Rating: Summary: Was This REALLY Worth A First Outing? Review: One of the significant criteria which John Ordover, over at the Pocket Books (Trek Books publisher), states for writers considering penning a Trek novel is that "you should write something that couldn't be done on the small screen." In other words, what would be the purpose in writing a book that could, in fact, be just another episode? He wants the writer to take the reader somewhere else, into worlds unexplored and parts unknown ... so how did BY THE BOOK meet those standards? Giving a gracious nod to RPG so prevalent throughout the web, the authors devise a scenario surrounding Captain Archer and the crew of the Enterprise's first contact with not one but two species and it goes horribly wrong until they fashion a device which allows Archer to communicate telepathically with the more intelligent of the two species and then ... nothing happens. While the book sports a wonderful conversation between Archer and his Vulcan Subcommander T'Pol on the nature of 'first contact' situations, the tale invests little in characterization, plot, and surprise. There is little awe in the experience of meeting new civilizations for the first time; rather, there is an exhaustive examination of their architecture and how it relates to the way the think ... while it's interesting, it encompasses too much of the book. Lastly, this installment FEELS as though it was a script submitted but rejected by Paramount b/c it didn't meet Ordover's criteria: it shows us nothing new.
Rating: Summary: Too early Review: Pretty much wound up hating it because it seemed way too rushed to market. As others have pointed out, the author and publisher should have waited to see where Braga and co. were going to take the characters. Once you've seen how the series progresses on screen, the characterizations in this book are off the mark.
Rating: Summary: An excellent start to original Enterprise novels! Review: This book is a great start to original Enterprise novel series. Set in the weeks following the episode Strange New Worlds, the crew of the Enterprise finds itself in on a first contact mission. Captain Archer goes into this experience a novice and quickly finds the issues of first contact with alien species to be more difficult than a simple "hello" and a handshake. The authors do an excellent job in painting the picture of first contact mistakes and how they play with Captain Archer's mind-much as the show has and will continue to do with the novice crew many fronts. In the back of all reader's minds, we know that the Prime Directive has to evolve from the time of Archer's Enterprise to the time of Kirk & Spock. This book is a first piece of that puzzle in a lot of ways. The Earth experience with Vulcan comes under new light with the experience of this first contact-shown in microcosm between T'Pol and Archer. The planet in question has two races on it--and they are not on equal developmental footing. Are the both native? Why are they not apparently coexisting, but isolated?For an early series book, the authors have the characters done very well. The side plot with Mayweather, Novakovich, and Cutler passing time in the mess hall with a role playing game is very entertaining-a far cry from the Next Generation's rec time in the holodecks! I highly recommend this book to anyone who is even remotely interested in the Enterprise series. It is a fast moving read that you won't want to put down until you are finished.
Rating: Summary: Not too bad, but definitely could be better. Review: This novel, the first "Enterprise" spinoff to be out in paperback, (second overall only to the novelization of the pilot episode, "Broken Bow") was a reasonably pleasant quick read, and about two thirds of it was a perfectly acceptable if unexceptional plot. The characters were handled well, especially given that they haven't really been established all that clearly on the show itself yet, and the dialogue was handled well. The biggest problem with the book was the roughly one-third of it that was devoted to the role-playing game four of the characters (five, if you count Hoshi, who was going to be involved but wound up too busy with her duties to play) played during their leisure time. I realize what the intention was here; it was to establish characters by showing us what they do for fun, and how they interact. In other words, it served the same purpose (allegedly) as the chess games between Kirk and Spock on the original series, or the holodeck stories in Next Generation. And to a limited extent, it accomplished what it was meant to accomplish; it did give us something of a look into the personality of Travis Mayweather, as well as a few more minor characters. But like the holodeck bits on Next Generation, and unlike the glimpses we got of chess games between Kirk and Spock, it was given far too major an emphasis; the purpose to this sort of thing is to give us some insight into the characters' personality WITHOUT taking up a major portion of the book. I didn't think that anything could be worse than watching characters in a television show play characters in a holodeck game, but I was wrong; reading about characters playing a role-playing game with dice was definitely worse, and it wasn't helped by the (admittedly very plausible) fact that, as novice gamers playing under a novice gamemaster, their game was poorly run and poorly played. I sincerely hope that that plot device is NOT repeated in future books.
Rating: Summary: Not too bad, but definitely could be better. Review: This novel, the first "Enterprise" spinoff to be out in paperback, (second overall only to the novelization of the pilot episode, "Broken Bow") was a reasonably pleasant quick read, and about two thirds of it was a perfectly acceptable if unexceptional plot. The characters were handled well, especially given that they haven't really been established all that clearly on the show itself yet, and the dialogue was handled well. The biggest problem with the book was the roughly one-third of it that was devoted to the role-playing game four of the characters (five, if you count Hoshi, who was going to be involved but wound up too busy with her duties to play) played during their leisure time. I realize what the intention was here; it was to establish characters by showing us what they do for fun, and how they interact. In other words, it served the same purpose (allegedly) as the chess games between Kirk and Spock on the original series, or the holodeck stories in Next Generation. And to a limited extent, it accomplished what it was meant to accomplish; it did give us something of a look into the personality of Travis Mayweather, as well as a few more minor characters. But like the holodeck bits on Next Generation, and unlike the glimpses we got of chess games between Kirk and Spock, it was given far too major an emphasis; the purpose to this sort of thing is to give us some insight into the characters' personality WITHOUT taking up a major portion of the book. I didn't think that anything could be worse than watching characters in a television show play characters in a holodeck game, but I was wrong; reading about characters playing a role-playing game with dice was definitely worse, and it wasn't helped by the (admittedly very plausible) fact that, as novice gamers playing under a novice gamemaster, their game was poorly run and poorly played. I sincerely hope that that plot device is NOT repeated in future books.
Rating: Summary: Better than I thought at first Review: Well, first off, anyone who's considering reading this spinoff novel had best try to remember throughout that it was written with very little series development behind it...you can't really complain *too* much about the lack of character development or the scattered inconsistencies of the Enterprise crew. There is nothing *major*, just a few occasions where you go "huh?". Especially as it pertains to the character of Cutler, I think what has begun to develop on screen is a bit different in some aspects than this novel-version. When I first started reading, the RPG (role-playing game to those who are not familiar with such things...think Dungeons and Dragons, or one of the variety of customizable card games that are out on the market today.) element was not to my liking at all...it was written in as being separate chapters interspersed with the "real" story (think "B" plot in a televised episode.) It seemed kinda stilted and unrealistic, and almost as an afterthought to the rest of the book. The main first contact plot also began slow, very hard to get into. Almost as if the writers weren't exactly sure *how* Archer would deal with a first contact situation (and probably was in fact the case, as it was probably being written before or the same time as the first contact episode that aired recently was filmed) All this being said, it was actually quite an enjoyable little afternoon read--once you got past the first few chapters and got used to the somewhat unsettling interruptions of the RPG-based chapters. Yes, the plot is "episodic" in nature, and could very well have been filmed...but it wasn't, and if it would have been, it probably wouldn't have worked as well as it did in print. Later on, the conversations between characters get very interesting, including the interplay between Archer and T'Pol previously commented on in these reviews. And, surprised as I was to admit it, the RPG parts did actually become entertaining as well. I rate this one 3 stars, meaning I would get this one from the library instead of buying it outright. It's a fine first original effort, and future novels should continue to improve as the series develops.
Rating: Summary: If anything can come close to the series, this book sure can Review: When "Enterprise" first started out I was so sceptical I didn't give it more than a season - half a year later I don't think Paramount could have found a better way to make a new series out of an "old" Star Trek past. They created charming and lovable characters, filled the scripts with inside jokes, numerous scenes featuring the characters' personal lives, their attitudes and development. They always remembered not to put too much emphasis on action, but to engage in gripping, unrepetitive dialogues instead. This is a series that combines Star Trek efficacy and tradition with everything a fan could long for: humour, suspense, and most of all characters whose actions can't be foretold. This book fits into the series as if it were written as a sequel to one of the episodes. Indeed the B-story leans on events from an early episode during the first season. The writing itself is very dense and complex, coming very close to the structure of a TV script by emplyoying the means of dialogue interrupted only for necessary observations and background information, of periodic log entries and the balanced switching between A- and B-story (both of which are equally interesting). You'll meet the characters as the persons they were established as in the series. Rusch and Smith did the correct thing by refraining to attach too many new nuances to them, to change their attitudes or alter their behaviour (which, considering how little we know of those people yet, must have been quite a task). I also enjoyed how deeply they dug into the ethical problem coming with establishing first contact. Especially for those of you who are already familiar with the concept of the Prime Directive this book will offer some very interesting thoughts. And if any of you are fans of role playing games, just read how it can be done in a novel. Brace yourselves! I can recommend this novel to anyone who always wished for more personal stories in Star Trek (episodes or books alike). The action part isn't missing, of course, but it's been shrunken to a tolerable size. The focus itself, though, is on the crew. And it was about time that more authors aside from fabulous Peter David came to realize that. Definitely splendidly done!
Rating: Summary: Too early Review: You can tell that this story was written very early during the first season. In the novel, the characters of Archer, T'Pol and Hoshi feel like they are based solely on the pilot episode. Archer and T'Pol actively distrust each other and there is no indication of them trying to form even a working relationship, let alone anything more personal. Hoshi is portrayed as being afraid of everything -- including elements of the game they are playing. There is no sign of Hoshi trying to come to grips and overcome those fears. If you don't worry too much about the characterizations, the plot and feel of the story itself is good. The idea of an RPG session running in parallel with the main plot of the story worked well. This really would have been a much better novel if it had come out later, after the authors had the chance to get to know the characters they were writing about.
Rating: Summary: Should have waited a while Review: You can tell that this story was written very early during the first season. In the novel, the characters of Archer, T'Pol and Hoshi feel like they are based solely on the pilot episode. Archer and T'Pol actively distrust each other and there is no indication of them trying to form even a working relationship, let alone anything more personal. Hoshi is portrayed as being afraid of everything -- including elements of the game they are playing. There is no sign of Hoshi trying to come to grips and overcome those fears. If you don't worry too much about the characterizations, the plot and feel of the story itself is good. The idea of an RPG session running in parallel with the main plot of the story worked well. This really would have been a much better novel if it had come out later, after the authors had the chance to get to know the characters they were writing about.
Rating: Summary: Surprisingly good for the first in the series Review: You could criticize this book for its sometimes bland or inaccurate characterizations of the crew, but if you're a veteran reader of Trek books you won't, since you'll know to expect that in the early books of any of the series. As I see it, the only flaw worth taking off rating-points for is that too much time is devoted to the story's secondary plot, which centers on a role-playing game, and quickly becomes rather boring. By the end of the book, I almost wished I'd skipped over the chapters devoted to this, because the main plot, which centers around first-contacts with two species, had been a lot more entertaining than I would have expected from a first novel. Unlike Michael Jan Friedman's "Kahless", in which two plots are almost ingeniously woven together, and yet could still be read effectively as seperate stories, the "role-playing game" plot here degrades into only slightly entertaining filler that could've easily been cut. Even taking that into account, though, I can't justify a rating lower than 3 1/2 stars. The book is probably good enough to be considered a must-have by die-hard completist by readers who are determined to read the entire series. As with all the Trek series, the books get better as the characters become more familiar to both readers and authors, so this one will pale in the light of later ones, but it should be recognized as a good first effort.
|