Customer Reviews

The Expanse (Star Trek: Enterprise)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Star Trek - Enterprise: "The Expanse" a novelization by J.M. Dillard based on the episodes "The Expanse" and "The Xindi" written by Rich Berman and Brannon Braga follows these episodes quite well. I saw the episodes after I read the book and I must say that I enjoyed the book much better.

"The Expanse" starts out with a partial destruction of Earth as seven million people die from Florida, to Cuba, to Venezuela and that a probe from the planet Xindi is to blame. As this probe crashes to Earth, Archer and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC NX-01 are being recalled to Earth and are refitted for a rather gruelling mission.

"The Expanse" has good charater interaction and you get a good feeling that you begin to interact with the crew when reading this book. There is good character involvement between Jonathan Archer and his crew as they are in spacedock around Earth and the interaction to the next mission. As the Enterpise and her crew are coming to Earth they are intercepted by a Suliban ship from the future and yes, who else but Silik is the one to bring Archer aboard his ship to hear "a humanoid" from the future tell Archer what's in store for the Earth.

"The Expanse" moves along quite quickly and you'll find that you've finished the book in short order as the NX-01 is sent to the Delphic Expanse to find the homeworld of the Xindi. The Xindi are a race of 5 different species all of which are intelligent... primate, reptilian, marsupial, insectoid and sea creatures simular to a dolphin. All of the races work together in a government simular to a republic, but they've been tipped as to what happens to their homeworld in 400 years in the future and there is a temporal rift that may occur.

I enjoyed this book as it was a quick read and highly entertaining I gave this book a 4 star rating for its entertainment value and I would suggest that you read the book before you see the episodic television. You'll appreciate the action-adventure much better. All in all, the was an adventure where there is a crisis and Archer must make decissions that will affect the crew and the future of Earth.

After much bashing by media crtics and some fans the Enterprise series finally decides to go where no man has gone before with an urgent mission to stop an enigmatic race called the Xindi from destroying Earth.After Earth is ravaged and 7 million are dead the Enterrpise (NX-01)is recalled to Earth by Starfleet. But before that they must first deal with the Renegade Klingon named Duras who wants revenge from Capt. Archer. The story then focuses on the NX-01's journey to find a Xindi who may be able to aid them in locating the Xindi. I wont give the rest of the story away so go watch the episode or read the book. Just remember this series is not as bad as everyone says and that now I believe the stories will be more ambitious and live up to all Star Trek fans demands.

Of course when you read a novelization you have to adjust your expectations. But as far as noveliations go, this isn't too bad. Dilard does add a whole lot to the story that was up on the screen to begin with, but after reading it back-to-back with Diane Carey's novelization of "Broken Bow," I had to appreciate the craftsmanship Dillard brought to the story. It stood in stark contrast to the cynical, quickies cranked out by Carey.

So...don't expect much new (novelizations haven't done much of that since Vonda McIntyre's treatments of TWOK and TSFS), but if you enjoyed the episodes and want to read them in print, this one'll do it for you.

If you watched the episodes, the book ruins it. J.M. Dillard, the person who wrote Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Insurrection has now written the Star Trek: Enterprise book, "The Expanse."

It tells the story of the second season finale, "The Expanse", and the next season's premiere, "The Xindi" and everything in between. It deals with the Xindi probe attack on Earth, to the vengeful Duras, who still wants Archer to pay for his crimes, to the NX-O1's incursion into the Expanse, to the capture of Kessick, the Xindi-Humanoid, and finally, to the Xindi Council, who are aware that Enterprise has entered the Expanse searching for their weapon, in which the Council is so eager to deploy.

"The Expanse" is a really great book. If you haven't seen the episodes "The Expanse" and "The Xindi" then this is one book that you should pick up this holiday season. But, like I said before, if you have seen these two episodes, then, you wouldn't want to waste $12 buying this book.

This is the novelization of the first couple of episodes of a LONG story-arc; as such, there is no satisfactory conclusion to be had. So if you don't mind reading a book that starts a very major plotline, with a very specific goal for the characters, and doesn't see them through to their success or failure at accomplishing that goal, and which is not, to the best of my knowledge, even part of a series that will continue the story elsewhere, you should enjoy this book as it is well-written and has very good pacing, plot, and characterization. If it were "The Expanse, Book 1", I probably would have given it a fourth star. But as a stand-alone, it is sorely lacking in the "conclusion" department.

And especially interesting because of the Xinti, who, as anyone who watches the television series, knows are responsible for millions of dead humans on Earth. As fascinating as "The Expanse" episodes were, this novel brings the newest addition to the Star Trek legacy out in ways only a novel can. This book following the ENTERPRISE and company ranks with other sci-fi books: "Stranger in a Strange Land", "Puppet Masters", "2001", "2010", "Rendezvous with Rama", "Ringworld", all the "Star Trek" novels of course and all "Star Wars" books too, as well as books as new to the genre as "Advent of the Corps" and others.