Marooned

I just finished reading this book for the second time, and I loved it even more. I've yet to read a Christie Golden book that I didn't thoroughly enjoy from beginning to end. Her excellent characterizations and wonderful sense of humor make reading her books a delight. She is the best Voyager author to date, and I look forward to her every book with great anticipation.Marooned is a wonderfully engaging story filled with moments of apprehension, tension, humor, affection, and scenes so well written I forgot where I was while I was reading.One thing that really stuck out about this book was Golden's portrayl of Kes. I must admit that this particular character never held much interest for me. She was nice enough, but seemed to blend in to the background. Not in this book. In this story, Kes is brave and strong, and yet she's as delicate as the flowers she loves so deeply. It changed the way I see the character, and I watched Voyager reruns with renewed interest.One of my favorite things about this author, and this book in particular, is her ability to bring the characters to life and give them great depth. It's the simple things, for example: the way she describes Janeway running her fingers through her ratty hair and pulling it into a braid as she did when she was camping. What a human thing to do! Golden has a talent for making Janeway's femininity stand out, and blending it beautifully with her formidable command presence and discipline. That's something the shows writers never seemed to grasp.Thank you, Christie, for another wonderful story!

I've read lots of Star Trek novels from all five book series, but "Marooned" is one of my favorites. Voyager has some strong characters that often go unnoticed as the show is the least popular Trek series, but Christie Golden does them justice in this book. Kes was often represented as frail and obedient, but once in a while her stubborn hard-core self emerged, as it did here. If you want to buy this book because Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres are on the cover, don't. They are not the main characters here by far. The story is about Kes's abduction by a man entranced by her race. Janeway, Neelix, and, yes, Tom and B'Elanna, are sent to rescue her, but meanwhile Kes is finding out that her captor is not as evil as he seems. Though Kes is the main character, others have their moments as well. Golden does a good job with her characterization in this book. The villain isn't just another "bumpy-headed" alien appearance that is sometimes seen in Trek, but is a deeper and more complex character. Kes and the Doctor are my favorite characters in Voyager so I was happy, as the latter got some funny and emotional lines worked in. Other memorable scenes came from Neelix and Janeway as they work to recover Kes safely. I really enjoyed this book; I've read it five times and have not tired of it. There is the main "action" plot of Kes's abduction and the secondary plot of the villain's backround and the characters' emotions. I think there really is something everyone can enjoy in this Trek novel.

I really enjoy the show (despite its faults, which I will admit to), and I also really enjoy reading the novels--but I usually give them three or four stars, other than the magnificent "Mosaic," which stands alone. While Janeway and Kes are of course the most prominent characters of "Marooned" (making one wonder why it's Paris and Torres who get featured on the cover), each one of "Voyager's" main characters has an important part to play that only he can. The only one who could possibly be short-changed is Tuvok, but even still he was an important part of the story, just a smaller part. I got the feeling while reading this one that the author really *knows* these characters, and that they are people, not plot pawns. Not only that, the aliens Hrrrl and Aren Yashar are given depth and believable personalities/problems. I even liked Neelix's "Furball" (the Kakkik), and I found myself chuckling, "That sounds like Neelix, all right." But perhaps the best part of this novel lies in the ideas it presents--its "food for thought." The issues of a people that are slowly dying out and the despair that they feel, of another race that has been driven to "becoming takers-of-lives" to survive, of a young girl-woman who, by our standards, will never experience a full life and of a man who to us would seem immortal--and what would happen when they meet--all these are dealt with thoughtfully and sensitively, leaving just enough "gray" areas that we can't soon forget what we've read. To sum up, this is a real winner with substance; it tops "Seven of Nine" by far.

If the Voyager novels line can sometimes seem like the poor cousins of their TOS and TNG cousins, Christie Golden's books show us how they should be done. It's obvious that she's very fond of the characters, while not hesitating to play with them. Marooned is in part a pastiche/parody of bodice-ripper romance novels, albeit subtly done; and the focus on Kes and Neelix (not two of my faves) is well justified by the plot and by some expert characterisation. More, Ms Golden, please. (Her non Trek novels aren't bad either.)

I have in fact just finished reading this book and I thought it was a marvellously crafted story. As someone who is determined to persue a career in the writing field I look upon this book as an inspiriation. The story did not lose it's strength at all and the action continued until the end I was exceptionally impressed by Christie Golden's portayal of Aren Yashar, the alien pirate. She did not portay him as a one sided villian, but showed us the sad truth behind his smug facade. Christie Golden continues to be one of my favourite Voyager writers and I hope she continues to write as she does - and if she does manage to write an episode for the sow, you can rest assure it will be a darn good one!!!