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Star Trek: Voyager: Dark Matters #1
Cloak and Dagger
It is a scientific truth that the structure of the universe depends on the amount of "dark matter" contained in the cosmos. When sinister forces threaten to tamper with the very nature of reality, Captain Janeway and the crew of the U.S.S. Voyager must risk everything to restore the universal balance....
Years ago, near the beginning of its long journey, Voyager made contact with a brilliant Romulan scientist whose present was Voyager 's past. Now Telek R'Mor communicates with Janeway again -- to warn her of a dire plot to capture Voyager and turn its "future" technology against the Federation of yesterday. But more than just the timeline is at stake. Voyager itself may be carrying a menace deadly to all creation!
Years ago, near the beginning of its long journey, Voyager made contact with a brilliant Romulan scientist whose present was Voyager 's past. Now Telek R'Mor communicates with Janeway again -- to warn her of a dire plot to capture Voyager and turn its "future" technology against the Federation of yesterday. But more than just the timeline is at stake. Voyager itself may be carrying a menace deadly to all creation!
250 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 2000
About the author
Christie Golden
178 books1,685 followersAward-winning author Christie Golden has written over thirty novels and several short stories in the fields of science fiction, fantasy and horror. She has over a million books in print.
2009 will see no fewer than three novels published. First out in late April will be a World of Warcraft novel, Athas: Rise of the Lich King. This is the first Warcraft novel to appear in hardcover. Fans of the young paladin who fell so far from grace will get to read his definitive story.
In June, Golden’s first Star Wars novel, also a hardcover, sees print. Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi—Omen is the second in a nine-book series she is co-authoring with Aaron Allston and Troy Denning. Also in June comes the conclusion of Golden’s StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga with the release of Twlight, the third book in the series. The first two are Firstborn and Shadow Hunters.
2004 saw the launch of an original fantasy series called The Final Dance, from LUNA Books. The first novel in the series, On Fire's Wings, was published in July of that year. The second, In Stone’s Clasp , came out in September of 2005. With In Stone’s Clasp, Golden won the Colorado Author’s League Top Hand Award for Best Genre Novel for the second time. The third book, Under Sea’s Shadow, is available only as an e-book
Golden is also the author of two original fantasy novels from Ace Books, King's Man and Thief and Instrument of Fate, which made the 1996 Nebula Preliminary Ballot. Under the pen name of Jadrien Bell, she wrote a historical fantasy thriller entitled A.D. 999, which won the Colorado Author's League Top Hand Award for Best Genre Novel of 1999.
Golden launched the TSR Ravenloft line in 1991 with her first novel, the highly successful Vampire of the Mists , which introduced elven vampire Jander Sunstar. Golden followed up Vampire with Dance of the Dead and The Enemy Within . In September of 2006, fifteen years to the month, The Ravenloft Covenant: Vampire of the Mists enabled Jander Sunstar to reach a whole new audience.
Other projects include a slew of Star Trek novels, among them The Murdered Sun , Marooned , and Seven of Nine , and "The Dark Matters Trilogy," Cloak and Dagger , Ghost Dance and Shadow of Heaven .
The Voyager novel relaunch, which includes Homecoming and The Farther Shore , were bestsellers and were the fastest-selling Trek novels of 2003. Golden continued writing VOYAGER novels even though the show went off the air, and enjoyed exploring the creative freedom that gave her in the two-parter called Spirit Walk, which includes Old Wounds and Enemy of my Enemy .
Golden has also written the novelization of Steven Spielberg's Invasion America and an original "prequel," On The Run , both of which received high praise from producer Harve Bennett. On The Run, a combination medical thriller and science fiction adventure, even prompted Bennett to invite Golden to assist in crafting the second season of the show, if it was renewed.
Golden lives in Loveland, Colorado, with her artist husband and their two cats.
2009 will see no fewer than three novels published. First out in late April will be a World of Warcraft novel, Athas: Rise of the Lich King. This is the first Warcraft novel to appear in hardcover. Fans of the young paladin who fell so far from grace will get to read his definitive story.
In June, Golden’s first Star Wars novel, also a hardcover, sees print. Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi—Omen is the second in a nine-book series she is co-authoring with Aaron Allston and Troy Denning. Also in June comes the conclusion of Golden’s StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga with the release of Twlight, the third book in the series. The first two are Firstborn and Shadow Hunters.
2004 saw the launch of an original fantasy series called The Final Dance, from LUNA Books. The first novel in the series, On Fire's Wings, was published in July of that year. The second, In Stone’s Clasp , came out in September of 2005. With In Stone’s Clasp, Golden won the Colorado Author’s League Top Hand Award for Best Genre Novel for the second time. The third book, Under Sea’s Shadow, is available only as an e-book
Golden is also the author of two original fantasy novels from Ace Books, King's Man and Thief and Instrument of Fate, which made the 1996 Nebula Preliminary Ballot. Under the pen name of Jadrien Bell, she wrote a historical fantasy thriller entitled A.D. 999, which won the Colorado Author's League Top Hand Award for Best Genre Novel of 1999.
Golden launched the TSR Ravenloft line in 1991 with her first novel, the highly successful Vampire of the Mists , which introduced elven vampire Jander Sunstar. Golden followed up Vampire with Dance of the Dead and The Enemy Within . In September of 2006, fifteen years to the month, The Ravenloft Covenant: Vampire of the Mists enabled Jander Sunstar to reach a whole new audience.
Other projects include a slew of Star Trek novels, among them The Murdered Sun , Marooned , and Seven of Nine , and "The Dark Matters Trilogy," Cloak and Dagger , Ghost Dance and Shadow of Heaven .
The Voyager novel relaunch, which includes Homecoming and The Farther Shore , were bestsellers and were the fastest-selling Trek novels of 2003. Golden continued writing VOYAGER novels even though the show went off the air, and enjoyed exploring the creative freedom that gave her in the two-parter called Spirit Walk, which includes Old Wounds and Enemy of my Enemy .
Golden has also written the novelization of Steven Spielberg's Invasion America and an original "prequel," On The Run , both of which received high praise from producer Harve Bennett. On The Run, a combination medical thriller and science fiction adventure, even prompted Bennett to invite Golden to assist in crafting the second season of the show, if it was renewed.
Golden lives in Loveland, Colorado, with her artist husband and their two cats.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
March 3, 2012
Another save the universe with help from an ominpotent being. Need to read the trio to get the whole story.
August 13, 2019
Things I liked about this novel: (1) it dives into the story and sets a relentless pace from start to finish, never letting up, and never losing steam; (2) The Shepherds are an intriguing new creation of higher powers, and conflict between higher powers bleeding down to younger civilizations always works for me.
Things I didn't like about this novel: (1) the absence of the actual Voyager crew -- they're assaulted by the dark matter infection from the get go, and we don't really get to see them until the end of the book...which makes for a relentlessly grim set of characters that gets tiring; (2) the Romulans -- aside from Telek R'Mor -- feel like cardboard villains, and are certainly far from their glory in the hands of Trek writers such as Diane Duane.
Things I didn't like about this novel: (1) the absence of the actual Voyager crew -- they're assaulted by the dark matter infection from the get go, and we don't really get to see them until the end of the book...which makes for a relentlessly grim set of characters that gets tiring; (2) the Romulans -- aside from Telek R'Mor -- feel like cardboard villains, and are certainly far from their glory in the hands of Trek writers such as Diane Duane.
February 26, 2022
Really enjoyed this one and devoured most of it in one sitting. Christie Golden is becoming my favourite of the Voyager novel writers. The characters are spot on, she takes the time to acknowledge their thoughts and feelings, and the story had me gripped. It reminded me a lot of the episode 'Scientific Method' with the whole crew being adversely affected by the dark matter - all of them in genuine peril where I worried about how they would get out of the situation. Also a great tie back to early series 1 episode 'Eye of the Needle', with the Romans wanting to take advantage of the wormholes to steal tech from Voyager. Tied up well, and excited to read the next part of the story!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 24, 2022
An enjoyable read overall but nothing really groundbreaking. Was worried it was going to be pretty heavy with the Naomi Wildman subplot but thankfully it wasn't too much. The Dark Matter concept is kind of nonsensical in how it works but I guess I will just have to ignore that for the rest of the trilogy. Well I did enjoy it and looking forward to how the rest of it will go.
September 9, 2019
I do love Christie Golden's other books but this one I just gave up on
Shelved as 'almost-enjoyed'
September 10, 2019couldn't finish it.
May 4, 2020
A fun, easy read.
July 12, 2021
Great book! Writing and storytelling were both superb. Overall 5-5 stars from me.
August 10, 2021
Opens a trilogy expanding on one of Voyager's more interesting episodes involving a wormhole to the Alpha Quadrant that crosses time as well as space.
September 26, 2021
Excellent, and good to see the dedication to the memory of DeForrest Kelly
May 6, 2022
Interesting start to the Dark Matters trilogy. The storyline kept my attention. I will continue on to the next book.
February 14, 2014
This book felt mostly like set-up, without a whole lot of an internal plot. Since this is book one of a three part series, this is probably not much of a surprise.
The premise: Early on, Voyager encountered a small wormhole and made contact with a Romulan scientist on the far side. Unfortunately, they discovered that the wormhole not only connected the Delta Quadrant with the Alpha Quadrant, but it jumped through time as well. The Romulan, named Telek, lived 20 years in Voyager's past. In this book, the Romulan Empire has decided to use Telek and his research to find and capture Voyager, hoping to use the advanced technology on Voyager to gain the upper hand in the Alpha Quadrant. They have also sought the aid of a group of aliens called Shepherds, who have the ability to manipulate dark matter, giving the Romulans cloaking devices that are impenetrable.
But the Shepherds are not what they seem, and as Janeway and crew begin to discover why wormholes are opening up around them, steadily getting closer, they find themselves contaminated by some type of altered dark matter. It's invading their bodies and the ship, creating medical issues that the Doctor can't resolve and crashing systems all over. When Telek tries to warn them of the Romulan plans, Janeway is forced to beam him to Voyager to save him. But he brings with him only more questions.
In order to find the answers, Janeway must find the Shepherds in the Delta Quadrant . . . or Voyager and its crew will succumb to the mutated dark matter.
Again, this seems mostly like the set-up of the rest of the plot, with lots of questions being asked and not many answers being found. The main plot is intriguing, and I especially like the connections made with the previous episode and that continued story line, but mostly I found the currently disparate plot threads difficult to follow. Some things appear to be just randomly thrown in (like the disappearing/reappearing planet, and the alien woman who pops up out of nowhere), but I assume that everything will make sense once I read the other two books. That said, it was hard to enjoy the main plot here (which was the mutate dark matter infecting the ship) when these side plots kept getting in the way. I felt they should have been more subtly worked into the story.
In any case, I'm reading book two now and hope that all of the separate threads start coming together soon.
The premise: Early on, Voyager encountered a small wormhole and made contact with a Romulan scientist on the far side. Unfortunately, they discovered that the wormhole not only connected the Delta Quadrant with the Alpha Quadrant, but it jumped through time as well. The Romulan, named Telek, lived 20 years in Voyager's past. In this book, the Romulan Empire has decided to use Telek and his research to find and capture Voyager, hoping to use the advanced technology on Voyager to gain the upper hand in the Alpha Quadrant. They have also sought the aid of a group of aliens called Shepherds, who have the ability to manipulate dark matter, giving the Romulans cloaking devices that are impenetrable.
But the Shepherds are not what they seem, and as Janeway and crew begin to discover why wormholes are opening up around them, steadily getting closer, they find themselves contaminated by some type of altered dark matter. It's invading their bodies and the ship, creating medical issues that the Doctor can't resolve and crashing systems all over. When Telek tries to warn them of the Romulan plans, Janeway is forced to beam him to Voyager to save him. But he brings with him only more questions.
In order to find the answers, Janeway must find the Shepherds in the Delta Quadrant . . . or Voyager and its crew will succumb to the mutated dark matter.
Again, this seems mostly like the set-up of the rest of the plot, with lots of questions being asked and not many answers being found. The main plot is intriguing, and I especially like the connections made with the previous episode and that continued story line, but mostly I found the currently disparate plot threads difficult to follow. Some things appear to be just randomly thrown in (like the disappearing/reappearing planet, and the alien woman who pops up out of nowhere), but I assume that everything will make sense once I read the other two books. That said, it was hard to enjoy the main plot here (which was the mutate dark matter infecting the ship) when these side plots kept getting in the way. I felt they should have been more subtly worked into the story.
In any case, I'm reading book two now and hope that all of the separate threads start coming together soon.
November 9, 2015
Cloak and Dagger is the first book in the Dark Matters Trilogy. This is set late in the sixth season around the time of the episode "Muse'.
This trilogy ties in with the episode 'Eye of the Needle'. The Romulan character Telek R'Mor makes a return.
This is a set up book that shifts locations from Voyager to the Romulan Capital. There is a conspiracy afoot to capture Voyager via a manufactured wormhole. Voyager is being attacked by 'dark matter' that is affecting the crew. It makes some sick, some homicidal and some paranoid. After pulling Telek onto Voyager he tells them their only hope is to find a group of aliens called "The Shepherds'. They find a planet, take in a refugee who becomes close to Harry and Chakotay and an injured Paris disappear into another dimension.
One nitpick. Tom Paris had his accident after he graduated from the Academy and was on assignment for Starfleet. In this book he has a flashback and says it happened while he was at the Academy. I have seen this before in other books and wonder if perhaps the authors aren't getting Tom Paris from Voyager and Nick Larcono from Star Trek TNG mixed up. Both characters were played by Robbert Duncan McNeil and had similar background stories.
The story flows, is easy to read but keep in mind it is a 'set up' novel for the other two books. To be honest the story has fallen into the good but nothing special' category.
This trilogy ties in with the episode 'Eye of the Needle'. The Romulan character Telek R'Mor makes a return.
This is a set up book that shifts locations from Voyager to the Romulan Capital. There is a conspiracy afoot to capture Voyager via a manufactured wormhole. Voyager is being attacked by 'dark matter' that is affecting the crew. It makes some sick, some homicidal and some paranoid. After pulling Telek onto Voyager he tells them their only hope is to find a group of aliens called "The Shepherds'. They find a planet, take in a refugee who becomes close to Harry and Chakotay and an injured Paris disappear into another dimension.
One nitpick. Tom Paris had his accident after he graduated from the Academy and was on assignment for Starfleet. In this book he has a flashback and says it happened while he was at the Academy. I have seen this before in other books and wonder if perhaps the authors aren't getting Tom Paris from Voyager and Nick Larcono from Star Trek TNG mixed up. Both characters were played by Robbert Duncan McNeil and had similar background stories.
The story flows, is easy to read but keep in mind it is a 'set up' novel for the other two books. To be honest the story has fallen into the good but nothing special' category.
June 5, 2015
This story was well-enough written, if not truly compelling. The characterizations seemed a bit off, in that the dark matter poisoning that the crew was experiencing was supposed to be having serious deleterious effects on their personalities, but that only seemed to be enforced sporadically. Yes, every once in a while we would see clear indications of the effects, but at least as frequently there was no sign of difficulties. Janeway has a headache that makes her very irritable, and sometimes she is described as having to fight to overcome that and behave rationally. But frequently, she seems almost unaffected. Chakotay's temper is likewise supposed to be frayed, but other than showing more irritation than usual at Tom Paris's borderline insubordination, he seems almost completely unaffected.The same is true for almost all of the characters. Further, the main solution to the conflict in the plot seems to be to search for (and more or less successfully find) a deus ex machina. All in all, the book wouldn't have been a first-tier book even if it had been a stand-alone; as "Book 1 of 3", it leaves much to be desired. The thought that I have to wade through two more like this in order to reach a conclusion is annoying.
January 27, 2015
Book one in a trilogy. Loved spending time with the Voyager crew again and enjoyed learning some stuff about dark matter. The return of Telek R'Mor was a nice touch, because that was one of the earliest episodes. The effects of the dark matter on the entire crew were also interesting to read about for someone with some medical knowledge -- people react to the same stimuli in different ways. I am interested to see how the story plays out.
July 8, 2016
I really enjoyed this book. In many ways it was just my kind of story since I found the whole idea with the dark matter very interesting. Not to mention that Christie Golden brought back Telek R'Mor from one of my favorite episodes, "Eye of the Needle", from season one of Voyager. And with him, of course, more Romulans and the prospect of trying to protect the timeline. For me this trilogy feels very promising and I'm looking forward to see where Golden takes it.
July 21, 2010
I haven't read any Star Trek novels by other authors, but I really like the way Christie Golden writes. It's probably also to my advantage that I haven't watched all the episodes from the Voyager TV series, as I'm assuming that these novels follow along in the same story arc. Whatever the case, I found this book entertaining and well-paced.
December 10, 2010
Book 1 of a trilogy. Golden has a great story line going here and has the potential to blow past her Star Trek yawner "The Last Roundup" that I read a few years back. My only complaint is that I dislike stories where the main character(s) are rescued from whatever the life-threatening situation is when an all-powerful being shows up, and this one partially falls into that category.
May 21, 2014
The Romulan that Voyager had previously met turns up again. The Romulans intend to capture Voyager and use their advances in technology to change the timeline. Only problem is the method uses dark matter. This is definitely a setting the scene type book, the plot and characters are decent too. A good read.
August 28, 2009
If you like Voyager, this is a great author for the books. She sticks very close to what happened during the seven seasons of the show.
February 7, 2010
Read this series years ago, but I remember really enjoying it at the time.
May 27, 2012
A bit amateurishly written opening to a trilogy that showed its true teeth in the last subsequent installments.
April 5, 2013
Good Trilogy
August 6, 2016
This whole series was fairly "meh" nonsensical fantasy-quest. The Romulan scenes were interesting though.
April 26, 2016
Good opening to a trilogy.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews