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Star Trek: Invasion #4
The Final Fury
For ages they have sought to claim our worlds. Now, at last, we take the battle to them. . . .
Far from the Federation's desperate war against the invading Furies, the crew of the "U.S.S. Voyager" TM encounters something they never expected to hear again: a Starfleet distress call. The signal leads them to a vast assemblage of non-humanoid races engaged in a monumental project of incredible magnitude. Here is the source of the terrible invasion threatening the entire Alpha Quadrant -- and, for the "Starship Voyager" TM, a possible route home.
But soon there may not be any home to return to . . .
Far from the Federation's desperate war against the invading Furies, the crew of the "U.S.S. Voyager" TM encounters something they never expected to hear again: a Starfleet distress call. The signal leads them to a vast assemblage of non-humanoid races engaged in a monumental project of incredible magnitude. Here is the source of the terrible invasion threatening the entire Alpha Quadrant -- and, for the "Starship Voyager" TM, a possible route home.
But soon there may not be any home to return to . . .
283 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 1996
About the author
Dafydd ab Hugh
27 books42 followersDafydd ab Hugh (born David Friedman) is a U.S. science fiction author.
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July 4, 2017
The Furies' invasion comes to a conclusion!
This is the fourth and final book in a series of four, of the Star Trek "Invasion!" event.
FURIES' ORIGIN!
Seventy years ago, Captain Kirk barely was able to stop the first invasion of the fearsome Furies.
Captain Janeway, Cmdr. Chakotai and the USS Voyager due being far away in the Delta Quadrant, they never expected of being involved in anything about the Furies...
...they were deadly wrong!
Since while Captain Picard is battling against the Furies and their second invasion; and Captain Sisko is investigating the origins of the mysterious Unclean, the alien species responsible to expulse the Furies the very first time, thousand of years ago...
...Captain Janeway is traveling directly to...
...the Furies' homeworld!!!
People think that the Furies were expelled to another dimension since they never appeared again in thousand of years, but...
...instead they were taken to the Delta Quadrant!!!
The Furies, a fearsome alliance of 666 different monstruos species, responsible to create all the legends and myths about demons in all civilizations of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants...
...and the USS Voyager is alone and without any chance of backup starship, thousands light years away, and Captain Janeway can't retreat, since her crew is the only one able to face the Furies in their own homeworld, to guarantee the chance of having a Federation to get back to.
The Furies' invasion concludes!!!
This is the fourth and final book in a series of four, of the Star Trek "Invasion!" event.
FURIES' ORIGIN!
Seventy years ago, Captain Kirk barely was able to stop the first invasion of the fearsome Furies.
Captain Janeway, Cmdr. Chakotai and the USS Voyager due being far away in the Delta Quadrant, they never expected of being involved in anything about the Furies...
...they were deadly wrong!
Since while Captain Picard is battling against the Furies and their second invasion; and Captain Sisko is investigating the origins of the mysterious Unclean, the alien species responsible to expulse the Furies the very first time, thousand of years ago...
...Captain Janeway is traveling directly to...
...the Furies' homeworld!!!
People think that the Furies were expelled to another dimension since they never appeared again in thousand of years, but...
...instead they were taken to the Delta Quadrant!!!
The Furies, a fearsome alliance of 666 different monstruos species, responsible to create all the legends and myths about demons in all civilizations of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants...
...and the USS Voyager is alone and without any chance of backup starship, thousands light years away, and Captain Janeway can't retreat, since her crew is the only one able to face the Furies in their own homeworld, to guarantee the chance of having a Federation to get back to.
The Furies' invasion concludes!!!
June 18, 2019
As a preface, I love Voyager and Captain Janeway is a tie with Kirk for my favorite captain. When reading a Trek book you don’t go in expecting fine literature but genre escapist fun that allows the reader to delve further into the world, characters, and storylines they have fallen in love with in the movies and in the shows. There are exceptions such as A.C Crispin’s “Sarek”, which I cannot give enough praise for. But this book is an utter atrocity!
When an author accepts a contract to write a franchise book, there is an expectation that they at least do their homework and watch the series so they have a baseline reference for the world and characters. This book is just short of character assassination! The idea wasn’t bad but you couldn’t recognize the characters besides the writer telling you Janeway or Neelix said this. Every character behaved the opposite of who they were. When did Neelix become Rambo with a chip on his shoulder to prove to Janeway he was the next Han Solo? And Janeway!?!?! An intelligent, strong captain who values rules but has the flexibility to do what is best depending on the situation and places her crew’s happiness, function, and respect above all else has now become a helpless idiot dependent upon Neelix to fight for her and treat her beloved crew like subservients and emotional punching bags! There is so much more wrong with this book but the 2 examples given I think are enough evidence to clearly demonstrate this writer’s lack of knowledge, comprehension, and desire to give a damn about the world, story, and characters of the Starship Voyager.
When an author accepts a contract to write a franchise book, there is an expectation that they at least do their homework and watch the series so they have a baseline reference for the world and characters. This book is just short of character assassination! The idea wasn’t bad but you couldn’t recognize the characters besides the writer telling you Janeway or Neelix said this. Every character behaved the opposite of who they were. When did Neelix become Rambo with a chip on his shoulder to prove to Janeway he was the next Han Solo? And Janeway!?!?! An intelligent, strong captain who values rules but has the flexibility to do what is best depending on the situation and places her crew’s happiness, function, and respect above all else has now become a helpless idiot dependent upon Neelix to fight for her and treat her beloved crew like subservients and emotional punching bags! There is so much more wrong with this book but the 2 examples given I think are enough evidence to clearly demonstrate this writer’s lack of knowledge, comprehension, and desire to give a damn about the world, story, and characters of the Starship Voyager.
March 22, 2023
I've never been a huge Voyager guy, this was good and a fair way to cap off the 4 "Furies" novels. I do appreciate Captain Janeway and Ensign Kim though specifically of the VOY crew. Special shoutout to the appearance of LT. Redbay that was pretty cool even if I expected him to die by the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 31, 2017
Almost exactly a year ago, I read a novel based on the Doom video game series ( Knee-Deep in the Dead), and was soundly unimpressed; it was about what you'd expect from such a project, little more than a small group of people running around a hellish maze being chased by demons.
This Trek novel, by the same author as that Doom book, has large sections that are little more than a small group of people running around a hellish maze being chased by demons.
Well, I guess this author knows his strengths....
Between that unfortunate (if, admittedly, somewhat amusing) similarity, and this book being a Voyager novel (my least favorite of the first four Trek series), and this book being one of the earlier Voyager novels, set in the first year or so of their journey, when the characters were all still developing...it was a drag. If it wasn't the last book in a four-book crossover series, I'd likely not have bothered. But I'd read the first three, so I slogged my way through this one. And now I can go on to something else.
This Trek novel, by the same author as that Doom book, has large sections that are little more than a small group of people running around a hellish maze being chased by demons.
Well, I guess this author knows his strengths....
Between that unfortunate (if, admittedly, somewhat amusing) similarity, and this book being a Voyager novel (my least favorite of the first four Trek series), and this book being one of the earlier Voyager novels, set in the first year or so of their journey, when the characters were all still developing...it was a drag. If it wasn't the last book in a four-book crossover series, I'd likely not have bothered. But I'd read the first three, so I slogged my way through this one. And now I can go on to something else.
December 14, 2021
This book takes place very early on after Voyager arrived in the Delta Quadrant; it seems as if they've been there only a matter of months. I can't be bothered to look up the date of publication, but it seems as if it were written, as well as set, early on in the show's run, because the characterisation is a little off in places. This actually works to the benefit of one character, as Neelix, when featured, come across as a great deal more competent than he ever appeared in the show. If only this presentation of him had been the norm!
The Final Fury has primarily an action storyline that works fairly well, I think, although the ending is a bit weak. It took a while to get going as well, but by about a third of the way in I was solidly engaged and stayed that way until the end. I think what I'm most struck by, though, is the tone - especially in that first third. There, it almost felt like a sort of bastard mash-up of Star Trek and the Black Library. I actually looked up the author to see if he'd ever written for them, but no. It was a bit of an uncomfortable mix, at times; I love the Trek franchise because it is so ultimately hopeful, and because it works to find commonalities between species. The first book in this mini-series did that very well, if ultimately tragically, but it seems to have dropped off entirely here.
The Final Fury has primarily an action storyline that works fairly well, I think, although the ending is a bit weak. It took a while to get going as well, but by about a third of the way in I was solidly engaged and stayed that way until the end. I think what I'm most struck by, though, is the tone - especially in that first third. There, it almost felt like a sort of bastard mash-up of Star Trek and the Black Library. I actually looked up the author to see if he'd ever written for them, but no. It was a bit of an uncomfortable mix, at times; I love the Trek franchise because it is so ultimately hopeful, and because it works to find commonalities between species. The first book in this mini-series did that very well, if ultimately tragically, but it seems to have dropped off entirely here.
April 11, 2020
To preface, this is the first of the Invasion books that I have read, so I have no comment on continuity or comparison to the previous installments.
Holy treknobabble, batman. This book had masses of scientific information, theories, and a bunch of gobbedlygook. It's not always a bad thing, but some times I think an author can get a little too carried away with their own ideas. The whole idea of DNA memory was kind of stupid given how recently the Fury had interacted with Starfleet. I mean, Tuvok served with Sulu for crying out loud. And yet, had no idea about the Fury, until some memories from 10,000 years ago crawled out through his chromosomes.
Anyway, there felt like there were just some logic gaps, and some incorrect characterizations. Torres's self-doubt and depression didn't really seem to fit her character that well, for example.
But, if you can accept some of the liberties with science and funky use of characters, I really did find the book pretty exciting and a lot of fun. I breezed through it. The author did a good job of keeping a lot of tension built throughout the entire novel. I would give it 3.5 stars. I felt 4 was too high, so I give it a 3.
Holy treknobabble, batman. This book had masses of scientific information, theories, and a bunch of gobbedlygook. It's not always a bad thing, but some times I think an author can get a little too carried away with their own ideas. The whole idea of DNA memory was kind of stupid given how recently the Fury had interacted with Starfleet. I mean, Tuvok served with Sulu for crying out loud. And yet, had no idea about the Fury, until some memories from 10,000 years ago crawled out through his chromosomes.
Anyway, there felt like there were just some logic gaps, and some incorrect characterizations. Torres's self-doubt and depression didn't really seem to fit her character that well, for example.
But, if you can accept some of the liberties with science and funky use of characters, I really did find the book pretty exciting and a lot of fun. I breezed through it. The author did a good job of keeping a lot of tension built throughout the entire novel. I would give it 3.5 stars. I felt 4 was too high, so I give it a 3.
February 18, 2023
Voyager: Invasion! #4: the Final Fury
This book… drags. There’s some decent stuff in it, particularly with Tuvok and having to deal with irrational fear and it gets better in the second half with them trying to blow up the Moon to stop the Furies and Janeway having to deal with a horrible ethical choice of having to kill 27 billion people. If the first 100 pages, most of the characters spend time lost in fiery mazes and talking. Like they spend 10 pages on trying to break out of a cell. But this is order to stop billions more from being enslaved, thus bringing back the classic debate of “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few”.B’elanna’s characterization was also off and she felt like too much of a Worf clone. Redbay was also completely useless and I would have liked to see him do more. The Invasion! Series started off promisingly with the first book and the second one was decent. But this just kinda stutters out and Janeway of course doesn’t have to make the choice to kill 27 billion people, which nobody should have. Overall a 4/10
This book… drags. There’s some decent stuff in it, particularly with Tuvok and having to deal with irrational fear and it gets better in the second half with them trying to blow up the Moon to stop the Furies and Janeway having to deal with a horrible ethical choice of having to kill 27 billion people. If the first 100 pages, most of the characters spend time lost in fiery mazes and talking. Like they spend 10 pages on trying to break out of a cell. But this is order to stop billions more from being enslaved, thus bringing back the classic debate of “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few”.B’elanna’s characterization was also off and she felt like too much of a Worf clone. Redbay was also completely useless and I would have liked to see him do more. The Invasion! Series started off promisingly with the first book and the second one was decent. But this just kinda stutters out and Janeway of course doesn’t have to make the choice to kill 27 billion people, which nobody should have. Overall a 4/10
August 27, 2017
I really enjoyed this story, especially the first two installments and despite the last two. The TOS and TNG era stories complimented each other amazingly with the continuity flow. The authors of the Deep Space Nine entry and this Voyager one, however, seemed to be a bit cavalier with established plot points such as how The Furies were originally banished and also suddenly knowing their own history when they previously claimed almost-total ignorance of it...and the really BAFFLING oversight of having Tuvok remember the events of the first book taking place during his tour of duty aboard The Excelsior under Captain Sulu, when they actually took place about 25 years earlier whilst Sulu was still onboard the Enterprise (100 years or so before The Final Fury is set and not the 70 years the site synopsis states).
Overall, definitely worth it for the first two books, which you could even end your reading of the series with, such is the semi-closed nature of the TNG installment.
Overall, definitely worth it for the first two books, which you could even end your reading of the series with, such is the semi-closed nature of the TNG installment.
September 3, 2022
This thoroughly action-packed conclusion to the Furies saga takes place in the Delta Quadrant when Voyager and its crew respond to a Star Fleet distress beacon and discover the Homeworld of the demonic creatures bent on taking back what they consider their territory in the Alpha Quadrant, the territory now occupied by The United Federation Of Planets, The Klingon, Cardassian, and Romulan Empires, and any other people they can enslave with their dreaded "Terror weapon".
Captain Janeway and co. set out to foil the Furies' plan to transport their entire planet through an artificially created wormhole without destroying themselves in the process.
Great fun for Trek fans, but would probably be confusing to those not familiar with the Voyager TV series.
Captain Janeway and co. set out to foil the Furies' plan to transport their entire planet through an artificially created wormhole without destroying themselves in the process.
Great fun for Trek fans, but would probably be confusing to those not familiar with the Voyager TV series.
November 17, 2021
Great stuff! Easily my favourite of the Furies series (although I may be slightly biased) and possibly of all the Star Trek books I've read so far. Epic, exciting and well written and paced. The characters mostly all had their part to play - and with a lot of the focus on my favourite trio Torres, Paris and Kim I was very happy! B'Elanna was really well written, and I identified with a lot of her insecurities. The action and battles were epic and kept me engaged which is often not the case when I read these kinds of scenes. I was truly engrossed the whole way through. I really liked how they connected the story directly to the previous TNG novel.
March 17, 2021
A lot of Star Trek books aren't that great but this one might be the worst I have ever read. Avoid it!
I'll give a very brief summary for those interested in novel-verse continuity:
SPOILER BELOW!
With the help of Lieutenant Redbay, the crew of the Voyager divert the entire Fury planet from being sent to the Alpha Quadrant via wormhole. It instead gets sent in the direction of the Gamma Quadrant, possibly beyond the edge of the Milky Way, as far as the Lesser Magellanic Cloud. Redbay dies performing this last second diversion.
I'll give a very brief summary for those interested in novel-verse continuity:
SPOILER BELOW!
With the help of Lieutenant Redbay, the crew of the Voyager divert the entire Fury planet from being sent to the Alpha Quadrant via wormhole. It instead gets sent in the direction of the Gamma Quadrant, possibly beyond the edge of the Milky Way, as far as the Lesser Magellanic Cloud. Redbay dies performing this last second diversion.
October 6, 2017
I was torn between 3 and 4 stars. On one hand I felt there would be more continuity with the last book, and even though I understand the reasons, I felt like something was missing. At certain points I felt like the Furies were not as fearsome as they were depicted in book 2. This being their home planet, I kind of expected it the other way around. Other than that, the characters were depicted well and I remembered my days of watching this particular tv cast.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 3, 2020
I enjoyed this book more than the others in the series. I think each book has been better than the last. And overall I have enjoyed the series.
The techno-babble was at an impressive crescendo in this one and you could definitely sum this one up by parodying the Alice in Wonderland quote that was used in the story; I think we believed at least 6 impossible things before the end of The Final Fury!
The techno-babble was at an impressive crescendo in this one and you could definitely sum this one up by parodying the Alice in Wonderland quote that was used in the story; I think we believed at least 6 impossible things before the end of The Final Fury!
March 23, 2018
Pflichtschuldige Plotverwaltung statt originellem Erzählen, “Walk and Talk”-Kleinklein statt epischem Spannungsbogen und ein weiter Fehlschuss, was den Ton der Vorlage angeht. Wie schlecht The Final Fury ist, wäre nicht mal so krass auffällig, wenn Dafydd ab Hugh’s Fallen Heroes nicht so eine gute Erzählung wäre.
June 24, 2018
I didn't feel this was as good as the previous books I read in this series (books 1 & 2). The writing didn't appeal to me as much, not, I felt, capturing the professionalism of life on a Starfleet ship. Also I was not 'convinced' with this new-age idea of genetic memory (going back thousands of years). Still, I enjoyed the read.
November 20, 2022
I loved all the other parts of this series but this book was clearly written after the first episode of the show aired. The Characters are not true to themselves and this makes it difficult to get into. Once I began seeing the story as an alternate dimension, it allowed me to take in the story easier.
October 31, 2019
Not a terrible installment. I was a little disappointed by the stories having no continuity or over arching sub plots.
author took some tech liberties in this one with the capabilities of a communicator.
author took some tech liberties in this one with the capabilities of a communicator.
May 27, 2021
Some nice character moments (specifically with Neelix being prepared and useful, which was great to see) but oh dear, the plot was weak and the premise as a whole was really not enough to sustain 4 books. This ended with a whimper.
June 12, 2022
Satisfying ending
This book wraps up the Fury series that crossed the four Star Trek series of the day. Although the techno babble got a little dense at times, overall it was a satisfying ending and possibly the best of the set.
This book wraps up the Fury series that crossed the four Star Trek series of the day. Although the techno babble got a little dense at times, overall it was a satisfying ending and possibly the best of the set.
November 26, 2018
Entertaining and nice conclusion to the 4 part, mixed series.
February 7, 2014
Treknobabble I can deal with, but deviation from the English language is pretty unforgivable. “I think we're safer figuring out who all is here than remaining rigidly silent”, says janeway. who all is here?? That wouldn't go out on air, would it? Then Tuvok comes out with the phrase: “one must assume a certain un interest in outdoor scenery”. "Un Interest?" It's not even a word! He's a Vulcan, and although he's recently been shaken up by racial memories, everything else he says use words that ... well. That actually exist.
Then there's the phrase "for the entire rest of the bridge crew lay unconscious" (entire rest of?), and the command, "Aim manually using the computer!"Which sort of makes one wonder if she expected him to do an EVA with a torpedo and point it in the right direction without an explicit command to the contrary. This to Kim, too, because of course Ensign Kim is on weapons all the time.
As if that wasn't issue enough ... the captain again: “Lieutenant Torres is going to make it.” Janeway rose and crossed to put her hand on his shoulder. “You care very much about her, don't you? I think Chell can use some
watch standing experience ... why don't you go down to sickbay.” never mind that that second question doesn't have a question mark (we're outside the boundaries of decent grammar now) but who's B'Elanna's other half here? "Kim stood without a word and hurriedly walked to the turbo lift." Because it sure as hell isn't Harry!
B'Elanna's an interesting one too, because there's this whole half-Klingon, half-Human struggle going on which is quite normal for her character, but also this huge thread of failure. “I disgraced myself. I am not fit to wear my uniform”, she says after being hit by a terror beam, but even before the weapon is used there's a great deal about how she doesn't fit in with the crew or know what she's doing and is generally a useless waste of space. It's almost laughably overdone.
And, though this is the final fury, nothing's happened to them and they could be back someday. I suppose this was the case so that if another TV series came along something could be plausibly written up, but it does end the series a little awkwardly.
Then there's the phrase "for the entire rest of the bridge crew lay unconscious" (entire rest of?), and the command, "Aim manually using the computer!"Which sort of makes one wonder if she expected him to do an EVA with a torpedo and point it in the right direction without an explicit command to the contrary. This to Kim, too, because of course Ensign Kim is on weapons all the time.
As if that wasn't issue enough ... the captain again: “Lieutenant Torres is going to make it.” Janeway rose and crossed to put her hand on his shoulder. “You care very much about her, don't you? I think Chell can use some
watch standing experience ... why don't you go down to sickbay.” never mind that that second question doesn't have a question mark (we're outside the boundaries of decent grammar now) but who's B'Elanna's other half here? "Kim stood without a word and hurriedly walked to the turbo lift." Because it sure as hell isn't Harry!
B'Elanna's an interesting one too, because there's this whole half-Klingon, half-Human struggle going on which is quite normal for her character, but also this huge thread of failure. “I disgraced myself. I am not fit to wear my uniform”, she says after being hit by a terror beam, but even before the weapon is used there's a great deal about how she doesn't fit in with the crew or know what she's doing and is generally a useless waste of space. It's almost laughably overdone.
And, though this is the final fury, nothing's happened to them and they could be back someday. I suppose this was the case so that if another TV series came along something could be plausibly written up, but it does end the series a little awkwardly.
July 25, 2011
This book was far better than the previous book.
I found no technical or scientific errors. and only 1 typo.
Voyager - unlike other Trek series is far more interesting to me since Captain Janeway. Unlike Picard. Has a Malevolent side when dealing with baddies who just don't want to cooperate.
I like Torres and many of the other members of the crew of voyager.All of whom give the story a flavor that keeps things interesting.
For instance- you instead of having an intergalactic cheerleader on the bridge have Janeway you have the occasional visit from Torres
who is way not a cheerleader type. You have Chocotay who is the center or reason and Paris who is all about the good times and hot rod piloting. you have Kim who is typical ensign eager fresh and bright You have Tuvok's intellect and funny irritations with Paris. - 7 0f 9 is a hottie but also is strong like Janeway. It is very refreshing to have strong women on the show- but low the absent cheerleader on a certain other ship ! yes much better!
Also I have NEVER liked the doctor.- First he is a hologram. It makes no sense to me that anyone in the 24th century should be bald. Not even a hologram. One change that should have been made to the voyager series is this simple thing... And second. He is and utter and complete dork. Who says phrases likes this ? "foot loose and fancy free"
The chief failing in the book is the obvious alternative to genocide - which was a apparent to me from the first mention of it. It is hard to believe the nobody on the crew would have come to that conclusion...I cant say much more about it without giving away a lot of the plot...
The author makes a point of revealing a key technical issue concerning the combadge .. And whether or not it is cannon. It certainly made for an interesting idea- And since the combadge is a universal translator, communicator, beacon and subspace communication device. it must also be understood that it is a computer... don't want to give away too much there either...
Over all a very good read. You wont be disappointed...
I recommend it.
V
I found no technical or scientific errors. and only 1 typo.
Voyager - unlike other Trek series is far more interesting to me since Captain Janeway. Unlike Picard. Has a Malevolent side when dealing with baddies who just don't want to cooperate.
I like Torres and many of the other members of the crew of voyager.All of whom give the story a flavor that keeps things interesting.
For instance- you instead of having an intergalactic cheerleader on the bridge have Janeway you have the occasional visit from Torres
who is way not a cheerleader type. You have Chocotay who is the center or reason and Paris who is all about the good times and hot rod piloting. you have Kim who is typical ensign eager fresh and bright You have Tuvok's intellect and funny irritations with Paris. - 7 0f 9 is a hottie but also is strong like Janeway. It is very refreshing to have strong women on the show- but low the absent cheerleader on a certain other ship ! yes much better!
Also I have NEVER liked the doctor.- First he is a hologram. It makes no sense to me that anyone in the 24th century should be bald. Not even a hologram. One change that should have been made to the voyager series is this simple thing... And second. He is and utter and complete dork. Who says phrases likes this ? "foot loose and fancy free"
The chief failing in the book is the obvious alternative to genocide - which was a apparent to me from the first mention of it. It is hard to believe the nobody on the crew would have come to that conclusion...I cant say much more about it without giving away a lot of the plot...
The author makes a point of revealing a key technical issue concerning the combadge .. And whether or not it is cannon. It certainly made for an interesting idea- And since the combadge is a universal translator, communicator, beacon and subspace communication device. it must also be understood that it is a computer... don't want to give away too much there either...
Over all a very good read. You wont be disappointed...
I recommend it.
V
January 14, 2010
I haven't, in all honesty, been impressed by any of the books in this "Invasion!" miniseries; the first one was a tolerable action-adventure story with some ethical overtones, and so was a fair-to-middling idea, but it was written by one of my least favorite authors (Diane Carey)and so was barely tolerable; the second and third were better written, but just re-hashing of the same story concept and thus superfluous. This one was both superfluous AND written by one of the few authors I find even worse than Diane Carey, namely Dafydd Ab Hugh; he doesn't torture the language as badly as she does, but is just as sloppy in terms of accidental typos; in addition, he doesn't have the command of the characterizations that she does, and is generally a poorer writer in many other ways.
That being said, this was easily the best-written book of his that I've yet seen; it was mostly competent, with relatively few proofreading and editing mistakes, and the only character that I truly felt that he failed to grasp was B'elanna Torres (who, unfortunately, was one of the characters with the largest part to play in the book.) I know that she may, perhaps, have her insecurities, but I've never seen any indication that she suffers from an inferiority complex about her engineering abilities, certainly not to the extent that we saw in this book. But even this wasn't nearly as bad as some of the character mishandling that Ab Hugh has been guilty of in some of his other books, so I will stand by the statement that this is his best. Unfortunately, this is what is known in the lexicon as "damning with faint praise", as his others have ranged from "pretty bad" to "utterly worthless". Add that to the fact that I'm unimpressed with the concept for the series in general, (and to the fact that we get an "oops, we got out of a difficult ethical dilemma purely by accident" ending, and really, there's very little reason to read this book.
That being said, this was easily the best-written book of his that I've yet seen; it was mostly competent, with relatively few proofreading and editing mistakes, and the only character that I truly felt that he failed to grasp was B'elanna Torres (who, unfortunately, was one of the characters with the largest part to play in the book.) I know that she may, perhaps, have her insecurities, but I've never seen any indication that she suffers from an inferiority complex about her engineering abilities, certainly not to the extent that we saw in this book. But even this wasn't nearly as bad as some of the character mishandling that Ab Hugh has been guilty of in some of his other books, so I will stand by the statement that this is his best. Unfortunately, this is what is known in the lexicon as "damning with faint praise", as his others have ranged from "pretty bad" to "utterly worthless". Add that to the fact that I'm unimpressed with the concept for the series in general, (and to the fact that we get an "oops, we got out of a difficult ethical dilemma purely by accident" ending, and really, there's very little reason to read this book.
July 30, 2016
This is book four of the four-part crossover series "Invasion!". The titles are:
Star Trek #79: First Strike
Star Trek: The Next Generation #41: The Soldiers of Fear
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine #16: Time's Enemy
Star Trek: Voyager #9: The Final Fury
As a writing challenge, this novel was doubly hemmed in. First, it needed to conform to the Star Trek:Voyager television series (which was constrained by three earlier Star Trek television series), and it needed to conform to the story arc of the prior three novels in the Invasion crossover series, each written by a different author. Still ab Hugh has managed to craft a tense plot within his book, with characters in jeopardy and the future of the Alpha Quadrant at risk.
There is plenty of the usual made-up science and treknology. My biggest complaint is the "genetic memory" of the Furies and the Terrors that is experienced by Humans, Vulcans, and Klingons upon simply meeting the aliens in person. This was all adequately explained by cultural archetypes in the earlier books, but having the characters remember specific events via their DNA from the alien occupation of 100,000 years ago is a stepped up level of unbelievability. This novel also brings back the comical "fear beams" of book 2. Whatever the plot demands, I guess.
As an examination of varying leadership styles, the crossover series offers big contrasts. Janeway's engineering background provides the opportunity for her to get her own hands into the action, and we get some insights into how her projection of self-confidence is a mantle. I like that so much more than Kirk's swaggering bravado and Piccard's aloof "Make it so". Was it like that in the television series too? I'll have to go re-watch an episode or too.
Star Trek #79: First Strike
Star Trek: The Next Generation #41: The Soldiers of Fear
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine #16: Time's Enemy
Star Trek: Voyager #9: The Final Fury
As a writing challenge, this novel was doubly hemmed in. First, it needed to conform to the Star Trek:Voyager television series (which was constrained by three earlier Star Trek television series), and it needed to conform to the story arc of the prior three novels in the Invasion crossover series, each written by a different author. Still ab Hugh has managed to craft a tense plot within his book, with characters in jeopardy and the future of the Alpha Quadrant at risk.
There is plenty of the usual made-up science and treknology. My biggest complaint is the "genetic memory" of the Furies and the Terrors that is experienced by Humans, Vulcans, and Klingons upon simply meeting the aliens in person. This was all adequately explained by cultural archetypes in the earlier books, but having the characters remember specific events via their DNA from the alien occupation of 100,000 years ago is a stepped up level of unbelievability. This novel also brings back the comical "fear beams" of book 2. Whatever the plot demands, I guess.
As an examination of varying leadership styles, the crossover series offers big contrasts. Janeway's engineering background provides the opportunity for her to get her own hands into the action, and we get some insights into how her projection of self-confidence is a mantle. I like that so much more than Kirk's swaggering bravado and Piccard's aloof "Make it so". Was it like that in the television series too? I'll have to go re-watch an episode or too.
March 16, 2022
I gave this a try last year and I ended up DNF'ing it. For whatever reason, a couple of day ago I decided to give it another go and actually managed to finish it. It's... not great.
Like most Voyager books written by authors not named Christie Golden or Kirsten Beyer, The Final Fury fails to accurately portray the character, as we know them from the show. Now, this is probably at least partially due to the The Final Fury being written a little under a year into the show's original run. Not that many episodes for Dafydd ab Hugh to get a proper feel for the crew of the NCC-74656. But then again, The Murdered Sun, Christie Golden's first foray into the Star Trek universe, preceded the Final Fury and Golden did an excellent job at writing Janeway and co.
I would have been more willing to excuse ab Hugh's many mistakes, like, for example, saying that Janeway could have been Starfleet's best chief engineer had she not become a captain - Kathryn Janeway, while indubitably a competent engineer, was a science officer before she switched to the command track, if the book was fun. It's not. The Final Fury is way too dense, and way too clunky. The ending is both too convenient, in that it allows the Voyager crew to wash their hands of the ordeal guilt-free, and grossly unsatisfying. So we just leave these ancient terror masters of the Alpha Quadrant to just float in space, cosmos know where? Okay.
The idea of genetic memory is an interesting one, but it was not well executed.
This is not the first ab Hugh Star Trek book I've read. Fallen Heroes, a DS9 novel, also fails at accurately porting the characters from its mother series. Overall, from what I've seen, ab Hugh does not write Trek well, and I will not be reading any more of his book in this universe.
Like most Voyager books written by authors not named Christie Golden or Kirsten Beyer, The Final Fury fails to accurately portray the character, as we know them from the show. Now, this is probably at least partially due to the The Final Fury being written a little under a year into the show's original run. Not that many episodes for Dafydd ab Hugh to get a proper feel for the crew of the NCC-74656. But then again, The Murdered Sun, Christie Golden's first foray into the Star Trek universe, preceded the Final Fury and Golden did an excellent job at writing Janeway and co.
I would have been more willing to excuse ab Hugh's many mistakes, like, for example, saying that Janeway could have been Starfleet's best chief engineer had she not become a captain - Kathryn Janeway, while indubitably a competent engineer, was a science officer before she switched to the command track, if the book was fun. It's not. The Final Fury is way too dense, and way too clunky. The ending is both too convenient, in that it allows the Voyager crew to wash their hands of the ordeal guilt-free, and grossly unsatisfying. So we just leave these ancient terror masters of the Alpha Quadrant to just float in space, cosmos know where? Okay.
The idea of genetic memory is an interesting one, but it was not well executed.
This is not the first ab Hugh Star Trek book I've read. Fallen Heroes, a DS9 novel, also fails at accurately porting the characters from its mother series. Overall, from what I've seen, ab Hugh does not write Trek well, and I will not be reading any more of his book in this universe.
July 22, 2010
As Voyager is my least favorite of Trek show (yes, even falling behind Enterprise, I had very low expectations of this book. Unlike the other books in the Invasion! mini-series, I'm not sure this one would make a lot of sense as a standalone novel.
The Voyager crew follows a Federation distress signal from a Starfleet shuttle and stumble across the Furies, a group of 666 races who once ruled the Alpha Quadrant.
Having read the Next Generation book in the series (Soldiers of Fear I immediately knew who was in the shuttle and what would happen to him. I can't say what bothered me most about this character without giving spoilers.
After the lack of Furies in the Deep Space Nine offering (Time's Enemy) I was glad to have them back in action. I was less thrilled with the 100 page space battle. It did provide an actual ending to the mini-series which I wasn't sure would happen.
After the novel, my electronic copy included essays from each of the authors in the series. I'm guessing it's the same as the printed volume. I didn't care for any of the essays, but I'm attributing some of that to formatting issues. The rest I'm chalking up to the self-conscious nature of writers.
The Voyager crew follows a Federation distress signal from a Starfleet shuttle and stumble across the Furies, a group of 666 races who once ruled the Alpha Quadrant.
Having read the Next Generation book in the series (Soldiers of Fear I immediately knew who was in the shuttle and what would happen to him. I can't say what bothered me most about this character without giving spoilers.
After the lack of Furies in the Deep Space Nine offering (Time's Enemy) I was glad to have them back in action. I was less thrilled with the 100 page space battle. It did provide an actual ending to the mini-series which I wasn't sure would happen.
After the novel, my electronic copy included essays from each of the authors in the series. I'm guessing it's the same as the printed volume. I didn't care for any of the essays, but I'm attributing some of that to formatting issues. The rest I'm chalking up to the self-conscious nature of writers.
August 3, 2023
I would really rate this as 1.5 stars. This is a poor book and the weakest in the series. While the first three were interesting and engaging this one was just kinda slow and boring. I figured this book would be good, I assumed I would enjoy it since I love Voyager. I also assumed the first book, based in TOS, would be the one I cared for least but it was leagues better than this one.
2023: This time around I found this much more enjoyable than the first time. With the second book The Soldiers of Fear falling severely below this one. The greatest problem with this book is the simple fact that we see very little of the Furies. The best parts of this book were near the beginning where we got to see the Furies on their own turf.
This would have been a great opportunity to explore their culture and put more of a face on our adversaries. Instead we work on interacting and humanizing the new character from The Soliders of Fear novel instead. And the man is basically a vegetable. This was a poor choice and a weak end to the series. I honestly think if I ever reread the series again I'll just read book three and leave it at that.
2023: This time around I found this much more enjoyable than the first time. With the second book The Soldiers of Fear falling severely below this one. The greatest problem with this book is the simple fact that we see very little of the Furies. The best parts of this book were near the beginning where we got to see the Furies on their own turf.
This would have been a great opportunity to explore their culture and put more of a face on our adversaries. Instead we work on interacting and humanizing the new character from The Soliders of Fear novel instead. And the man is basically a vegetable. This was a poor choice and a weak end to the series. I honestly think if I ever reread the series again I'll just read book three and leave it at that.
May 29, 2018
Seemed to be very long to get to the point. To much luck finding answers, had a plan luck saved the day.
April 22, 2016
I really enjoyed this Voyager novel!
It's not a light read at all and is pretty dense, I think partially because the font is smaller than most books so it's more like reading a 300+ pages. Hugh also describes these 'demons' a little too well.
I can't think of anything bad about the book other than I went into it thinking if was going to be more of a fluffy read, and I did not think a star trek novel would have had such beautiful writing. I also love how the author makes the crew come alive. I enjoyed the back and fourth with Paris and the Doctor, there were actually many parts where I was laughing at the book.
I would recommend this to all Star Trek fans I think this one might be my all time favorite out of the 30+ Star Trek books I've read.
It's not a light read at all and is pretty dense, I think partially because the font is smaller than most books so it's more like reading a 300+ pages. Hugh also describes these 'demons' a little too well.
I can't think of anything bad about the book other than I went into it thinking if was going to be more of a fluffy read, and I did not think a star trek novel would have had such beautiful writing. I also love how the author makes the crew come alive. I enjoyed the back and fourth with Paris and the Doctor, there were actually many parts where I was laughing at the book.
I would recommend this to all Star Trek fans I think this one might be my all time favorite out of the 30+ Star Trek books I've read.
July 19, 2014
The last in the series. Still not fully liking the premise.
This is the third book in the invasion series. All of the authors did a superb job of keeping a story alive and related to each Star Trek crew/incarnation with characters intact. I think this is not an easy task. I feel my three stars is only tied to the premise not the writing or the story development. I think that part held me through the series even though I didn't like the villain premise. If you read the other two and liked them, you will enjoy this one. I am a sci-fi and Star Trek fan so you know why I read all of this series.
This is the third book in the invasion series. All of the authors did a superb job of keeping a story alive and related to each Star Trek crew/incarnation with characters intact. I think this is not an easy task. I feel my three stars is only tied to the premise not the writing or the story development. I think that part held me through the series even though I didn't like the villain premise. If you read the other two and liked them, you will enjoy this one. I am a sci-fi and Star Trek fan so you know why I read all of this series.
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