Mosaic

Rating:
Summary: Amazing...
Review: I was looking forward to reading "Mosaic". I had heard nothing but good reviews, so I purchased it and read it. Let me say now that this book was one of the best written Voyager stories I have read. It was emotional, and it kept me wanted to keep on reading non-stop. Kathryn Janeways's history is amazing, and through this compelling story, you really learn about it.

The book was very interesting. It would alternate chapters, one would be the present, and one would be at a certain point in her history. The novel was like a book full of small stories, different increments of her life, as well as a continuing story during the present.

I fyou ever awnted to know about her history, this is the book to read. It's concise, and accurate compared to the show. It shows all the important parts of her life-when she was a little girl, hiding under her father's desk-her first trip on a space ship-her first love, and may other stories. After reading Mosaic, I came to a new understanding of Kathryn Janeway.

Jeri Taylor is a fantastic author. Because she work's for the show, she seems to grasp all the knowledge, and tie in information from the show into the book. It has lot's of episode references for those who watch the television series.

Any true Star Trek fan must get a copy of this story! I give it five stars!

Rating:
Summary: WOW.
Review: Yes, I love Janeway. But that tends to make me more critical than blindly accepting when it comes to VOY novels, because I don't hesitate to pick them apart and I hate it when I find inconsistencies in her character. Well, this novel was absolutely magnificent. It includes so many important events in her life, from the time she is four years old till she is standing before a Starfleet review board after her first mission as a captain (and meets Tuvok). (One thing: didn't Tom's accident happen *after* the Academy, not while he was a cadet? Oh well, never mind.) The "present" storyline is definitely inferior to the "past," and I almost wish the "present" could have been completely deleted. True, the book would read like a patchwork quilt--but any loyal Trekker would be more than willing to overlook that. (To be honest, it sorta reads like patchwork anyway, but I really don't mind a bit.) If you've ever wondered how Janeway became the woman she is "now", read this book. Anybody who complains that "Janeway just gets these obsessions with saving *everybody*" and "Why would she feel guilty?"--you have obviously not read Mosaic. When I finished this novel, I was left with a singular feeling of "Wow." Nobody can read this and hate Kathryn Janeway.

Rating:
Summary: STV Mosaic - The "tapestry" of Captain Janeway's life!
Review: This books author, Jeri Taylor, started as a writer on Star Trek The Next Generation in the middle of its run and soon became one of the shows most prominent writers. Near the end of that series, she, along with Rick Berman and Brannon Braga, became the creators, lead writers and executive producers of Star Trek Voyager, Star Trek's newest series.

While Voyager was received and perceived quite differently by many Star Trek fans, in my opinion, the series was a very good one despite it not living fully to its potential. The character of Captain Kathryn Janeway is a strong and multi faceted one played to perfection by Kate Mulgrew. The person most directly responsible for Captain Janeway's back story and overall development is Jeri Taylor, the author of this extraordinary novel.

"Mosaic" is more than just a novel in the series, it provides what Jeri Taylor described as Janeway's back story and it essentially adds up as the "tapestry" of her life and all of the decisions that brought her to where she was at the time this novel was published.

For several years, "Mosaic" and Jeri Taylor's sole other Star Trek Voyager novel, "Pathways" were considered to be the only Star Trek novels to be canon by a majority of the fandom. It has only been recently that that opinion has changed, for whatever reasons I'm not sure.

Jeri Taylor's writing style is perfect for this novel; the premise, plot setup and execution, characterizations and overall pacing of this novel makes for an excellent read in the Star Trek Voyager series. The cover art for "Mosaic" is perfect for the title!

The premise:

"Mosaic" tells the tale of Captain Kathryn Janeway's back story through the current events in her life in which she finds herself in a quagmire where she could lose an away team and one of her best friends or lose the entire ship. Faced with such a dire dilemma, Captain Janeway looks through the events of her life to find the solution to her current problem...

What follows from there, as stated above, is one of the most outstanding novels in all of the Star Trek series and most certainly one of the very few, if any, novels that "could" be considered canon in the Star Trek universe considering if you've read this book and watched the entire series you will see that Jeri Taylor did squeeze some of this into the shows.

I highly recommend this novel to any and all fans of Star Trek Voyager and Star Trek in general for you will most certainly find that you'll have an even better appreciation for the character of Captain Kathryn Janeway after you've read it. {ssintrepid}

Rating:
Summary: Good story, okay writing
Review: As a huge Voyager fan, I bought this book to help me go through withdrawal when the series ended. I found the story of her life fascinating - I couldn't put it down once I started reading - and even non-Trekkies would find the story a good one. Knowing her background really helps understand the decisions she makes on the show, however from a literary standpoint, some parts are way too predictable (especially Hobbes). My only real complaint is a lot of the transitions from Present to Past, and Past to Present, are really bumpy and left me rolling my eyes. Other than that it's a great read and anyone who loves the character Kathryn Janeway will read it many times over!

Rating:
Summary: Great backstory for Captain Janeway
Review: I didn't read this book until the series was over, and now having done so, I wish Jeri Taylor had been more involved in the show, and had *stayed* involved -- her vision for Captain Janeway was so much better than what Berman and Bragga ended up with; gosh I loved this story!!

After reading this book I went back and watched the series premiere of Voyager, "Caretaker." Seeing it now was especially neat, since the book gave me background I didn't have otherwise.

I definitely recommend this book for any fan of Captain Janeway -- I think you'll find the Janeway we lost somewhere along the way in the series. Strong and capable, yet driven, often unrealistically so. Fiercely protective of her crew, for reasons I didn't know until I read this book!

Rating:
Summary: One of a kind
Review: I waited for this book a long time, and when I finally got it I wasn't one bit dissapointed.

The book has two plotlines with the other one taking place in the middle of seson two, and the other one telling the life tale of Kathryn Janeway.

The season two plot is quite uninteresting, actually (the Kazons are back...), but that doesn't actually matter, since it's only a way to tell the actual story of, in my opinion, one of star trek's strongest characters, from childhood to her first command, making the character many times deeper than she appears to you before reading the book.

This kind of books should be made of all the star trek characters, because it makes them more real than anything else, I think. My only complaint is that, at times, it almost resembled a 'teenage' book made for people who like to wach 90210, and although that kind of thing normally makes me burn the book, in this one it wasn't nearly as prominent as in the worst case it could have been.

If you like Voyager and Janeway one bit you must read this book and also it's sequel Pathways, wich isn't quite as good as Mosaic, is also a definite must-read nontheless.

Rating:
Summary: Its a Keeper!
Review: This has got to be the best voyager book I have ever read! From the day I bought it I cant put it down! I really recommend this book to any Janeway fan out there. Love her life story, its filled with hurt, happiness, struggles and triumph! Her life should have been a movie!

Rating:
Summary: If you love Voyager you've gotta read this!
Review: Personaly I didn't get envolved with Voyager until the 5th season (when Seven of Nine comes to the show) and Janeway has always been one of my favorite charaters...For her attitude, authority and those little glimps of kindness in between that command mask. I've always wanted to know how Janeway got to be who she is on Voyager and this book tells you everything! From her early childhood days all the way up until she takes command of Voyager. Her trials and errors, joys and pride all stick out in this book. Jeri Taylor was an exceptional writer for the show ... she is even a better novelist to this book! A++ work!!

Rating:
Summary: Not bad.
Review: The parts of this novel that involve flashbacks to Janeway's past are fascinating; they are obviously the main thrust of the story. And what's even better is that, given that the book is written by "the co-creator and executive producer of the TV series", we can be reasonably confident that this biographical information is actually canonical, unlike, for instance, "Best Destiny", a novel that did much the same sort of thing with Kirk from the original series. Unfortunately, they are embedded in a "normal" Voyager story, involving the adventures of the Starship Voyager and the full complement of its crew, as they make their way home from the Delta quadrant. Both this "current" story, and the excuse for our seeing Janeway's past history (she's experiencing flashback dreams) were weak at best, and for most of the book, exceptionally weak. So on balance, the book is worth reading, but only for the background scenes, plus maybe the last chapter or two of the current story.

The book would have been improved immensely if it had simply been written as a life story of Katherine Janeway, with no actual "Voyager" story to detract from it.

Rating:
Summary: Hardly Worth My Time
Review: Sophomoric at most, this story gives background on Captain Janeway, the captain on the series Voyager. The writing was dull, and it often felt as if I were reading a high-school student's writing as I perused the pages of this novel, foregoing time that could have been spent reading more heady stuff. Surprisingly, this banal writing came from one of the co-creators of the series.

Though the writing was as sharp as a proverbial drawer full of beach balls (can I accentuate the dullness further?), one might find it enjoyable if one enjoys Star Trek: Voyager, and all the merry things that come along with said series. Personally, I would rather be reading the non-serials, and classics.