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5.0 out of 5 stars
ST Voyager #1 Caretaker - An exciting beginning!, Nov 1 2003
Surprisingly enough, out of all of the Star Trek novels written by the LA Graf (Let's All Get Rich and Famous) writing team of Julia Ecklar and Karen Rose Cercone, this was the first one of theirs that I'd read. I found their writing style for this novelization of Voyager's lead off episode to be very well written and fast paced, easily accomplishing what novelizations are for. They deftly added several "between the scenes" scenes that weren't scene on screen and enhanced those scenes we did see with some very interesting personal dialogue.The cover art for this novelization is nothing spectacular but it does serve well in what it was designed to do, give the fans a photo of the new and exciting crew! As is custom with novelizations of Star Trek movies and pilot episodes, there is an eight page set of black & white photos included. The premise: The newly commissioned Intrepid class USS Voyager NCC-74656, commanded by Captain Kathryn Janeway sets out on the mission to find a particular band of Maquis in the badlands. Here is where the novelization goes above and beyond the episode; the novelization begins with an excellent introspective opening sequence with Chakotay, a Maquis leader. Voyager arrives at Deep Space Nine to pick up some additional crew members and then she heads out for the badlands with her crew to find the Maquis. Unbeknownst to them, an entity known as the Caretaker has spirited the Maquis raider some seventy thousand light years away, deep in the Delta Quadrant and they're heading for that same destiny. Captain Janeway and her crew find themselves in the same situation; deep in the Delta Quadrant, several crew members dead or missing and those left alive being held captive by the Caretaker. In true Janeway fashion, she soon learns what must be done and has to make the ultimate decision that will leave her crew and the remaining crew of the Maquis raider stranded in the Delta Quadrant, looking at seventy years at maximum warp to get home to the Alpha Quadrant and the Federation. Thus begins the wonderful seven year journey, where at many times, the series didn't quite live up to the expectations of many Star Trek fans but it was still some very decent Star Trek and a journey that I enjoyed watching. I highly recommend this novel to those that can find a copy of it. It serves well as a beginning to the series of novels for Star Trek fiction readers! While several of the early Star Trek Voyager stories couldn't exactly be classified as "classics," it's worth it to read through them and this is the best place to start. {ssintrepid}
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