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kjoli's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Tie in novels are a breed of their own, so my expectations for them are always a little different than other fiction. I liked the first two books in this trilogy quite a lot, but this one was quite bad in every way possible. I had to wait before writing this review because I don't like to post criticism while irritated, and this book closing out the trilogy irritated and disappointed me immensely.
I liked two things from this book: the epilogue deals with something unresolved in the show, but it was related to a plot arc in the novel that was so wildly irrelevant that I can't even fathom why it was included. Then, the development ofKnowles, Rollins, Nakano and the fandom's favorite scene extra Ayala as bridge crew and the possibility of having to face losing most of the senior staff in one fell swoop was really interesting and I would have loved for more development of that rather than whatever the heck feudal war bs that c plot was.
Jarman needed to learn "show, don't tell" before she wrote this; pages and pages at a time are just boring, poorly developed exposition. The plot was bafflingly irrelevant to the point that I was actively annoyed through basically the entire thing. I'm not sure who was responsible for outline which parts given how the series was done and the fact that Beyer is specifically thanked for her contributions in the author's note, but it doesn't really matter since it doesn't change the fact that it was an absolute mess.
I'm utterly baffled at how Jarman wrote some of the characters, because it felt like she'd never seen the show. Chakotay is written like an entirely different character, with almost nothing to connect her version of him with his characterization in the show or the previous two novels.You mean to tell me that ACTUAL FORMER MAQUIS CAPTAIN CHAKOTAY is hiding in sickbay because he's afraid of being the captain? When he was already a captain? When he's been the first officer for 5 years? When he's been on the bridge in command in crises repeatedly in alpha canon before this? When we've already had 3x26/4x01 Scorpion prior to this point in canon?? When he was literally in command and made his own decisions that directly contradicted Janeway's orders? There is such a thing as writing a character as too much of a simp, and she made him absolutely pathetic. He was practically useless. Especially given that the first two books nailed specific details and plot references to one-off episodes, this was like watching Voyager through beer goggles. It was just not it. B'Elanna likewise was also absolutely pathetic. I liked how there was an attempt at segueing into 5x03 Extreme Risk but starting to explore B'Elanna 's depression and dangerous behavior but it was so heavy handed and clumsy that it was irritating rather than emotional like it was in the show.
Plus, there are plot holes you could fly a Galaxy-class ship through, nevermind Intrepid. Like, I mean,HOW DID THEY EXPLAIN THE CASUALTIES TO JANEWAY??????? LIKE WERE WE GOING TO MENTION THAT AT ALL? Were we just not going to address the fact that Kathryn "can out-subborn a mule" Janeway didn't demand answers and just took that ridiculous swept-under-the-rug hand-waving to make beta canon adhere to alpha canon at face value? I mean come on.
I don't expect readers to have an encyclopedic knowledge of the show, but I do expect the writers to be able to accurately portray the characters. That is quite literally the job of tie in novels. This book was bad as a novel and very bad as a tie in. Such a disappointment as the finale to what was previously an interesting and entertaining series. I could barely get through it; if it wasn't the last book and if it wasn't Voyager, it would have been a dnf by 50 pages in. Jarman mentions the Voyager fandom in the author's note, which I found interesting given that there's 30 years of fanfiction from non-professional writers that is MILES better than this book.
I liked two things from this book: the epilogue deals with something unresolved in the show, but it was related to a plot arc in the novel that was so wildly irrelevant that I can't even fathom why it was included. Then, the development of
Jarman needed to learn "show, don't tell" before she wrote this; pages and pages at a time are just boring, poorly developed exposition. The plot was bafflingly irrelevant to the point that I was actively annoyed through basically the entire thing. I'm not sure who was responsible for outline which parts given how the series was done and the fact that Beyer is specifically thanked for her contributions in the author's note, but it doesn't really matter since it doesn't change the fact that it was an absolute mess.
I'm utterly baffled at how Jarman wrote some of the characters, because it felt like she'd never seen the show. Chakotay is written like an entirely different character, with almost nothing to connect her version of him with his characterization in the show or the previous two novels.
Plus, there are plot holes you could fly a Galaxy-class ship through, nevermind Intrepid. Like, I mean,
I don't expect readers to have an encyclopedic knowledge of the show, but I do expect the writers to be able to accurately portray the characters. That is quite literally the job of tie in novels. This book was bad as a novel and very bad as a tie in. Such a disappointment as the finale to what was previously an interesting and entertaining series. I could barely get through it; if it wasn't the last book and if it wasn't Voyager, it would have been a dnf by 50 pages in. Jarman mentions the Voyager fandom in the author's note, which I found interesting given that there's 30 years of fanfiction from non-professional writers that is MILES better than this book.
benababy85's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Loved this series. Really captures the characters from the tv show
feeona's review
3.0
Partly I would give this book only 2 stars. It just took so long to get me interested. Maybe that's because the story is mainly about Ocampa which never really interested me and Q - whom I find quite annoying - and the parts playing on the planet are more like Fantasy than Science Fiction. So not really the perfect book for me, but of course I wanted to finish the book series. Towards the end it was definitely gripping and that's what it got 3 stars for, but for me it was the weakest of the three String Theory books.
amyz001's review
4.0
A solid ending which fits so well into where the series was at this point. Although I struggled with some of the concepts in this, and often got a bit lost in some of it, it was solid and a great conclusion to the three part story. I enjoyed Tom and Harry's adventures with the Q in particular and my P/T shipper heart was grateful for their thoughts of each other throughout (Although I am disappointed we didn't get a reuniting scene). Janeway was barely in this book at all - which did allow some more time for Chakotay so was interesting to see how he managed to lead the crew. Overall a good 3 parter which kept my interest.
birdmanseven's review
1.0
Right off the bat, let me just say I hate it when they switch writers within a trilogy. The style changes, the characterization changes and the focus shifts. It's a bad idea. The most disappointing part of this book was that I actually enjoyed the first two in the series. By the time I got to this turd I was already two books into the story, so I had to suffer through the rest of this book. It couldn't be helped. Anyway, there were too many seperate storylines; too much focus on bland, original characters... just too much. The author tried to throw so many different things in this book that even the interesting plotlines were trimmed down to fit everything in. It resulted in a crowded, uneven Voyager novel and an unsatisfying, "Well I'm glad everything's okay, guys" conclusion to an otherwise decent series. My advice: Skip this series. The first two are fun, but not worth the anticlimactic climax.
dreamwanderer's review
3.0
Evolution is the final book in the String Theory trilogy.
The Doctor is the main focus of this part of the story. He is flung into the weird subspace dimension where he takes a revealing journey which answers more questions about the Ocampa. Tom and Harry have an an adventure with Q and q. Chakotay is in charge of Voyager as Janeway lies in a coma.
This book was a hard for me to get through. I like the character of the Doctor very much but I found his chapters were over long and too involved. There was too much time spent in his head. I got bored with it and found myself skimming through them. The parts on Voyager were not as exciting as they had been in the first two books. The Paris/Harry/q chapters were fun and while I've never been a big fan of Q I found I enjoyed those parts most of all.
This trilogy goes a long way in tying up loose ends left over from the series. Kes' later behavior is explained and so are Captain Janeway's mood swings. It is an epic story which I think every Voyager fan should read. Just keep in mind that some of the descriptive passages are a bit more in depth than most readers are used to but the overall story is worth the read.
The Doctor is the main focus of this part of the story. He is flung into the weird subspace dimension where he takes a revealing journey which answers more questions about the Ocampa. Tom and Harry have an an adventure with Q and q. Chakotay is in charge of Voyager as Janeway lies in a coma.
This book was a hard for me to get through. I like the character of the Doctor very much but I found his chapters were over long and too involved. There was too much time spent in his head. I got bored with it and found myself skimming through them. The parts on Voyager were not as exciting as they had been in the first two books. The Paris/Harry/q chapters were fun and while I've never been a big fan of Q I found I enjoyed those parts most of all.
This trilogy goes a long way in tying up loose ends left over from the series. Kes' later behavior is explained and so are Captain Janeway's mood swings. It is an epic story which I think every Voyager fan should read. Just keep in mind that some of the descriptive passages are a bit more in depth than most readers are used to but the overall story is worth the read.
harmony's review
1.0
This book was terrible. the characters acted like caricatures of themselves, sometimes shifting entirely into behaviors or language patterns that are just completely wrong. The plot went in ridiculous directions, the entire thing was basically solved by super powered beings, rendering most of the cast's actions irrelevant, and to top it off, there's a line about how Janeway will be emotionally erratic forevermore. Uh, say what now? This whole trilogy was sort of a mess, but this book is by far the worst.
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