Star Trek Voyager: Distant Shores Book

Many cities of men he saw and learned their minds, many pains he suffered, heartsick on the open sea, fighting to save his life and bring his comrades home.
Distant Shores opens with this quote from Homer in the Odyssey, and I consider this quote to be perfect for Voyager. I also think that this book with 12 different stories, with one being split into two parts, is an amazing idea. I really like the fact that we get to glimpse back into Voyager's journey and get these extra stories with our crew. As a whole I like the writing and the different stories. Thinking about it I've decided that this review will be better served going into each story individually. So that's what I'll do, and I'll try to do it briefly...

Da Capo al Fine, Part I - 3 1/2 stars
I have to admit that I found this first part to be somewhat confusing at the same time as it was beautiful and interesting to follow Admiral Janeway through her dreams/delusions/flashbacks or whatever they might turn out to be. I think it portrayed her as the fighter she is. As a fighter to the very end even being right there with the Borg Queen hoping Voyager will make it...

Command Code - 3 1/2 stars
This story had an interesting premise with Chakotay having to handle commanding Voyager by himself for the first time. It was a good story, although I admit I had some difficulty buying Tuvok's actions here. But the writing in general was good and I do think that the ending made up for everything else a little bit.

Winds of Change - 3 stars
I found this story to be kind of slow, even though it was beautiful in its own way with Kes and B'Elanna forming a friendship. I like the thought of the story and how it deals with the aftermath of Warlord. It's a story dealing with change, emotional distress and friendship. It didn't quite draw me in, though. From time it was even a bit boring.

Talent Night - 3 1/2 stars
This was a nice story about that night that we probably all wondered a little bit about. I really liked how Jeffrey Lang focused on relationships and of adding to the characters and their stories. I also loved Lang's addition to the String Theory trilogy, Cohesion, so I was happy to read something more from him.

Letting Go - 4 1/2 stars
I LOVE the premise of this story! It's different, it's filled with emotion and it's so very interesting. This is all about how Voyager's disappearance affected the people being left behind and how the prospect of letting go is always the hardest when you don't know what happened. This was amazing on so many levels. It was hard to put down and I would have loved to see something like this in an episode.

Closure - 4 stars
This story is about Neelix, and although he is one of the Voyager characters that I usually enjoy to read the least about I really like this story. It's a story that really got to me. It's about Neelix being stuck down on a planet after a cave in finding relics of an old Ocampan community far off from Ocampa. It has Kes in it. And Neelix gets such a depth to him in this story that I really like.

The Secret Heart of Zolaluz - 3 1/2 stars
This is a beautiful story of friendship between Seven of Nine and a woman called Zolaluz. It's about being an outsider having to fight your way through life. I felt that this story had a very important message do convey and also that it added to Seven's character.

Isabo's Shirt - 5 stars
I fell for Kirsten Beyer as a writer after reading Fusion, and I can't even begin to tell you how much I'm looking forward to reading her relaunch novels. So I had high hopes for this story, and I wasn't disappointed. This story was perfect in so many ways. It was utter fantastic. I would have given almost anything to see something like this during Voyager's run. Something like Janeway and Chakotay going on a date...

Brief Candle - 3 1/2 stars
At first I wasn't so sure if I liked this story about Marika, one of the liberated Borg drones, but it came to grow on me. I liked reading about her take on her situation knowing she'd die within just a few weeks and how she handled that. I believe we can all learn a lot from her.

18 minutes - 4 1/2 stars
I love this story and the whole idea of it. It's a story about the time the Doctor spent down on the planet in the episode Blink of an Eye and is told through his logs while being down there not really knowing for how long. A few minutes on Voyager is practically years down there. The people he got to meet and what he got to be a part of, it all made for an amazing and heartfelt story.

Or the Tiger - 3 stars
I kind of liked this story about B'Elanna having to solve a mystery that just might get Voyager home. I like the mystery of it and the ethics she was faced with. It was interesting to read about. Unfortunately the story felt a bit rushed in a way. In the end I felt that I would have wanted more out of the story.

Bottomless - 3 stars
This is a story about a woman from the Equinox crew wanting to fit in and going on a mission with Tom Paris to save the day. I really do like parts of the story. I like the world we get to know a few glimpses about and the honesty and brutality of the situation they find themselves in. Then there are things I don't like as well, for example a choice Janeway made towards the end. As a whole I did think it was a good story, though.

Da Capo al Fine, Part II - 4 1/2 stars
...and now I get it all! I love how this story turned out and think it was brilliant of Heather Jarman to use this particular part of Janeway's journey through the Delta Quadrant in this instance. I love the ending. I love the fighting spirit. What I don't get, though, was why it was divided into two parts.