Re: Unworthy - Discuss/Grade Thread <SPOILERS>
I've finished it, and I was impressed.
As others have noted, the duology of "Full Circle" and "Unworthy" has finally brought the Voyager relaunch to an equal footing with the other great Trek lit series like Titan, DS9 post-finale and Vanguard. While this wasn't quite as gripping as "Full Circle", it was a fine start to the "Back in the Delta Quadrant" mission. I was a little surprised at first to see Chakotay regain command so swiftly, but I soon realized that was because I had been assuming his resignation had been set up as a major arc for the series, when in fact "Full Circle" and "Unworthy" are comparable to the first Titan duology; the character development here helps establish the situation prior to the start of the Big Mission, but it is still a reasonably self-contained story.
Pros:
I'm a reader who prefers discussion, conversation, and worldbuilding to action, so the highlights of this novel for me were a) Seven and Cambridge's discussion of Caeliar perfection, and how Seven relates to it, and b) the Indign culture. I really appreciated the continuation of the themes of stagnation vs progress and perfection vs reproduction, following on from established thematic threads in stories like "Greater Than the Sum" and the "Destiny" trilogy. The idea of progress and self-betterment in fact being held back by the desire to find a "perfection", and what exactly that optimum would entail, was given a fresh spin with the Indign, the subplot with the Groundskeepers (8472s; I like to call them by their "Places of Exile" name
)and of course Seven's attempts to balance her Borg, human and Caeliar impulses.
The Indign were a great addition to the Trek universe, and I was very pleased that the consequences of the Borg's disappearance are being addressed in a manner more complex than "Yay, they're gone!" What does their disappearance mean for those cultures who have lived next door to the Collective for generations? The Borg must be a part of these societies' culture and their worldview in a manner that would be alien to the Federation. I particularly liked how the Starfleet folk struggled with the concept of a culture that apparently
wanted to be assimilated. The Indign's reverance for the Borg was also interesting in that the society and interspecies co-operation it encouraged represented a very Federation ideal of community and interdependence, yet one arrived at through emulating a culture who the Federation see as essentially their opposite. I can see why many in the Federation would be wary or unnerved by the Indign. I hope we see more of them.
I'm very much liking the character of Cambridge; while I was one of the few who didn't hate his predecessor (I have a soft spot for the Huanni
), it's obvious this is a far superior character by miles. He seems very human, very complicated and I appreciate the little character traits that make him relatable; particularly his continuing devotion to knowing exactly where the escape pods are as soon as he boards a ship
. As for the possibility of Seven/Cambridge, that would actually be interesting if the authors chose to pursue it. If we are going to give Seven a relationship of this kind, Cambridge is at least interesting enough to warrant the pairing.
I like Captain Eden, though with Batiste gone and her promotion taking her from the centre seat of
Voyager, I'm wondering where her character will go from here. Obviously we have her origins to work on, but until that thread is followed up on I wonder what future books will be doing with her. I hope she gets an interesting story arc, as I came to appreciate her quite a bit in this novel.
Cons:
There aren't many of these; the novel overall was very good, so these are only minor quibbles:
As much as I enjoyed seeing "Valerie Archer" again, it did seem possibly too convenient that of all the regions of Fluidic Space
Voyager accessed it would be a region where she happened to be within reach. I know it's important to put a relatable "face" on our Groundskeepers, and we're pretty much limited to Valerie or Boothby for that, but it still took a slightly more strained suspension of disbelief than usual. Still, only very minor complaint.
The writing of the first chapter felt a little "clunky", which worried me a bit, but by chapter two the prose was flowing smoothly and never looked back, so there was nothing to worry about
.
Sharak: Mayweather, on "Enterprise"! Zinda, his face black, his eyes red! Temba: Sharak! (Oh, I know we have lots of new characters to introduce without giving any existing ones the short end of the stick, so its entirely excusible, but I'm very fond of Tamarians and I hope he gets more attention in later books. "Darmok" was always my favourite TNG episode, and "Friends With the Sparrows" one of my favourite Trek short stories. A Tamarian who speaks Standard is a wonderful idea for a character. More Sharak!).
Random Observations:
I'm pleased that the Children of the Storm are being followed up on, even if we don't see them.
I wonder what the Gorn would think about holographic Gorn crewmen on Federation vessels? I personally appreciated the effort to keep advances in holographic technology at the forefront of Starfleet's next bunch of innovations, as "Voyager" made a big deal of this theme towards the end of its run.
I'm wondering what the role of "Meegan" and The Eight is going to be. Is there an actual plan for them, or are they simply being set up as antagonists who are "out there" for a future story to build upon when the authors choose? I was perfectly happy with this new threat, but as we don't know what Our Villain intends to do now she's free, and as she evidently has no real agenda at present in regards to the
Voyager fleet other than "avoid it", I'm interested as to what her role in the series is going to be. I suppose she is now Starfleet's responsibility, since it's their hardware she's used to escape (and murder a group of Neyser) but there's currently no real desire for a new encounter on her end. So I'm wondering if she and her companions/prisoners/whatever are intended to be major anatognists or simply a useful piece of groundwork that's been put into play ready to be built upon as and when is chosen?
...at one time or another..
