Star Trek: Starfleet Corps of Engineers #4: Interphase Book 1

Rating:
Summary: Starfleet's Engineering Corps deserve better...
Review: I picked up this book because it came as a free download with the palmreader software for my now defunct PDA. It's the latest in a line of new STAR TREK fiction (apparently available exclusively through download) that concerns the SCE, the Starfleet Corps of Engineers.

This book is useful essentially to illuminate everything that is wrong with STAR TREK fiction and is what happens when fanboys get to write drama. They forget that they are writing drama in leiu of simply throwing a lot of one-dimensional characters out there and jamming in a bunch of trivia.

Plotlines from half a dozen STAR TREK episodes are awkwardly jammed into the story as exposition. Most are unecessary. (I supppose someone has to remind readers how Scotty got to the 24th century) All have the light touch of a sledgehammer to the skull.

The characterizations in Interphase are laughably cardboard. They have no human depth to them. They exist only as stiff archetypes lacking any sort of subtlety. The writers' main idea of character development seems to be tacking on little ethnic eccentricities to the players in the story, like Captain Gold, who radiates his Jewishness by throwing out phrases like "schmeer" and "the whole meggilah." This is disturbing not from a racialist aspect, but simply because it's so painfully obvious.

What's actually a shame is that the main plotline is actually kind of interesting. The crew is sent out on a mission to salvage the U.S.S. Defiant at the invitation of the Tholians. Those of you may remember the TOS episode "The Tholian Web" where the U.S.S. Enterprise was sent to find out what happened to the Defiant (one of the "original 13" Constitution class vessels. The other 11 being; the Constitution, the Constellation, the Lexington, the Hood, the Intrepid, the Ark Royal, the Discovery, the Kitty Hawk, the Valiant, the El Dorado and the Saratoga. HAH - TAKE THAT FANBOY!) It's a good base for a story. It touches back to familiar territory. It has the mystery potential surrounding the fate of the Defiant. Intrigue with the Tholians. Unfortunately, it just never really comes together.

There is one character in the story that sparks interest. The 3rd in command of the SCE vessel (I'm assuming some sort of warp tender) is not of a personality suited to command. A gregarious sort, who uses humour as a social lubricant, he is popular, but not a "command guy." I know this personality well. But in the end, though a refreshing change from the "heroic" personality, he too is merely a "type," who in the end, will, as if by magic, fulfill the fanboy dream of shedding the nebbishy exterior and becoming "command guy."

Anyone who feels like reading STAR TREK fiction would be much better served by picking up John Ford's The Final Reflection. Still the best STAR TREK novel ever published.

Rating:
Summary: Starfleet's Engineering Corps deserve better...
Review: I picked up this book because it came as a free download with the palmreader software for my now defunct PDA. It's the latest in a line of new STAR TREK fiction (apparently available exclusively through download) that concerns the SCE, the Starfleet Corps of Engineers.

This book is useful essentially to illuminate everything that is wrong with STAR TREK fiction and is what happens when fanboys get to write drama. They forget that they are writing drama in leiu of simply throwing a lot of one-dimensional characters out there and jamming in a bunch of trivia.

Plotlines from half a dozen STAR TREK episodes are awkwardly jammed into the story as exposition. Most are unecessary. (I supppose someone has to remind readers how Scotty got to the 24th century) All have the light touch of a sledgehammer to the skull.

The characterizations in Interphase are laughably cardboard. They have no human depth to them. They exist only as stiff archetypes lacking any sort of subtlety. The writers' main idea of character development seems to be tacking on little ethnic eccentricities to the players in the story, like Captain Gold, who radiates his Jewishness by throwing out phrases like "schmeer" and "the whole meggilah." This is disturbing not from a racialist aspect, but simply because it's so painfully obvious.

What's actually a shame is that the main plotline is actually kind of interesting. The crew is sent out on a mission to salvage the U.S.S. Defiant at the invitation of the Tholians. Those of you may remember the TOS episode "The Tholian Web" where the U.S.S. Enterprise was sent to find out what happened to the Defiant (one of the "original 13" Constitution class vessels. The other 11 being; the Constitution, the Constellation, the Lexington, the Hood, the Intrepid, the Ark Royal, the Discovery, the Kitty Hawk, the Valiant, the El Dorado and the Saratoga. HAH - TAKE THAT FANBOY!) It's a good base for a story. It touches back to familiar territory. It has the mystery potential surrounding the fate of the Defiant. Intrigue with the Tholians. Unfortunately, it just never really comes together.

There is one character in the story that sparks interest. The 3rd in command of the SCE vessel (I'm assuming some sort of warp tender) is not of a personality suited to command. A gregarious sort, who uses humour as a social lubricant, he is popular, but not a "command guy." I know this personality well. But in the end, though a refreshing change from the "heroic" personality, he too is merely a "type," who in the end, will, as if by magic, fulfill the fanboy dream of shedding the nebbishy exterior and becoming "command guy."

Anyone who feels like reading STAR TREK fiction would be much better served by picking up John Ford's The Final Reflection. Still the best STAR TREK novel ever published.

Rating:
Summary: Nice follow-up to the TOS episode
Review: I've always wondered why the Tholians were so cheesed off at the crew of the Defiant in the classic Trek episode "The Tholian Web", and now I know. This e-book and its second part are an excellent adventure.

This S.C.E. e-book series is a good read. I would say "page-turner", but it's more of a "page-clicker". I'll be keeping track of this series, and buying more as they come out.

Rating:
Summary: Nice follow-up to the TOS episode
Review: I've always wondered why the Tholians were so cheesed off at the crew of the Defiant in the classic Trek episode "The Tholian Web", and now I know. This e-book and its second part are an excellent adventure.

This S.C.E. e-book series is a good read. I would say "page-turner", but it's more of a "page-clicker". I'll be keeping track of this series, and buying more as they come out.

Rating:
Summary: No Star Trek books for 5 years, and I come back to this?
Review: Synopsis:
This Star Trek literary spinoff follows the Starfleet Corps of Engineers, which appears to be led by none other than Scotty (back from his vacation with a shuttle from the Enterprise after being rescued from a 80 year transporter buffer loop) of Original Series fame.

The story follows a crew of an SCE ship, trying to recover the USS Defiant out of the rift it fell into back in Kirk's day, with the Tholians added to make things interesting. The Novel tries to tie up the loose ends left by the original series episode "The Defiant."

About the Book:
As far as stories go, Interphase is not terrible, but it's not exactly great either. The characters are not very deep, and the assumption is made that the reader already knows them all even before starting to read the book. Given that it's part of a series, it's a little understandable, but still, when characters are not fleshed out, readers are less likely to sympathize with them. How can you leach the character out of good old Scotty? Somehow this book manages.

Otherwise, the writing is tolerable. Interestingly, Interphase has a clever plot, and one that fits in quite well with the established Star Trek universe. As a fan of the original series, I found it entertaining to revisit the classic episode and find out what exactly happened to that old Constitution Class ship. This being my first encounter with the SCE series I must admit that the SCE concept is an entertaining premise that is, perhaps, not nearly as well excuted as it could have been.

My main complaint here is that someone pulled a fast one on their customers. This E-book, listed as "Part 1," is extremely short at less than 150 pages, barely long enough to qualify as a novella, much less a novel. It's clear that the publisher cut this book in half and then sold it as two separate novels, perhaps as a promotional gimmick or marketing ploy. Either way, if you buy one, you have to buy the other just to find out what happens. A bit of a nuisance. I see no reason why the two parts of this story couldn't have been condensed into one e-book.

Bottom line: If you're the type of person who read Star Trek as a matter of course, you might like this one, but otherwise? Don't bother... especially not with the e-book version.

Rating:
Summary: Now it's getting good!!!
Review: The first 3 SCE books to me were just average. Mostly background stuff so we know how these people are. The concept is cool since in the Star Trek universe there must be a ton of stuff to collect and analyze all the time. Anyway the 4th one is the best one so far. Haven't finish reading the 5th yet but that one might top this one. The 4th as you can tell by the cover deals with the original Defiant. At least for me it kept me reading to know what happened!! It's a good mystery and you want to know if they can pull off another miracle. The only thing I don't like about this e-book is that they are too short. Fans of TOS will enjoy this story.

Rating:
Summary: Could there *be* a cooler scenario for a book?
Review: This book has one of the most interesting concepts...the salvage of the *original* Constitution-Class USS Defiant, as first seen in the TOS episode 'The Tholian Web'.

When the Defiant is discovered drifting in and out of interspace, the SCE crew is sent to retrieve the ship and return it to normal space.

Great read! Kevin Dilmore and Dayton Ward (Strange New Worlds contributer) are true fans and they show it with this story, a fanboy's dream come true.