Spoilers ENT: Rise of the Federation: Uncertain Logic by C. L. Bennett Review Thread

[Christopher]

After reading this third installment in the RotF series, where the plots of the two primary ships (and the Essex) are fairly self-contained, I was wondering if a format change may be more effective for future installments.

Like the Worlds of DS9 series, half of the book could be exclusively devoted to the Pioneer and the other half could feature the Endeavour and her crew (plus Archer). This approach wouldn't work when the two ship's storylines dovetail together in the third act, but a story like Uncertain Logic, I think, would benefit from a clear division in the novel -- short Endeavour novel, short Pioneer novel, and a bonus Essex short story at the end.

Christopher, have you considered toying with the format for these novels or is the current structure what you prefer for these tales? Just curious.

I try to approach each one differently. So far I've been more or less alternating between stories where the two main crews operate separately and ones where they collaborate on the same matter. As for format or structure, it follows the story -- that's about all I can say about it.

Any chance we'll see more of Vanot in future volumes? I really enjoyed Mayweather as "John Carter of Vanot" and thought that the planet would be fun to revisit. We got just enough details on the place to make it interesting and unique, but it felt like we only scratched the surface of the setting.

It doesn't seem likely in the short term. But who knows where it might be in the 23rd or 24th century...?

 

[Ronald Held]

Christopher will your novels get to 2169.

I have tentative plans that extend that far, but I'm not yet under contract for anything beyond Book 4.

Is current Starfleet usage "Landing Party" as in TOS or "Away Team"?

According to Star Trek Script Search, both terms were used in four ENT episodes each, so it's a tossup. I favor "landing party" for this era myself, though.

I would prefer " landing party" as well. I am curious to see your take on early Federation history into the latter 22d century.

 

[Quimby]

I also liked the Vanot. I imagined if this were a TV show the setting would be a very TOS Back lot type set that looks like 1940s America but with TNG era style makeup.

 

[Christopher]

I also liked the Vanot. I imagined if this were a TV show the setting would be a very TOS Back lot type set that looks like 1940s America but with TNG era style makeup.

Oh, I would hope not. The Vanotli have their own distinctive architecture shaped by the frequently harsh and erratic climate of their world -- walled cities/keeps, strong and sturdy buildings with narrow vertical windows, lots of awnings and overhangs to protect against sudden rain or hail, etc.

 

[KimMH]

I'm still writing it, but I'm not sure when it's due for publication. Probably about a year after UL, give or take.

I'm looking forward to it!

I watched Power Play yesterday - it came up in a que in random order and I was a little surprised and pleased to be reminded of the Bryce Shumar tie-in. I had forgotten the name of the Captain of the lost ship.

 

[Idran]

I'm still writing it, but I'm not sure when it's due for publication. Probably about a year after UL, give or take.

I'm looking forward to it!

I watched Power Play yesterday - it came up in a que in random order and I was a little surprised and pleased to be reminded of the Bryce Shumar tie-in. I had forgotten the name of the Captain of the lost ship.

Steven Mullen and Morgan Kelly too, there

 

[voyager1]

Finished it last night. It a word. Awesome. This one might be my favorite of Christopher's RoF series. Solid A+

 

[Christopher]

^Thanks!

 

[Reanok]

Uncertain Logic is my favorite novel so far from the rise of the Federation series so far. I really liked the story taking place on Vulcan and howArcher and T'Pol finding the Kir'shara changed Vulcan society. I also liked the ware story line too.

 

[Long Syntax]

As this is my first post in these forums, I first wanted to introduce myself prior to me thanking Christopher for his latest book in the ST:ENT lineup.

Like so many here, I've been a Star Trek fan almost as long as I can remember. Being born the year TOS was launched I never caught the first episodes as original CBS programming, but my earliest recollection of ST's initial impact on me was a deal I made with my mother. I had been watching reruns of TOS and something in it just drew me to it - I'm sure a feeling many of you can relate to. I had seen a Revel model Enterprise in the local hobby shop and the deal my mother mane with me was I would get the model if I had good grades for one of the marking periods in second grade - so that must have been around 1973. I did wind up getting the model, and although I really didn't do a wonderful job assembling and painting it, it was something that I remember fondly of my early years as a ST fan.

Over the years I've watched every series as they came out. I recall putting time aside while in college to catch episodes of TNG. Most recently my young daughter decided she wanted to know what daddy found so interesting with these space shows. I agreed to let her start with ST:ENT Broken Bow, just by chance because I had been re-watching the series at the time. Since then, at her pleading, we've watched the whole ST:ENT series and are now 12 episodes from finishing ST:TNG. We're already making plans to watch the ST:TNG movies over summer break as well as choosing the next series to explore. It's been slightly emotional both for my daughter as well as me as we finish each series and say goodbye to our old friends, only to introduce ourselves to new ones in the next series. Although I never pushed my daughter to watch ST, I must admit a sense of pleasure to be able to share it with her.

Maybe what drives me to share these experiences here is... that I never have. The love and affinity I have for what we've come to know as the Star Trek universe has been a constant in my life and a very enjoyable part of it. I'm sure many of you have similar stories to tell, but I wanted to make it clear that ST has meant a lot to me over the years.

But the main reason I've joined these forums was to thank Christopher Bennett for his efforts in continuing the story of the ST:ENT crew. I really have enjoyed reading through Christopher's last three entries into this series. The latest book Uncertain Logic was particularly interesting in that it revealed much of the missing history of Vulcan, its early years in the federation. I also enjoyed how Christopher explored Vulcan and their domestic troubles and growth opportunities resulting from epiphany that was the Kir'Shara relic. For me, ST:ENT has been my favorite of the series. I know I'm in the minority in that opinion, but that's ok. Being a ST fan, I've always sort of marched to the beat of my own drum. I've never read ST literature before the ST:ENT follow-on books. I'm glad I've found them and now I find it hard to wait for the next entry from Mr. Bennett. Count me in for the next release!

If you've gotten this far, sincerely, thanks for reading. I don't have a great talent for writing, but I do have a deep love of ST, like many of you. Thanks for reading through my stream of consciousness, my thoughts on ST in general and Uncertain Logic in particular. I look forward to future discussions and future adventures in the ST universe.

 

[Christopher]

^Thanks so much, and welcome! I had my own badly assembled Enterprise model kit in the '70s (I still have most of the pieces somewhere), but it was from AMT. I didn't know Revell made one.

(Oh, and TOS originally aired on NBC, although it's now ended up being owned by CBS through a series of mergers.)

 

[Long Syntax]

Christopher - yes, AMT was the manufacturer. I just blurted out the first model company that I could think of - even spelled it wrong ;-) But the picture of the Enterprise on the front of the box is what I remember - and that robin's egg blue paint that it called for on the hull. I did a horrible job painting that model!

I also goofed with the network - yes NBC... all I could think of is CBS that owns it now.

There really is so much more I could have written about what I like with ST, but it's not necessarily unique and thought it would best to share such thoughts in a future posts. The same is true with regards to your books - I really could have went on about more things, the Ware for example or Archer's life progress, but I think you have the general idea - I loved the book. Your care and expertise in carrying forward the ST:ENT adventures is very much appreciated!

 

[Christopher]

Christopher - yes, AMT was the manufacturer. I just blurted out the first model company that I could think of - even spelled it wrong ;-) But the picture of the Enterprise on the front of the box is what I remember - and that robin's egg blue paint that it called for on the hull. I did a horrible job painting that model!

I tried to paint it to match the colors on the box, even though I realize in retrospect that those were meant to be different levels of illumination on the model. But what did I know? I'd never seen the show in color at that point.

There really is so much more I could have written about what I like with ST, but it's not necessarily unique and thought it would best to share such thoughts in a future posts. The same is true with regards to your books - I really could have went on about more things, the Ware for example or Archer's life progress, but I think you have the general idea - I loved the book. Your care and expertise in carrying forward the ST:ENT adventures is very much appreciated!

Thanks again. I'm just glad people like it. Although for what it's worth, I do think that of the three ROTF novels so far, this is the one I managed to do the best job on.

 

[Sto-Vo-Kory]

Welcome to the Treklit forum, Long Syntax, and thanks for sharing your own Trek experience.

 

[Long Syntax]

Thanks for the welcome Sto-Vo-Kory (cool name btw)!

 

[LordJuss]

I'm going to join in the general praise...

Another slam-dunk by Christopher. Absolutely loved it. In fact the whole Rise of the Federation series is beautifully realised, particularly the Orion story.

Very much looking forward to the next.

(and thank you Christopher for getting your novel annotations back up so quickly)

LJ.

 

[Long Syntax]

The only constructive criticism I could offer really doesn't have to do with the writing per se, but the length of the italicized quoted sections. My older eyes (crap I can't believe I wrote that) had a hard time reading these sections, as I had to read and re-read to get through the text. Maybe it was the size, italics, as well as the type face in the paper book - ok, ok, maybe just old eyes too ;-)

Reality might be I'd be better served by a digital copy and slightly bumping up the font size. I purchased the digital copies of all the ST:ENT books through Amazon (and didn't have a problem with reading through the digital) - this was the first in the series that I purchased a hard copy.

 

[Christopher]

^Do you mean the scenes where the viewpoint character is listening to a speaker on the viewscreen or intercom, like when Tobin hears Iloja's address? I'm afraid it's the established style to use italics for that. The only way to avoid it would be to make sure the characters in a scene are always in the same room, and that's not tenable in Trek.

Heck, it's hardly tenable today. I've often been struck by how much of present-day TV features characters by themselves, talking to people over the phone or an earbud or something. It's the standard MO for shows like Person of Interest or Leverage, both of which are filled with scenes of characters in the field talking over their earbuds to advisors sitting at their computers, or to other field agents somewhere else. And tons of other shows have scenes of people talking on the phone, videoconferencing, etc. This week's iZombie entailed the lead character developing temporary agoraphobia and spending most of the episode at home, Skyping the other characters over their laptops. It's interesting how much less face-to-face interaction there is in present-day TV versus '70s or '80s TV, say. A sign of the times, I guess.

 

[LordJuss]

The series 'Sherlock' in the UK seems to have really taken this to heart and often experiments with new directorial techniques to deal with text messages, emails and the digital worlds in general.

LJ.

 

[Christopher]

^Yeah, Sherlock was quite creative in its handling of texts onscreen, and it's a method that other shows and films have now adopted.