Acts of Contrition (Star Trek: Voyager)

Star Trek: Voyager is a series with an interesting relationship to my teenage years. It's probably my second-to-least favorite Star Trek but I know all of the cast intimately and was invested in their quest to get home. If I had to explain it in simple terms, I probably liked the cast of Voyager more than anyone else save the Original Series' crew but they had really bad plots. Some really good ones too, mind you, but not so much to balance things out. As such, I was interested in the Voyager novel relaunch more than the other stories. Taking the crew into a situation different from their travels across the Delta Quadrant was an intriguing prospect. I was curious to see how the various crew members dealt with with the changes in their absence. The Maquis had been destroyed, the Dominion War had created a harsher Federation, and technology had advanced that a return trip to the Delta Quadrant was feasible. Acts of Contrition picks up after a number of these events, including the death and resurrection of Captain Janeway, with a new mission to the Delta Quadrant in order to investigate if there's any remnant of the Borg. Along the way, they have encountered a powerful species called the Confederacy which may be the Federation's most powerful allies ever but who have powerful differences of opinion on how to treat their citizens. Meanwhile, a plague is ravaging the Federation which appears to be based on the Caeliar (the species which created the Borg) nanotechnology. Despite the Federation's best minds working on it, there's no sign of any progress so Seven of Nine goes to investigate. The fact one of her old lovers is being held under house arrest by its scientists makes the mission doubly important despite the fact she's currently with another. Finally, in a break from the usual Star Trek plots, we have a custody case in the future. Having been lied to by her son about his wife and daughter's death (to protect them from a Klingon cult), Tom Paris' mother is suing for custody of his child. This, despite the fact said child has shown no sign of physical danger at their hands, is provided for adequately, and is deeply attached to her parents. The Federation treats this suit seriously, though, which makes me wonder what sort of standards they hold parents to and whether or not Tom and B'Elanna be better off raising their daughter in the Delta Quadrant. I must confess, I'm reading this out of order because I was intrigued by the Tom Paris plot. I'm a sucker for seeing things I haven't seen before in Star Trek and was interested in what custody hearings would be like in the 24th century. The depiction isn't terribly encouraging because it's clear Julia Paris is using the court as a method of getting revenge on her son for deceiving her with Miral Paris as a pawn. If there was any evidence of mental abuse in one of the parties then that would qualify right there. She doesn't even bring up the dangerous life of a Starfleet child or the murder-cult, which further hardened my opinion against her. The fact Tom isn't more angry at his mother struck me as the only thing unrealistic about the proceeding, though, as I've seen many otherwise stable family relationships destroyed by much less in real-life. The lion's share of the book, though, is devoted to the discussion of the Confederacy and whether or not it can ever reach an accord with the Federation. This is notable only because the Confederacy is, well, the present-day United States IN SPAAACCCE. It's a government ruled by capitalism, few safety nets, religious dogma, poor health care, and manipulation of the government by corporations. The Confederacy is a bit worse in some respects as there's, thankfully, some safety net in the United States despite attempts by certain parties to eradicate them. Instead, the Confederacy reminds me a bit of Bioshock's Rapture where concepts of wealth=deserving to be wealthy are foundational principles. I'd like to think that was a concept too stupid to make much traction but the Prosperity Gospel exists so what do I know. There are many people who have worked to be rich, many people who have inherited money, and many people who make their fortunes through illicit means. Watching the post-scarcity socialist Federation try to comprehend a mindset like this is an interesting experience. Honestly, I think the book overdoes the Federation's troubles with the Confederacy since they're allied with the Klingons who are a violent oligarchy as well as the Ferengi who are built on capitalism despite Rom's reforms. Hell, you'd think the Federation would be used to making alliances with people they don't share the values of in order to enact positive change by example. The characters sometimes act as if the culture were the most surreal and callous one they've ever encountered. Overall, I'd liked Acts of Contrition and would recommend it to Voyager fans. I'll buy just about anything with Seven of Nine, the Doctor, Tom Paris, or B'elanna in it. I also think this is a story which goes in an interesting direction with some fairly pointed social satire. It's got some flaws and I think the Seven story could have gone faster but, overall, I give it two thumbs up.8.5/10

I’ll say it like this, I would pay to see this as a movie.I only stop because I have stuff to do, otherwise I’d keep reading it without stopping

Acts of Contrition picks up shortly after the events of "Star Trek: Voyager: Protectors". Set in the year 2382 (roughly five years after the end of the Voyager TV series), the crew of the USS Voyager is now participating as part of a fleet of ships on a return exploration mission to the Delta Quadrant.This story picks up where the previous book "Protectors" left off, as such I would advise reading that book first to fully understand what is going on. A plot twist near the end of this book also calls back to the plot thread from the book "Star Trek: Voyager: Unworthy", while that book isn't necessary reading it does help explain the ending of this book better.The meat of this books story is that the Federation's "Full Circle Fleet", presently comprised of USS Voyager and three other ships, is on a first contact mission with the Confederacy of the First Quadrant. A secondary plot follows the exploits of Seven of Nine on Earth as she deals with curing a deadly plague.For the most part I found the first contact plotline to be very interesting and well done. The Confederacy is essentially what the Ferengi were originally pitched as in their TNG debut, being an advanced civilization showing the ills of taking capitalism to its furthest extremes. Whereas the Ferengi were portrayed in a ridiculous manner, this book handles the Confederacy as something that I could see actually existing. Rather than being outright villainous monsters they are instead treated like regular people in a culture that simply lacks the social safety nets that exist in most modern capitalist societies.Star Trek writers have a long history of trying to antagonize the notion of capitalism, but the efforts usually comes across as ridiculous due to the franchises use of quasi-magical solutions to solve all of the Federations problems. I believe this attitude probably stems from the grievance many artists have against living in a society where they can't dictate the value of their work. This story unlike many that have come before is more restrained and doesn't try to demonize the other side, which is a very welcome change.The books secondary plot focuses on Seven of Nine as she tries to help Starfleet Medical with a plague that is ravaging a handful of Federation worlds in the wake of the Borg invasion that occurred in the Star Trek Destiny novel trilogy (an excellent series by the way). This storyline follows the dark and pessimistic tone set in other recent Star Trek books such as the "Typhon Pact" and "The Fall" miniseries. Essentially the story hinges on the idea that in the aftermath of all the crisis events that have happened the Federation is losing its moral compass and doing questionable things that it wouldn't previously have considered. I personally haven't been a big fan of this trend and found this storyline to be unappealing on a personal level. The storyline itself is handled decently, but I just can't stand the tone and message.There is a third less important plotline focusing on Tom Paris attending a custody hearing where his mother is trying to take custody of his daughter Miral. This plotline felt like filler to pad out the book and provide an excuse to have Tom on Earth so that he can participate in Seven's plotline in the next book. The overall idea is unappealing, I don't know anyone who likes to see families tear themselves apart like this. Thankfully this plotline is resolved relatively quickly so we can move on from this train wreck.Overall I found this book to be well paced and interesting. It introduces us to a new society and characters while leaving things open to whether they can become friends or enemies in the future. Overall the book is entertaining and lays the ground work for more adventure to come. The idea of the fleet itself is better used than in previous books as well, with each ship in the fleet contributing something to the story, and at the same time giving us reasons to actually enjoy the presence of these newcomers.I look forward to seeing where this story arc goes in the upcoming book "Star Trek: Voyager: Atonement" that comes out later this year.

...it is the sheer number of cliffhangers in this book. Definitely the mid point in a trilogy but one with excellent plotting and characterisation throughout. My only concern is precisely how Tom Paris was even in the situation described in the books, and whether that kind of family courtroom set up would exist in the federation. On the other hand the federation is a post apocalyptic utopia of liberal and socialist values imagined by late twentieth century capitalists at it inception so...all bets are off.Thematically strong with its themes around parenthood and particularly motherhood, along with the concepts of having to face ones past in order to protect or create a better future, it also had time to do what good trek does and speak about our own current world through the lens of our imagined future, in this case, showing us two tier healthcare and economic caste based society on an interstellar scale and showing its faults through the eyes of our federation characters.Most of the original characters are well written, though on a personal level I find one or two irritating, but the decent characterisation of the Voyager regulars is what really shines.I do find it entertaining that all of the books continuities love to disregard relationships set up at the end of screen continuity,

It was a very enjoyable read. Been a sci fi and fantasy fan all my life but star trek is what a good franchise should be. Still annoyed at all the prequels, I was thrilled to find novels that tell the story after Voyager TV series ended.Alien or Alien vs Predator novels are mostly disappointing and I was worried that these novels would be bad but this one was very good. It was engaging, throughout, but then a big battle at the end but then everything stops. Seven of Nine and plague story and the full circle fleet are separate plot lines, many POV, but the ending just took things in a different direction.I will be buying the next book eventually but the ending and the cliffhanger made it a slightly lower priority as far as the reading pile is concerned.

Since discovering the Star Trek books on Kindle I have read quote a few of the Voyager stories. This is a continuation of the exploration of the Delta Quadrant of the Project Full Circle Fleet. The book jumps between events with the fleet, things happening on Earth and various locations in the DQ. I think I may have needed to read Protectors first as there are references to events and things have happened that seemed to have jumped from when I read Eternal Tide. I would highly recommend this book and I cannot wait for the next one!

The writer has captured the essence of Star Trek completely. The multi fascited story lines are part of the Gene Roddenberry's ideology of Star Trek. I am totally blind and am overwhelmed by this writer's ability to remain true to the Star Trek ideology. The personalities of the Characters of the original Voyager are perfect in every detail and the story line is absolutly compelling. I love this writer and will be buying more. Live long and prosper. John

A real page turner that you find you need to get on to the next chapter....... You are absolutely immersed from the first word until the final chapter. Can’t wait for the next instalment.