Rating: Summary: Good Prelude Review: This is the prelude to the real story. This book is okay, but it is clearly the setup for the following one. The conclusion is very good. You need to get both.
Rating: Summary: An interesting read. Review: I have never read a Star Trek book before, but I am a big fan of the Voyager TV series, so I decided to read Homecoming and its conclusion, The Farther Shore. The TV series ended rather abruptly and I wanted see what happened to the Voyager crew after they got back to the Alpha Quadrant. For the most part I enjoyed both books (should have been combined into one book), but I do think that the Borg and holographic rights storylines have been done to death during the TV series. I would have preferred to see more on how the Voyager crew adjusted to being back home and to explore the relationships with their families and friends. The ending of The Farther Shore was a bit rushed, however, and could have been wrapped up better.All in all, an interesting read for Voyager fans.
Rating: Summary: Better Than I Expected Review: I should say from the outset that I read the second one ("The Farther Shore") immediately after the first, so that definitely affected my opinion. These are not books in a series so much as one large book released as two, so BUY THEM BOTH. This review is essentially for both of them since it's difficult (and inadvisable) to treat them as independent novels. To address some of the concerns in other reviews: I found the "continuity errors" to be VERY minor (in fact, the ones that I noticed would only be picked up by very serious nitpicking fans such as myself: I've seen every episode and many more than once). The supposedly major ones listed by other readers were either fully explained (perhaps they missed it) or obviously just poor wording that was foolishly ambiguous. As for the quality of writing, I've read many Star Trek books in my day, and I found it to be on par with most others. Stylistically, I don't think that Golden would be in the cream of the crop, but she's nowhere near the bottom either. The plot did invoke several issues that had been dealt with in the series, but I think that rather than it being due to lack of creativity, it was simply a matter of the author devising a plot that seems plausible. Is the idea that Seven, Icheb, and the Doctor might have problems upon coming home revolutionary? No, of course not. But I think that it's very plausible, and I would have been irritated by any "homecoming" book that didn't address these obvious issues. Both books kept me absolutely riveted. More so than the vast majority of Star Trek books I've read. I stayed up until 5 am to finish the second one in the very same night that I started the first because I knew I'd get no sleep otherwise. I had some reservations about the new characters, but I think that they contributed nicely to the way the plot was set up. The readers are privy to far more information than the heroes without being told from the very beginning just what's being done by whom in the villain camp. This is no mystery novel, but most other Star Trek books I've read were very uninspiredly (is that a word?) straightforward by comparison. Now, for why I didn't give it 5 stars: I have mixed feelings about the time spent on characters. I have very set ideas about who each character is and what does and does not make sense for them, so on the one hand I didn't want Golden to bite off more than she could chew in terms of character development. However, as the characters are the primary reason I watched the show and read the books, I wanted her to take on more responsibility than, say, the average Voyager book up to this point has had. Essentially, I want writers to develop them only if they do it MY way: I want to have my cake and eat it too. So I'm hesitant to be overly critical. I did not like Janeway's subplot because I thought that it seemed improbable, bizarre, and arbitrarily chosen. I also disliked the direction she took B'Elanna in the very end for a somewhat less sophisticated reason: It was plausible but just not particularly to my liking. And one other character was radically developed in a way that was a little off the wall but ultimately worked very well with the plot in my opinion. There were a few instances where I thought that her dialogue was a bit off (primarily with Seven), but that may have just been MY interpretations of characters conflicting with hers (and perhaps mainstream viewers) on insignificant word choices. I also noticed in a couple of places that Golden chose not to acknowledge the histories established by Jeri Taylor's books "Mosaic" and "Pathways" (or perhaps she hasn't read them, though I doubt that). This was a fascinating choice in my opinion, since Taylor's books are arguably closer to being considered canon than Golden's. Conclusion: Highly recommended for people who genuinely liked the show. If you forced yourself to watch because you felt obligated to support Star Trek but never got into the characters or are sick and tired of the Borg, then don't bother. You'll undoubtedly find more to complain about. If you're not sure you want to spend the money (or if you're a poor college student such as myself), see if you can get your local library to order them.
Rating: Summary: I waited for this one for TWO YEARS. It was mediocre. Review: This book was not worth waiting for, pre-ordering, etc. It's simply mediocre- the characters lack life, which is hard for me to admit since I've been a big Christie Golden fan for a long time. Chakotay and Janeway have tremendous chemistry, as always. I'll give it an extra star, though, just for the excellent, shocking ending. It opens the door for the sequel and is especially surprising, considering how non-gripping the rest of the book is. The cover is ugly and it doesn't draw the eye the way cover art should.
Rating: Summary: It was worth the wait. Review: Star Trek Voyager: Homecoming was the best book I ever read. It is a great book for all Voyager Fans. This book managed to keep my interest better than any other Star Trek book I have ever read before. It is interesting seeing Voyager's crew trying to reconnect with the lives the left behind, which also has its funny part. I recommend this book to ST Voager Fans and more. Best Book Ever!!!!
Rating: Summary: Entertaining but that's it. Review: The novel, like all star trek novels was entertaining. They are all entertaining. Besides this, i had a rough time embracing this as great Star Trek work. This is a two part series (part 1) where voyager is home after the end of the last series. With this "foot in the door" (Voyager getting home) its my opinion that any author should have a field day with any number of plots and topics to cover. I was very disapointed in a few aspects of this two part series. The idea that starfleet would embrace the voyager crew with such little 'to-do', even in the aftermath of a big war with the Dominion is very disapointing. As a viewer and fan of Voyager it was the final victory of getting home to be heralded as heroes that we all wanted to see. As the story unfolds, the author unfolds a sort of sub-plot for each character. Throughout this entire book, i was never quite sure of what the main plot of this story was. Not until the last page. I find it disturbing that a novel in a two part series can not stand on its own as a novel. I think that a book (even if in a series) should be able to stand alone as a full and complete novel, while only giving the reader an itch to want to read the second book. This is by no stretch of the imagination readable without reading the second book. Consider a book with 21 chapters in it. This book is like reading the first 8 chapters. You feel like you totally got ripped off. On the last page, it felt like the story had just finished beginning. It was a big intro to the real story. If you are a major voyager fan you'll find this entertaining. But overall i think you'll find it to be disapointing. I would suggest that you do not buy this book without buying the second one. At 7 bucks each i find i got ripped off. The bottom line is that the two books make up 1 story.
Rating: Summary: What we've all been waiting for. Review: I feel a little sorry for Christie Golden, because she accepted the task of trying to satisfy the people who liked to watch Star Trek: Voyager. I won't comment on her writing because she's been published, so she has obviously made it farther than I have. What I will comment on is the story she has written. I was really happy to find out I was going to hear about all the characters I had known so long ago. And I found myself giddy (yes giddy) to read their names, and to find out what they were doing since they got home. For a big fan of Star Trek: Voyager like myself, anything new outside my own imagination was a huge plus. I don't know if the story I read was given to her or it was all her creation but she seemed to leave us wondering in a few places. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, mostly because it leaves the story open for other writers - elbow room, lets say. Then theres the whole thing of a second book. Which brings me to what I found irritating - the cliff-hanger. But what was I supposed to expect buying a book that said "Book 1 of 2". So please, please, pleeeze! write book 2 so I can go on with my life.
Rating: Summary: Threadbare Review: I'm only 100 pages into "Homecoming" and I've come to the sad conclusion that it's a children's book. If this is Pocket Books' relaunch for "Voyager," it's stalled on the pad. Christie Golden's text is insipid. She never delves too intimately into the characters' thoughts, feelings and actions. Descriptions of the various mileau are bare-bones. It's a carcass with nothing edible. Several storylines are wrapped up surprisingly quickly, and it's too bad. Many fans were disappointed with how the TV episode of "Endgame" concluded. They wanted to know "what happened next" to their favorite characters. Unfortunately, even 100 pages into "Homecoming," it's less than satisfying. I was surprised by how "quick and dirty" everything was. It was like a "Voyager" episode trying to sneak past a previously established plot point just to tell another story. Well, on second thought, maybe this "relaunch" is right on track after all ...
Rating: Summary: Not Bad Review: I read a few reviews on Amazon before I bought this book and I have to say that some were overly critical. If you've ever read a Star Trek book before you know they exist for pleasure, not literary excellence. This book is no exception. It reads alomost like its one of the better Voyager episodes (there weren't very many). There is a little more complexity to the story with more sub plots than an episode but it was easy for me to picture this on the screen as I read it. If you are a fan of the show and are curious to know the official story of what happens to the crew once they arrive home then you should enjoy this book. It was a quick read though (I read slow) so if you want to get your money's worth vs. your time, you might consider just picking this up at the library.
Rating: Summary: Never again Review: Trite romance parading as an overdone adventure. Ugh. I'm a big fan of Voyager--I've seen every episode and I've read every book that's come out and this one is worst. Christie Golden made most of the fanfic stories written by much younger fans look sophisicated by comparison. At least they care enough about the series to actually watch it and research it! Half the time I didn't know whether to laugh at her writing or throw the book against the wall. Luckily I just borrowed it from the library, so it's not actually in my collection. The characterizations were one-dimensional--all of them--as if she was wiping away the years of experiences the crew members had gained serving on Voyager, especially Seven. Mistakes were plenty, both grammatical and factual. The prose was extremely weak and trite and the action--well, even the more boring episodes of Voyager had more believable action scenes. It's all been done before folks--the doctor's fight for holographic privileges and rights, Seven's discovery of who she was. Just old episodes rehashed and they were much better the first time!! And while I admit that I'm not a devoted fan of the (what Golden perceives to be) inevitable Janeway/Chakotay romance, Golden went over the top in dissolving the fledging romance between Seven and Chakotay--the least she could have done was find an original, "true to the characters" way of ending their relationship. It's obvious that putting Janeway and Chakotay together was her real agenda (it's only a matter of time) and it's too bad that people are actually paying her to write this--I'd rather read a real Voyager story which focuses on the characters and the adventure of it all, rather than which bed they sleep in. All I can say is: at least this isn't considered canon. I hear she's already written another book. Is it too late to fire her?
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