Home :: Books :: Science Fiction & Fantasy  

Arts & Photography
Audio CDs
Audiocassettes
Biographies & Memoirs
Business & Investing
Children's Books
Christianity
Comics & Graphic Novels
Computers & Internet
Cooking, Food & Wine
Entertainment
Gay & Lesbian
Health, Mind & Body
History
Home & Garden
Horror
Literature & Fiction
Mystery & Thrillers
Nonfiction
Outdoors & Nature
Parenting & Families
Professional & Technical
Reference
Religion & Spirituality
Romance
Science
Science Fiction & Fantasy

Sports
Teens
Travel
Women's Fiction
Death of a Neutron Star (Star Trek Voyager, No 17)

Death of a Neutron Star (Star Trek Voyager, No 17)

List Price: $6.50
Your Price:
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 3 >>

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: It was ok, nothing special
Review: I have to tell you, I was really disappointed with this book. I had many of the same reactions as another reviewer, when I saw that the only thing that Janeway thinks about is coffee. I mean, come ON! She likes it, and people make fun of her for it, but this was a little extreme. she comes off as having a two track mind: coffee and must.save.ship. good lord!

and then there are those quavok people or whatever their race was called. all their names start with Q! i mean, not only is it difficult to follow when everyone's name starts with the same letter, but it's kinda stupid. i mean, how old are we???? we're not toddlers! this book could have been written a bit more maturely.

and all the characters were 2 dimensional. it was ridiculous.

and then chakotay! eric kotani gave him a completely different personality! i mean, i understand that lately in the shows he's kind of had NO personality (barring the ep "Shattered"), but this was a little much. the only thing chakotay does in this book is smile! SMILE! every action he does is followed by the word "smiling." or vice versa. and then he was CONSTANTLY making these little jokes. i understand that he can do that sometimes, but this is usually tom's forte and chakotay really comes off in the show as a much more serious guy.

ok. now about the plot. or shall i say, the joke of a plot. the first 60 pages or so were COMPLETELY boring, and i found myself desperately wanting to put the book down. unfortunately, i was babysitting, and i had nothing else to do but read. but this book was putting me to sleep!

the beginning is all technobabble, and stupid annoying technobabble at that. like, there were pages and pages of conversation about "inverse proportion of the star's gravitional field" or something like that. there was NO PLOT!

then the book picked up somewhere around the middle, but it was so predictable. from the start, i could figure out all the twists (which i won't say for those who haven't read it). and just for the record, janeway is NOT dumb. she would have picked up on those in a second too. i cant believe this kotani guy thought he could put that past her!

the book was boring, dumb, and stereotyped. the bad guys are ugly, have bad teeth, and smell rotten. what a surprise. it's like the original series (which i hate) all over again.

to sum up, i expected a lot more from a voyager book. i guess i shouldn't have. but this was seriously the worst i ever read. it's the kind of book i only read b/c it had voyager on the cover. dont waste your money. i dont recommend this to anyone. read "echoes" instead. now THAT was a good book.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Too technical
Review: I look forward to seeing more titles by Mr. Kotani. He wrote an excellent page-turner in Death of a Neutron Star. Despite some of the less-than-positive reviews by some, I believe this to be one of the better entries in the Voyager series. An plot-driven book to be sure, with very little focus on anyone except Janeway or the guest alien, Tyra, but nonetheless, it was great! And Janeway doesn't even drink any coffee in the second half of the book! Get over it, people!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: An excellent entry!
Review: I look forward to seeing more titles by Mr. Kotani. He wrote an excellent page-turner in Death of a Neutron Star. Despite some of the less-than-positive reviews by some, I believe this to be one of the better entries in the Voyager series. An plot-driven book to be sure, with very little focus on anyone except Janeway or the guest alien, Tyra, but nonetheless, it was great! And Janeway doesn't even drink any coffee in the second half of the book! Get over it, people!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: I liked it - except for the coffee.
Review: I really enjoyed this book - it was fairly average, but enjoyable. In the first chapter, Captain Janeway's coffee is mentioned consistently, and the reader feels that the coffee plays a major role in the story, however it tends to be mentioned only occaisionally. I felt the plot line was slightly weak, in a "been-there, done-that" kind of way. Aliens played a prominent role, and sometimes their background was not clear to the reader. Overall, I did enjoy this book, and would recommend it to Star Trek enthusists.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: This is exciting
Review: I really enjoyed this novel. The author created such an interesting enviornment, and I believe interesting characters. We all know that "Voyager" will survive, but it is how it survives that intrigued me. The story has you trying to decide who is an ally or enemy,and in this novel. Allies are enemies and vice versa. I really enjoyed it and look forward to reading the next "Voyager" novel.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: One-dimensional characters, dull plot
Review: I was sorely disappointed in this latest Voyager book. The writing itself was competent--I didn't feel like I was reading some overzealous teenager's fanfic (fan-written fiction). But the book suffered from the same problem that makes so many other Star Trek books dull reading: the characters are one-dimensional and serve only to advance the plot (which wasn't all that exciting to begin with). They had no meaningful personal attributes, no thoughts or interactions that made us smile and say "ah yes, that's EXACTLY how she/he is!" To give you an idea of how lifeless they were, here are some of the highlights: Janeway drinks a lot of coffee. Tom Paris sweats during a particularly difficult navigation routine. I'd name off the other crew's contributions but I don't even remember them. There is the requisite exchange of fire with other ships, and the standard degradation of shields down to some perilously low level. Warp drive goes out, which is pretty much what we expect since it happens in almost every episode. One thing that did make me sit up and take notice was the ridiculous stereotyping of the aliens. The alien good guys looked very much like humans, and were beautiful. The alien bad guys were reptilean and ugly. Hmmmm.

Star Trek Voyager books don't have to be like this. Many of the others in the series are rich and complex, focusing as much on the people as on the "action." "The Murdered Sun" and "The Black Shore" are two examples that come to mind. I've kept a small set of Voyager books that have this depth of characterization and/or absorbing story; "Death of a Neutron Star," however, is making a quick trip to the library book sale.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Death of A Neutron Star-a winner, worthy Voyager adventure
Review: I was surprised how intriguing this book was. At first you might think it is boring because of all the scientific data, but the author certainly did enough research to bring to life the awesome threat of a powerful force of nature. This novel is like the Voyager show in the sense that you get a feeling the characters really care about each other, and not only the crew but the guests. I really enjoyed the relationship between Dr. Maalot and Tyla and it drove the story nicely. I couldn't put it down! got throught it in less than 3 days. They even threw in the doctor with his patented, "State the nature of your medical emergency." Somebody replicate Janeway more alien coffee!!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: It needed something more...
Review: If you enjoy hearing about Janeway's obsession with coffee, than this book is for you, otherwise, read "Marooned". "Neutron Star" had potential, it could've been an exceptionaly good book, but it lacked something. Through out the book, I kept hoping it would get better, but it didn't. To me, a good Voyager book is one that leaves you feeling like you just read an extended version of an episode, but this leves you feeling like the Powers-That-Be were in need of publishing a Voyager book, and this was all they had.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Im sorry, Eric, but you have not written a good book at all.
Review: Most of the Voyager books that I've read have been quite good--especially the ones by Christie Golden. She can really write. However, Death of a Neutron Star was anything but exciting. Eric Kotani's writing style was adolescent. Despite what others may say, I felt like I was reading a story that I might have written in sixth grade! The characters were not developed, though they blandly followed their early series-established outlines. The plot was dull, and every single event could be easily predicted. If you want to read a good STV book, read one by Ms. Golden, but for god's sake, don't spend a penny on this peice of junk!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: I agree--God help us all. There are better Trek writers.
Review: Mr. Kotani, to me, obviously knows little or nothing about Voyager, its captain, and crew. This novel is science and plot driven, but I believe that it needs a great deal more than just being a repetive action and cliff-hanger plot book. I do not wish to slam Mr. Kotani personally, but he should acquaint himself with the characters in this interesting series. Christine Golden does an excellent job as a writer and getting into Janeway's mind. I suggest that you read her book in the Voyager series. This is the first review I have written under my new nick name; I reviewed The 34th Rule just recently and I believe many readers would enjoy it. In the original series, I tend to like Uhura's Song best. Both of these books are strong in plot, characterization and values that should have us thinking about events on earth.


<< 1 2 3 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates