Re: Unworthy - Discuss/Grade Thread <SPOILERS>
Hello friends...
I want to thank all of you who are posting your thoughts. They are, as always, fascinating to read, and I have nothing but respect for your opinions.
I don't know that there is much I can say at this point to address some of the specific concerns most often raised, particularly about the future of these characters. I was charged with resolving the old threads and creating a compelling new landscape for Voyager. Thankfully, it seems that most of you are on board with the new direction, whatever your feelings about the strengths and weaknesses about Unworthy.
I agree that some of the choices involved in restoring some sort of status quo, while opening up future character growth might have seemed a little pat. The fact that I had exactly two books in which to make all of this happen can never be an excuse for what you may think of as lazy story telling. While this universe and these characters were my exclusive domain, I wanted to give as much as I could to all of them and create potential that I would find interesting, both as a reader and a writer within the limits I was given. While I am always happy to take credit for what is wonderful, I am also willing to acknowledge where choices and execution falls short.
At the end of the day, I had to look at where everyone, but particularly Chakotay needed to end up. It was never going to be my intention to keep him from his command indefinitely. What I felt was missing prior to these books was the sense that he actually belonged where he was. It may sound strange, but I needed him to earn it. The center seat of any starship is incredibly important and for me to accept his presence there and to be excited by it, I needed to feel that he wanted it as much as I wanted it for him. In that regard, at least, I am happy with Unworthy, despite what the end of Full Circle might have done to individual reader's expectations.
Those of you who pointed out that editorial shifts had an impact on this novel are not wrong. This is not meant to denigrate in any way Margaret's contribution to this novel. As I said long ago, Marco and Margaret are simply different in their respective sensibilities. The change mid-stream was a challenge and one I fear I did not entirely rise to meet. I can say that from my point of view, the whole process might have been better served with more time. I did, however, accept the assignment and realized much too late exactly how difficult it was going to be to meet my own expectations, let alone the readers.
I don't know what the future holds for Voyager. It was my intention to create a diverse enough sandbox for other writers to run in many different possible directions. Should I be asked to continue telling these stories, I have definite ideas about where I'd like to see things go, but no one should fear for the development of stories yet unfinished. As many have pointed out, there are as many ways to take this forward as there are writers to imagine it and I seriously doubt that re-treading old territory would be high on anyone's to-do list.
So yes, the dangling plot threads were meant to establish a wider arc and hopefully to encourage those of you who enjoyed the story to continue reading. If you found that choice fristrating rather than intriguing, my apologies.
And for those of you who are not yet sold on Eden...time will tell. I did find the comment interesting that her choices would have made sense in the hands of Picard or Janeway, but were somehow less acceptable in her because thus far, she lacks depth. Likely that has much to do with what came out on the page, vs. what is in my mind. From where I sit she is a fully formed character, despite what has yet to be revealed. But I don't get points for that, nor do I expect them. Still, I found this really fascinating and don't quite know what to make of it.
For those of you who were less than pleased....perhaps the next author will do better for you. I'd hate to think that my work has soured you on Voyager forever as I think the series remains filled with potential.
And for what it's worth, I call them Indign as in "indeed", just with an "n" at the end, not a "d".
I look forward to continuing to read your thoughts. You are definitely some of my toughest readers, and for that I am grateful. Just know that I'm harder on myself than you could ever be and while I remain pleased, on the whole, with Unworthy, this is one of the few instances in my work where I can honestly say that I remain the littlest but unsettled. I agree with Steve that not every book can be Full Circle, which by its very nature and in its needs forced me to reach beyond anything I had ever before done as a writer. I think I underestimated the toll that writing would take on me, but I was all to conscious of it as I set immediately to work on Unworthy and realized how far I still had to go and how few days there were to get there. I do, however, look forward to future challenges just as great, whether they are set in the Star Trek universe or not.
Best,
Kirsten Beyer
