Star Trek: Voyager: String Theory #2: Fusion

Star Trek: Voyager String Theory, Book 2 Fusion written by Kirsten Beyer is the second installment in the trilogy called String Theory. As we left "Cohesion" in a cliff-hanger, "Fusion takes right off where "Cohesion" left off. As Tuvok takes a shuttle for an unathorized flight to the center of the Monorhan system, it is Kathryn Janeway who is the main character in this volume. She is on a quest to learn the meaning of why is there life in this binary system where no life should exist at all. Kristen Beyer does a very good job of hold the story's interest to the reader with all of the different threads floating about in this story. "Fusion" takes the initial story and runs with it, making the reader engrossed and well entertained with the storylines. As the cosmos unravels, Janway is in pursuit of Tuvok as he finds a space station the size of a city next to a singularity that was the second star in the binary system. The space station in powered by the singularity and the crew of the Voyager make quick studies as to what the station can do to get them home to the Alpha Quadrant. With all of its mistique, the space station proves vexing to the crew of the Voyager as they discover a 50 year old spaceship docked in the hanger of the station and no crew to be found. Later we find out the consequences as to what happened and will it affect Voyager and her crew. This is an interesting storyline woven into the fabric of this book's story. Beyer does a good job holding the readers attention and makes you read on till the end where there is another cliff-hanger making you want to read the third installment "Evolution". All in all, this is a captivatingly interesting story that is true to the Voyagers characterizations. You feel like you're part of the story and you want to help Voyagers characters solve the mysteries that are presented. I found the book a fast read with intrigue and mystery,true charactizations and a well-written storyline. This is a solid five stars and you won't be disappointed reading this story. Job well done to Kristen Beyer in her first attempt into the realm of Star Trek fiction. You've capitvatd me as I suppose others will praise this book.

I agree wholeheartedly with the other reviewers who say that this second installment of a Voyager trilogy, is very well written and an improvement over the first one, although I enjoyed the first one as well. Beyer keeps the action rolling and maintains interest by keeping multiple threads of the story going throughout. The story line is more complex and more creative than Book 1 and definitely leaves you wanting to read the third and final installment of the series. With only occasional exceptions ("liberties"), the characters are true to the TV series. To an earlier comment that this book is fantasy and not science-fiction, last time I checked those terms were synonymous! This story doesn't seem to me to be any more fantastic than just about any Voyager episode. Again, I believe this story, like its predecessor, would make an excellent big screen movie.

Finally, a book that puts true depth to all these wonderful characters. I don't know where this Miss Beyer is from, but she sure as heck is one gifted writer.....I recommend this book to not only Star Trek fans....but to fans of great literature everywhere.

String Theory: Fusion, by Kirsten Beyer, continues the strong Voyager performance shown in Cohesion, though there are more minor problems here than there were in the first book. Still, Beyer does herself proud with her first novel (she has a lot of screenplay and teleplay credits, however). It has a bit more technobabble than the first one did (and that one did have a lot), but Beyer doesn't completely forget the characters. In fact, she concentrates on the Voyager crew even more than Lang did. The starship Voyager continues its trek through an area of space that shouldn't exist. Space continues to fall apart around it, but the crew has more to worry about. Tuvok, their security officer, has made off with a shuttle (it's amazingly easy to steal these things) and is answering a psychic call that leads him to a fueling station inside the singularity. Risking the entire ship to follow him, Janeway and her crew manage to navigate (with a little help from the array itself) to a docking port, where they discover the answer to all of their refueling needs. They also discover a mystery, one that will lead them to the answer of what happened to the 14th tribe of the Monoharans that left their home planet in search of paradise. They also find another mystery, one that harkens back to one of their early adventures, and one that could ultimately lead to their destruction. Even if they rescue Tuvok in time to prevent a hideous (or joyous, in his thoughts) transformation, will they be able to save Janeway? There are passages in Fusion that tend to drag, mainly when Janeway is having the entire history of the alien race explained to her. The plotting isn't as crisp and the flow isn't as smooth as Cohesion, but Beyer still manages to have a good number of character moments in the book, demonstrating that she really does have a handle on these characters. She even manages to not have Neelix be too annoying. In fact, Neelix gets some very good characterization, showing how his love for Naomi Wildman, the little girl for whom he is the godfather, has given him another purpose in life after the events of a past episode where he discovered that the Talaxian version of the afterlife is not true. His soul-searching does go on a bit much at times, but overall his characterization is really strong. Beyer captures the other characters just as expertly, and she doesn't have to worry as much about the alien viewpoint as Lang did, with only one alien character (the one who is pretending to be Janeway's sister). One thing these authors are really highlighting (I'm assuming Heather Jarman will too, in the third book, but maybe she won't) is a sort of unrequited love between Chakotay and Janeway, something the series hinted at but never resolved. Some of Chakotay's pining in Janeway's ready room is more than just the "Janeway's such a good captain, how can I replace her?" whining. I always found that romantic tension between them a little annoying, so it beco