Pathways

Jeri Taylor

Sep 2009 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

In her acclaimed novel Mosaic, Jeri Taylor explored the previously unrevealed past of Captain Kathryn Janeway. Now, Pathways traces the winding roads that have led Janeway's fellow officers and closest friends to what may be the greatest crisis of their long journey home.

A deadly encounter with hostile aliens has left Captain Janeway's crew separated from the Starship Voyager™ and slowly starving to death in a disease-ridden alien prison camp. To keep up their determinations as they plot their escape, the crew shares with each other the unlikely paths that brought them all to the USS Voyager and the Delta Quadrant.

They began as individuals, following very different pathways, but together, under the leadership of one remarkable woman, they have become one of the finest teams in the known universe—the crew of the USS Voyager.

Ratings and reviews

BOTTOM-LINE: Decent views of the various backstories . PLOT OR PREMISE: The Voyager crew are separated from the ship and captured by an alien race. The crew are placed in a prison camp full of various races. While awaiting rescue by Captain Janeway, the members tell stories from their pasts to each other at night to help pass the time. . WHAT I LIKED: Chakotay's tale is of his rejection of his tribe's ways and embracing the Starfleet ideals, and then joining the Maquis to chase the Cardassians. Harry Kim's focuses on his privileged upbringing, discovering Starfleet hikers, meeting Boothbie, and his rough adjustment at the Academy. Kes' tale is a bit odd, seems off from her character on the show, but covers her short life before meeting Neelix (told through some sort of psychic link with her essence that has already left Voyager) including pushing the Elders to reveal the history of the Caretaker and her decision to explore the surface. Tuvok's backstory includes his double career with Starfleet, namely first joining Starfleet as a young man, and then leaving Starfleet, returning home to raise a family, having a spiritual quest in the desert, and deciding to rejoin Starfleet, reviewing Janeway's first mission as part of his duties, and then being posted to her ship only to butt heads repeatedly with her over her impulsive nature. . WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: I wasn't totally comfortable with B'Elanna's story about never being part of the life of either Klingons or humans, her decision to leave Starfleet Academy and work on a freighter, and meeting Chakotay and Paris in the Maquis. It seems at odds with her very Klingon personality at the start of Voyager, as if she didn't have much experience with humans. Yet the backstory talks about even her first serious boyfriend having been human. Paris' story doesn't reveal much, it's mostly rehash of excerpts from other episodes -- his relationship with his Admiral father, joining Starfleet and starting a ski team, an chance to be the pilot for the Enterprise, an accident with his flight team (similar to the character he played on TNG episode with Wesley Crusher), his joining the Maquis, his imprisonment for firing on a Starfleet ship to protect the Maquis, and finally joining Voyager. Neelix's story probably had the most potential as being different and unique, i.e. growing up on a quiet planet on the edge of war and the loss of his family and trading partners, and then meeting Voyager's crew, but the story went nowhere. . DISCLOSURE: I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow her on social media.

Amazing to now know everyones back story in detail! a true trekkies must read!!

About the author

Jeri Taylor is an author, screenwriter, and producer, who wrote numerous episodes of the Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager series. She is the author of Unification, Pathways, and Mosaic.