Mistakes that pull you out of a story

[Section 31]

Two things come immediately to mind:

1) I can't remember the exact book, but they continuously referred to "Ten Forward" when it was set on the Enterprise-E.

2) The Kevin Ryan Errand of Vengeance trilogy had a terrible habit of switching all the Klingon names that started with the letter "K", forcing you to guess which character was actually being talked about.

 

[William Leisner]

1) I can't remember the exact book, but they continuously referred to "Ten Forward" when it was set on the Enterprise-E.

Actually, I believe almost all the TNG books, up until the most recent batch of post-Nemesis tales, continued to use "Ten Forward". I think one of the earlier ones made a point of explaining that, no, the lounge wasn't on deck ten, but the name stuck anyhow.

I now leave this opening for the inevitable commentary on the name "Happy Bottom Riding Club".

 

[Trent Roman]

Well, alright then...

"I hear the cheese factor on the name is so high, it's merited a cameo in the upcoming Speed Racer film"

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[Cicero]

I can't remember which book it was, it was a speech by Picard (I think) before some ship race, he was discussing about danger and said "(ancient sailing race) from Sydney, Australia to Hobart, Tasmania" I just went Grrrrrrrrr!, Tassy is part of Australia!

I think the book came out a few years after the biggest disaster on the Sydney-Hobart race when several lives were lost, so it was nice to see it mentioned in the book. BUT, Tasmania is not a country on its own!

Geographically, though, isn't it accurate to describe Sydney as a city located on the continent Australia, and Hobart as one located on the island of Tasmania? One could describe a race between, say, Miami, Florida (as the Florida peninsula is a geographic feature; Miami, North America, if you prefer) and Havana, Cuba in a similarly political entity-ignoring way.

 

[Sci]

The last mistake that I noticed that really stuck out to me was Archer's internal monologue mentioning towards the end of The Good That Men Do that the last state to join United Earth, the Independent Republic of Australia, did so in 2140. "Attached" (TNG) established that the last states to join United Earth did so in 2150.

Both Klingon Empire: A Burning House and The Art of the Impossible make mention of no female before Azetbur ever having risen to a position on the High Council, but Vanguard: Summon the Thunder and Reap the Whirlwind feature a female High Council member who is also the head of Imperial Intelligence.

 

[KRAD]

1) I can't remember the exact book, but they continuously referred to "Ten Forward" when it was set on the Enterprise-E.

That isn't a mistake. The assumption was that there was a crew lounge on the E, and even though it wasn't in the forward section of deck ten it was still called Ten-Forward out of habit from the D.

Madison Square Garden isn't in Madison Square anymore, either, but they kept the name when it moved. I have yet to hear a single word of outrage from, well, anyone on the subject of it being misnamed. Until I do, I'm perfectly okay with the lounge on the E continuing to be called by the same name it had on the D (until it was renamed after Riker left).

 

[Therin of Andor]

The ensign walks into a room blows a bosun's whistle

There's an explanation here, but I'm not touching it.

 

[William Leisner]

Madison Square Garden isn't in Madison Square anymore, either, but they kept the name when it moved. I have yet to hear a single word of outrage from, well, anyone on the subject of it being misnamed. Until I do, I'm perfectly okay with the lounge on the E continuing to be called by the same name it had on the D (until it was renamed after Riker left).

What? It's not in Madison Square anymore? Well, that's a fucking outrage!! They should sell the naming rights to some company that'll go belly-up in the next decade or so, and tradition be damned.

Hey, ask and ye shall receive...

 

[Christopher]

The last mistake that I noticed that really stuck out to me was Archer's internal monologue mentioning towards the end of The Good That Men Do that the last state to join United Earth, the Independent Republic of Australia, did so in 2140. "Attached" (TNG) established that the last states to join United Earth did so in 2150.

That hardly seems like a large enough mistake to pull you out of a story. Either Archer or Crusher could've simply misremembered the year. Personally, I would find it implausible if characters' recollections and beliefs about history were always 100 percent correct. People are fallible, memory is imperfect, so when minor factual discrepancies crop up in characters' dialogue or internal monologue, I think that just makes it more realistic.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I believe almost all the TNG books, up until the most recent batch of post-Nemesis tales, continued to use "Ten Forward". I think one of the earlier ones made a point of explaining that, no, the lounge wasn't on deck ten, but the name stuck anyhow.

I now leave this opening for the inevitable commentary on the name "Happy Bottom Riding Club".

Wasn't it Q&A that covered the dual usage? That Riker was the one who coined the name, but no one else did (and hence, they called it "Ten-Forward," so ironically now that Riker was gone to Titan the "Happy Bottom Riding Club" moniker stuck?

Given the history of the Happy Bottom Riding Club, I like the name.

 

[Defcon]

Either Archer or Crusher could've simply misremembered the year. Personally, I would find it implausible if characters' recollections and beliefs about history were always 100 percent correct. People are fallible, memory is imperfect, so when minor factual discrepancies crop up in characters' dialogue or internal monologue, I think that just makes it more realistic.

If we go by the one of them misremembers theory, I would argue that Archer is correct, since it actually isn't that far in the past for him and I guess he would remember if it happened only a year or so before him becoming Captain of the Enterprise or more than a decade.

 

[Sci]

The last mistake that I noticed that really stuck out to me was Archer's internal monologue mentioning towards the end of The Good That Men Do that the last state to join United Earth, the Independent Republic of Australia, did so in 2140. "Attached" (TNG) established that the last states to join United Earth did so in 2150.

That hardly seems like a large enough mistake to pull you out of a story.

Well, y'know, for me, it's the equivalent of hearing one person claim that the American colonies declared independence in 1776 and another claim they declared independence in 1781.

 

[eastman23]

The last mistake that I noticed that really stuck out to me was Archer's internal monologue mentioning towards the end of The Good That Men Do that the last state to join United Earth, the Independent Republic of Australia, did so in 2140. "Attached" (TNG) established that the last states to join United Earth did so in 2150.

The TNG episode did not say that Australia was the last nation to join the United Earth. It was a hypothetical argument from Dr. Crusher.

Memory Alpha article:

It is a common belief that Australia was the last state to join the United Earth Government in 2150, but Australia holding out was only used by Beverly Crusher as a hypothetical example when discussing the eligibility of the fractured planet Kesprytt with Jean-Luc Picard in TNG: "Attached".

 

[Cicero]

The last mistake that I noticed that really stuck out to me was Archer's internal monologue mentioning towards the end of The Good That Men Do that the last state to join United Earth, the Independent Republic of Australia, did so in 2140. "Attached" (TNG) established that the last states to join United Earth did so in 2150.

That hardly seems like a large enough mistake to pull you out of a story.

Well, y'know, for me, it's the equivalent of hearing one person claim that the American colonies declared independence in 1776 and another claim they declared independence in 1781.

It might be more akin to confusing the year Alaska and Hawaii joined the United States.

 

[Smiley]

The last mistake that I noticed that really stuck out to me was Archer's internal monologue mentioning towards the end of The Good That Men Do that the last state to join United Earth, the Independent Republic of Australia, did so in 2140. "Attached" (TNG) established that the last states to join United Earth did so in 2150.

That hardly seems like a large enough mistake to pull you out of a story.

Well, y'know, for me, it's the equivalent of hearing one person claim that the American colonies declared independence in 1776 and another claim they declared independence in 1781.

That's odd, considering that the United States equivalent would be the year that Hawaii became the 50th state. That is not something that is a landmark date for most of the country.

 

[Sci]

The last mistake that I noticed that really stuck out to me was Archer's internal monologue mentioning towards the end of The Good That Men Do that the last state to join United Earth, the Independent Republic of Australia, did so in 2140. "Attached" (TNG) established that the last states to join United Earth did so in 2150.

The TNG episode did not say that Australia was the last nation to join the United Earth. It was a hypothetical argument from Dr. Crusher.

I did not say that that episode claimed Australia was the last holdout. However, nothing in the wording of "Attached" prevents Australia from being the last holdout, either; either interpretation is consistent with the episode. In either event, though, "Attached" did rather firmly establish 2150 as the year that complete planetary unity was attained.

That hardly seems like a large enough mistake to pull you out of a story.

Well, y'know, for me, it's the equivalent of hearing one person claim that the American colonies declared independence in 1776 and another claim they declared independence in 1781.

That's odd, considering that the United States equivalent would be the year that Hawaii became the 50th state. That is not something that is a landmark date for most of the country.

Except that the fundamental goal of the United States was never to incorporate the entire planet into its political system, whereas the fundamental goal of United Earth is right there in the name: To unite Earth. Ergo, the year the last holdouts joined would probably be at least as important to UE history as the year the Constitution was ratified would be to US history.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Isn't there a crewperson on the Excelsior that does that? Cycle through male and female phases? I'm quite sure there was. Are we told this sex-changer is human?

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

No, P'mu'la Hopman was not human. I can't remember the name of the species, but definitely not a human being.

 

[Section 31]

One small discrepancy I found recently was at the start of The Buried Age. In this telling, the Stargazer crew set course toward Starbase 32 in their escape pods, whereas, IIRC, in Reunion the survivors headed to Starbase 81. Not really a big deal, but it did give me a "hey, wait a minute" moment before I continued reading.

That being said, though, that section of The Buried Age was so well written that the one inconsistency is easily forgiven.

 

[Christopher]

Hm, I missed the Starbase 81 ref when researching Reunion. I chose Starbase 32 since it was the same base where the Stargazer had gone after the accident that claimed Jack Crusher a year earlier. It stood to reason that it would be the closest starbase, assuming they resumed exploring in roughly the same region of space; and it was necessary that it be the same place where Picard had first met Philippa Louvois, to explain how their relationship began.

 

[Shakaar]

I love the DS9 relaunch, but I'm constantly bothered by the details of the Andorian culture. It's very interesting the way it is described, especially in Paradigm, but the culture seems really far removed from Shran and his people as seen in Enterprise. Granted, Enterprise was probably still on the air as much of the relaunch was being written, but it still bothers me somewhat. Especially as Shran is given a passing mention in Paradigm. Maybe there is a way to reconcile the two versions, but it doesn't really seem like there has been an attempt to do so in the fiction as yet.