Go easy on me, this is the first time I've reviewed anything in a long while. And this is the first Trek book I've read since I was about 16 or 17.
It's been a while since I'd read any Enterprise books, which is why I wasn't certain whether or not the relaunch series would do a good job of making me feel like I was "seeing" the characters that I know and love actually move through the story. I was pleasantly surprised.
First of all, Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels' writing leaves a good deal to be desired. Throughout the book there are around twenty instances in which the authors punctuates a character's dialogue by using the idiom "at length", which I can only guess the author believes to be an alternate way to express "he said" or "she said".
"I understand." Trip said, at length. are one of the many examples of this particular idiom being used incorrectly. At first, it was an amusing error. After fifteen times of reading this mistake, it actually caused me to put the book down from agitation.
Suffice it to say that the writing isn't stellar. But the story is good. I had a little problem seeing the motivation that one of the main characters had to drive the plot forward. In this case, Charles Trip Tucker finds himself in the employ of the proto-Section 31 organization. Trip is convinced that he needs to leave the Enterprise, undergo severe cosmetic surgery to make him appear to be a Romulan, then infiltrate the Romulan Empire in a mission to kidnap the Romulan version of Albert Einstein.
In this situation, I have a difficult time believing that Trip actually has to do this. Sure, he is convinced that if he doesn't then Starfleet won't take the necessary precautions to protect themselves from the Romulans. And, sure, Trip is eager to put some distance between himself and T'Pol after their recent "breakup". But Section 31 is asking him to wildly alter his appearance through some unknown alien surgery. At what point does Charles Tucker, the Chief Engineer of the fleets flagship, find himself to be the most qualified man to become a spy and infiltrate the Romulan Star Empire? Wouldn't this be a more suited job for, say, Malcom Reed, the chief Security officer onboard Enterprise and a man who has actually worked with Section 31 before??
It seems a tad contrived. But, that's probably because it is. You see, The good That Men Do is not just a relaunch novel. It's the series finale of Enterprise, *rewritten*. Many fans felt cheated with the actual finale. Riker and Troi decided they needed to reenact the recorded death of an officer they've never met from two hundred years prior. The ending of Enterprise is one big holodeck simulation. That features the death of Trip Tucker, which was probably the most senseless, cheap death in the entire franchise, indeed, one to rival the death of Tasha Yar. Trip's death was entirely contrived in the finale. So this novel's contrivance to get Trip where needs to be to explain the falsification of history is acceptable. It is definitely the lesser of two evils.
Now that I have harped on about the novel's bad points, let's discuss it's strengths.
In spite of the writing and lack of motivation, the characters feel genuine. I felt like I was reading about Trip, Archer, and T'Pol and not some rewritten characters with their names and histories slapped on for brand recognition. I was enjoying new stories with some of my favorite characters. Enterprise was back in space, again, doing what it does best. We also saw the return of the rowdy Andorian, Shran, one of Archer's close alien buddies.
The book feels like Enterprise. And, despite it's positive portrayal of a rogue spying element in the Starfleet government (seriously, any government who doesn't know what it's right hand is doing, is corrupt), the book feels like Star Trek.
I enjoyed reading the book very much. In fact, I finished it in just a few days, because it was hard to put down. I usually spread books out over a longer period of time, so that I can savor them. However, this was one that I sped through.
I'm currently reading it's sequel, Kobayashi Maru, written by the same authors. So I expect to see some of the same character elements, flaws, and "at length"s as I did in the previous one.
I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves Enterprise and hated the finale. Even with it's problems it is a MUCH need retelling of that story. We do have the writers of the finale to thank though. Even though it was so terribly executed, by making the episode a holodeck simulation, it was possible for a writer to say "History has been falsified!" and throw out the real ending to Enterprise. This plot device wouldn't have worked with any other episode, but it works pretty well, here.
Sorry if my wording is confusing or jumbled. It's been a long while since I've done anything like this and my writing has degraded much over the years, sad to say. Let me know what you think, if you've read the book.
It's been a while since I'd read any Enterprise books, which is why I wasn't certain whether or not the relaunch series would do a good job of making me feel like I was "seeing" the characters that I know and love actually move through the story. I was pleasantly surprised.
First of all, Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels' writing leaves a good deal to be desired. Throughout the book there are around twenty instances in which the authors punctuates a character's dialogue by using the idiom "at length", which I can only guess the author believes to be an alternate way to express "he said" or "she said".
"I understand." Trip said, at length. are one of the many examples of this particular idiom being used incorrectly. At first, it was an amusing error. After fifteen times of reading this mistake, it actually caused me to put the book down from agitation.
Suffice it to say that the writing isn't stellar. But the story is good. I had a little problem seeing the motivation that one of the main characters had to drive the plot forward. In this case, Charles Trip Tucker finds himself in the employ of the proto-Section 31 organization. Trip is convinced that he needs to leave the Enterprise, undergo severe cosmetic surgery to make him appear to be a Romulan, then infiltrate the Romulan Empire in a mission to kidnap the Romulan version of Albert Einstein.
In this situation, I have a difficult time believing that Trip actually has to do this. Sure, he is convinced that if he doesn't then Starfleet won't take the necessary precautions to protect themselves from the Romulans. And, sure, Trip is eager to put some distance between himself and T'Pol after their recent "breakup". But Section 31 is asking him to wildly alter his appearance through some unknown alien surgery. At what point does Charles Tucker, the Chief Engineer of the fleets flagship, find himself to be the most qualified man to become a spy and infiltrate the Romulan Star Empire? Wouldn't this be a more suited job for, say, Malcom Reed, the chief Security officer onboard Enterprise and a man who has actually worked with Section 31 before??
It seems a tad contrived. But, that's probably because it is. You see, The good That Men Do is not just a relaunch novel. It's the series finale of Enterprise, *rewritten*. Many fans felt cheated with the actual finale. Riker and Troi decided they needed to reenact the recorded death of an officer they've never met from two hundred years prior. The ending of Enterprise is one big holodeck simulation. That features the death of Trip Tucker, which was probably the most senseless, cheap death in the entire franchise, indeed, one to rival the death of Tasha Yar. Trip's death was entirely contrived in the finale. So this novel's contrivance to get Trip where needs to be to explain the falsification of history is acceptable. It is definitely the lesser of two evils.
Now that I have harped on about the novel's bad points, let's discuss it's strengths.
In spite of the writing and lack of motivation, the characters feel genuine. I felt like I was reading about Trip, Archer, and T'Pol and not some rewritten characters with their names and histories slapped on for brand recognition. I was enjoying new stories with some of my favorite characters. Enterprise was back in space, again, doing what it does best. We also saw the return of the rowdy Andorian, Shran, one of Archer's close alien buddies.
The book feels like Enterprise. And, despite it's positive portrayal of a rogue spying element in the Starfleet government (seriously, any government who doesn't know what it's right hand is doing, is corrupt), the book feels like Star Trek.
I enjoyed reading the book very much. In fact, I finished it in just a few days, because it was hard to put down. I usually spread books out over a longer period of time, so that I can savor them. However, this was one that I sped through.
I'm currently reading it's sequel, Kobayashi Maru, written by the same authors. So I expect to see some of the same character elements, flaws, and "at length"s as I did in the previous one.
I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves Enterprise and hated the finale. Even with it's problems it is a MUCH need retelling of that story. We do have the writers of the finale to thank though. Even though it was so terribly executed, by making the episode a holodeck simulation, it was possible for a writer to say "History has been falsified!" and throw out the real ending to Enterprise. This plot device wouldn't have worked with any other episode, but it works pretty well, here.
Sorry if my wording is confusing or jumbled. It's been a long while since I've done anything like this and my writing has degraded much over the years, sad to say. Let me know what you think, if you've read the book.
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