As the conclusion to the Gateways saga, What Lay Beyond should have brought everything together with a satisfying, cohesive finale. Instead, it felt like six disconnected short stories — some more engaging than others — cobbled together without a solid narrative through-line. The overarching problem with the Gateways series is even more apparent here: a strong concept poorly executed.
This book is a fine entry in the series, but unfortunately, it suffers from placement more than content. Coming immediately after Fatal Error, the story feels a bit too familiar — another planetary emergency involving malfunctioning technology and a race against time to save the day. While that’s classic Star Trek, the similarity in structure and stakes made this novella feel repetitive rather than fresh.
As the fifth installment in the Gateways series, you would expect the Gateways to play a bigger part of the story. While they are present, they really serve as the MacGuffin to a classic Voyager tale.
