The Great Chronological Run-Through

[Christopher]

Alpha Centauri III is referred to as the first Human extrasolar settlement (apparently Terra Nova was quietly filed in the "doesn't count" folder, which I can sort of understand). It's referred to as such in The Buried Age, also.

Well, it was the first successful one. Jamestown is sometimes referred to as the first English settlement in the Americas, even though it was preceded by several failed attempts such as Roanoke. Sometimes people just leave out the "permanent." Granted, some of the Terra Novan colonists did survive -- but so did some of the Roanoke colonists, most likely. In both cases, though, they abandoned their settlements and adopted new identities, on their own in the Novans' case and by assimilating into indigenous communities (probably) in the... err... Roanokeans' case. (Roanokies?)

Alpha Centauri III, we learn, is noted for its shipbuilding resources. Whether that simply means its (presumably?) relatively untouched mineral wealth or something different isn't clear. Ruins are mentioned, an implicit reference to extinct civilizations (The Buried Age will note that it had a lot of these, which kept getting squashed by meteors), so perhaps there isn't untapped wealth there after all. Maybe the Centaurians are just industrious.

Ahh, but you're thinking in planetbound terms. As long as there are a lot of asteroids, there is immense untapped wealth. The mineral wealth of the asteroids in this Solar System is thousands of times greater than what we'd be able to extract from the Earth's crust even if we strip-mined the planet raw. It annoys the heck out of me that most Trek writers over the decades have been locked in the antiquated assumption that mining is something you do on the surface of a planet. If you have routine space travel, then planets are the least worthwhile place to mine anything, since it's much harder to dig up the minerals and much harder to drag them out of the gravity well, and because the total quantity of minerals you can extract from a single planet is limited. (Same problem with all those stories about aliens coming to Earth to steal our water. There's thousands of times more water in the comets and outer moons and asteroids than you could ever get on Earth.)

I somewhat object to how Kobayashi Maru's expanded upon the Horizon from "A Piece of the Action". Oxmyx clearly asked Kirk if the Enterprise was from "the same outfit" as the Horizon. I see the Earth Cargo Service as too different to qualify as the "same" as the Federation Starfleet.

But it would've been too complicated for Kirk to explain that to Oxmyx. They were both from Earth, from the same civilization, and that's what was relevant. Besides, it was Enterprise itself that implicitly established the ECS Horizon as the one from "Piece of the Action" by showing the Chicago mobster book on Travis's shelf in "Horizon." You can't blame the novelists for following the lead that canon itself established.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Alpha Centauri III is referred to as the first Human extrasolar settlement (apparently Terra Nova was quietly filed in the "doesn't count" folder, which I can sort of understand). It's referred to as such in The Buried Age, also.

Well, it was the first successful one. Jamestown is sometimes referred to as the first English settlement in the Americas, even though it was preceded by several failed attempts such as Roanoke. Sometimes people just leave out the "permanent." Granted, some of the Terra Novan colonists did survive -- but so did some of the Roanoke colonists, most likely. In both cases, though, they abandoned their settlements and adopted new identities, on their own in the Novans' case and by assimilating into indigenous communities (probably) in the... err... Roanokeans' case. (Roanokies?)

I can entirely understand why Earth might want to disregard or discount Terra Nova. The whole matter must have been embarrassing.

One has to wonder if the Conestoga expedition always aimed to sever ties with the Earth nations, hence why it aimed for a star four times further away than Alpha Centauri (which the Humans had to know featured habitable worlds). No wonder they became hostile and territorial when other Earth expeditions were planned.

Alpha Centauri III, we learn, is noted for its shipbuilding resources. Whether that simply means its (presumably?) relatively untouched mineral wealth or something different isn't clear. Ruins are mentioned, an implicit reference to extinct civilizations (The Buried Age will note that it had a lot of these, which kept getting squashed by meteors), so perhaps there isn't untapped wealth there after all. Maybe the Centaurians are just industrious.

Ahh, but you're thinking in planetbound terms. As long as there are a lot of asteroids, there is immense untapped wealth. The mineral wealth of the asteroids in this Solar System is thousands of times greater than what we'd be able to extract from the Earth's crust even if we strip-mined the planet raw. It annoys the heck out of me that most Trek writers over the decades have been locked in the antiquated assumption that mining is something you do on the surface of a planet. If you have routine space travel, then planets are the least worthwhile place to mine anything, since it's much harder to dig up the minerals and much harder to drag them out of the gravity well, and because the total quantity of minerals you can extract from a single planet is limited. (Same problem with all those stories about aliens coming to Earth to steal our water. There's thousands of times more water in the comets and outer moons and asteroids than you could ever get on Earth.)

Very good point. Yes, you caught me - I was indeed thinking only in terms of mining the planet(s). In my defence, as you note, Trek tends to encourage that notion . I recall that you sort of tried to justify the planetary focus in The Buried Age by suggesting that rare and valuable compounds like dilithium and topaline are only found in the strata of certain planets and not the surrounding system, hinting that they might have been seeded in planetary crusts by the Manraloth or other long-gone super-civilizations? Presumably as a private emergency bank or as a deposit for any future civilizations after the current crop use up the galaxy's natural supply, or something? Am I remembering this correctly?

 

[Enterprise1701]

I somewhat object to how Kobayashi Maru's expanded upon the Horizon from "A Piece of the Action". Oxmyx clearly asked Kirk if the Enterprise was from "the same outfit" as the Horizon. I see the Earth Cargo Service as too different to qualify as the "same" as the Federation Starfleet.

But it would've been too complicated for Kirk to explain that to Oxmyx. They were both from Earth, from the same civilization, and that's what was relevant. Besides, it was Enterprise itself that implicitly established the ECS Horizon as the one from "Piece of the Action" by showing the Chicago mobster book on Travis's shelf in "Horizon." You can't blame the novelists for following the lead that canon itself established.

Fair enough on complexity, but I note that "A Piece of the Action" clearly shows the title Chicago Mobs of the Twenties while "Horizon" clearly shows the title Chicago Gangs. Distinct text is irreconcilable difference to me.

The Klingons and Romulans are confirmed as having a long history of contact and conflict.

I wonder how much trouble the Romulans have gone to in order to conceal their physical resemblance to Vulcans from the Vulcan/Coalition/Federation public. I suppose it wasn't hard with Klingons since Klingons disdain taking prisoners.

Alpha Centauri III is referred to as the first Human extrasolar settlement (apparently Terra Nova was quietly filed in the "doesn't count" folder, which I can sort of understand). It's referred to as such in The Buried Age, also.

Well, it was the first successful one. Jamestown is sometimes referred to as the first English settlement in the Americas, even though it was preceded by several failed attempts such as Roanoke. Sometimes people just leave out the "permanent." Granted, some of the Terra Novan colonists did survive -- but so did some of the Roanoke colonists, most likely. In both cases, though, they abandoned their settlements and adopted new identities, on their own in the Novans' case and by assimilating into indigenous communities (probably) in the... err... Roanokeans' case. (Roanokies?)

I can entirely understand why Earth might want to disregard or discount Terra Nova. The whole matter must have been embarrassing.

One has to wonder if the Conestoga expedition always aimed to sever ties with the Earth nations, hence why it aimed for a star four times further away than Alpha Centauri (which the Humans had to know featured habitable worlds). No wonder they became hostile and territorial when other Earth expeditions were planned.

This reminds me of the various continuity issues regarding the unification of Earth. So I wonder if any pre-United Earth international organizations had any involvement with human colonization missions. According to Memory Alpha, there are several starships that used (New) United Nations registries even after the collapse of the New United Nations by 2079 in the post-atomic horror per "Encounter at Farpoint". Though I reason the possibility that people just simply continued to use UN/New UN registries in name.

 

[Christopher]

One has to wonder if the Conestoga expedition always aimed to sever ties with the Earth nations, hence why it aimed for a star four times further away than Alpha Centauri (which the Humans had to know featured habitable worlds). No wonder they became hostile and territorial when other Earth expeditions were planned.

I addressed this in A Choice of Futures. I suggested the Centauri worlds were borderline habitable (all those asteroid impacts weren't great for them) so Terra Nova was seen as a more viable prospect -- making it ironic when the colony was devastated by an impact event.

I recall that you sort of tried to justify the planetary focus in The Buried Age by suggesting that rare and valuable compounds like dilithium and topaline are only found in the strata of certain planets and not the surrounding system, hinting that they might have been seeded in planetary crusts by the Manraloth or other long-gone super-civilizations? Presumably as a private emergency bank or as a deposit for any future civilizations after the current crop use up the galaxy's natural supply, or something? Am I remembering this correctly?

Basically, except for the reasons behind it. My assumption was that substances like dilithium don't occur naturally and had to be created by civilizations advanced enough to build their own custom planets Magrathea-style, probably using some kind of Genesis/Taurus Meta-Genome style of technology.

Fair enough on complexity, but I note that "A Piece of the Action" clearly shows the title Chicago Mobs of the Twenties while "Horizon" clearly shows the title Chicago Gangs. Distinct text is irreconcilable difference to me.

It's no more "irreconcilable" than Saavik having two different faces and voices. These aren't documentary films, they're fictional creations purporting to represent an underlying "reality." In short, they're stories, and if a story gets told twice, especially by different storytellers, there are going to be differences in the details. The prop people for "Horizon" made a slight mistake, that's all. It's hardly significant enough to ignore the clear intent.

 

[Travis Chesser]

Hey, I posted this question on another thread but didn't receive a response, thought I would try here. Again, sorry if this has been answered, I've actually been away from the BBS for a couple of years:

Sorry if this has already been asked or answered but I haven't on the BBS in awhile. Do we have a month and year for when Lust's Latinum Lost takes place? Thanks all.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

The Romulan War: Beneath the Raptor's Wing

I like this one better than Kobayashi Maru. It has a nicely broad scope while also showing us the details - momentary focus on characters and locations across the swath of known space, really selling the idea that this is a large-scale conflict on a level we haven't seen before. It's broad but intimate. In addition, it presents the war in its entirety rather than focusing primarily on the battles, though of course they get their due. The various social, political and personal complications are explored, and most importantly so are the implications of transforming the Coalition - and the triumph of peace it represented - into a war machine.

Human naivety and technological inferiority are once again prominent themes. Soval, now seeming a lot more like the "new" Soval than he did last time, feels some regret for his previous policy of obstructionism, with T'Pau now taking the cautiously conservative role that Soval once filled. Chapter eight, the lengthy discussion between T'Pau and Soval, is one of my favourites. We see acknowledgement of various Vulcan failings, including the ironically illogical refusal to accept evidence of time travel. This questioning of Vulcan's recent behaviours and assumptions is good, showing that T'Pau is living up to her promise of reformation. There's also some intriguing analysis of how Vulcans and Humans can benefit from each other, particularly now that they're political equals. Vulcan tendency toward social ossification, and the implications of their extended lifespan, are discussed, as is the alliance of Vulcan and Earth being useful and perhaps essential for both their worlds. It's a good and detailed discussion of what the two peoples have to offer each other. Here, that is actually a source of tension, because Vulcan and Earth, while acknowledged as stronger together, might now need to stand apart in the short term for the long term survival of Vulcan, and so possibly that of Earth too - or so argues T'Pau. It's also notable that Archer and Hernandez are bitter over Vulcan spending so long holding Humans back, justifying it as "protecting" them, only to now take a course of action that leaves Earth vulnerable. Be careful what you wish for? In general, it's a fresh new spin on the Vulcan-Human tensions that follows on nicely from their new and more mutually respectful partnership.

Indeed, the political infighting is far more engaging this time. It was tiring in Kobayashi Maru, but here the Coalition members have actual dilemmas to argue about, and there's compelling reason for both the interspecies disagreements and the internal conflicts. There are culturally and philosophically relevant roots to the discontent, so this is useful world-building and good use of continuity rather than just conflict for the apparent sake of conflict. In the same way as Vulcan is showing legitimate divisions even in its agreement on the importance of Earth-Vulcan relations, and those Human-Vulcan relations are strained in a new and logical fashion even as the benefits of their partnership are explained, Earth's internal politics are also given their due. The occasional MACO-Starfleet frostiness is more interesting to me here than it was in Last Full Measure.

Regarding Humans, I enjoy too the continued exploration of Human colonists. We're given a view of the Centaurians and the people of Mars, how their cultural traits and outlooks typically compare with Terrans. It also continues the thread from Kobayashi Maru of showing how Humans adapt to the practical environmental challenges of new worlds, particularly in the detailed depiction of Mars and the settlement at Achernar (the system's later Romulan affiliation is also neatly reconciled with the fact that there was a Human settlement there for Redjac to terrorise - Redjac receives an indirect acknowledgement).

The most important theme in this one is a matter that's been an implicit dilemma of this time period for a while now - the peaceful reconciliation that the Coalition represents giving way to a large-scale war with the Romulans, in a manner that almost calls for a 180-degree turn on principles. The Vulcans have only just rededicated themselves to pacifism and are now being asked to fight a full-blown war. Projection of force is an apparent reversal of their cultural reformation; indeed, on a deeper level it's a threat to their original reformation two thousand years ago, given the true identity of the Romulans. On the smaller, more individual scale, Shran has made a new life with the Aenar, balancing their lifestyle with his return to the Imperial Guard, and it's clearly causing him great stress as he tries to reconcile his two perspectives (I love Shran's hallucinations, by the way). The Humans get in on it too - after having become confident and comfortable on a starship, Hoshi now considers returning to Earth again - not because she's lacking in self-esteem this time, but because she can't see there being much need for a linguist on a ship dedicated to warfare.

I definitely appreciated the scale of the novel, exploring the effects and details of the war (its first year, that is) in their entirety rather than focusing on any one small cross section of known space, or one group of characters. This is how it should be - I wanted the history, politics and world-building and so I was pleased to see the focus was on these aspects of the war rather than the actual fighting, and that all of the players were covered in depth. This is a genuine war story, and probably the strongest of the Enterprise Relaunch so far.

I also liked the use of various alien points of view, particularly as it relates to stellar cartography. We get the Romulan names for all of the relevant stars and systems, and the Vulcan name for the Cygnet System (though we still don't know what the Cygneti themselves call it). I particularly appreciated the mythological touches; so, for instance, we're told that the Vulcans call 61 Cygni (Tellar's home star) "Lanka-Garukh", after twin nocturnal bird-figures of legend, and that the Romulans call Berengaria "D'Caerna'mneari" (Great Red Eye).

One small problem, which arose out of a positive - the broad and sprawling focus that also made sure to ground itself in individual experiences - was that I'd like to see how other non-Human cultures are responding to the war. Draylax is accounted for, as is Coridan, and of course Tellar, Andoria and Vulcan are explored in some detail, but what about Rigel or Denobula? Or, say, Axanar? Are they ignoring the Romulans and hoping they'll go away? Rigel and Denobula were scared away from the Coalition talks by Terra Prime, but that was before the Romulans made themselves known. Granted, it's explicitly noted that Denobula is on the other side of Earth-local space to the sectors under Romulan assault (and therefore might not be as concerned), but it still seems a little odd to me, given that previously they were one of Earth's closest partners. Phlox does note, though, that his people, like the Syrranite Vulcans, do not like enabling war.

On the plus side, we get first contact between Humans and Cygneti/Cygnians, and the foundations of what will be an alliance between the two peoples, in that both will be members of the Federation.

Continuity

Mars now has observers at the Coalition, and is debating its participation in the general crisis.

Vega, we're told, remains neutral. Although it isn't noted in the text, they are more distant from Romulan space than most Human worlds (Their response is much like that of Denobula, then?)

Berengaria was indeed chosen as the site of the first starbase facility, which was only just completed, built alongside an existing Vulcan outpost. It's quite swiftly taken by the Romulans, in one of their earlier full-scale assaults. The designation Starbase One will later pass to the spacedock facility constructed over Earth (not the last time starbase number designations change - Starbase 47 comes to mind).

Outlying Human worlds (most of them lost to the Romulans) include Draken IV, Tarod IX, Zavijava V, and Delta Pavonis (confirming, I guess, that Benzar is pre-warp in this timeframe, since no mention is made of Benzites). More populated, core-proximate Human colonies are those we've already seen - Tau Ceti IV, Altair VI, Deneva. Deneva's primary settlement is the Lacon Township in the Summer Islands, a site that will one day be Lacon City, the capital of Deneva.

Phinda is confirmed as a moon of Tellar, as well as an ancient god. Implicitly, then, the same is true for Kera. Presumably, when Tellarites swear on Kera and Phinda (or occasionally on one of the two), they refer to the gods and not the moons - though perhaps to pre-technological Tellarites the two were in fact the same thing. Here, they have a Phinda-class frigate, top-of-the-line, and named the Miracht (another native name for Tellar, the Minshara to Tellar's Vulcan, so to speak).

Similarly, the name Fesoan is reintroduced among the Andorians - their calendar references it, and they brew Fesoan grain wine. Fesoan is implied elsewhere (and building on this), to be one of the alternate native names for the gas giant.

The stellar cartography clearly makes use of the Star Charts throughout, though there appears to be some confusion in one instance - Gamma Hydra. Tezel-Oroko is evidently located near the Archanis Sector (A Time to Kill). Kobayashi Maru places it near Psi Octanis and Gamma Hydra, which on the Star Charts are coreward of Romulan territory; nonetheless, they also make it clear that the Tezel-Oroko region is near to Klingon space, and generally support the Archanis-proximate placement. The Star Charts position of Gamma Hydra, though, fits with the Tarod IX incident here (Tarod is on the way back to the Coalition core worlds from that region), but Enterprise puts in for repairs at Cygnet, "down" rimward in the direction of the (unexplored) Taurus Reach, and Vulcan is on their way to Earth - two factors that seem to confirm a placement near Archanis. Still, if they were taking an odd route round for whatever reason, it might explain why it took them so long to get back. Star Charts is a 2D representation of a complicated 3D reality, of course.

Challenger NX-03, Discovery NX-04, Atlantis NX-05 and Endeavour NX-06 are all launched over the course of the book. Challenger is destroyed at Andoria, Discovery at Berengaria, Atlantis at Tau Ceti. Endeavour will survive the war, and go on to become one of the protagonist ships in Rise of the Federation. Columbia goes missing in Onias Sector escorting a convoy - we'll get back to that.

Lydia Littlejohn is inserted into the novel 'verse continuity, having been lifted from Starfleet: Year One. Tobin Dax's professional partnership with Skon is also featured, lifted from "Dead Man's Hand". I like that these (very few) previous Romulan War-era stories are being acknowledged, even if they no longer work with canon. Also, it's good to see Dax again. Last time we saw her she was Lela, now he's Tobin.

Captain Vanik is a familiar face, from "Breaking the Ice" (and so the opening chapters of A Time to Sow)

Keval, Tholos and Thon, Shran's season one confederates, are confirmed to have survived Kumari's destruction, only to now die on the Ka'Thelan Krotus.

Building on Terix and co from last time, we have several other Romulans who share names with later starships and with stars in Romulan space, making the relationships between all these occurrences of a name nicely ambiguous. This time, the Romulans in question include Belak, T'Met and Khazara.

The Osmotic Eel now has friends. Whether these are new supplies or whether it spawned, I'm not sure.

Kelbonite and its transporter-blocking properties are mentioned for what I believe is the first time.

Trip poses as a trader in Kevas and Trillium. A popular deception...

Next Time: Back to the Mirror Universe briefly, in "Nobunaga".

 

[Enterpriserules]

I really loved this book for it's scope. It was a travesty that the series is cut short and the trilogy was made a duology. The war story really suffers because of that in the second book. Here we are treated to a quadrant spanning war and it feels a momentous as it should. I just wish it had continued on in two follow-ups instead of one.

 

[Enterprise1701]

Why is it that in Beneath the Raptor's Wings, U.S.S. Yeager (NCC-76) and U.S.S. Yorktown (NCC-108) get "U.S.S." prefixes? What's so special about these Daedalus class starships to warrant "U.S.S."?

What do you guys think of how in this novel, Romulans and humans engage in ground combat with each other? I can't decide if I approve of how the Romulans wore helmeted combat armor and thus no MACO lived to tell of their true appearance. "Balance of Terror" makes it sound like they didn't even know that the Romulans were humanoids.

So by this era UESPA (maybe their Starfleet division, maybe not) apparently has dedicated hospital ships as seen when the Christiaan Barnard arrives at Deneva on 16 October 2155 in the wake of the Romulan attack.

I wonder if the Vulcan warp sensor grids as well as the one back in the season 4 episode "United" were conceived by the producers in homage to the tachyon detection grids in the TNG episode "Redemption II".

Maybe the Nei'hrr class sublight attack raptors that ships such as the bird of prey/carrier Dhivael carry are predecessors to the Scorpion class seen in Star Trek Nemesis.

*sigh* Roy Dunsel deserves more credit than a Federation Starfleet joke about useless things.

Christopher, is the Tellar Space Administration you mention in A Choice of Futures meant to be the military and/or space organization to which the Miracht belonged?

 

[Christopher]

Why is it that in Beneath the Raptor's Wings, U.S.S. Yeager (NCC-76) and U.S.S. Yorktown (NCC-108) get "U.S.S." prefixes? What's so special about these Daedalus class starships to warrant "U.S.S."?

I figure that was just a mistake in the text. Old habits die hard.

"Balance of Terror" makes it sound like they didn't even know that the Romulans were humanoids.

I don't think it goes that far; all Spock says is, "no human, Romulan, or ally has ever seen the other."

 

[Deranged Nasat]

What do you guys think of how in this novel, Romulans and humans engage in ground combat with each other? I can't decide if I approve of how the Romulans wore helmeted combat armor and thus no MACO lived to tell of their true appearance. "Balance of Terror" makes it sound like they didn't even know that the Romulans were humanoids.

I think that overall the novel did a good job with working around the various credibility-straining aspects of the canonical information. It doesn't work entirely, but I don't think that's the author's fault - he does the best he can, and for the most part they make it reasonable. The original 1960s idea that Romulans fought with nuclear weapons and without warp speed stopped making sense long ago, for one. The novel actually works in an explanation for that, with the Romulans' penetration of the Vulcan "burglar alarm" detection grids achieved precisely by their not utilizing warp power as they make their move. So that claim is more-or-less justified. And while it's ridiculously convenient that all the colonists on Deneva die, for example, and all the Romulan bodies are vaporized, etc., what else could the author do? Of course, he did write it so that a fair number of people knew exactly who the Romulans were - cousins of the Vulcans - but that the information was never made public due to the fear of political backlash against Vulcan.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

"Nobunaga"

It seems the historian's note lied to me. It said that this is set in 2156, but it's clear that instead it meant 2166. It's been a decade since Hoshi Sato claimed the throne. Never mind; since this is the Mirror Universe prior to crossover with the prime universe, we can be a little flexible. No reason not to place it here, since I read it.

This is a fun little story; nothing special, but successfully creepy. I enjoy how the relevant backstory is communicated through Trip's distorted recollections. We never leave his (twisted, manipulated) mind, and it makes for a unique read.

So, Clone Archer, and later Trip with the new Constitution-class ship, Nobunaga, turned from Sato and re-enkindled the rebellion. I guess that period of proposed decadence and assumed security has to wait a decade or so...

The Neutral Zone exists, so the Romulans were indeed encountered.

The key to recapturing Nobunaga is the ability to control multiple ships remotely from a single vessel, a Federation trick acquired from Defiant's database. Prefix codes, that is. This, of course, is interesting to consider in light of what's happening (or happened) back in the prime timeline, with the Romulans' telecapture device.

We really get a feel for the advanced medical capabilities of the Empire due to this Earth's comfort with genetic augmentation. Sato is supposedly now augmented, attempting to make herself all but immortal. (Eventually, she'll settle for cloning herself the way she cloned Archer).

Mayweather apparently fell out of favour, and was vaporized, to be replaced by Robinson.

Next Time: Back to the Romulan War, in To Brave the Storm

 

[Deranged Nasat]

To Brave the Storm

It's a glorious day in the Great Chronological Run-Through. We've arrived at the founding of the Federation!

The short epilogue in Part V, I didn’t read. We’ll save that until its proper place in the timeline, as a final coda to the era of the Enterprise characters.

This was a good book on the whole, but I still feel that it really needed to be fleshed out and expanded. More to the point, it needed to be what it was originally intended to be: two books. There were definitely two novels' worth of potential plot here, and after the measured pace of Beneath the Raptor's Wing it’s rather breathtaking how much unfolds in so relatively few pages. Raptor's Wing was a great success in my eyes due to the time it took in establishing every player and teasing out the "big picture”, giving a full "historical overview" of the war's first year. To Brave the Storm, on the other hand, has a very different ratio of time passing to scenes featured. To be fair, that's really only the second half of the book. The first half, while not as broad in scope as Raptor's Wing, being more selectively focused, progressed at not too dissimilar a pace. Things feel rushed in the second half, though. The picture is still a good one - I enjoyed Martin's vision of the war - but the full satisfaction of Raptor's Wing was missing. And it's a shame because what we got here was pretty good.

While most scenes in To Brave the Storm felt solid, the compressed timespan of the second half of the book detracted from their impact. So many events were handled in a manner that rang true, or at least felt genuinely meaningful, only for the book to skip along to the next without giving us the time to let it sink in, or to watch it sinking into the characters. It wasn’t a fatal flaw by any means, but it was a bit frustrating. We were often left wanting when it came to the characters' mid-to-long-term response. Some of the events and plot developments that genuinely felt significant or had emotional weight but were then diminished slightly by the lack of time to process them (and again, these all take place in the second half of the book):

The destruction of Haakona, and so the consequence of the Vulcan-funded second front as a distraction for Romulus.

The devastation of Draylax. Another Coalition member taken out by a Romulan suicide run.

Earth's increasing sense of isolation.

Mayweather's epiphany regarding Archer, which takes him back to the rest of the team.

Valdore's death. He's been the primary villain for a while now. His end comes rather suddenly.

The founding of the Federation (though I understand that this last one isn't necessarily essential to the main plot, it's more of an epilogue).

All of these, I must emphasise, were aspects of the plot that were generally handled well. They just happened so quickly, with everything compressed. Another example of not having time to process anything: Kolos presumably dies and we never see Archer have a reaction. Not that I expected Archer to pause mid-way through a battle so he could eulogise alas, poor Kolos, of course, but it’s slightly jarring that he’s not even mentioned after this.

To my surprise, this is really T’Pau’s story. Her dilemma forms the strongest thematic thread, and the heart of the Romulan War arc. Acknowledging that Vulcan and Earth need each other, and that the agreement of Earth's "standing on its own two feet" isn't exactly working out, while determined to nonetheless hold Vulcan apart from the war, T'Pau's personal moral struggle is more important than the political situation arising from it. Smuggling arms to Haakona in an effort to aid the war effort without leading Vulcan back into violence, leading to the destruction of the Haakonans when the Romulans unleash the Loque’eque virus, to finally setting up the “Big Damn Heroes” moment where she reconsiders her position and sends the Vulcan, Andorian and Tellarite fleets to reinforce the Humans at Cheron and win the war; it's all ultimately about the difficult choice T'Pau makes personally on behalf of Vulcan. In the aftermath, she insists that while she did an acceptable and even necessary thing by fighting at Cheron, she will never again authorise violence. Deciding that she's a revolutionary and not a political leader, she not only turns down an appointment to the newly formed Federation Council but announces that she will step down as Vulcan’s leader. I'm glad the Syrranite revolution paid off in this way. T'Pau has come to embody Vulcan's journey, and the double twist that circumstances forced on the culture. It's also refreshing to have the last-minute rallying of allies be more thematically complicated than usual, because a tremendous risk and sacrifice has been taken at both the personal and the cultural level, and we can't unambiguously say it's entirely a good thing.

First Appearances of Things That Are Important

Cosmozoa. In this case, space-fleas.

Mention is made of Glintara, a Romulan world near to Romulus which gives its name to the sector in which it’s situated. Most notably, this is where Gell Kamemor will hail from. Other planets featured for the first time include Carraya IV and Galorndon Core, which is despoiled by a Romulan suicide run, transforming it from an M-class paradise into the uninhabitable hell-hole we’ll visit in TNG.

First mention is made of Sauria, a “far away” world producing fine brandy which has now begun to reach Earth. We’ll visit Sauria in Rise of the Federation, and the Saurians will become the new Humans - the fast-developing, eager optimists who generate debate and headaches among the established space-faring powers over how they should be handled.

The Picard family makes its first appearance.

T’Rama (Sarek’s mother) features very briefly in the service of T’Pau. We’ll see more of her in Rise of the Federation.

Continuity

Enterprise spends the first half of the novel - the part that doesn't feel rushed - away from the front lines, lending assistance to alien vessels where needed in an effort to make friends and establish a positive reputation for Earth. This unofficial diplomacy works on the established powers too, with a string of individuals responsive to Archer’s efforts even as their governments hold back: Shran, Kolos, our old friend Captain Drennik and the politician J’Ref of the Vissians, along with Skalaar and his brother Gaavrin, who are running freight again.

The Tal Shiar exists, under that name. Unfortunate, in my opinion, since it’s strongly implied in Vulcan’s Heart that the name originates with the events of that novel, in 2344. To say nothing of the fact that the name and organization enduring for centuries is difficult to swallow, particularly among a people as prone to political upheaval as the Romulans. Their capital gets renamed at least thrice. Ah well, I suppose we can choose to believe that a different name is being used for a comparable but non-identical organization here, and we’re just reading the familiar “Tal Shiar” because that’s what it’s translating as to us fans. Or something .

Along with the Adigeons, the Yridians and the B’Saari deal with the Romulans, though the latter are dupes rather than amoral pragmatists like the first two. The B'Saari have experimented with reanimating dead tissue and were the race to make First Contact with Denobula. That's all we know about them, but it would seem they have a reputation as scientists, particularly in biology.

Fighting is mentioned to have occurred in Orion Sector. Pi-3 Orionis apparently made a tempting target for the Romulans, but Starfleet fought them off before they hit the system. I wonder if some were wishing the Romulans had attacked – after all, that might lead to Orion support, at a time when Earth is desperate for allies. They can’t count on Krios because Kaitaama was deposed, we learn, and Vissia turns them down.

M’klexa, Neethians and Tene(e)bians show up. This is the first time that Tene(e)bia has been confirmed as having its own civilization, rather than being, say, a Draylaxian colony. Neethian space borders Vissian space - since Neethia is on the Star Charts, we can place Vissia out past Denobula and Vega, toward the general region of Ferengi/Tzenkethi space.

Takashi Kimura makes his first appearance; he’ll apparently become Hoshi’s husband.

Shran’s daughter Talla (Anishtalla) appears. The “Ani” recalls Anitheras th’Lenthar (Theras), while the “talla” recalls Talas – so she’s presumably named for her parents’ lost loves.

Captain Carlos Ramirez dies, as do Kolos (apparently), and Valdore.

The Great Bird (of the Galaxy) is mentioned – by Archer, so apparently Humans are familiar with the myth. It’s nice to see that Human culture has picked up some new references, probably from the wider galaxy.

This book really reinforces how devastating and dangerous the Romulans can be when unleashed and in full fanatical expansion mode. Coridan as a one-off was shocking enough, but with Galorndon Core, Draylax and Haakona on top of it, it's clear why the Romulans will be feared and hated.

Finally, and most importantly, we conclude with the establishment of the United Federation of Planets and (perhaps almost as notable) the decommissioning of Enterprise NX-01. The newly declared Neutral Zone will be guarded by asteroid outposts manned largely by the peoples of Earth and Alpha Centauri, but powered by the reactors of decommissioned Vulcan combat vessels – part of Vulcan’s dedicated contribution to the peace while reinforcing its decision to reject war. And so, after all of Archer's Enterprise adventures, Humans and Vulcans (plus Andorians and Tellarites, and with the odd Denobulan or Trill hanging around as part of the team) form the Federation. Behind them they leave bitter Romulans glowering silently from across the Neutral Zone, burning wrecks where Coridan and Draylax used to be, and a Trip-sized hole.

Into the great peace of the Federation!

Next Time: But first, a little epilogue for the war, with the 2161 portion of Indistinguishable From Magic.

 

[Christopher]

On the subject of things that were rushed in To Brave the Storm, I'd include the relationship between Hoshi Sato and Takashi Kimura. I think they got only two scenes, which didn't give me much to work with in Rise of the Federation -- but on the other hand, it left me a fairly clean slate.

And it's Kimura, not Kimora. He's just one letter off from Takeshi Kimura, who wrote or co-wrote Rodan and several of the later Godzilla movies -- and two letters off from Takashi Shimura, who played Professor Yamane in the first two Godzilla movies (as well as appearing in a number of Kurosawa films). I've often wondered if Mike Sussman was deliberately referencing one or both of those people when he came up with the name.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

And it's Kimura, not Kimora.

Indeed. Simple typo.

Agreed that he and Hoshi's relationship is another rushed plot, and doesn't have any payoff. Not that a relationship like theirs needs a payoff a few years in, but from a story-telling perspective you'd think it would get one if it was important enough to include in the first place.

Also, we can expect Godzilla references galore in later Rise of the Federation books, is what you're gleefully informing us in subtext?

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Indistinguishable From Magic, Prologue and Chapter 9.

The birth of the Federation has attracted the time travellers, then, but Crewman Daniels and co this fellow is not. I really enjoyed the incompetent future visitor, a researcher rather than part of a dedicated temporal protection agency, and clearly out of his depth when faced with someone clever and rather ruthless. As well as the obvious errors he makes in chapter nine, his lack of experience is hinted at prior to this in the prologue. When discussing Humanoids and Non-Humanoids, he carefully lists a number of Humanoid races known to the Humans of the era, in a way that screams "trying too hard". Amateur.

It's good to see how the civilians on Earth are doing - something largely lacking from To Brave the Storm, after Beneath the Raptor's Wing did such a good job with it (We had some Brooks and Picard on Mars, but nothing much about Earth even when Madrid and Tunis were nuked). That many Humans don't fully trust the new treaty and are cynically waiting for the Romulans to strike again even as they get on with their lives is a welcome and logical touch.

The Federation News Service is up and running.

Vulcan is reconsidering its official position on the possibility of time travel, with input from scientists on Earth and Tellar. Naturally, this is for thematically appropriate flavour, but it builds on T'Pau's remarks in Beneath the Raptor's Wings.

Starfleet is being overhauled, redecorated now that it's part of the Federation service. New Human engine designs are excitedly promising warp six (in A Choice of Futures, Reed will note that Pioneer's engines will now make 5.6 if pushed, so there was a partial result). The transporter is being upgraded, too, though this increased, more widespread use of the technology among the fleet will prove a negative development in ACOF.

We'll discover where Rasmussen took his salvaged time pod in, er, due time.

 

[Markonian]

I enjoyed the storyline of The Romulan War as well, but the pacing was indeed too fast in part two.

Book 2 is split into two parts for the German translation, thus restoring the trilogy.

Where would you put a potential refit of Enterprise during the book? Could it mesh with the timing of the SOTL calendar entry?

 

[Enterprise1701]

We can hope that someday Pocket Books might revisit the Earth-Romulan War with more well-distributed coverage.

I wonder how quickly the reformed Coalition of Planets came about the idea of the United Federation of Planets between the Battle of Cheron on 29 July 2160 and the first Federation Day on 12 August 2161. The Intrepid's crew talks about switching over to Federation conventions, but they think that the Romulans are in the process of decommissioning their minefields. Then Worf states that the Intrepid's disappearance was shortly after the cessation of hostilities in the Earth-Romulan War. How long does it take to decommission automated mines?

Speaking of Intrepid, I wonder what became of the Intrepid class Intrepid.

 

[Christopher]

Speaking of Intrepid, I wonder what became of the Intrepid class Intrepid.

It must've been either destroyed or decommissioned.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

While I'm rereading the Rise of the Federation books, here's a quick list of the Rihannsu cartography in the Romulan War novels, a detail I really enjoyed:

Ahiuan Sector = Contains the Berengaria System (“Ahiuan” = wilderness, usually forest)
Andorsu = Andorian
Atlai'fehill = Achernar ("Atlai" = river, so likely a Rihannsu translation of the Human name, Alpha Eridani?)
Atlai'fehill Kre = Achernar II
C'pory = Their attempt at Capory (Borka IV)
Cor’i’dan = Their attempt at Coridan
Cor’i’danu = Coridanite
D’caernu’mneani = Berengaria (Literally, “Great Eye of Red”). (Bereng'hhaei).
D’caernu’mneani Lli = Berengaria VII, Romulan name Draed’ulhai (Literally “Ancient Life”)
Denevaei, D’neva = Their attempt at Deneva
Dray’lax = Draylax
Dray’laxsu = Draylaxian
Eisn = Romulan home star
Galorn’don Cor = Their attempt at Galorndon Core
Ch’Havran = Remus (Literally, “Of the Travelers”)
Hevam = Human
Hlai’vna = Altair (Literally, “Wild Bird”)
Isneih = Calder (Apparently, “Bright Yellow”)
Isneih Kre = Calder II
K’Feria = Kaferia (Tau Ceti III, Inner Kaferia, and IV, Outer Kaferia)
Ch’Rihan = Romulus (Literally, “Of the Declared”)
Rihannsu = Romulan (“The Declared”)
Sei’chi = Alpha Centauri (Literally, something akin to “Three Earth”, apparently).
Sei’chi Sei = Alpha Centauri III
Tellarsu = Tellarites
Thaessu = Vulcans
Thhaei = Vulcan
Vis’amnaisu = Vissians
Vor’ka’do = Their attempt at Vorkado

 

[Stevil2001]

I haven't read any ENT novels since The Good That Men Do, but from your account of them, Nasat, I get the impression that there are a lot of extrasolar Earth colonies. Is that accurate?