Naming question to the readers of TNG novels

Discussion in 'Trek Literature' started by Cut, Jan 28, 2009.

  1. Cut

    Cut Lieutenant Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Dec 16, 2008
    Location:
    Germany
    In the novels set after the desruction of the Galaxy-class Enterprise in Star Trek Generations the ship itself is usually called Enterprise-E and no longer simply Enterprise as it was being done before.

    Doesn't this bother anyone but me?

    Honestly, I can recall on which ship the story is set while reading a book in a series. Every know and then a reminder might be handy, especially in a story involving flashbacks or time-travel or something the like that might open up possibilities for misunderstandings. I don't need to be reminded every other page and I am reasonably sure that Starfleet officers on board a ship wouldn't refer to it by name and number/figure all the time, even if they had been posted to it's namesake predecessor.
     
  2. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    Normally, the new ship is still called Enterprise. Checking my manuscript for Greater Than the Sum, I find that I only use "Enterprise-E" on three occasions in the text proper, two of which are meant to distinguish it from earlier ships of the same name (though I'll grant the third is gratuitous). The term "Enterprise-E" occurs only once in the current draft of Losing the Peace. I find it 14 times in the manuscript for Q & A, but 11 of those are in chapter headings, only 3 in the text proper. It occurs only once in the entire Destiny trilogy. I can't give exact figures for Resistance or Before Dishonor, since I don't have the manuscripts for those on my computer, but skimming through them by hand, I find plenty of references to the ship simply as Enterprise, and no usages of "Enterprise-E" turned up in my cursory search. Every location heading in BD, unlike Q & A, calls it simply "The Enterprise."

    So the vast majority of the time, the ship is still just called Enterprise. And none of the "Enterprise-E" references I found were in spoken dialogue.
     
  3. CommanderJMic

    CommanderJMic Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Apr 11, 2003
    Location:
    Charlottesville, VA
  4. Cut

    Cut Lieutenant Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Dec 16, 2008
    Location:
    Germany
    Well for me as a reader it doesn't make a difference if it was said in dialogue or in narrative. When used to distinguish it's of course usefull. Even to me ;)

    As I don't have any manuscript on my computer, I have to rely on what you say and more so what I have come to feel while brushing up on the latter Star Trek literature.

    Well, the number of books you mentioned leaves the "A Time to..."-series as the source of my feelings. ;)

    One more thing: Could you do me a favour, while we're at it, Christopher?

    I seem to recall at least the one time use of the term "E-E". Could you check that out for me via a script search please? Most likely it was in Resistance so chances are, that you'd search in vain...