Rating: 
Summary: Average
Review: This book is definitely not Star trek writing at it's best, but I find that is typical of most of the Voyager books written. Don't get me wrong, I really like the Voyager series, but most of the books have been second rate.
I won't reveal too much of the plot, but suffice to say it involves a mysterious wormhole phenomena and the Romulan Empire. I really like the idea of the dark matter, but it wasn't really used properly, the idea of so many wormholes opening near Voyager is ridiculous, and even more ridiculous is the idea that Telek R'mor was so successful at making them, in 2344 I might add.
There are numerous errors, within the Romulan Empire, it has been established in a great many episodes that the Praetor has the real power, the Emperor is merely a figurehead, much like the Queen of England nowadays. The central character, the head of the Tal Shiar, is fairly hollow, the old story of a person who has struggled against the oppresive forces of society to a position of great power. She seemed more like some sort of rogue that the head of one of the most feared organisations in existence. If you want to see a real Romulan, look no further than Koval from 'Inter arma enim silent leges', although he was a traitor, he had so much more poise about him, something about him just said 'Romulan'.
Another problem is the continuity of the plot. 'Vulcan's Heart' clearly established the Romulan figureheads in 2344, this book, set in the same era, is nearly perpendicular in it's characters. I'm not a nitpicker, but Christie Golden really should of picked that one up, 'Vulcan's Heart' was very popular.
Other than that, I thought the actual story on Voyager itself was alright, a bit predictable at times, but nonetheless enjoyable.
This isn't a great book, I doubt it will be a great series, only pick it up if you're desperate for some Star Trek Voyager.
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent book
Review: This book was really very good. It gives us a glimpse of the Romulans and also shows how well the crew works together. I really felt that the characters were well written and true to their TV personalities. A great setup for the next book!
Rating:
Summary: ST-Voyage Dark Matters: Cloak and Dagger
Review: This is the first installment of a 3 part series called Dark Matters, part 1 is Cloak and Dagger written by Christie Golden.This book begins slowly, but it builds to a warp core breach toward the ending, getting you ready for the second part of this series. There are villains and Romulans making this story one of treachery and deceit... right! Now, throw in some Dark Matter to the mix... interesting! Then have the Voyager crew involved trying to solve a mystery of universal balance due to the aforementioned... now, you got a story. This Voyager story brings back an old friend from the "Eye of the Needle"...yes, you guessed it, Telek R'Mor. After he made a successful contact with Voyager earlier, the sinister folk back on Romulus want Voyager's technology from the future to battle the Federation of their past time. Ah, but the villains have other thoughts... not that the deceit from the Romulans is not enough... but a double cross. You've got to read this book to appreciate this story. The plot is interesting, the characters are engrossing, and the story will fascinate you. This is a fast read... captivating.
Rating:
Summary: Not great, but not bad
Review: This is the first Star Trek book I've picked up in some time (the last go-round being DS9's Millennium trilogy), and I have to say I enjoyed the first leg of this journey. The writing is simple and easy to follow, and the story is entertaining. I'm not fond of the "Little Dagger" sub-plot, though I am intrigued by where it will go in the second and third books. All in all, a good (and fairly quick) read.
Rating:
Summary: So-so series
Review: This series started off great. Romulans, a new threat, a shadowy new race, good characterizations. Then it hit a bit of a downspiral that the last book helps pull out. The Romulan universe in these books works well. I liked the people secretly studying the Vulcan Way, and kudos for not dragging Spock into it. I love Spock, but it's nice to see that his influence has spread enough that it's not necessary he be there. And the whole sequence of events on that side of the Neutral Zone worked well. However... The author made a couple major character flaws. Chakotay is a vegetarian. It's mentioned mutiple times in the show. And yet, the author has Chakotay salivating over meat roasts many times. How Christie Golden could get so many details correct and mess up with this one, I don't know. Second, the crew of the Voyager has more than once regretted relying on Neelix cooking and not having full acess to replicator; it's why their replicator rations are so important to them. yet, in these books, everyone cheers on when they get to kill something and cook it, plus Neelix and his concoctions are prized highly. Huh? My guess is, the author is a hunter and mistakenly put her preferences on the Voyager characters, but it doesn't fit. It works better with the race she created. Unfortunately, that whole conflict dragged on too much. Also dragged out was the secret of who the Entity was. You can guess it at the beginning of the second book at the latest. That means you have TWO books to sit through. Perhaps the second and third book could have been better edited to be one book. It would have helped a lot.
Rating:
Summary: Voyager at it's best!
Review: Voyager: Cloak and Dagger was one of the best Voyager books I have ever read.(and I have read plenty)The whole plot makes this a book you will not want to put down. Of all the Voyager books, Cloak and Dagger (as well as the other two in the trilogy) was the fastest read. I really enjoyed Golden bringing back Telek R'Mor, and the way it was done was magnificient! Christie Golden has gone beyond expectations.Again. If you are a Voyager fan or a fan of other Star Trek; you must read this trilogy.
Rating:
Summary: Fun to read but misses dramatic opportunity
Review: While this trilogy is a fairly entertaining Voyager adventure, it is disappointing to me in that it never really exploits (or even defines!) the theoretical "substance" known as "dark matter" (residual from the Big Bang and theorized as filling all "empty" space and impelling the expansion of the universe at an accelerating rather than decelerating speed) used in the title. In so doing, it misses the opportunity of being ten times as suspenseful. The fate of the known physical universe would hang in the balance in such a circumstance as proposed by this story but this is never conveyed to the reader because "dark matter" isn't really explained at all. I know some people hate technobabble but a few simple paragraphs of exposition lifted from a user-friendly "Nova" segment on PBS I recently saw would have added so much to the drama.
|
