Since I went through my old reviews recently I knew where to look for the
review for Enterpise Logs from August 2005 (Making me feel real old with it being 13 1/2 years ago):
A totally mediocre anthology.
“Captain Israel David Dickenson : The Vail at Valcour“ * Diane Carey
A totally boring and meaningless story. Obviously the only reason for this story is to satisfy Diane Carey’s sick obsession with all things marine, especially historical sailing boats. Other than that I see no real reason that this story is in this anthology, especially since the main role is played by a person which isn’t even part of the Enterprise’s crew, although I thought the idea behind the anthology is to celebrate the ships named Enterprise and their Captains and Crews. Overall a very forgettable story.
”Defcon’s TrekLit” Rating :
Story : ** of *****
Characterization / character development : * of *****
Originality : * of *****
Writing style : * of *****
Overall : 20 %
“Captain Osborne B. Hardison : World of Strangers“ * Diane Carey
This “story” ( and I’m really generous in calling this piece of monkey sh** a story) is a total disgrace for the Star Trek Franchise. It’s the most disgusting, awful piece of nearly 60 years late propaganda I have ever seen. The here proclaimed thesis that it’s perfectly O.K. to imprison totally innocent people only because of their heritage is in complete contrast of what Star Trek represents. I would expect something like that in a Bush speech, but certainly not in a universe in which normally the hope for a fair, open minded and peaceful society is dominant.
”Defcon’s TrekLit” Rating :
Story : 0 of *****
Characterization / character development : 0 of *****
Originality : 0 of *****
Writing style : 0 of *****
Overall : 0 %
“Captain Robert April : Though Hell should bar the way“ * Greg Cox
Although this first real Star Trek story easily tops the previous two stories, it starts a trend that sets the standard for most of the rest of the anthology. It’s an O.K. story, but in the end it is rather hollow. Ultimately “Though Hell should bar the way” neither brings something originally to the table story wise, nor do it brings something new for the character of Robert April. Overall not a must read, but if you have to kill some time you can take a look.
”Defcon’s TrekLit” Rating :
Story : *** of *****
Characterization / character development : *** of *****
Originality : ** of *****
Writing style : *** of *****
Overall : 64 %
“Captain Christopher Pike : Conflicting Natures“ * Jerry Oltion
The story totally fells into step with the April story quality wise, it’s another story which although it’s readable has no real highlights or special moments. There are some amusing scenes but overall it’s not really something unique, if I remember correctly a variation of the emotion emanating aliens has been used in at least one TOS novel before (IIRC The Great Starship Race).
”Defcon’s TrekLit” Rating :
Story : *** of *****
Characterization / character development : *** of *****
Originality : ** of *****
Writing style : *** of *****
Overall : 66 %
“Captain James T. Kirk : The Avenger“ * Michael Jan Friedman
I hate to be repetitive, but the Kirk story is another mediocre story without any real highlights. This little crime story may be an acceptable time killer, but once again it brings nothing new for the featured captain. This is especially disappointing since Michael Jan Friedman usually has a knack for character advancing stories and this is a rather old-fashioned take on Jim Kirk.
”Defcon’s TrekLit” Rating :
Story : *** of *****
Characterization / character development : ** of *****
Originality : *** of *****
Writing style : *** of *****
Overall : 65 %
“Captain Will Decker : Night Whispers“ * Diane Duane
Although the overall rating for this story is on the same level as most of the rest of the Star Trek stories, here the reason is a different one. I must admit the main reason for it to be under 70 % is the character of Will Decker. The idea behind the story itself may be worth a higher rating, but I find Decker to be one of the most boring and uninteresting officers ever featured in the Star Trek Franchise and so him being the main character doesn’t help the story in my eyes.
”Defcon’s TrekLit” Rating :
Story : **** of *****
Characterization / character development : ** of *****
Originality : *** of *****
Writing style : *** of *****
Overall : 65 %
“Captain Spock : Just another little Training Cruise“ * A.C. Crispin
This story is a bit mixed. I liked to see some more of the relation between Spock and Saavik and there are some nice scenes, but the “framing” story with the disease was constructed a bit to simple in my opinion. It unquestionable lacks depth and feels like a pure vehicle to carry the Spock and Saavik scenes, without them this story most definitely would not have been the one with the second highest rating of the anthology.
”Defcon’s TrekLit” Rating :
Story : ** of *****
Characterization / character development : **** of *****
Originality : *** of *****
Writing style : *** of *****
Overall : 68 %
“Captain John Harriman : Shakedown“ * Peter David
The best story of the anthology. The main reason for that is that it is the only one which really has some kind of twist in it. The other stories never actually divert from what they are “promising” from the start, while this one is a whole lot less predictable. Some other plus points for this story are that it gives “Mr. Tuesday” John Harriman more depth and has the usual Peter David humor in it. And the exchanges between Harriman and his interrogator certainly are the best pieces of character work in the whole anthology.
”Defcon’s TrekLit” Rating :
Story : **** of *****
Characterization / character development : **** of *****
Originality : **** of *****
Writing style : **** of *****
Overall : 77 %
“Captain Rachel Garrett : Hour of Fire“ * Robert Greenberger
You know the routine by now : Like most of the previous stories “hour of Fire” is a rather conventional story. There is neither anything original for either the plot nor the characters. This is especially disappointing since we hadn’t seen much of Captain Garrett and her Crew at the point time this story was published. And since it was (and still is) fairly unlikely that we see them again onscreen, I think Robert Greenberger has blew his chance to model the character of Rachel Garrett.
”Defcon’s TrekLit” Rating :
Story : *** of *****
Characterization / character development : *** of *****
Originality : *** of *****
Writing style : *** of *****
Overall : 62 %
“Captain Jean-Luc Picard : The Captain and the King“ * John Vornholt
I don’t like what Vornholt did with Picard by letting him tell the story in first person. I never really had the feeling that Picard was telling the story and therefore the characterization fell flat for me. The idea behind the story about a young person who has to rise to the demands of a special occasion was used several times before and oftentimes more interesting. Overall this is the weakest of all the Star Trek stories.
”Defcon’s TrekLit” Rating :
Story : *** of *****
Characterization / character development : ** of *****
Originality : ** of *****
Writing style : *** of *****
Overall : 60 %
Overall Opinion:
With the exceptions of Peter David’s story (positive) and Diane Carey’s stories (negative) this is a solid anthology, but somewhat disappointing since it’s only on a mediocre level. Most of the authors obviously hadn’t the courage (or clearance) to bring something unusual to the table. As a result this anthology is rather unimaginative and fails to create real interest, so that you are rather bored if you read all the stories back to back like I did. But if you have some time to kill, you can take the book and read a story (but be careful and avoid the Carey stories), if you do not await something special.
”Defcon’s TrekLit” Rating :
Cover : *** of *****
Overall : 55 % (without the Carey stories : 66 %)
