Rating: 
Summary: Not a bad start for a companion to the series
Review: A friend recommended this book to me a few weeks ago. I was a little surprised, since the series is still in its first season. I picked it up though, and was pleasantly surprised to find it written by a duo of authors who have written prior Star Trek works that I found quite good.This novel reads very quickly, and does feel very much like it could have been an episode. I was quite surprised at how it was able to pull out elements from the "history" of the show -- most particularly the events from the episode "Strange New World" -- and how well those prior events fit into the plot of the novel. The interplay of the junior officers was quite interesting, but like prior reviewers, I found the early RPG sections of the book to be annoying in the sense that they took time away from the main characters and their thoughts on the mission ahead. Later in the book, though, the RPG sessions dovetail into the main story quite nicely. I was a little shocked at how inept Captain Archer seemed to be. I realize that the events in the novel were supposed to take place just a few weeks after the Enterprise was launched, but it would seem that he would not have disregarded his staff's opinions as cavaleerly as he did. His interaction with T'Pol also seemed at odds with the truce he seemed to have struck with her. Perhaps this is more a function of my having watched episodes of the series that have taken place "after" the events of the novel. It was nice to see Phlox, Sato, Reed and Merriweather playing integral roles in the resolution of the story. All too often in the show, one of these four gets shunted to the background. And the ultimate resolution between Archer and T'Pol seems to justify the iciness the reader endures in the earlier sections of the book. Overall, this is a quick, but worthwhile read.
Rating: 
Summary: Enterprise: By the Book
Review: A great beginning to this new series. This is the first stand alone novel to be written for this new genre. Captain Jonathan Archer leads the Enterprise crew on an adventure of exploration and first contact. Little does he know that in this trek, he encounters two sentient races on a single planet. The Fazi (humanoid) and the Hipon ( telepathic spider-crab like) each inhabit the same world but are worlds apart. The Fazi are located in the northern hemisphere and the Hipon are in the southern hemisphere. As the story plays out we see Captain Archer trying to cope with the first contact, contact between two alien species. Archer trys and fails to successfully make first contact with the Fazi...mostly through his desire to make the contact. We see why the Prime Directive is now in the UFP. The contact with the Hipon goes a lot easier, only after the Enterprise crew figures out how to communicate. After a touch and go landing in the southern hemisphere, crewman Edwards is emergency beamed, along with a Hipon, to the Enterprise after the Hipon came out of the sea to great him but it is mistaken as an attack. Again, this Enterprise crew is new and therefore inept, but there is something about them... they have that human trait... never give up, and with that they actually succeed. We have great character developement, good dialog and emotional airing out between Archer and Subcommander T'Pol the lone Vulcan on he ship. This is a fast read, smartly detailed with believable characters, plausable and well written. I enjoyed it as I hope you do as well.
Rating:
Summary: Buy this book!
Review: An enjoyable read. Capt. Archer makes a first contact with an alien race and screws it up. He has to find a way to make it right. It's interesting to see the novice captain try to make a first contact without any rules. This sets it apart from other Trek series where the captain have rules to follow and that's what makes the book more interesting than the average Trek novel. There's an entertaining if irrelevant sub plot involving some crew members playing a Role Playing Game. It's filler but entertaining filler.
Rating: 
Summary: Ok, but could have been written better
Review: As Enterprise books go, I've read "Surak's soul" and finished "By the Book" and am now starting "What Price Honor". "By the Book" is at the bottom of the list.
Overall the story was good, and I liked the interaction between TPol and Archer. I liked the first several episodes before TPol began to warn up to the crew. She had some good comments about how Humans do things. This was reflected in the book. I thought the Fazi and the spider creatures(can't think of their name now) was done well and was well thought out.
I did not like the RPG game thread which was half the book! I believe about every other chapter was devoted to the crewmembers playing this RPG game. This was just filler, and really added nothing to the story at all. After a couple of those chapters, I just began skipping them entirely. I also didn't like the long captain's log entries. I believe if the author would have cut out more of the stupid game and expanded the captain's logs into actual conversations, it would have made the book better.
Little nitpics, I found a place where the author used the word 'buy' when it should have been 'by', and he used the word 'got' too much for my taste.
So, if you steer clear of the RPG game chapters then the book is ok. But I would read one of the other two books I mentioned, instead of this one.
Rating:
Summary: Ok, but could have been written better
Review: As Enterprise books go, I've read "Surak's soul" and finished "By the Book" and am now starting "What Price Honor". "By the Book" is at the bottom of the list.
Overall the story was good, and I liked the interaction between TPol and Archer. I liked the first several episodes before TPol began to warn up to the crew. She had some good comments about how Humans do things. This was reflected in the book. I thought the Fazi and the spider creatures(can't think of their name now) was done well and was well thought out.
I did not like the RPG game thread which was half the book! I believe about every other chapter was devoted to the crewmembers playing this RPG game. This was just filler, and really added nothing to the story at all. After a couple of those chapters, I just began skipping them entirely. I also didn't like the long captain's log entries. I believe if the author would have cut out more of the stupid game and expanded the captain's logs into actual conversations, it would have made the book better.
Little nitpics, I found a place where the author used the word 'buy' when it should have been 'by', and he used the word 'got' too much for my taste.
So, if you steer clear of the RPG game chapters then the book is ok. But I would read one of the other two books I mentioned, instead of this one.
Rating:
Summary: Ok, but could have been written better
Review: As Enterprise books go, I've read "Surak's soul" and finished "By the Book" and am now starting "What Price Honor". "By the Book" is at the bottom of the list.
Overall the story was good, and I liked the interaction between TPol and Archer. I liked the first several episodes before TPol began to warn up to the crew. She had some good comments about how Humans do things. This was reflected in the book. I thought the Fazi and the spider creatures(can't think of their name now) was done well and was well thought out.
I did not like the RPG game thread which was half the book! I believe about every other chapter was devoted to the crewmembers playing this RPG game. This was just filler, and really added nothing to the story at all. After a couple of those chapters, I just began skipping them entirely. I also didn't like the long captain's log entries. I believe if the author would have cut out more of the stupid game and expanded the captain's logs into actual conversations, it would have made the book better.
Little nitpics, I found a place where the author used the word 'buy' when it should have been 'by', and he used the word 'got' too much for my taste.
So, if you steer clear of the RPG game chapters then the book is ok. But I would read one of the other two books I mentioned, instead of this one.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining
Review: By The Book is the first original novel produced for the latest installment in the Trek franchise--Enterprise. And for a first original novel, By The Book works fairly well. Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch do a good job with the characters and capture them well. One of the highest compliments that can be paid to a novel based on a TV series is that you can actually hear the characters speaking the lines the authors give them--and that is very much the case here. Smith and Rusch really do deserve a lot of credit for making the characters come alive with such a flair. That said, the plot is fairly standard. Archer and company encounter a new planet where there are two races--one in the northern hemisphere the other in the south. Archer blows first contact with both races due to his enthusiasm and things go downhill from there. There's not much action, but there is great deal of debate about the first contact and then the implications. While this novel is a fairly short Trek book--about 250 pages--it does feel a bit longer due to the constant debate over the actions (or lack thereof) and should or should they not be taken. Again, I understand the authors were limited based on the background material given--at the time of writing there could only have been three or four episodes of Enterprise aired. However, it does drag down the book a bit. Also, the authors are trying to introduce the idea that the Prime Directive is needed and why it is. Unfortunately, it's done so obviously and so often that it doesn't pack any great surprise or revelations. So, if you want a book that gets the chracters right and tells a decent story, this is one to try. If you're looking for something that is a groundbreaking first original novel for a Trek series, I recommend Peter David's DS9 novel, "The Siege."
Rating:
Summary: An all right buy if you're an Enterprise fan
Review: Enterprise: By the Book is a good buy for any Enterprise fan; however, it does have its downfalls. The book focuses too much on the RPG (role playing game) then it does the actual conflict. The book includes log entries from Archer as the conflict they are involved in peaks and descends. These log entries make Archer seem impatient and incompetent for a Star Fleet Captain, much less of the Enterprise. Although this is the beginning of their trip it's supposed to be after Broken Bow, maybe a couple months later, his relationship with T'Pol is terrible. Maybe it's because we're further in the Enterprise season and we know that his relationship with her gets better, but the relationship he has between T'Pol is like a brother and sister: always fighting. This book is an easy read and is worth your time if you are an Enterprise fan.
Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable read.
Review: I admit that this book isn't exactly stellar (pardon the pun). It's not a book that pushes the envelope or challenges my thinking. It didn't enlighten me, nor did I glean some great bit of knowledge from it. However, I enjoyed it, from beginning to end. It was just entertaining - period. I think the authors did well considering that this is a fledgling series and is less than a year old. It must be tough to try and capture characters that are so unestablished. Especially when the reading audience is composed of Star Trek fans who are notorious for nit-picking and often consider themselves the continuity police. (Don't get me wrong here. I am a devoted Trekkie, and I mean no offense whatsoever.) It must be somewhat daunting to write for such a group, hmm? The story was entertaining, and I liked the fact that the second alien race appeared so frightening and asthetically displeasing, but their peaceful nature forced the mostly human crew to see that the old saying is true. You can't judge a book by the cover. I enjoyed this book, even if it wasn't earth-shattering or a literary masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty cool!
Review: I honestly wasn't sure where the story as going at first, but it was still interesting, so I kept reading, and I ended up totally loving it in the end. It kind of all came together. I loved the spider creatures, and I loved the little RPG Travis and his friends had going. It was neat, and added more humor. Something I love about both the show and the books so far is the great humor they have going, without turning it into a sitcom, that is. Awesome book!
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