Re: ENT: A Choice of Futures by C. L. Bennett Review Thread (Spoilers!
Thank you!
Thank you!
Spoilers ENT: Rise of the Federation: A Choice of Futures by C. L. Bennett Review Thread
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Re: ENT: A Choice of Futures by C. L. Bennett Review Thread (Spoilers!
I finished this one the other day. I thought it was a well-written story and I liked where Christopher took the Enterprise characters. I thought there were too many story lines at first, however it came together by the end.
I enjoyed the return of the "Mutes". "Silent Enemy" was one of favorite ENT episodes and while I didn't care for "Bound" I didn't mind the use of the three Orion sisters and even throwing in the Orion from TAS. I did like Garos and hopefully he'll return in future books.
I finished this one the other day. I thought it was a well-written story and I liked where Christopher took the Enterprise characters. I thought there were too many story lines at first, however it came together by the end.
I enjoyed the return of the "Mutes". "Silent Enemy" was one of favorite ENT episodes and while I didn't care for "Bound" I didn't mind the use of the three Orion sisters and even throwing in the Orion from TAS. I did like Garos and hopefully he'll return in future books.
Re: ENT: A Choice of Futures by C. L. Bennett Review Thread (Spoilers!
I'm also late to this party - and have barely started the book - but have to say, Christopher, that you've once again taken a swing for the fences with a Trek property you've never written for previously and, so far at least, have hit a home run, so kudos to you for that.
I'm also late to this party - and have barely started the book - but have to say, Christopher, that you've once again taken a swing for the fences with a Trek property you've never written for previously and, so far at least, have hit a home run, so kudos to you for that.
Re: ENT: A Choice of Futures by C. L. Bennett Review Thread (Spoilers!
I think Rise of the Federation: A Choice of Futures is an excellent novel. With regard to the feeling that it has too many storylines, is it too much to hope that the novel could be somehow expanded like David Mack's The Sorrows of Empire was?
I think Rise of the Federation: A Choice of Futures is an excellent novel. With regard to the feeling that it has too many storylines, is it too much to hope that the novel could be somehow expanded like David Mack's The Sorrows of Empire was?
Re: ENT: A Choice of Futures by C. L. Bennett Review Thread (Spoilers!
^The Sorrows of Empire was a special case. There was a need to fill the schedule with a novel-length project and not a lot of time to do it in, so expanding a novel that was half-written already was a handy way to meet the goal.
Besides, I'm too busy moving the RotF narrative forward to go back and add more to books I've already written.
^The Sorrows of Empire was a special case. There was a need to fill the schedule with a novel-length project and not a lot of time to do it in, so expanding a novel that was half-written already was a handy way to meet the goal.
Besides, I'm too busy moving the RotF narrative forward to go back and add more to books I've already written.
Re: ENT: A Choice of Futures by C. L. Bennett Review Thread (Spoilers!
I just got my copy today. I expect to start it this weekend(and maybe finish it then).
Christopher do you have a successor to this novel in the works?
I just got my copy today. I expect to start it this weekend(and maybe finish it then).
Christopher do you have a successor to this novel in the works?
Re: ENT: A Choice of Futures by C. L. Bennett Review Thread (Spoilers!
It came out two days ago.
Re: ENT: A Choice of Futures by C. L. Bennett Review Thread (Spoilers!
Just started the second book, which reminded me of a question about this book.
Chapters 12 and 13 take place on the centennial of first contact day and none of the characters acknowledge the anniversary at all. I expected at least an internal monologue recognizing the date, if not a huge party.
At first I thought it was a missed opportunity, but it seems likely that the aftermath of World War III and issues with the Vulcans means 22nd century humans are somewhat more jaded about that date than the crew of the Enterprise-E.
Just started the second book, which reminded me of a question about this book.
Chapters 12 and 13 take place on the centennial of first contact day and none of the characters acknowledge the anniversary at all. I expected at least an internal monologue recognizing the date, if not a huge party.
At first I thought it was a missed opportunity, but it seems likely that the aftermath of World War III and issues with the Vulcans means 22nd century humans are somewhat more jaded about that date than the crew of the Enterprise-E.
Re: ENT: A Choice of Futures by C. L. Bennett Review Thread (Spoilers!
I didn't realize the significance of the date. Anyway, the characters featured in those chapters had more important things to deal with at the time.
And the crew that we saw commemorating "First Contact Day" was the crew of Voyager, mainly through Neelix's initiative, which was the sort of thing you'd expect of a morale officer. It doesn't really reveal much about the scope of First Contact Day celebrations overall.
I didn't realize the significance of the date. Anyway, the characters featured in those chapters had more important things to deal with at the time.
And the crew that we saw commemorating "First Contact Day" was the crew of Voyager, mainly through Neelix's initiative, which was the sort of thing you'd expect of a morale officer. It doesn't really reveal much about the scope of First Contact Day celebrations overall.
Re: ENT: A Choice of Futures by C. L. Bennett Review Thread (Spoilers!
In fact, given as how Earth has, as of April 2163, only recently emerged from being a Vulcan vassal state, it makes a certain amount of sense to speculate that maybe First Contact isn't quite as revered a historical event for Humans of the 22nd Century as it is by the 23rd or 24th.
In fact, given as how Earth has, as of April 2163, only recently emerged from being a Vulcan vassal state, it makes a certain amount of sense to speculate that maybe First Contact isn't quite as revered a historical event for Humans of the 22nd Century as it is by the 23rd or 24th.
Re: ENT: A Choice of Futures by C. L. Bennett Review Thread (Spoilers!
That was more or less my eventual conclusion. Picard and co. acted like I'd imagine a 21st century American would if he went back in time to July 3, 1776. But someone living closer to that time might recognize the end of the Revolutionary War as more important than the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
22nd century people may have more reverence for whatever event helped end the post-atomic horror.
That was more or less my eventual conclusion. Picard and co. acted like I'd imagine a 21st century American would if he went back in time to July 3, 1776. But someone living closer to that time might recognize the end of the Revolutionary War as more important than the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
22nd century people may have more reverence for whatever event helped end the post-atomic horror.
Re: ENT: A Choice of Futures by C. L. Bennett Review Thread (Spoilers!
I imagine the anniversary of the founding of the Federation holds more weight with humans of the 23rd or 24th centuries than the anniversary of first contact.
I don't know about that. First Contact meant more to humanity than simply opening the stars to them; it meant an end to war, disease and famine on Earth, and brought humanity closer together than anything ever had before. If anything that event should be more significant to the humans of 2163 than those who came later; there still would have been people alive then who actually witnessed Earth in its post-World War III state and experienced firsthand the changes first contact with the Vulcans brought.
I imagine the anniversary of the founding of the Federation holds more weight with humans of the 23rd or 24th centuries than the anniversary of first contact.
My review?
ENTERPRISE is the red-headed stepchild of the Star Trek franchise. Well, one of them, and to be honest the franchise is kind of like the Weasley family in terms of hair color. Scott Bakula did a great job as Captain Archer and I liked all of the characters but it's a series I didn't think hit its stride until it's final season when it was unceremoniously cancelled. The novels which followed it are interesting as they cover most of what I actually wanted to read about, which is the Romulan War and the United Federation of Planets being founded.
A CHOICE OF FUTURES is interesting because it basically kills the "classic" Enterprise formula because everyone has been promoted up and out of the titular ship. Archer is an Admiral now, the resurrected Trip Tucker has become a member of Section 31, and the other characters have all hit their strides.
However, the newly formed Federation is in something of a confused area as everyone agrees they need to join together but what they want to make is not as clear. Well, actually, it's very clear but it's not what Archer wants. Archer wants to found a United Nations in Space (the idealized one meant to prevent war and promote humanitarian relief--which it sometimes achieves in RL) while everyone else is thinking NATO. We know Archer will win but finding out how it happens is the interesting case.
I actually like the RISE OF THE FEDERATION BOOKS because they really are incredibly different from what you normally get in Star Trek fiction. They're effectively political novels that happen to have some boots on the ground action. The importance of ACOF isn't whether or not the phaser hits the bad guy but how Archer can bring together all these disparate factions into one singular vision of peace. The fact this comes from a man who started profoundly racist against Vulcans makes it all the more interesting as Christopher Bennett brings Archer's story to the point of seeming like natural character development versus overwriting bad writing.
The "enemies" in the book are an interesting one as the Federation is all gung ho to do some military adventurism against what they presume to be a bunch of pirates. Archer, by contrast, wants to find out what they want. Mind you, Archer stupidly believed this about a bunch of ACTUAL pirates in "Fortunate Son." It also solves the mystery of just who the hell the bad guys were in "Silent Enemy."
Weirdly, an element I really appreciated from the book was a retcon regarding the Orions. One of the most annoying changes done by Enterprise, undoubtedly done for changing sensibilities, was their transformation of the misogynist slaver group into a female-controlled society of slavers. That, to me, was actually more offensive than the original. Here, Christopher combines the two in such a way as to leave their role as corrupt vice peddlers intact.
In conclusion, this is a book which is technically the sixteenth or so in the Enterprise spin-offs but an excellent "jumping on" point as nothing is hurt by my not having read the previous volumes. I will say, though, you probably won't get much out of this book unless you've actually seen Enterprise, though. But then, why would you be buying the books which spin off from them?
8.5/10
ENTERPRISE is the red-headed stepchild of the Star Trek franchise. Well, one of them, and to be honest the franchise is kind of like the Weasley family in terms of hair color. Scott Bakula did a great job as Captain Archer and I liked all of the characters but it's a series I didn't think hit its stride until it's final season when it was unceremoniously cancelled. The novels which followed it are interesting as they cover most of what I actually wanted to read about, which is the Romulan War and the United Federation of Planets being founded.
A CHOICE OF FUTURES is interesting because it basically kills the "classic" Enterprise formula because everyone has been promoted up and out of the titular ship. Archer is an Admiral now, the resurrected Trip Tucker has become a member of Section 31, and the other characters have all hit their strides.
However, the newly formed Federation is in something of a confused area as everyone agrees they need to join together but what they want to make is not as clear. Well, actually, it's very clear but it's not what Archer wants. Archer wants to found a United Nations in Space (the idealized one meant to prevent war and promote humanitarian relief--which it sometimes achieves in RL) while everyone else is thinking NATO. We know Archer will win but finding out how it happens is the interesting case.
I actually like the RISE OF THE FEDERATION BOOKS because they really are incredibly different from what you normally get in Star Trek fiction. They're effectively political novels that happen to have some boots on the ground action. The importance of ACOF isn't whether or not the phaser hits the bad guy but how Archer can bring together all these disparate factions into one singular vision of peace. The fact this comes from a man who started profoundly racist against Vulcans makes it all the more interesting as Christopher Bennett brings Archer's story to the point of seeming like natural character development versus overwriting bad writing.
The "enemies" in the book are an interesting one as the Federation is all gung ho to do some military adventurism against what they presume to be a bunch of pirates. Archer, by contrast, wants to find out what they want. Mind you, Archer stupidly believed this about a bunch of ACTUAL pirates in "Fortunate Son." It also solves the mystery of just who the hell the bad guys were in "Silent Enemy."
Weirdly, an element I really appreciated from the book was a retcon regarding the Orions. One of the most annoying changes done by Enterprise, undoubtedly done for changing sensibilities, was their transformation of the misogynist slaver group into a female-controlled society of slavers. That, to me, was actually more offensive than the original. Here, Christopher combines the two in such a way as to leave their role as corrupt vice peddlers intact.
In conclusion, this is a book which is technically the sixteenth or so in the Enterprise spin-offs but an excellent "jumping on" point as nothing is hurt by my not having read the previous volumes. I will say, though, you probably won't get much out of this book unless you've actually seen Enterprise, though. But then, why would you be buying the books which spin off from them?
8.5/10
I think we have a review thread for this already - I'll hunt it out and merge them.
