Scan barcode
A review by storyofcory
Pathways: Star Trek Voyager by Jeri Taylor
4.0
I don't consider myself a Trekkie/Trekker, and as a result, really couldn't care less about "Star Trek canon". This book was good for what *I* think it was meant for... an interesting read that was fairly independent of the Voyager series as a whole. To me, this was a "what if" book... what if the crew was marooned somehow on some hostile planet? What would they do? What would they talk about? This book does a pretty good job of supposing just a scenario, and playing said scenario out in prose. I think, in order to get the maximum amount of enjoyment out of a book like this, you have to "flush" canon from your mind entirely and not get wrapped up in what's "supposed" to happen, according to canon, or what someone is "supposed" to do, according to canon, and just go with the flow and enjoy the ride the story takes you on.
THAT SAID... I did read a few reviews before writing this, and those reviews that said the book is heavy on "purple prose" DO have a very valid point. If the flowery, filler language was pared down, and a couple of the characters' stories were shorter, this book would probably top out at around 350 pages (for what it's worth, each character's backstory is about 50 pages in length, give or take, followed by a 10-20 page chapter wrapping up the story and transitioning to the [b:Pathways|217956|Pathways (Star Trek Voyager)|Jeri Taylor|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387739139s/217956.jpg|1077601]next character's story). Don't get me wrong, the majority of the stories WERE interesting, but at the same time, a couple of them WERE overly long.
This IS a Star Trek book worth reading, in my opinion, even if you are a die-hard Trekker/Trekkie who lives and dies by ST canon. You just have to put your knowledge of ST canon aside for a while as you read it.
THAT SAID... I did read a few reviews before writing this, and those reviews that said the book is heavy on "purple prose" DO have a very valid point. If the flowery, filler language was pared down, and a couple of the characters' stories were shorter, this book would probably top out at around 350 pages (for what it's worth, each character's backstory is about 50 pages in length, give or take, followed by a 10-20 page chapter wrapping up the story and transitioning to the [b:Pathways|217956|Pathways (Star Trek Voyager)|Jeri Taylor|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387739139s/217956.jpg|1077601]next character's story). Don't get me wrong, the majority of the stories WERE interesting, but at the same time, a couple of them WERE overly long.
This IS a Star Trek book worth reading, in my opinion, even if you are a die-hard Trekker/Trekkie who lives and dies by ST canon. You just have to put your knowledge of ST canon aside for a while as you read it.