Customer Reviews

By the Book (Star Trek (Unnumbered Paperback))

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

I like the new Enterprise TV series, but so far, the books have not measured up to my version of Star Trek quality. The book gets 3 stars from me just because I like the cover and am glad that there is a book on Enterprise to read regardless of its literary value.

"By the Book" is, in a large part, a tale about a Role Playing Game (RPG) that I found extremely boring. If you are into RPGs, you will love this book; if you are not, you will not find the book exciting.

Thoughts to share:

1. The Role Playing Game seemed to be the focus of the book rather than the Enterprise adventure. The authors tried to pull the two together, but failed, in my opinion.

2. The story did not provide enough "conflict" to make my trip into outer space worth my $7. There was an encounter with an alien that went bad. But, because the affected crewman was not a senior officer, the disaster did not create enough reader concern. Had the man been one of the Main Seven (Bridge crew plus Dr. Phlox and Trip), the story may have had a different impact. Overall--this story just wasn't that great. Its like a flat pop. You can drink it, but you won't really savor it.

3. The authors are trying to get into the Captain Archer's head but they are really making him look sappy instead of like a man who possesses real leadership quality. Star Trek fans are used to James T. Kirk and JeanLuke Picard standards. The Archer that is being developed by the recent authors make it seem like it wasn't just the ship that left earth's dock too soon--it seems like the captain left earth's dock too soon, as well.

I hope for better Enterprise books in the future.

Do you want to buy this book? How can I say "No" to the second book of the series? So, sure, if you want an Enterprise story for the sake of reading about the Enterprise. But if you want a really good Star Trek book, this one should go near the bottom of your wish list.

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."

I picked up "Enterprise: By The Book" this morning and finished it a few hours later. While the format is deviant from most Star Trek books the style is smooth and flowing, urging the reader on. Smith & Rusch focus their tale on Crewman Cutler (who appeared in a single episode of Enterprise this season) as well as other characters not often exposed on the show itself. This is at first frustrating (we all want to hear about our favorite main characters not the sideline ones, right?) the method actually ends up rather agreeable.

The only difficulties with the story itself were the Captain's Logs (Choppy, abrupt and rather un-Archerish in my mind...indeed Archer is portrayed rather unflatteringly throughout) and the RPG subplot. The subplot (a RPG game between four low rankers) is complimentary to the story, in fact it is far more relevant then most Trek novel or episode subplots are but is, none the less, somewhat awkward. There's just something uncomfortable about 4 military (that is, after all, what Trek is...military but more likeable) professionals sitting around playing an RPG in the mess hall.

Regardless the book is, all for all, worth a read and an acceptable first step into the freeform Star Trek: Enterprise world. A note to those who are tempted to put it down after the first few chapters, push on it's worth the trip.

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.

Let me begin by saying that I believe that the world of "Enterprise" offers more potential for good scripts and/or novels than either TNG or TOS simply because in "Enterprise" mankind (along with certain aliens) is for the first time venturing out among the stars. Thus, the universe is not well-travelled, the technology does not work perfectly, the nonhuman races are truly alien because humans have limited experience in dealing with aliens.

This novel does a good job of exploiting the above potentials. It is about a first contact between the starship Enterprise (Earth's first deep-space faster-than-light cruiser) and a very unusual planet which features two very different intelligent races. The plot is solid, and there is some decent character development, particularly in connection with T'Pol and Archer. This is not great literature, but the novel certainly qualifies as a pleasent diversion into the Star Trek universe--which is a universe to which I like to pay frequent visits.

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.

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 was entertaining.

I realize the book takes place during the first season, so Archer's attitude isn't up to par. He comes off as a jerk to T'Pol in the novel; I was thinking the author should have had the reader sympathize with him in some way, but Archer is definitely 'in character' here. (It's interesting because Archer is supposed to be making first contacts with different races, and he can't get along with a member of an alien race that is apart of his crew. i.e.T'Pol).

A note on the RPG: It's interesting that RPG's are still going on in the 22nd century. The paper and pencil versions we are familiar with, went out of style in the early 90s to be replaced by RPG's on video game consoles such as Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Sega, Playstation, eventually Playstation 2, etc. Still, there are probably some today who play some board RPG's.

According to the book, Elizabeth Cutler used to play on computer...which hints at World of Warcraft-like gaming.

Now did this RPG story take away from the main story? (The main story being: Archer needs to make first contact with a race called the Fazi; at the same time, make contact with another race on the same planet: A spider-like race called the Hipon, who secrete a smelly slime when they are afraid; and, they are also telepathic).

Members who play the RPG--Cutler, Travis Mayweather, Anderson, Novakavich, and Hoshi Sato--liken their situation with the first contact that is going on in their reality: They are going in gung-ho, but find out the best way to handle things is be diplomatic.

I found the story surprisingly good. Enterprise is not known to be the strongest Trek series; the writing wasn't as strong as it should be, and certain characters weren't handled as well as they should have been.

Here, the pacing is good. I found myself wondering how the Fazi and Hipon situation would be handled, and also wondering how the RPG would pan out.

It was good to see Travis Mayweather have a prominent role; he comes off a a character who is cool, and jokes when need be. (We get a hint of this in the series). Aside from Mayweather, everyone seems to be given equal time--even another favorite of mine, Dr. Phlox.

Trek books, in my opinion, are a hit or miss. Save for the Archer complaint, this book is a definite 'hit' for me.