out of our bag of tricks and save the day" type story. I think it's one of the best Trek books this year.

And I do feel that it gives homage to Janeway in how she managed to instill honor and values to the crew and it shows. To bring back Janeway would be a bad idea. It would cheapen these stories big time and that's not what should be. She's dead. Just let her be dead. Let her memory and what she brought to the crew live on in the crew.

 

[Galekarens]

Re: Star Trek: Voyager: Children Of The Storm Review Thread

Bringing KJ back would NOT cheapen the stories, in fact it would uplift them, since killing her was a low blow that turned a lot of Voyager fans off. And why should we spend our $ supporting those who so diffidently got rid of someone we admired and want to read about? This is science fiction, and all kinds of things can happen. Sisko was brought back and he was physically dead, did that cheapen the DS9 stories/Trek fiction???? Did those who are against KJ coming back protest that, probably very little. I read most of Unworthy and it was rather uninteresting without Janeway; it also frustrated and saddened me. Should I really buy another book that would probably do the same? That would be pretty silly, me thinks. No, I will not just "get over it," and I will not read another "Voy" book until Janeway, who IS Voyager, is brought back. It's too bad, since I do like the other (original) characters, but that's the way it is. And since I've found there are many, many people who agree with me, I can confidently say that those who are blithely telling me what I should like to read are just spouting the Pocket Book party line. Well, as a LONG time Trek fan, I can think for my self, thank you. And Trek lit now is in a sad state, and the death of KJ is a good example of what's wrong with it. Bring back Kathryn Janeway and also bring back the real Star Trek fiction, full of adventure and hope, not war and destruction, ugh.

 

[Thestral]

Re: Star Trek: Voyager: Children Of The Storm Review Thread

All top main characters which ever died in Trek like Kirk, Spock, Sisko, Data - they were brought back.

Um. Kirk and Data weren't brought back actually - they're still dead.

 

[Defcon]

Re: Star Trek: Voyager: Children Of The Storm Review Thread

All top main characters which ever died in Trek like Kirk, Spock, Sisko, Data - they were brought back.

Um. Kirk and Data weren't brought back actually - they're still dead.

Sisko's fate was kind of ambiguous from the start (he said in the TV series that he would return), so that leaves only Spock (and Trip).

 

[CaptainDonovin]

Re: Star Trek: Voyager: Children Of The Storm Review Thread

God, I swear it's getting to a point where I'm terrified ever time I see a Voyager thread on the boards. Ok, we understand you guys/ladies are mad that Janeway is dead, but we've been over this a million times so can we please just move the hell on, because this shit is getting old.

It would be nice if threads like these would focus on the actual book the topic is about instead of flying off into rants & attacks.

I would coment on the book myself however its been on the way thru the mail since May 30 & I still don't have it. I just stop by this thread to see what the general consensis of the book was. (That was my personal rant, btw.)

 

[JD]

Re: Star Trek: Voyager: Children Of The Storm Review Thread

It's probably going to be a little while before I get to CoS but I'm really looking forward to it. Full Circle and Unworthy were two of the best Voyager stories in any medium and it sounds like Children of the Storm continues that trend.
I'm really glad to hear that Kirsten Beyer seems to actually be using the rest of the fleet instead of just tossing them in as part of the background every now and then.

 

[chelly]

Re: Star Trek: Voyager: Children Of The Storm Review Thread

I thought the thread was about the new book not about a character that died 3 books ago.

I almost don't want to come into the threads because the janeway fanatics seem to take over.

 

[JD]

Re: Star Trek: Voyager: Children Of The Storm Review Thread

Ooops, apparently Chelly posted while I was editing my last post, so the bit she's referring to is gone.
I was just complaining about what the thread has turned into, but decided to delete it and tried to get the thread back on topic instead. Sorry for any confusion.

 

[chelly]

Re: Star Trek: Voyager: Children Of The Storm Review Thread

Ah I kept changing my post because I didn't really want to get into the argument again. (I do apologize for that). I actually tried to delete it but I don't think I have enough posts to do that yet.

I am looking forward to the book, I loved the last two. I am waiting to get the interlibrary loan from the library. I am not in a situation where I can buy all the star trek books I want. When I am I will definitly buy Kirsten's books.

 

[CaptainDonovin]

Re: Star Trek: Voyager: Children Of The Storm Review Thread

Ooops, apparently Chelly posted while I was editing my last post, so the bit she's referring to is gone.
I was just complaining about what the thread has turned into, but decided to delete it and tried to get the thread back on topic instead. Sorry for any confusion.

The only confusing thing is how quickly the thread came to resemble a political debate. Hopefully the Vanguard thread is more civil.