Enterprise by the Book

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.