No Man's Land: Gateways Bk.5 (Star Trek: Voyager) [Mass Market Paperback]

Set during the sixth season of Voyager, the crew is beginning to feel like they will actually be getting home someday. The recent contact with Starfleet has raised hopes and spirits. But directly in their path lies an extremely hazardous region of space that the crew dubs 'No Man's Land'. After deciding that traveling around the region is not an option, Janeway concludes that they could all benefit from a little R & R on a nearby uninhabited class-M planet before the ship undertakes this
latest challenge.

Shore leave is cut short when a mysterious portal opens on the planet depositing one very lost and confused alien canine. Investigation of the portal provides no answers and the crew seems to have acquired a grateful mascot when suddenly large portals begin to open all around Voyager in the surrounding space. Voyager soon finds itself overwhelmed and outnumbered by ships from all over the galaxy that have suddenly found themselves displaced. 62 vessels, representing 48 different
races, most previously unknown, all lost along with Voyager in the Delta Quadrant.

By now the crew has realized that these portals are some kind of Gateways. Gateways which seem to have closed, at least for the moment. Janeway decides to extend Voyager's companionship, protection and assistance to any of the vessels that wish to accompany them on their travels. Hoping that by working together they can solve the mystery of the Gateways, share resources and all somehow arrive home. A number of the ships, representing very diverse species decide to take Janeway up on her offer. Some of these species are obviously peaceful. Others arrogant or hostile.

As this ragtag fleet of disparate ships sets out they have no way of knowing what dangers lie ahead as they attempt to traverse 'No Man's Land'. Or if they can truly trust each other. One thing after another goes wrong with the situation quickly becoming even more tense and desperate. The Gateways keep reappearing and disappearing. Each contact draining the ships of power. Just as it seems that they may all be forced to abandon their vessels Janeway makes the decision to step through a Gateway and try to discover if the answer to finding a way home can be found in what lays beyond.

"No Man's Land" is a very short, light and fast read. The plot moves quickly. While there is nothing particularly outstanding about the story it is filled with interesting characters and has nice touches of humor. The story never really develops a sense of urgency, although it does present a number of small mysteries and subplots.

I'm a huge Voyager fan, so this was the very first Gateways book I read. After reading it I thought it was phenominal, Janeway, all alone in the Delta Quadrant, happens upon SEVERAL other ships now also lost with her. Some of them friendly, some of them hostile, some of them at war back on their home planets, and some of them (the Hirogen) who are supposed to be enemies but don't seem to be. And then the end (in book 7) was "WOW."

But, now I've read three other Gateways books (TNG, DS9, and NF), and I have found that the Voyager installation in the Gateways series really had absolutely nothing to do with the Gateways in the other books. The only link is that you find out where the Iconians got the Gateways to begin with. But the Gateways in Voyager were not of the same sort as those in the other series, making this a useless read if you want to follow the Gateways series specifically.

My recommendation here is if you like Voyager and want to see some typical Janeway diplomacy and tough-as-nails leadership read this book. But if you are only getting this book for the Gateways' series skip it.

Unfortunately, I could give this one only three stars because the story itself is pretty watery, though I don't necessarily blame Christie for it. She wrote a VOY novel set prior to the series end, as part of a crossover series of stories. I wouldn't wish for a worse set of parameters! No way can a VOY story with these kinds of limitations ever hope to be anything more than a swift ride with Janeway at the helm.

And that's just what this one is. Strange gateways open in Delta Quadrant space, spilling out all manner of ships, containing friend and foe alike. Janeway herds and leads. Things happen. Up pops a dangerous nebula. Janeway leads the caravan through. More things happen. In the end, we find Janeway herself going through a gateway on a planet and disappearing - thus the set-up for the conclusion, contained, together with conclusions of the other five books in this series, in Book Seven of the Gateways series. One thin thread keeps this story bound together, but it seems a bit far-"fetched."