• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

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

Rate Live by the Code

  • Outstanding

    Votes: 19 33.9%
  • Above Average

    Votes: 26 46.4%
  • Average

    Votes: 9 16.1%
  • Below Average

    Votes: 1 1.8%
  • Poor

    Votes: 1 1.8%

  • Total voters
    56
As a big X-Men fan who considers the main comic range to be the definitive X-Men, I can tell you that X-Men Evolution and the movies aren't really all that close to who the comic X-Men are. It's been many years since I read the X-Men/Trek crossovers, but I generally remember them feeling true to the comics. I don't think the crossover was a great idea or executed all that well, but it's just the difficulties of crossing over two very different series. The characters were true to who they were as far as I remember.

Yeah, I do understand that the TV shows and movies aren't the "real" versions of the characters. I was speaking subjectively. Interesting to hear that the novel was character accurate, as far as 616 went.
 
(I appreciated that the 09 Trek canonized some of the previously established character names for Kirk's parents and Uhura; it still irks me a little that Star Wars's Kylo Ren was Ben Solo instead of Jacen.)

I was going to say that the difference might be that the former was simply fleshing out the names of existing characters, while the latter was creating a new (if similar) character, so maybe it was different from a legal/rights standpoint. But then I realized that Kirk's parents were never actually mentioned in canon, although it's implicit that they did exist. So their situation is probably more or less analogous to Ben Solo's.

Still, George and Winona Kirk haven't had particularly large roles in Trek Lit, aside from a few books featuring George. But judging from his Wookieepedia entry, Jacen Solo was apparently one of the core characters of the SWEU. Even though Kylo is similar in some ways, they probably chose to make him a distinct character to avoid confusion and be free of all the baggage associated with Jacen Solo.
 
Oh that's definitely a possibility (although IMO since there was a Ben Skywalker who was Anakin's grandson in the EU they'd have done better to choose another name entirely if that was the case), and I have no doubt that there are Jacen Solo fans who would hate to see his character presented the way Ren was in a film. But for me personally the two are similar enough in broad strokes that, in the end, it irks me.

I was going use Mordred as an example--even though there are many different interpretations of the character, the name resonates because, in broad strokes, we know what it means for any given version of the Arthurian legend. But of course it turns out the Mordred himself is something of a retcon and that there's probably an Arthurian fan out there who is irked that somebody used Mordred instead of Amr. (I can just see my man Flint griping about this to robots who don't give a flip. :hugegrin: )

TC
 
I'm about 90% of the way through and the book has been as fabulous as the previous entries in the series. The Rise of the Federation books have been the titles I look forward to the most on the schedule.

I just had a question about the size of the Federation at this point in time: Who are the members of the Federation at the begining of the book?

Ive got:
  • Earth
  • Vulcan
  • Tellar
  • Andor
  • Alpha Centauri
  • Mars
  • Rigel Colonies
  • Arken II
Is there anyone I'm missing?
 
There is something to be said for using names consistently like that, even if the details of the various stories don't add up. It makes things less confusing. (I appreciated that the 09 Trek canonized some of the previously established character names for Kirk's parents and Uhura; it still irks me a little that Star Wars's Kylo Ren was Ben Solo instead of Jacen.) Not to mention that Aegis is just a darn cool name for a race of mysterious unseen spymasters.

TC

Oh that's definitely a possibility (although IMO since there was a Ben Skywalker who was Anakin's grandson in the EU they'd have done better to choose another name entirely if that was the case), and I have no doubt that there are Jacen Solo fans who would hate to see his character presented the way Ren was in a film. But for me personally the two are similar enough in broad strokes that, in the end, it irks me.


TC
They also might have been afraid it would make people think Rey was secretly Jaina.
 
I just had a question about the size of the Federation at this point in time: Who are the members of the Federation at the begining of the book?

Ive got:
  • Earth
  • Vulcan
  • Tellar
  • Andor
  • Alpha Centauri
  • Mars
  • Rigel Colonies
  • Arken II
Is there anyone I'm missing?

The Vega IX Colony. They were admitted at the same time as Rigel.
 
^ According to Memory Beta, the closest equivalent is called the sia lenthar, the most dominant social unit of Arkenite culture. It's like a family or tribe, but more diverse.

As to what their actual government is called, we don't know.
 
When did Betazed join the Federation? I've always vaguely thought they were supposed to be around forever. I'm re-reading the Shatnerverse Mirror Universe novels and Kirk doesn't even know what Betazed is. Not that what happens in the Shatnerverse novels necessarily matter to the main Litverse novels, but still, it struck me as odd.
 
An unfilmed scene from the planned opening sequence of ST:TUC would've indicated that Betazoids were known to the Federation at the time, but not yet well known, since Chekov was playing chess (?) with one and didn't know his opponent could read his mind (though Kirk did). I think the scene was finally depicted in The Fearful Summons.
 
An unfilmed scene from the planned opening sequence of ST:TUC would've indicated that Betazoids were known to the Federation at the time, but not yet well known, since Chekov was playing chess (?) with one and didn't know his opponent could read his mind (though Kirk did).

I wasn't aware Betazoids were that sneaky.
 
I believe there was a bit in Imzadi II where a Betazoid talked with Worf about how Betazed had an influence on the Khitomer peace talks, but that's the only point I can think of off-hand for Betazed as a TOS-ish-era Federation member. Not that there's anything against it, either.
 
If you care about the Novelverse side of it, borgboy, to quote a couple posts from the Members of the Federation thread:

In Cast No Shadow, set in 2300, a Betazoid (Dr. Malla Tancreda) is involved with the Federation, and while that means nothing for Betazed's membership, I did get the impression that Betazed was indeed within the Federation fold. In The Last Roundup, set in 2294, an implicitly Betazoid character is serving President Ra-ghoratreii, and the writing suggests that Betazoids are quite new to the Federation - mention is made of their "proven ability" to sense emotions and intentions even over subspace, as though it's a novelty.

I was re-reading the Myriad Universes novella The Chimes at Midnight, and in narration, alternate David Marcus remembers that after he was rescued from captivity by Kruge, he was helped by a Betazoid counselor, whose species came from a planet newly admitted to the Federation. So we've got Betazed's admission to the Federation in ~2285 of a quantum reality that diverged from the prime reality in 2237. Take it as you will for Betazed's admission in the prime reality.
 
I could've sworn that I read somewhere that Betazed was admitted to the Federation (or maybe they just made first contact) in 2273, but I honestly don't remember where that date came from so I can't look it up.
 
I believe there was a bit in Imzadi II where a Betazoid talked with Worf about how Betazed had an influence on the Khitomer peace talks, but that's the only point I can think of off-hand for Betazed as a TOS-ish-era Federation member. Not that there's anything against it, either.
I've read Imzadi II at least three times, so I may be drawing on that. Possibly other TrekLit sources. TNG always gave me the feeling that Betazed was an old cornerstone of the Federation, but that could've been just my perception of a more vague presentation.
I wonder if the TUC novelization included references to Betazed. I'm sure I read that when it was new.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top