I just finished the book (yes, I know I'm late to the party), and need to say the following before I get deeper into my thoughts on it: Kirsten Beyer, you have officially cemented yourself as a bonafide creative genius. Even if the broader strokes of the story came from others, what you did with those germs of ideas puts you on a level with the likes of George Lucas, Joss Whedon, and J.K. Rowling, which is incredibly esteemed company indeed.
Now that I've gotten that out of the way, here's my thoughts on the book itself, presented in bullet form:
* I REALLY love the Q; they're one of the more outlandish yet completely appropriate and awesome aspects of the Star Trek universe and mythos, and so it was great to see them play such a significant role in the story, particularly the eponymous Q brought to life so deliciously by one John DeLancie (whose voice I kept hearing every time his character showed up); it was also great to see the other 3 Q we'd come to know - Amanda, the Female Q, and Q Junior - show up as well; it's also really sad to know that, of those four, now there are only 2 left
* I'm a huge Kathryn Janeway fan, but was by no means among the portion of the Star Trek fandom who was up in arms over her death in Before Dishonor and who believed that the only decent Voyager stories were ones in which she played a part, nor was I opposed to her eventually returning at some point; having said that, though, I was absolutely blown away by the creative nature in which you chose to bring her back, and have to say that, were anyone else to have been given the awesome responsibility of handling her return, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much as I did
* It sucks that Asfarah Eden ended up in a way being a 'casualty' of Janeway's return because I really liked her character, but kudos to you for writing her out of things in a fashion that was not only unique and original, but also allowed for closure in terms of her character, particularly in the face of the critics out there (most of whom are from the above-mentioned portion of the ST fandom who were really displeased with Janeway's death and who consequently saw Eden as a poor replacement for her even though the two characters were/are completely different) and the temptation to placate them by simply getting rid of her in the blink of an eye and returning things to the 'status quo'
* If there's a single pair of Voyager-associated characters - be they from the canon or from the novels - who are better suited for each other than Hugh Cambridge and Seven of Nine, I cannot think of who they are (except maybe for The Doctor and Seven of Nine), so I'm really glad you put them together
* Speaking of The Doctor, I loved the tension-filled interactions between him and Cambridge, particularly during their sojourn on the away mission with Asfarah; they are a lot more alike than I think either of them realizes, and it was great to see them get to play off of each other
* I really want to know how B'Elanna discovered that she was pregnant again; did she figure it out/discern it on her own, or did she go to Doctor Sharak or The Doctor for an examination that revealed it? It doesn't seem like there was all that much time between the resolution of the Omega anomaly crisis and her telling Tom that Miral was no longer an only child
In closing, I want to build up Kirsten's ego a bit more by saying that I honestly cannot picture anyone else writing about these characters, and sincerely hope that the editors at Pocket feel the same. I also need to mention that I'm giving the book an enthusiastic 10 out of 10.
