What Price Honor? by Dave Stern
General Thoughts
One thing Dave seems to do well is write in Malcolm's voice, and Archer and T'pol's for that matter. Often a test of a good writer is having dialogue that is consistent with each character, distinct in it's own way such that were you to read a line without context you could guess who said it. Since all dialogue originates with the one author this is not easy to do but Dave pulls it off well. A day in the life of Malcom Reed would have made a fine episode - too bad it looks like we'll never get to see one. This book starts off slow but once he gets some character development under his belt the story really begins to come alive. This novel has a great title but I don't see the relation to the story at all.
Specific Notes (may contain spoilers)
-This novel claims Archer had a 10-minute meeting with each of his 80-odd crew members shortly after Broken Bow. That's at least 800 minutes (over 13 hours) worth of meetings.
-In the Prologue it states the date as 11/15/2151 but Archer's computer lists Hart as deceased on 1/14/52 - a full year in the future. Either crewman Daniels is playing around behind the scenes or this is a typo. Isn't Dave a sometimes Editor? Isn't this the sort of thing he should catch or was he wearing his 'writer' hat that day and forgot to put the 'editor' hat on?
-New Years Eve is a unique and great setting (sure Peter David and John De Lancie used New Years Eve in Time's Square in I,Q but this is different) for the backstory - in fact I think Dave should have opened with it, the "Archer with writer's block" bit having already been done Ad Nauseum (although printed in November 2002 this may not have happened yet, if not he certainly pegged and penned Archer well).
-Reed makes a pre-Xindi referrence to Enterprise having Photon Torpedos
-The repetative nature of the intra-ship hails is inconsistent with the show and irritating. Adds a sense of urgency but is over-used here
Final Verdict: A good read (3 out of 5 stars)
By The Book by Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch
General Thoughts
I can't help but wonder if the title is a pun. "By The Book"? Of course I'll buy the book! The writing style and vocabulary seems very immature for both the writers and the genre using words like "rube" and "sketchy" outside of dialogue. Even the character descriptions make you wonder if the authors thought this would be a Young Adult novel. This story is a mystery whereas most Trek novels are in some sense action-adventure but as a mystery this book does well. The stakes in a mystery are often not as high as an action-adventure so greater patience is required. The quality of writing improves as the A plot becomes more central (and interesting) without knowing more about how these authors collaborate it would be unwise to comment further on this (in other words, I don't know who to blame and whom to praise)
Specific Notes (may contain spoilers)
-The RPG opener is kind of cute but seems very forced for the characters. If I didn't have such respect for the authors (most notably their contributions to DS9: 'The Big Game', 'The Mist', and 'The Long Night'. As well as TNG's 'The Soldiers of Fear', Voyager's 'Echoes', and the Original Series' 'Treaty's Law') I would have accused them as using this to promote their own hobbies rather than entertain. In movies and TV, due to expense, everything you see is important and relevant but as Michael Jan Friedman has proven time and again over the years this is not always the case in novels. The RPG B-plot gets more entertaining but seems pointless beyond comic relief and keeping you awake as the A-plot moves at a snail's pace
-The title of this book is deceptively apt. It could have been called "OCD Planet"
-The RPG was just beginning to work as a metaphor for the show when Cutler goes and says it outright removing any pretense of intelligence on the part of the reader. Sometimes it's better not to spell everything out, like Peter David's handling of Morgan Primus - there's a sense of accomplishment when you figure it out for yourself. Anderson's transparent foreshadowing is likewise painful
-The A and B plots do not merge in any meaningful way beyond the thematic, which is actually reminiscent of many DS9 episodes. As the story progresses the RPG B plot becomes an oasis of entertainment in a desert of a slow-moving A plot (which does pick up near the end)
Final Verdict: A good read but no re-read value (2 out of 5 stars)
Surak's Soul by J. M. Dillard
General Thoughts
This book is only 218 pages but costs as much as any other novel (What Price Honor for example was 300 pages). This is essentially an interesting plot poorly executed. The ironic thing is this would have made a decent episode, pacing is about right and some scenery-chewing opportunities. I wonder if this was a rejected teleplay? I believe Dillard's specialty is novelizations.
Specific Notes (may contain spoilers)
-If you kill the last member of a species, does that count as genocide?
-I think Vulcans are a little too quick to riff off the whole "blank is a human emotion" thing. T'Pol fills this blank with "Guilt" and I daresay guilt is much more than an emotion - it is also a factual piece of information regarding a crime. Courts don't find people "Sad" afterall. I mean sure they find sad people but they don't judge them to be...well, I think you get my point. Yay logic. I need to lay down now.
-It would seem good things don't always come in small packages - this book is littered with typos/errors; at one point T'Pol not only hyphenates a word that doesn't need it but in the oddest place: "kilome-ters", later they have to decide to go to a planet or a ship, they chose the planet and set a course soon as they know the location of the ship - but they're going to the planet. Also the blurb at the back is misleading - halfway thru the book the advertised conflict is merely a footnote - at best a secondary theme. The title is likewise a misnomer, Surak is only mentioned twice in the first hundred pages (and his soul never makes an appearance - it doesn't even warrant a mention in dialogue or descriptive text, it's simply nowhere to be found).
-I don't know if this book borrows heavily from "The Catwalk" (ENT) or vice versa and I suppose it doesn't matter because that wasn't a particularly good episode
Final Verdict: A forgettable book, it's short length is a blessing in disguise (1 out of 5 stars)
Daedalus by Dave Stern
General Thoughts
Looks like Dave Stern is the man when it comes to Enterprise novels: Producing 3 times as much as anyone else.
Specific Notes (may contain spoilers)
-The downside of Dave being so prolific is that his repeated hails come along for the ride - they're like annoying calling cards left behind by a criminal at the scene of the crime. They don't still pay these guys by the word do they?
-Dave's use of the cell ship is an excellent idea. It places the book firmly within the context of the series and adds more texture to the show - something most good novels should do
-"Door sensor"? I thought all doors on Enterprise were already manual in that you had to press a button to open them. Dave's not big on details is he? If this were someone like Peter David a small inconsistency like that would make me suspect this was an alternate Enterprise
-The circumstances of Hoshi and Trip ending up in the cell ship seem a bit contrived but it leads to a fascinating and original story. So far the books in this series seem to have been episode idea rejects, discarded for being too slow or uninteresting. This novel is not an episode because it would be too expensive to produce - an excellent reason to write a novel (like Peter David's DS9 novel "The Seige" - not to be confused with the second season episode)
-Dave seems to like to focus on individuals - last time it was Malcolm, this time it's a Trip story
-The 2 "break in" sequences are described in far too much detail, particularly the second one since we had done it before
Final Verdict: An engaging and original tale that raises the bar on Enterprise novels (4 out of 5 stars)
Daedalus's Children by Dave Stern
General Thoughts
If book one was interesting this one is downright gripping. My lack of comments can only be a positive sign.
Specific Notes (may contain spoilers)
-This is Enterprise's "Basics" (VOY) with shades of the book "Echoes" and whets the apetite for the upcoming mirror universe episodes
-Trip's romance seems somewhat out of place to me - not to mention the weirdness of continuing to do it with someone who is dangerously depleted of nutrients and vitamins, from my admittedly limited experience I find it to be draining both in terms of energy and bodily fluids. There are some sweet aspects and moments to that plotline but it still seems forced for Trip. Oh well, in one of the Captain's Table books they say every story is allowed one impossible thing - In book 1 it was the escape in the cell ship and in book 2 it's Trip's liason
-The problem posed by the anomaly almost sets Enterprise up for a Sliders-esque adventure - travelling from parallel universe to parallel universe hoping each time the next leap will be the leap ho- you know what, forget that idea
Final Verdict: I don't really see how this novel could be improved upon (perhaps a bit more comedy but that would detract from the dramatic efffect). An excellent conclusion to the currently available original novels of Enterprise - I look forward to more in the future (5 out of 5 stars)
Rosetta by Dave Stern
General Thoughts
Not a particularly remarkable story, the main theme being language how could it be? However the book is written well enough to keep you entertained and curious about what's next. Mr. Stern clearly has an expansive knowledge of the Star Trek universe. As the title indicates a primary plot thread of the novel concerns translation of an alien language but that plot moves extremely slowly, all the other plotlines move at an acceptable pace but the main focus of the novel gets very frustrating revisiting the same problem over and over and making no progress whatsoever. Over 300 pages drag the thread on well past its threshold of interest to the common reader.
Specific Notes (may contain spoilers)
-This novel drops the first two letters off of the words delegation and delegate(s) frequently, but not consistently, to the point of distraction
-The scene where they get hailed by a half dozen people was probably meant to be funny but in actual is incredibly annoying to read
Final Verdict: A good read but only in small doses (2 out of 5 stars)
Last Full Measure by Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels
General Thoughts
The problem with writing a story that takes place during the Xindi crisis is that we know how it turns out in detail; the truly interesting parts are subsequently the prologue and epilogue both of which take place in Enterprise's future. Beyond that it's an okay but fairly unremarkable story.
Specific Notes (may contain spoilers)
-The pregnant MACO plot doesn't really go anywhere; it's just along for the ride.
Final Verdict: An okay but unremarkable story blunted by when it takes place (3 out of 5 stars)
The Good That Men Do by Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels
General Thoughts
A lot of thought goes into even some of the smallest details. This novel is very ambitious as it tries to undo the damage of the last episode as well as begin to set the stage for the Romulan war. I think the plot was a little more complicated than it needed to be on the Romulan side especially when the novel set out to do a lot of ambitious things to begin with.
Specific Notes (may contain spoilers)
-It gets grammatically awkward at times.
-The Sopek revelation was a needless distraction that for the purposes of this novel doesn't pay off, although clearly sets up a thread for future novels.
-Saving the message that explains part of Trip's plot during the climax for the last chapter seemed to serve no dramatic purpose.
Final Verdict: A good story that itself does a lot of good but is somewhat hamstrung by it's complexity - it's better the second time around. (3.5 out of 5 stars)
Kobayashi Maru by Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels
General Thoughts
Using the Klingon and Romulan words for the other species when telling the story from their point of view was probably meant to add authenticity but it's really just distracting and frustrating, especially when they're used inconsistently. The whole point of the UT was to make languages a non-issue for the audience. It's interesting that the coalition takes Earth from inferior laughing stock to major galactic player almost overnight. The title of this book is a bit misleading as it takes forever getting to the Kobayashi Maru situation - most of the plot is somewhat unrelated like Trip's adventures and dealing with the Klingons. The story does progress the overall plot and services the post-show franchise well but to think this novel is all about or even generally about the Maru is misleading. At times you feel like you're watching TV with every act ending with a cliffhanger before the commercial break, which eventually becomes a little tedious. Some of the plots are more complicated than they need to be which would only further frustrate someone eager to here the tale of the Kobayashi Maru.
Specific Notes (may contain spoilers)
-The gap in the Ehrehin plot between the previous novel and this one is not suitably addressed in my opinion. The emotional importance as well as the relevance to the ongoing story of Trip's return was worthy of addressing. As a result this plotline almost feels like an alternate ending to the previous novel rather than a continuation.
-At first the use of Cheron by the Romulans seems to contradict 'Let That Be Your Last Battlefield' but 'The Defector' made reference to a Battle of Cheron which may wipe out the Romulan presence before that classic episode.
-Trip's reaction to his rescue is painfully out of character.
-Trip constantly staring down the barrel of a gun almost becomes clich� near the end.
Final Verdict: Reasonably well-written this is almost like 3 small novels rolled into 1 (4 out of 5 stars)
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