When can we expect USS Kelvin novels?

[Christopher]

Heck, TNG consistently portrayed the Enterprise-D as the most prestigious posting in Starfleet, the flagship of the whole Federation, the best and most advanced class of ship ever, etc. It doesn't make much sense to blame Kurtzman & Orci for following decades of onscreen precedent.

 

[William Leisner]

^ It does when they're creating an "origin story," and then presenting things like this as either pre-established, or just assumed. Yes, the other Enterprises were seen as prestigeous assignments. However, the TOS Enterprise was first seen in the midst of its five-year mission, and established as a ship with a history under the celebrated Christopher Pike, not to mention an early historic mission to the edge of the galaxy under Kirk. The Enterprise-D, though without a history, had an extra century of legacy behind the name, and more importantly, was under the command of the famed Jean-Luc Picard.

In this origin movie, though, Enterprise is just a name. There's no rational reason for Uhura to fixate on an assignment to this ship over any other Constitution-class vessel (and certainly not for her to start fixating at age 5, when the ship was likely no more than a set of blueprints). Nor, frankly, is there a rational reason for her, as a cadet, to decide she's going to risk insubordination charges by complaining that she didn't get what she wanted. And Spock, being even more rational, should have told her to stow her emotionalism and report to the ship to which she'd been assigned.

 

[MrPointy]

^
Considering that the first warp-5 ship Starfleet ever had, which was fast enough to allow them to properly go and seek out new lifeforms and boldly go and all that junk, was called the Enterprise, I imagine there was a lot of history and prestige behind that name. Hence they put it on their flagship 100-ish years later.

 

[Christopher]

I think the movie did plenty to present the Enterprise as a unique and special ship. It was overtly called the "flagship" in dialogue. We saw Kirk admiring it under construction. In the Starbase One sequence, we saw Kirk and McCoy gazing at it in amazement, and it was clearly the biggest and fanciest ship around. The vessel was fetishized just as much here as it was in TMP, albeit at a faster pace. Even novice viewers would have no trouble seeing this film and recognizing that Uhura has reason to see the Enterprise as the most desirable of all postings.

Nor, frankly, is there a rational reason for her, as a cadet, to decide she's going to risk insubordination charges by complaining that she didn't get what she wanted. And Spock, being even more rational, should have told her to stow her emotionalism and report to the ship to which she'd been assigned.

You're still not getting it. Spock was the one being emotional; he changed her assignment to a different ship for personal reasons, because he was concerned about the appearance of favoritism. She told him she wouldn't tolerate that and made him change it back to what it was supposed to be, namely the Enterprise. Maybe that comes across better in the novelization than the final cut; I think a few lines were trimmed. Movies these days are so relentlessly edited that the details of plot and characterization tend to suffer badly.

 

[ToddCam]

^
Considering that the first warp-5 ship Starfleet ever had, which was fast enough to allow them to properly go and seek out new lifeforms and boldly go and all that junk, was called the Enterprise, I imagine there was a lot of history and prestige behind that name. Hence they put it on their flagship 100-ish years later.

Not to mention that that Enterprise saved Earth from destruction at the hands of the Xindi, and helped forge alliances that would eventually result in the foundation of the United Federation of Planets. It makes absolute sense that they would use that name for something they considered inherently prestigious.

 

[BillJ]

^
Considering that the first warp-5 ship Starfleet ever had, which was fast enough to allow them to properly go and seek out new lifeforms and boldly go and all that junk, was called the Enterprise, I imagine there was a lot of history and prestige behind that name. Hence they put it on their flagship 100-ish years later.

Not to mention that that Enterprise saved Earth from destruction at the hands of the Xindi, and helped forge alliances that would eventually result in the foundation of the United Federation of Planets. It makes absolute sense that they would use that name for something they considered inherently prestigious.

But the target audience of this film is going to know none of those details.

 

[David cgc]

The target audience also doesn't have a problem with accepting that the Enterprise is the hot shit from day one if the movie tells them so.

 

[dahj]

^
Considering that the first warp-5 ship Starfleet ever had, which was fast enough to allow them to properly go and seek out new lifeforms and boldly go and all that junk, was called the Enterprise, I imagine there was a lot of history and prestige behind that name. Hence they put it on their flagship 100-ish years later.

Not to mention that that Enterprise saved Earth from destruction at the hands of the Xindi, and helped forge alliances that would eventually result in the foundation of the United Federation of Planets. It makes absolute sense that they would use that name for something they considered inherently prestigious.

But the target audience of this film is going to know none of those details.

If you were to put out a survey to a random group of people(not just ST fans) as to which word they associate with Star Trek, I'm pretty sure Enterprise would be the top word by far. From that, it's not unreasonable to figure out that Enterprise might be a bit of a big deal whether you had some contact with ST before or none at all.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

The Enterprise is the most advanced-looking ship we see in the movie; the others we see launched, the support craft we see, even the bridge simulator at the Academy all look to be older technology. There is some suggestion that the Enterprise is considered a special ship - Pike refers to the "pomp and circumstance" befitting the "launch of Starfleet's newest flagship." So yeah, there are in-movie reasons offered for someone to consider this ship a plum assignment.

God knows that Star Trek has never used the term "flagship" in any kind of reasonable way, but if you call something the flagship it's not unreasonable for the audience to accept that someone might be anxious for this assignment rather than another.

 

[BrentMc]

I liked George Kirk and I would love to read a novel about the Kelvin set before the movie.

 

[Trilliam]

I liked George Kirk and I would love to read a novel about the Kelvin set before the movie.

It took me a few minutes until I realised that the actor playing George Kirk, had been in "Home and Away".

 

[SheliakBob]

Good God.
I sifted through my raging hatred for the Abomination, laid out all the arguments against accepting even its existence, the full range of objections from reboot to recast to lens flares etc. , delved into the archive of frothy rants...
and I discovered that I'd be pretty okay with a USS Kelvin novel. Yep. I'd buy it. Hell, I'd be HAPPY to buy it.
this is very frightening. it's dangerously close to jumping on the Abomination's bandwagon. Sort of like running alongside of it, cussing, but holding on to the side with one hand.
I'm not sure I can still respect myself.

but, I mean, Robau is cool! How can I be expected to hold out against that?
(don't even bring up the green Orion girl. I feel shamed enough as is at the moment...)

 

[Trent Roman]

^ Well, since any Kelvin novels would necessarily have to preceed the crapfest movie (or else be set in the original continuity), the book wouldn't have to deal with any of the nonsense of the film itself. The only thing they would need to take from the film is the handful of characters, but since the sequences were so brief and we know so little about the people aboard the Kelvin, authors would be licensed to fill almost all details pursuant to who these people really are. (That said, I've no real interest in a Kelvin book myself... yes, it could presumably be rescued from the film, but why bother when there are so many other series out there?)

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[JoeZhang]

I thought she wanted to be on the same ship because Spock was boning her. On a related subject - I thought that scene made it really obvious that they were in a relationship but comments here and other places suggest that most people were surprised by the confirmation of the relationship later in the film, I just took *that* scene as confirmation.

 

[Christopher]

I thought she wanted to be on the same ship because Spock was boning her.

No, she said explicitly that her desire from the beginning had been to serve aboard the Enterprise. If you actually listen to her dialogue in the hangar scene, it's absolutely unambiguous that her interest is in the Enterprise. The only person in that scene who mentions anything personal is Spock, who's worried about the appearance of favoritism. Uhura speaks solely about the ship, her qualifications, and her career ambitions. She's all business in that scene. And frankly I think it's stereotyping to assume that the female character has to be motivated by desire for a man rather than desire for professional achievement.

On a related subject - I thought that scene made it really obvious that they were in a relationship but comments here and other places suggest that most people were surprised by the confirmation of the relationship later in the film, I just took *that* scene as confirmation.

I think it's ambiguous how far their relationship has actually gone, and I think it's jumping to conclusions to assume they're sexually intimate. If anything, the more I watch the movie and think about it, the more I think that kiss in the turbolift might have been their first kiss. I sort of get the sense that she's wanted a relationship but he's held back, and that's the first time he's let his guard down enough to show open reciprocation for her affections, but after a moment he's all business again. As I watch Saldana's performance, it seems like it could be disappointment that he's pulling away again after finally letting her in for a moment. True, that's not the only way of reading the scene or their overall interaction, but I think it's a valid one.

 

[Stevil2001]

No way was that their first kiss, given Uhura's innuendo about "oral proficiency" or whatever the exact line was.

 

[JoeZhang]

Uhura speaks solely about the ship, her qualifications, and her career ambitions.

"Did I not demonstrate on multiple occasions, exceptional oral sensitivity?"

Come on.. you can't tell me that's not a wink to the audience?

 

[David cgc]

I think that was supposed to be "aural sensitivity" not "oral sensitivity," which makes far more sense. I suppose background noise and Kirk's earlier line in the bar made us all hear a blowjob joke instead of the correct word.

 

[JoeZhang]

I think that was supposed to be "aural sensitivity" not "oral sensitivity," which makes far more sense. I suppose background noise and Kirk's earlier line in the bar made us all hear a blowjob joke instead of the correct word.

It still seems a very knowing line to me - at least they didn't have her claim to be a cunning linguist.

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

^ Well, since any Kelvin novels would necessarily have to preceed the crapfest movie (or else be set in the original continuity), the book wouldn't have to deal with any of the nonsense of the film itself. The only thing they would need to take from the film is the handful of characters, but since the sequences were so brief and we know so little about the people aboard the Kelvin, authors would be licensed to fill almost all details pursuant to who these people really are. (That said, I've no real interest in a Kelvin book myself... yes, it could presumably be rescued from the film, but why bother when there are so many other series out there?)

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

Interesting you should mention that, since Titan was born in part out of the crapfest which was Nemesis. Why did anyone bother with that?