Spoilers ENT: Rise of the Federation: Live by the Code by Christopher L. Bennett Review Thread

[WebLurker]

"Writers aren't trying to teach you a history lesson, we're trying to entertain you. You're playing along with us as we put on a show. And sometimes we stumble or flub our lines, and we try to fix our mistakes and improve our performance as we go, and we appreciate if you bear with us as we keep going forward as best we can."

Okay, I can understand it when put like that. Since I'm not a person actively creating material for the franchise, and thus don't experience it as method of story-telling that's constantly changing and trying to find the best way to work (I only see the final product and so have already bought into the illusion that this is "real," so I'm naturally resistant to change like that.

I'm not very fond of retcons in general, since the more times a series changes its mind about what really happened, the more suspension of disbelief I lose. It doesn't help that most of my favorite franchises have undergone massive reboots recently and Star Wars is the only one I can say that I like the new stuff -- which I think can be safely said to be canon, since, unlike George Lucas, the Story Group people who're taking his place as the overseer of the franchise are treating it as such (yes, they have time to discuss this in a committee ), but that's a topic for another thread. (Incidentally, your comments that it's hard to discuss Star Wars canon are very hard to have, given that they've used the word in different ways matches up to comments I've heard from the podcasting realm, so, yeah, I guess you got me there.)

I don't tend to mind little changes, like Kirk's middle name changing, and other stuff that can be isolated as characters misspeaking or minor script errors, but once whole stories are thrown out, that's when I tend to say: "Wait a minute." Of course, I'm hardly consistent; given that I'm completely onboard with the idea of adding the NX-01 to list of Enterprises, and other little odds and ends, but wish that the ENT relaunch had followed the spirit of the TV series and not retconned Trip Tucker's death (despite wishing that the show itself had spared him). I guess the thing is, once the franchise can change anything they want, putting everything in a state of limbo, I have trouble caring, since I don't know if the story will be dismissed or not.

But hey, as the Vulcans say, IDIC and as you wrote in your first Rise of the Federation book, different versions of the franchise creates a more interesting mix of stories. I'm hoping for a healthy mix of new Trek material, canon or otherwise, and hope that the new stuff goes places that the old stuff didn't or couldn't.

P.S. In the past, you've put annotations on your website for your novels. Are there plans to have a set for Live by the Code and if so, is there a time estimate of when they'll be posted? I'm not trying to be a pest, given that I'm sure you have more on your plate then your internet work there and elsewhere (and by the way, thanks for taking time to talk with us readers on this forum), but I really enjoy reading those annotations after finishing the novel. I get a kick out of seeing a bit of the behind the scenes process and finding the easter eggs I missed the first time round, etc.

 

[Nyotarules]

It's different, and I think we will see things like this in the future. Wide availability, niche marketing, and the archival of music will all contribute to a future where people are perhaps not as interested in trends or what's popular. The only reason we don't jam to Mozart is because it's considered out of vogue, and in the future, we will assuredly have even less need for radio to tell us what the Top 40 is, because you can literally listen to anything you want and create your own Top 40. Plus, WWIII may be a factor. Maybe the 23rd century is the time for a cultural renaissance when "classic" music from the Beastie Boys is pulled from iPods from the rubble of Colonel Green's last volley.

What's a 'Top 40'? lol ;o)

 

[Nyotarules]

Actually, the episode Shumar and his crew "appeared" in, Lt. Cmdr. Steven Mullen, the Chief Science Officer in Rise of the Federation (which, in Live by the Code, has just closed out 2165), has been promoted to full Commander and held the position of First Officer, thus leaving Cmdr. Paris's status ambiguous - she may have been promoted, or retired or resigned from Starfleet, or been killed in action before the Essex's destruction sometime in 2167. I guess we'll see what happens to her in the next book or two.

Also having the name Paris does not make her a maternal ancestor of Tom Paris she could be a distant aunt or cousin.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Hmm. Denobulans have hallucinatoriums? An orbital battle that makes use of orbital mechanics -- perhaps worthy even of Buzz "Dr. Rendezvous" Aldrin? Denobulan hate groups?

Not quite 40% into it, and still wondering how it will sort itself out.

Spoiler: But . . .

Phlox's "black sheep" son was a fairly obvious "Chekhov's Gun": the way he was talked about, you pretty much knew that he would be crashing the wedding.

 

[Christopher]

I'm not very fond of retcons in general, since the more times a series changes its mind about what really happened, the more suspension of disbelief I lose.

Sure, it's not ideal. The goal is to keep it to a minimum. But Star Trek is a 50-year-old franchise with over 700 installments. It's very big. So there are bound to be some glitches, even if they're a tiny percentage of the whole. Really, there are plenty of other fictional franchises whose continuity is even sloppier.

P.S. In the past, you've put annotations on your website for your novels. Are there plans to have a set for Live by the Code and if so, is there a time estimate of when they'll be posted? I'm not trying to be a pest, given that I'm sure you have more on your plate then your internet work there and elsewhere (and by the way, thanks for taking time to talk with us readers on this forum), but I really enjoy reading those annotations after finishing the novel. I get a kick out of seeing a bit of the behind the scenes process and finding the easter eggs I missed the first time round, etc.

I do plan on doing annotations when I can find the time, but I'm busy with another project right now.

Alsoo having the name Paris does not make her a maternal ancestor of Tom Paris she could be a distant aunt or cousin.

Caroline Paris was mentioned in Jeri Taylor's Mosaic as one of several of Tom and Owen Paris's ancestors who had served in Starfleet. So she'd be a paternal ancestor of his, not maternal. But I think maybe you mean she isn't necessarily a direct ancestor, e.g. a great-great-grandmother or something. I think that would probably be correct, since if she got married, her children would probably be known by her husband's surname, given that that custom is still common in the Trek future.

 

[Nyotarules]

Caroline Paris was mentioned in Jeri Taylor's Mosaic as one of several of Tom and Owen Paris's ancestors who had served in Starfleet. So she'd be a paternal ancestor of his, not maternal. But I think maybe you mean she isn't necessarily a direct ancestor, e.g. a great-great-grandmother or something. I think that would probably be correct, since if she got married, her children would probably be known by her husband's surname, given that that custom is still common in the Trek future.

I have not read any Voyager novels yet. I am new to the Star Trek post TOS novels, just started last year with the Enterprise & DS9 relaunches. If Paris is married she might be married to a female, unless the novel Mosiac says otherwise?

 

[Idran]

I have not read any Voyager novels yet. I am new to the Star Trek post TOS novels, just started last year with the Enterprise & DS9 relaunches. If Paris is married she might be married to a female, unless the novel Mosiac says otherwise?

It doesn't really specify, no; it just mentions that Admiral Paris has a lot of pictures of other members of the family that served in Starfleet over the centuries, but it doesn't say anything about them beyond their names.

 

[TheAlmanac]

There's a lot of big stuff in Star Trek that's never mentioned in similar situations that you would think would be. Case in point, throughout TNG/DS9/etc. they always refer to the "five or six" Starships Enterprise, not accounting for the NX-01. In DS9's "Homefront," Adm. Leyton describes the Dominion as the biggest threat to Earth since World War III, ignoring V'Ger and the whale probe from the movies, the Borg from "Best of Both Worlds," etc. It is very strange, but it is a franchise that was made up as it went along, so it is pretty amazing that it fits together was well as it does (even if you include some or all of TAS).

The "Why was it never mentioned?" complaint always seems like a strange and weak continuity argument to me--it's not as if I doubt that the Crusades happened just because I don't see them mentioned on CNN.

Besides, even through there are hundreds of hours of Star Trek material, we only see a limited slice from Starfleet's perspective. It could very well be that the Kzin Wars were not that important or any discussions about it were off-screen, like the way that Starfleet officers aren't always comparing skirmishes to the Brush Wars, for example. In fact, the episode seems to assume that the wars were not that big a deal from the humans' perspective; Sulu observes that the Kzinti have always had less advanced technology from Earth and doesn't seem to think the they pose a threat to the Federation until they find the titular weapon.

I don't think that much about Star Trek's version of the Kzinti, but (since they come up elsewhere in TAS and in a few older tie-ins) this is generally how I reconcile it--a minor conflict against an insignificant power early in Earth's era of warp travel (vaguely defined), the equivalent of a sprawling event in comic book history reinterpreted as a quickly-resolved event in its cinematic adaptation(s).

 

[WebLurker]

I do plan on doing annotations when I can find the time, but I'm busy with another project right now.

I'm looking forward to them. Good luck on that project.

 

[Ronald Held]

Waiting for your annotations, Christopher.....

 

[Mage]

Well, I loved it. I love the way Christopher (and loads of other TrekLit authors) just have LGBT characters be. They simply are, and I love that.
The conclusion to the Ware story line was not completely what I expected, but it was a very satisfying one though.

The Klingons. Loved how you used the Klingons. I know some fans were done with them after DS9, but I've always loved how, especially towards the end of the show, the Klingons themselves had become a parody of what they once were and had truly forgotten the ways of Khaless. Something like that doesn't happen in a few decades. It takes a long, long time. In Vanguard, the Klingons were already quite adapt in using the concept of honor to manipulate others into gaining a political foothold. It's great to now read where that started. And, truly, was already underway somewhat. If anything, I'd love to have a Star Trek novel showing us Klingons 5 or 6 centuries before TOS. But then again, I'm a sucker for Klingons anyway.

Another awesome novel Christopher, can't wait for the next one!

 

[JD]

The RotF books are all $1.99 right now on Google Play books, and since these kinds of sales usually apply to the other e-book services I'm assuming they are there too.
EDIT: I just checked Amazon and the Kindle versions are on sale too.

 

[Briet]

When Archer is listing the captains he trusts out on the field, he mentioned someone named "Groll". I'm curious, if anyone knows who that is.

 

[Tuskin38]

Just finished it, I quite enjoyed it. I like the nods to ships from other sources like games and other reference material.

 

[Christopher]

When Archer is listing the captains he trusts out on the field, he mentioned someone named "Groll". I'm curious, if anyone knows who that is.

Pretty sure it's just a name I made up. I hate it when 100% of the references in a book are to people and things that have already been encountered by a couple of ships named Enterprise or whatever. It makes the universe feel unrealistically tiny. There has to be a larger reality beyond the slice of it depicted in TV, movies, and books.

 

[Enterprise1701]

*waiting for David R. George III to turn that one-off reference into a full-length novel as with Serpents Among the Ruins.*

 

[Idran]

Pretty sure it's just a name I made up. I hate it when 100% of the references in a book are to people and things that have already been encountered by a couple of ships named Enterprise or whatever. It makes the universe feel unrealistically tiny. There has to be a larger reality beyond the slice of it depicted in TV, movies, and books.

I agree on this overall, but I did appreciate the reference to O'Neill in that segment; it was nice to see a reference to her doing well for herself in the post-TRW ENT books. At least, I assume that was meant to be D.O.?

 

[Christopher]

I agree on this overall, but I did appreciate the reference to O'Neill in that segment; it was nice to see a reference to her doing well for herself in the post-TRW ENT books. At least, I assume that was meant to be D.O.?

Pretty much, yeah.

 

[ThelinNV]

I'm interested to see where Akharin goes from here. He's always a character that I've rolled my eyes at during most of the times he's included in the novels. I feel like he is the living embodiment of small universe syndrome; "YOU get to meet Akharin and YOU get to meet Akharin and YOU get to meet Akharin..."Plus, he's one of the flashier, brassier characters we ever saw on TOS ("He's Da Vinci, he's Solomon, he's all the important people!"), which is a turn off when it comes to his inclusion in seemingly more "realistic" ST stories like this one.
However, I did find his inclusion to be pretty engaging here and necessary what with the Ware and his AI expertise, so I'm hopeful that his inclusion in the "Let's kill 31!" arc that seems to be coming will be equally as engaging.

I've always wondered about other Trek fans thoughts on Akharin though; it seems like his immortality is always a matter of interest, but never enough for somebody to hardcore investigate and see what makes him keep coming back. And I know Morgan Primus was immortal, and so was her friend, but are there more immortals out there? Romulan immortals and Vulcan immortals and Klingon immortals and Cardassian immortals? Do they have a kryptonite, or does Akharin go on living until time ends? Is this an evolutionary trait? If so, why haven't older races like the Vulcans or Cardassians seen a rise in infants born with the mutant gene of immortality? Did someone or something bestow these powers onto Akharin without his knowledge? Section 31 tried to get immortality from the Ba'ku, but they've known that there's an immortal human out there and they just leave that alone? Or is an act on his life from 31 what drives him to exile in TOS?

He's a character that inspires so many questions, and I'd love to see some kind of retrospective novel or something at least from his POV, from being a chariot driver to being interrogated by Jena Noi and Daniels in the farthest future we've seen of Trek yet.

 

[ThelinNV]

His story just seems like the most epic story possible and he might literally be the key to immortality in the galaxy, yet every time we meet him, everyone is like, "Let's leave and never return--this immortal who has been everyone ever likes his privacy. Delete the logs."