“Enterprise Logs” Anthology

[GaryH]

Hi,

Anyone read this?

https://www.amazon.com/Enterprise-Logs-Star-Carol-Greenburg/dp/0671035797

I bought a copy out of curiosity. It has an amazing Peter David short story about Captain Harrison (from Star Trek VI) and an ok Pike story. It also has an AC Crispin short story and a Dekker(!) short story that I will read next.

 

[Mysterion]

I remember it. The Harriman story was good, as was the Decker story by Diane Duane. The only other story that sticks out in my mind at this point is the Diane Carey WW2 story which I didn't care for too much.

 

[GaryH]

I remember it. The Harriman story was good, as was the Decker story by Diane Duane. The only other story that sticks out in my mind at this point is the Diane Carey WW2 story which I didn't care for too much.

Oh good that you liked the Decker story. That was a selling point for me as I liked the character (even after the real life revelations about the actor).

 

[Christopher]

The Decker and Harriman stories are standouts, yes. I also liked A.C. Crispin's Captain Spock/Saavik story.

 

[Mysterion]

I think the thing I liked about Peter David's Harriman story was that it was a bit of needed redemption for that character (who really hadn't gotten any yet at that time). Harriman seemed to have only existed in Generations to make Kirk look even so much more star-spangled awesome, which was, IMO, a dis-service to an Enterprise CO. And it was nice to see that there was something about the guy that caused Starfleet to give him a command after all. Remember this was before we got the Lost Era novel which featured him in a central role and also let him be a competent officer.

 

[Christopher]

I still say Harriman didn't come off that badly in GEN. He made a bunch of suggestions that were perfectly sound in theory but were scuttled only by the fact that the ship was incomplete, which wasn't his fault. And once he ran out of ideas, he made the wisest, most responsible decision possible by deferring to the more experienced captain rather than clinging to his pride. I think that deserves respect.

 

[Damian]

Harriman seemed to have only existed in Generations to make Kirk look even so much more star-spangled awesome

I still say Harriman didn't come off that badly in GEN. He made a bunch of suggestions that were perfectly sound in theory but were scuttled only by the fact that the ship was incomplete, which wasn't his fault. And once he ran out of ideas, he made the wisest, most responsible decision possible by deferring to the more experienced captain rather than clinging to his pride. I think that deserves respect.

I think Mysterion hit it on the head above about Harriman. His only purposed seemed to be to make Kirk look good. I agree with Christopher that he made some sound suggestions and it takes a big man to admit he doesn't have all the answers and is willing to turn to someone with greater experience. But the way he came across in Generations was not very complementary. It's not so much the dialogue itself. It's the way they presented the character and the way it was acted out. They made him look like a buffoon. It's a wise man that knows his limitations. But the way the scene was presented makes it seem like he 'had' to ask because he was out of his element.

I was happy a number of the novels offered Harriman redemption on that front. If my only experience of Harriman was from the movie I think my lasting impression would likely be some guy that was clearly not prepared to be captain of the Enterprise. Thankfully the novels (including the movie novelization) corrected that for me.

 

[KimMH]

I still say Harriman didn't come off that badly in GEN. He made a bunch of suggestions that were perfectly sound in theory but were scuttled only by the fact that the ship was incomplete, which wasn't his fault. And once he ran out of ideas, he made the wisest, most responsible decision possible by deferring to the more experienced captain rather than clinging to his pride. I think that deserves respect.

He does seem a better captain the older I get. Having only read the book with Damora Sulu I had already reconsidered him and definitely look forward to reading this too.

 

[Greg Cox]

Background info on that book: Diane Carey was original supposed to write the Robert April story, but she chose to do a historical story instead, so I got drafted to do April. Nevertheless, my portrayal of April and his crew was very much inspired by the way Carey had previously portrayed them in her novels, so I tend to think of that story as me doing Diane Carey . . .

 

[KimMH]

Greg Cox cosplaying Diane Duane? How can we miss this?

 

[Greg Cox]

Greg Cox cosplaying Diane Duane? How can we miss this?

Diane Carey, not Diane Duane. Gotta get my literary cosplay right!

 

[Christopher]

Although Enterprise Logs is the one and only time that both Diane Carey and Diane Duane participated in the same Trek fiction production (even including things like book miniseries, comics series, and TV series).

 

[Mysterion]

I still say Harriman didn't come off that badly in GEN. He made a bunch of suggestions that were perfectly sound in theory but were scuttled only by the fact that the ship was incomplete, which wasn't his fault. And once he ran out of ideas, he made the wisest, most responsible decision possible by deferring to the more experienced captain rather than clinging to his pride. I think that deserves respect.

Damian is right. The problem in the film isn't that Harriman goes to Kirk for help. It's the overall portrayal that casts Harriman as being somewhat hapless and in over his head rather than a smart and capable CO who recognizes he's exhausted his options and decides to utilize the resource of Kirk's knowledge and experience. Trek has a habit of doing this - no one can ever be anywhere nearly as spiffy and awesome as the star. In ST3 Styles can't just be an officer of the fleet trying to stop the illegal departure of Enterprise, he has to be cast as a vain martinet. In TNG Jellico can't just be a captain with a different management style than Picard, he must be a complete overlord who just doesn't understand how wonderful Riker and the 1701-D crew is. Even though they, and especially Riker, spend most of the episode acting like spoiled children.

 

[Christopher]

It's the overall portrayal that casts Harriman as being somewhat hapless and in over his head rather than a smart and capable CO who recognizes he's exhausted his options and decides to utilize the resource of Kirk's knowledge and experience.

Yes, I know that. That's the surface interpretation, which is exactly why I'm pointing out that if you bother to look beneath that superficial reaction, to actually think about what Harriman says and does rather than limiting yourself to the initial gut reaction, you see there's more than there appears. If I question the surface appearance, that doesn't mean I'm unaware of it. It means I'm encouraging people to look deeper.

 

[Saul]

Background info on that book: Diane Carey was original supposed to write the Robert April story, but she chose to do a historical story instead, so I got drafted to do April. Nevertheless, my portrayal of April and his crew was very much inspired by the way Carey had previously portrayed them in her novels, so I tend to think of that story as me doing Diane Carey . . .

It's been years since I read 'Enterprise Logs' but of all the stories that's the one that sticks in my mind after all this time, maybe because of who they find at the end of the story and because Captain April stories are hard to come by. I had actually read it before reading Diane Carey's books.

He does seem a better captain the older I get. Having only read the book with Damora Sulu I had already reconsidered him and definitely look forward to reading this too.

Peter David and David R. George III both did justice to Captain Harriman. I really like their stories that involved the Enterprise B and Excelsior crews.

 

[KimMH]

Diane Carey, not Diane Duane. Gotta get my literary cosplay right!

Sorry! Brain fart!

 

[STEPhon IT]

I think Mysterion hit it on the head above about Harriman. His only purposed seemed to be to make Kirk look good. I agree with Christopher that he made some sound suggestions and it takes a big man to admit he doesn't have all the answers and is willing to turn to someone with greater experience. But the way he came across in Generations was not very complementary. It's not so much the dialogue itself. It's the way they presented the character and the way it was acted out. They made him look like a buffoon. It's a wise man that knows his limitations. But the way the scene was presented makes it seem like he 'had' to ask because he was out of his element.

I was happy a number of the novels offered Harriman redemption on that front. If my only experience of Harriman was from the movie I think my lasting impression would likely be some guy that was clearly not prepared to be captain of the Enterprise. Thankfully the novels (including the movie novelization) corrected that for me.

The moment there was a crisis and the Enterprise didn't have all it's assets, Harriman should've gave command to the most experience Captain on the ship. Spock did something similar in TWOK because he's smart, he understood the situation and there's no time for ego driven decisions. Harriman's incompetence lead his crew to collateral damage and the death of one the greatest starfleet officer we've ever known. It was as if Harriman had zero clue about military protocol and was winging it throughout the dilemma.

 

[trampledamage]

Background info on that book: Diane Carey was original supposed to write the Robert April story, but she chose to do a historical story instead, so I got drafted to do April. Nevertheless, my portrayal of April and his crew was very much inspired by the way Carey had previously portrayed them in her novels, so I tend to think of that story as me doing Diane Carey . . .

Oh, I love Carey's depiction of Captain April - so a story by you using her depiction sounds wonderful! (curses, my library doesn't have it - on to the wish list it goes)

 

[Reanok]

A.C. Crispin's Spock/Saavik story is really good and the Captain April story too.

 

[JD]

The only other story that sticks out in my mind at this point is the Diane Carey WW2 story which I didn't care for too much.

Was that the one that's really racist against the Japanese?