Sean Randall reviewed Quarantine by John Vornholt
Review of 'Quarantine' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
"Meeting a Maquis captain isn't usually considered a great honor."
This brilliantly written book charts another instance of the dreaded double helix disease from the unlikeliest of viewpoints - Chakotay, during his time with the maquis. Clearly, the bulk of this thing takes place before Voyager's pilot, and all the usual suspects (Torres, Tuvok, Seska etc) are firmly in place. Seeing the Maquis on Humanitarian work not involving themselves is a far cry from their televised portrayal as well as their in-universe depiction from the federation. We also have Tom Riker, the duplicate of the Enterprise's First Officer created in a transporter accident on Nervala IV. chakotay is quick to spot his potential (The DS9 Defiant incident springs to mind), and the whole crew are thrust into a nasty plague situation on a planet where mixed-breeds (such as Torres with her half-Human, half-Klingon physiology are considered almost royalty).
So sets …
"Meeting a Maquis captain isn't usually considered a great honor."
This brilliantly written book charts another instance of the dreaded double helix disease from the unlikeliest of viewpoints - Chakotay, during his time with the maquis. Clearly, the bulk of this thing takes place before Voyager's pilot, and all the usual suspects (Torres, Tuvok, Seska etc) are firmly in place. Seeing the Maquis on Humanitarian work not involving themselves is a far cry from their televised portrayal as well as their in-universe depiction from the federation. We also have Tom Riker, the duplicate of the Enterprise's First Officer created in a transporter accident on Nervala IV. chakotay is quick to spot his potential (The DS9 Defiant incident springs to mind), and the whole crew are thrust into a nasty plague situation on a planet where mixed-breeds (such as Torres with her half-Human, half-Klingon physiology are considered almost royalty).
So sets the stage. The writing is very easy on the mind, the story flows very well indeed. With this and the previous we have departed from the medical a little, and it's refreshing to see more action in different fields than just healing people, watching them become reinfected, and so forth. A change for the better, livening up the series and adding back that bit of zest that it didn't quite manage to hold on to thus far.
The nuances are very good, the depth of characterisation incredible and the chance to see familiar faces in an unfamiliar time and place is well worth the read. So many wonderful connections are possible with novels, the whole Tom versus Will Riker thing, for instance. it only got an episode on the show, but here the man is panned out in much more detail and the time between his appearances catalogued with gratifying detail.
The next story is written by [a:Peter David|1873|David Guterson|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1218742352p2/1873.jpg], I note with anticipation. Another miracle worker with supporting characters and an exquisite craftsman in his own right (with New Frontier). Will we find out who "The General" is after all? will the good guys eventually find a way to stop these plagues, once and for ever? Will we ever know why they were started? Time will tell. Time and two more books...