Rating: 
Summary: A fine book, could have been better
Review: A lot of the other reviews that I've read for this book have been very negative and dismissive of the publication. And while I agree, the book does have some faults, it isn't that bad. I suspect that the extremely negative reviews stem from the Voyager biast that many fans seem to have, but I won't discuss that. Here's what I thought of the book:The Voyager Companion by Paul Ruditis follows all 7 years of the 4th incarnation of Star Trek, Voyager. The book is set out much like it's predecessor companions, giving details of each episode in production order, with accompanying stardates and production personnel and actors. The book does a fine job of giving all the details of the show, outlining the stories for each episode, and giving summaries at the end of the technical information and character development. The book also features multi-page sections devoted to each of the cast members, occuring approximately one in each season, although some seasons feature two. The character sections are particularly good, and feature quotes from both producers and actors alike. The Companion also includes a nice summary of Voyager's crew manifest, showing every named crewmember over the 7 years, with their accompany rank, affiliation (Starfleet or Maquis) and status (alive, dead, or departed the ship). Where the book fails is with the behind the scenes information that made the other companions so good. Aside from the small introduction to each season and the character pages, there is virtually no behind the scenes information. And the comments of the production personnel are all positive, and do little to point out any mistakes in the show. Having such a sanitized book as this only goes on to prove that there were production problems with Voyager, problems that the producers want to hide. If the producers had the honesty to admit the problems with Voyager (there were some, not that many though) it would strengthen the show's repuation, at least in my mind. We're all human, we all make mistakes. Wisdom comes from accepting responsibility for mistakes and making provision for them not to occur again. It would have been much more interesting to read a balanced view of the show, featuring detailed behind the scenes information in conjunction with the detailed episode data. But overall, this is a fairly good book, and a fine tribute to the strength of the Voyager series. If you like Voyager, then you should read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: More of a guide than a companion
Review: A TV-show 'companion', whether it be Star Trek or Friends or The Andy Griffth Show, usually serves one of three (if not all three) purposes: 1> A detailed episode guide with great synsopsis of each episdode; 2> A trivia guide for fans; 3> A guide to behind-the-scenes, whether technical or social, of the series itself.
As far as an episode guide, you can't go very wrong with the Voyager companion. Each episode is summed up in such detail, it's like the Cliff Notes of Voyager. My only problem is that the author decided to organize the episodes by production date, and not air date. He explains this to you in the text, but sometimes you might get confused when you're trying to look up an episode from the Season Two DVD set, only to find it listed under the First Season chapter.
As a trivia guide for fans...well. It depends on what you call trivia. Things like how many shuttles were destroyed in a season is neat...but do I really care how many lumps of sugar Capt Janeway puts in her tea? The writer seems to want to prove to everyone that he has mined each episode in such detail...but some of the details he puts down on paper is downright ludicrous. Even the hardest of hardcore Trekkies or Trekkers might find some of this info useless.
For behind-the-scenes, the 'story behind the story' insight into Voayger, this is where this book fails me. If you've ever checked out the Next Gen or DS9 companions, then you know exactly what I'm talking about. Those books dig deep, not into just the episode's storyline, but deeper into things that went on during production. It was that kind of detail that made those books more than just episode guides, but truly a 'companion' to the series. The author here barely includes any material on such things. You'll find very little about production/special effects, inside jokes, the actors' relationships or studio politics. At the most, there are quotes here and there from the actors, writers and producers in regards to stories and characters, but even that is not very insightful.
I know it's weird to say I was disappointed by what is basically an episode guide for a television series, but I was. Perhaps I was just spoiled by the excellent texts created for the other series. I still bought this book for the purpose of having an episode guide...but if you really want to save money, you could end up going on the net and downloading something similar from a fan site for free.
Rating: 
Summary: Big disappointment
Review: After reading the Deep Space Nine Companion, which was full of interesting production notes, I eagerly anticipated the Voyager Companion. But this book is nothing but episode synopis after episode synopsis. Assuming it would contain copious production notes as the DS9 book did, I requested it for a birthday present without looking it over. If I had looked it over, I would have asked for something else. I'll read between the lines and surmise that Rick Berman and company opted to omit the production notes because there was a surfeit of controversy and discontent behind the scenes. I'd amire them a lot more if they weren't afraid to air their dirty laundry.
Rating:
Summary: Very disappointing
Review: Coming on after the excellent Deep Space Nine Companion, this book is a significant letdown. In fact, it pales even next to the Next Generation Companion. Why? Content. Let's look at the deep Space Nine Companion. With the same cover price, it includes 725 pages versus the 528 in the Voyager book. What does it do with those extra 200 pages? It goes into several pages on each season, filled with anecdotes and explanations for why things happened as they did. Most every episode warrants 2-3 pages of synopsis and back-stage information, often with quite revealing information. Even if you watched every episode there will be plenty of new information and backstory. It was also enjoyable just to read. The Voyager book? 2-3 pages of overview for each season, counting an almost full page cast photo. Each episode is largely covered with just a rather terse synopsis with minimal background and cast/crew recollections. That's it. Bare-bones to say the least. One would be better off saving their money and going to any one of the hundreds of Voyager fan sites on the net and printing out their synopsis collection. All in all, a very disappointing effort, easily the worst of all of the Star Trek Companions. If you really want it for completeness sake, I'd advise waiting a year or so until there are several in the bargain aisle of your local bookstore ... ... this book should have been on par with the DS9 book, and it falls far short of that level.
Rating: 
Summary: Good synposis of all 7 seasons but lacking in background
Review: Designed like "Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion", "Voyager" may appear hefty but it's slimmer on the background details and comments about various episodes. It's a nice companion to look up the various plots, credits, etc. if you're not all that familiar with them based on their episode titles (and who could be with so many to choose from?)but it leaves quite a bit unsaid about the gestation of the show, etc. While "The Next Gen Companion" never quite lived up to the depth and background provided in "DS9 Companion", it did at least have more details on the series and trivia about the making of the various episodes. It seems with each succeeding volume associated with a Trek series, that we get less information. By the time the one for "Enterprise" is ready for release, we'll probably only get a brief synposis and no pictures. It's a pity as "Voyager" deserves better. While "Voyager" wasn't as initially groundbreaking as "Next Gen" nor as complex as "DS9", it recaptured the sense of adventure that was at the heart of the original series. The quality of the writing for "Voyager" was very high, indeed although the series itself got less respect than the others. "Voyager Companion" provides a good overview of the series but lacks the detail and trivia that made "DS9" great as a companion book and even "Next Gen" with its background on the films. It's a pity as the series certainly more than held its own against both Trek series and other competition as well.
Rating:
Summary: Good synposis of all 7 seasons but lacking in background
Review: Designed like "Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion", "Voyager" may appear hefty but it's slimmer on the background details and comments about various episodes. It's a nice companion to look up the various plots, credits, etc. if you're not all that familiar with them based on their episode titles (and who could be with so many to choose from?)but it leaves quite a bit unsaid about the gestation of the show, etc. While "The Next Gen Companion" never quite lived up to the depth and background provided in "DS9 Companion", it did at least have more details on the series and trivia about the making of the various episodes. It seems with each succeeding volume associated with a Trek series, that we get less information. By the time the one for "Enterprise" is ready for release, we'll probably only get a brief synposis and no pictures. It's a pity as "Voyager" deserves better. While "Voyager" wasn't as initially groundbreaking as "Next Gen" nor as complex as "DS9", it recaptured the sense of adventure that was at the heart of the original series. The quality of the writing for "Voyager" was very high, indeed although the series itself got less respect than the others. "Voyager Companion" provides a good overview of the series but lacks the detail and trivia that made "DS9" great as a companion book and even "Next Gen" with its background on the films. It's a pity as the series certainly more than held its own against both Trek series and other competition as well.
Rating:
Summary: A HANDY GUIDE -- BUT THE LAYOUT IS LESS THAN IMPRESSIVE
Review: Finally...all the episodes to the hit STAR TREK spin-off are chronicled in this tome. The missions of the Starship VOYAGER trailblazed a new era in Trek lore. Inside readers will find concise synopsis to each episode -- but alas to the fan who enjoys all the behind-the-scenes hoopla often associated with these books -- you will be disappointed. Still, it's a worthy part of the chronicles to the other Trek series and should not be omitted.
Rating:
Summary: A HANDY GUIDE -- BUT THE LAYOUT IS LESS THAN IMPRESSIVE
Review: Finally...all the episodes to the hit STAR TREK spin-off are chronicled in this tome. The missions of the Starship VOYAGER trailblazed a new era in Trek lore. Inside readers will find concise synopsis to each episode -- but alas to the fan who enjoys all the behind-the-scenes hoopla often associated with these books -- you will be disappointed. Still, it's a worthy part of the chronicles to the other Trek series and should not be omitted.
Rating:
Summary: disappointing
Review: Having recently purchased the superlative DS9 Companion, I had high expectations for this book. I was sorely disappointed. There is an almost total lack of behind-scenes stories or critical analysis. Those are two main reasons to even write a companion book in the first place, so it was a noticeable problem. The plot summaries are bland, uninformative, and dull. Many contain factual errors. The writing is extremely labored. It is riddled with grammatical problems, run-on sentences, and incorrect punctuation. The author does not seem to understand how to correctly use the word "however" in a sentence. I'm not normally a grammar nazi, but the writing in this book is so poor that it's often difficult to discern what the author is even saying. Buy it if you want, but keep expectations low. This book is not of the same caliber as the DS9 Companion.
Rating:
Summary: Not What I Expected
Review: I am a big Star Trek Fan. I like to know all about the series both on and off screen. I enjoyed previous companion books, especially the Deep Space Nine edition. Though I've always been a little disappointed with Voyager, I was looking forward to the companion book to read about the ups and downs of this series. When I received this book, I immediately turned to some of the episodes that I thought had the most problems to read about what went wrong. I kept reading and reading and I didn't see any information about the "behind the scenes." I turned to another episode and another and still, no detailed information about the production of the episode. The Voyager Companion is mainly a very detailed synopsis of each episode. There is information on what happens to the ship, shuttles, characters and more. If you are looking for behind the scenes or production notes, you will not find it. Except for a few extra parts of the book about characters, aliens and others, you don't get anything. And even at that, it is usually Brannon Braga (the man who is killing Star Trek, in my opinion) quotes on how good the show is. Overall, the book gives good episode information but really lacks in some "juicy" gossip or information about the episodes. If you need an episode guide, this a good to have but don't expect any insight to the show.
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