Reviews and Comments

I picked up this book because I'd been told Una McCormack was one of the best authors in the Star Trek literary universe, and this was the only standalone novel of hers that I could find at the local bookstore. It turned out to be quite good. Though Memory Beta files the Autobiography series as "references", which would imply that a lot of this book is rote recitation of the events of the show, McCormack is clearly trying to tell an original story here, and succeeds well beyond what I could have hoped from a tie-in novel.

The first half of the book is dedicated to the Voyager main character's childhood and early career in Starfleet, and the latter provides the best moments in the novel. It focuses on the human side of Kathryn Janeway, her inner struggles and her mistakes, all presented in the humble and vulnerable way that you would expect from a real best-selling autobiography. Even though 24th-century humanity has overcome misogyny, Janeway struggles in ways I imagine many women relate to - a manipulative boyfriend, pressure to over-achieve at the Academy, and a captain who gaslights her and goes out of his way to shoot down her suggestions. She rises above it all because of her true passion for science, ethics, and leadership. Along the way, she must overcome her hatred of Cardassians, her self-doubt, and her grief over her father's death during a flight test.

Then, we get to the actual events of the Voyager show, and that's easily the least interesting part of the novel. McCormack tries to keep the focus on Janeway's perspective, and the things we didn't see on screen, and succeeds for a while - showing her coping with a profound loneliness as her ship is lost in the Delta Quadrant, and all of her usual advisors are out of reach. Rather than summarizing every episode, we get broad details of story arcs and brief mentions of things that would've given Janeway pause. But the later we get into Voyager's journey in the Delta Quadrant, the more of the novel consists of episode summaries, and the less surprising Janeway's takes on those events become. The autobiography does become more of a reference book for fans.

The final chapter discusses events from after Voyager's return home, and switches back to telling an original story. The more mundane and emotionally focused tone of the first half returns - discussing the crew's struggles with her newfound fame and the ways Starfleet was changed by the Dominion War, while Janeway settles in to her new position as an admiral and reconciles with everyone at home who believed her dead. I do wish we saw more of Janeway's post-Voyager life, but I suspect McCormack avoided this on purpose, as that might require discussing the events of Star Trek: Prodigy or the various Voyager character cameos in other shows, and adding more boring chapters.

I can't say this is essential reading for all Star Trek fans or even all Voyager fans, but it does add depth to the show and its main character, and tells a wonderful story when it isn't just summarizing episodes to you. I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected.

I like this book, though I don't have much to say. It's a collection of poetic renderings of various passages from the Zhuangzi. Sometimes Thomas Merton's Christian leanings become a little too obvious, but his readings are otherwise beautiful, make the text more immediately accessible, and draw out deeper morals that are pertinent in the modern day. It's a great companion to both the full Zhuangzi text and to Laozi.

This volume compiles three Buddhist scriptures - the Heart, Diamond, and Platform Sutras - all translated by Bill Porter a.k.a. Red Pine. I don't have the authority to appraise the quality of the translations, but I found them surprisingly easy to understand, albeit with a few sections that I suspect were more beautiful in their original language. In any case, Porter's introduction to these texts is highly informative, placing them in the wider context of Buddhist thought.

The Heart Sutra is a short poem discussing the Buddhist teaching of emptiness and the Prajnaparamita (transcendent wisdom). The Diamond Sutra is a dialogue between the Buddha and his disciple Subhuti, which expands on these teachings. Both are rather abstract and repetitive, albeit in ways that get their points across and make sense for religious texts.

By far the longest and most interesting, though, is the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, which contains (or claims to contain) the sayings of Chinese Chan/Zen Patriarch Hui-neng, as recorded by his disciple Fahai. It begins with a transcript of a highly engaging public lecture given by Hui-neng, in which he tells the story of his life, and explains the Prajnaparamita teaching with poems, metaphors, and allusions to other sutras and religious schools which date it surprisingly little. The rest of the text consists of self-contained stories from the remainder of his life. It's a very enjoyable and enriching read today, enhanced by Red Pine's footnotes, as I'm sure it was back in the 8th century.

I would recommend this volume to anyone wanting to learn about Buddhist teaching from primary sources. If you find other religious texts dull and self-important, you will find the same problems here. But I think there's also a lot of wisdom and food for thought in these sutras as well.