My review of "Kobayashi Maru" [SPOILERS!]

[Enterpriserules]

I find it really funny that there have been so many pages about one word. I just found it fitting for the situational context of the book and funny. I keep hoping to come back to the thread to see how people liked the book and it is still just this complete side conversation about one word. This book really leaves me wanting more in this Series. I am finding that I really love how ENT is playing out. I look forward to each book more and more.

 

[Reanok]

I can't wait to get the next book in the series and find out what happens next because that was one heck of a cliff hanger ending.Alot of great storytelling in this book when it came to Trip's storyline was some of my favorite moments in the book.T'Pol also liked her storyarc in this book. And it's nice to see Archer and his crew get more to do in this book as well.Poor Travis went through the wringer in this book.The Romulans were certainly ruthless and calculating in plotting the attacks on the Klingons and Vulcans.

 

[Zane Gray]

I find it really funny that there have been so many pages about one word. I just found it fitting for the situational context of the book and funny. I keep hoping to come back to the thread to see how people liked the book and it is still just this complete side conversation about one word. This book really leaves me wanting more in this Series. I am finding that I really love how ENT is playing out. I look forward to each book more and more.

Oh, but this thread is so clever and funny. Writers and their fans being witty together! Oddly, not the actual writers of the book in question, but still. Writers!

 

[Zane Gray]

Why does anybody give a shit about the price of tea in China?

Said with not a hint of irony...

 

[JD]

I've been wondering, who created the Columbia's crew (other than Hernandez of course)? I know David Mack has said that he worked with Mangles & Martin to make sure that they were consistant in both KM and Destiny, but I wasn't sure if that meant that he actually came up created.

 

[Sto-Vo-Kory]

I agree that Travis was sent through the wringer in this novel and I hope the follow-up book delves more into the character's reaction to the Horizon's fate and his seeming resentment of Archer's decision regarding the Kobayashi Maru. The authors really started to flesh out Mayweather's character more in "Last Full Measure" and I hope they continue this trend in future volumes of the ENT relaunch. Travis may be the most criminally under-used character in the history of Trek on-screen -- the ENT relaunch is a perfect opportunity for this guy to finally break out of the background and take his place with the rest of the featured crew.

My fingers are crossed that Mangels and Martin (or just Martin) get around to tackling the character of Hoshi more in the upcoming books as well. Like Travis, this is a character desperately in need of more complexity and development. So far -- in the M&M books -- she hasn't proven to be very interesting or integral to the story. For a writing team that has impressively captured the characterization for the rest of the primary crew (including Travis and several MACOs), Hoshi seems to be their one weak spot.

 

[Christopher]

Travis may be the most criminally under-used character in the history of Trek on-screen...

I have to disagree there.

Episodes with plotlines centering on:

Travis Mayweather: 5 ("Fortunate Son," "Detained," "Horizon," "Demons," "Terra Prime")
Hikaru Sulu: 0
Nyota Uhura: 0

 

[Therin of Andor]

I have permission to reproduce this except of a review of "Star Trek: Enterprise: Kobayashi Maru" by shop assistant C.M. of Galaxy Bookshop, Sydney, which has just appeared in the "Fave Raves" column of Galaxy's newsletter, "Nexus", issue #245, Oct 2008, page 3.

It's quite rare for "Nexus" to review a Star Trek novel. The shop already does a rather healthy trade in ST novels, with many regular customers pre-ordering air-freighted copies of each new title, which arrive the same time as the US releases, and other customers happy to snap up the cheaper local distributors' batches when they arrive a few months later.

After three paragraphs setting the scene with a brief synopsis, C.M. continues, "I really enjoyed the story, and all the work that the authors have put into researching and joining threads of hints from many other tales in the 'Star Trek' Universe. The 'Enterprise' series has become quite a treasure trove for the building of depth and substance to an already detailed and interesting story in all its generations.

"And I absolutely love taking all those dropped, off-the-cuff comments that appear in the original 'Star Trek' all the way through to 'Voyager', fleshing them out and giving them life beyond their vagues beginnings. Fantastic.

"Keep an eye out for further details revealed herein... the Romulans aren't the only people with skeletons in the closet."

I thought authors Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels might get a buzz out of hearing they made Page 3! I asked C.M. what "C.M." stood for and he just grinned and said, "Crazy Man".

 

[JD]

Travis may be the most criminally under-used character in the history of Trek on-screen...

I have to disagree there.

Episodes with plotlines centering on:

Travis Mayweather: 5 ("Fortunate Son," "Detained," "Horizon," "Demons," "Terra Prime")
Hikaru Sulu: 0
Nyota Uhura: 0

You know, I never realized it before, but you're right. Did they ever say where they were from or anything like that?

 

[Christopher]

^^Not onscreen, no. And Sulu never got a first name onscreen until ST VI, and Uhura still never has, although indications are that she'll officially (at long last) be called Nyota Uhura in the new movie.

 

[JD]

So Nyota just came from the books then?

 

[KRAD]

You know, I never realized it before, but you're right. Did they ever say where they were from or anything like that?

Sulu stated in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home that he was born in San Francisco.

 

[Therin of Andor]

So Nyota just came from the books then?

Yes. Bill Rotsler rang Nichelle Nichols to suggest the name "Nyota" when he was writing "ST II Biographies", and the novelists started to use the reference, with "Uhura's Song" one of the first, with Janet Kagan making the name quite an important plot point in the story as the characters unraveled the aliens' naming rituals.

(Previously, Nichelle had already given personal approval to the fans doing fanzines, and attending those early conventions, approval to use "Penda". Similarly, George Takei approved "Walter" for Sulu, predating "Hikaru" in "The Entropy Effect".)

 

[PaulSimpson]

(Previously, Nichelle had already given personal approval to the fans doing fanzines, and attending those early conventions, approval to use "Penda". Similarly, George Takei approved "Walter" for Sulu, predating "Hikaru" in "The Entropy Effect".)

I have been searching high and low for the place where he's referred to as "Walter Sulu" because I was sure I read it somewhere years and years ago - did it ever appear "officially" in print anywhere?

P

 

[Therin of Andor]

I have been searching high and low for the place where he's referred to as "Walter Sulu" because I was sure I read it somewhere years and years ago - did it ever appear "officially" in print anywhere?

Well, I read it somewhere! I think it's a discussion in either "Star Trek Lives!" or in one of "The Best of Trek" volumes. And, of course, in fanzines of the day. I'm fairly sure it's an early "The Best of Trek", an article about the shared universe of early fanfic. Someone goes into detail about the root of Penda Uhura, Walter Sulu and Winston Kyle. Lemme check...

UPDATE: Here it is: pp 3-11 of "The Best of Trek #3" (1980):

"Sulu, on the other hand, has a more pedestrian appelation: Walter. How this name was chosen is somewhat a mystery, as many fans support the choice as being poor, and not reflective of Sulu's mixed Oriental ancestry; while others applaud it as being representative of a future when names need not carry ethnic overtones. So a decision is still up in the air, but I have chosen the "Walter" side of the issue, as George Takei himself stated the name was a good choice." ("More Star Trek Mysteries Solved" by Leslie Thompson, p. 10.)

Also:

"Fandom has generally accepted that Uhura's first name is Penda, which in Swahili means 'love'. A most appropriate name, to be sure, as she is not only loved by all the crew, but her entire name, freely translated, means 'She who loves freedom'." (p. 9-10)

and:

"Transporter Chief Kyle, being an Englishman, could have only one name: Winston. It is not only fitting in view of British history, but a nice salute to the actor who made so much of such a small part over the years, John Winston." (p. 10.)

I know there was another article, somewhere, that discussed some world-building type panels at early ST cons: DC Fontana making up Spock's tricky-to-say family name; David Gerrold suggesting "Tiberius" as Kirk's "T" (which he later used in "Bem"); and Nichelle and George approving their "fanon" first names.

"Letters to Star Trek" or "The Making of the Trek Conventions" might have something.

 

[Zane Gray]

I've been wondering, who created the Columbia's crew (other than Hernandez of course)? I know David Mack has said that he worked with Mangles & Martin to make sure that they were consistant in both KM and Destiny, but I wasn't sure if that meant that he actually came up created.

Other than one or two minor characters that might have been names in the credits of the series, I think Mack created most of the other crew members and Mangels and Martin coordinated with him to use them in KM. I think. I read that somewhere but I don't recall where. Maybe even here somewhere.

 

[KRAD]

^ The only Columbia crew that ever appeared on screen were Captain Hernandez and Commander Tucker when he was assigned to that ship for a chunk of the fourth season.

 

[Christopher]

^^Well, plus various unnamed extras who may or may not have been the same people as characters from the books.

 

[Stevil2001]

And the four named engineers, including Seth MacFarlane's character.

 

[Zane Gray]

And the four named engineers, including Seth MacFarlane's character.

Probably named only in the script, and in the credits, yes? That's what I meant. But I think most of the characters in the book were fleshed out or created by Mack, and then used by Andy and Mike in KM. Actually, here's what Andy and Mike say in the acknowledgments for KM:

"David Mack, for the extensive work he did on the aforementioned trilogy in creating the Columbia crew members, which allowed us to debut them in these pages"