Star Trek: Voyager: Distant Shores Anthology

I loved this book. Some great stories. Janeway/Chtokay get romantically involved. I also enjoyed Neelix/Kes's story which was moving. Command Code was my favourite. I found it a real page turner.

Star Trek: Voyager was ten years old in 2005, and as part of the celebration, Pocket Books published Distant Shores, an anthology of stories set during the television series. Edited by Marco Palmieri, this collection is definitely better than a lot of the episodes, with great characterization of the regulars, imaginative extrapolations from existing episodes, as well as original stories that don't have anything to do with the episodes. One of the things I've noticed about these anthologies (Prophecy & Change for Deep Space Nine is another one) is that the stories are often used to show us things that the various episodes weren't able to show, for whatever reason. Thus, we get some closure to the relationship between Neelix and Kes ("Closure"). We see some of the survivors of the Equinox (from the episode of the same name) who joined the Voyager crew, and then disappeared into the vast Central Casting pool, never to be seen again. Some of the stories are quite touching, while others are fun. This is definitely a collection for any Voyager fan, and even non-Voyager fans might actually like it a little bit. The anthology begins and ends with "Da Capo al Fine" (Heather Jarman), told in two parts and separated by a cliffhanger. The Admiral Janeway from the future who came back to help Voyager home (in the finale) is being mentally assaulted by the Borg Queen. Or is she? Could some alien be returning to deliver what he promised? She visits numerous instances of the life and death decisions she's had to make over seven years in the Delta Quadrant, and she must decide whether to turn down a final offer that could eradicate all of that. I wasn't sure what to make of this story at first, but ultimately it could almost be an analogy for the whole Voyager series. If we had it all to do over, would we begin this tragic journey again? These seven long years? Ultimately, the answer is a given, but it's still an interesting exploration in Jarman's hands. Probably the best story in the entire book is "Brief Candle" (Christopher L. Bennett). Lieutenant Marika Willkarah has recently been rescued from the Borg collective, but unfortunately her severing from the link is going to kill her soon. She decides that she has to live her life to the fullest in her limited time. She becomes attracted to Ensign Harry Kim, who feels he can't return her feelings because he would get too close to her and her death would be too painful. Whether or not she convinces him to ignore that fear, we see her carry out her goal. And when it's time to go out, she is able to make the choice her own way. This is an incredibly touching story that did leave a tear in my eye at the end. It ties in nicely with the episodes that are supposedly around it, and Bennett's characterization is wonderful. Kim is a great mix of naïve and afraid, and his best friend, Tom Paris, is not afraid to let him know when he's being an idiot. The coda to the story is what definitely makes

This book is absolutely GREAT!! It fills in the missing scenes from the series. It's especially perfect for J/C fans (read Isabo's Shirt!! and part of Talent Night!)!! Only one or two stories were a little slow, but still okay. I hope they do some more like this.

Any television series, especially viewed in hindsight, misses storytelling opportunities. Pocket Books set out to exploit some of those missed opportunities on Star Trek: Voyager in the new anthology Distant Shores. In Distant Shores Editor Marco Palmieri has brought together a blend of veteran Star Trek authors and newer voices to pay tribute to the 10th anniversary of the series with a beautifully balanced collection of stories that accomplish something I did not think was possible; reading the stories within its pages made me feel nostalgic for Voyager. Each of the stories in Distant Shores is set within the series seven year run and the stories are presented in chronological order with a framing story bookending the first and last entries. Twelve different and singular voices contributed to Distant Shores: Christopher L. Bennett, Kirsten Beyer, Ilsa J. Bick, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Robert Greenberger, Heather Jarman, Robert T. Jeschonek, Jeffrey Lang, Terri Osborne, Kim Sheard, James Swallow and Geoffrey Thorne. Collectively this volume shares the spotlight among all the characters and provides for the reader a very real sense of the long journey the crew undertook and the changes that occurred along the way. Each story in this collection is, in its own way, a true tribute. In this case, missed opportunities are to the benefit of the reader. Distant Shores is a wonderful commemoration and celebration of Star Trek: Voyager.

This book is a collection of stories that covers different time periods in Voyager's 7 year journey. All the stories are excellent and dive deeper into the characters than the show ever did. It's almost like reading Fan Fiction!!!!! I certainly hope that the Publisher's have more of these types of books on the drawing board, especially ones that have a deeper exploration of the relationship between Janeway and Chakotay...who have a HUGE fan following.