This is Jeri Taylor showing us how she envisioned Janeway and it's a treat. A shame she was forced off the show and Janeway lost all her warmth and unique command style. ( )

The two narrative stands of the book - Janeway's mission to rescue Tuvok's stranded away team from attack by the Kazon; Janeway's reminisces on her childhood, youthful romances and early Starfleet career - interweave, coming together at the climax in a rather forced way. The Kazon story is interesting, if uninspired; the memoir is interesting if you're a Trekkie who particularly likes Janeway. Given I'm the latter, I ended up enjoying the story more than what I've written so far would suggest.

The Kazon story being fairly standard fare, the main USP is Janeway's back story, and I'd rather have had a whole novel on that subject, as there were plenty of elements which could have been explored and expanded. Given that Taylor was one the main creators of Voyager, and had defined Janeway's character for the show, she does Kathryn justice in the book. I guess the Delta Quadrant itself was a character in the show, so at the time of publication, 1996, that setting would have been important to include.

I don't think it works on its own merits, that is, it wouldn't be a good jumping on point as you have to already care for and know something about the characters to feel invested, but as fan-service it's 3.5 🌟 ( )

Fairly standard psychological drama à la [b:Gerald's Game|32692|Gerald's Game|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1297737756s/32692.jpg|4847031] et al: something bad is happening and only coming to terms with some terrible repressed memory can save the day.

The book's surprisingly dark at times for a Star Trek novel, but neither that nor the clunky cameos can save it from passable mediocrity. ( )

Fairly standard psychological drama à la [b:Gerald's Game|32692|Gerald's Game|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1297737756s/32692.jpg|4847031] et al: something bad is happening and only coming to terms with some terrible repressed memory can save the day.

The book's surprisingly dark at times for a Star Trek novel, but neither that nor the clunky cameos can save it from passable mediocrity. ( )