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Hey all. Shaw here.
Some of you are already aware that I am a big fan of the Manny Coto-produced fourth season of Star Trek: Enterprise (i.e. everything except the season-opening two-parter and that horrible, horrible finale, neither of which were Coto’s).
I read the ENT novels, and I wanted to mention that the latest one ]A Choice Of Futures, by Christopher L. Bennetthas been a great read so far.
The story is set some 12 years after the end of the Enterprise series, immediately following the end of the Romulan War, and the transition from ENT’s Coalition Of Planets into the United Federation Of Planets.
You don’t need to have read any of the previous ENT novels to follow this one — they give you the backstory you need to know as the story progresses.
The one twist you may need to know about before going in is that Trip Tucker is actually alive.
There’s an ENT novel called The Good That Men Do which was basically written to “explain” the massive plot holes in the ENT finale, and they managed to give us back Tucker as a character in the process.
You can read other ENT novels prior to A Choice Of Futures but, in my opinion, the quality of the writing (the prose on the page) isn’t very good in those earlier novels. Bennett is a welcome change.
So, if you’re at all interested, give A Choice Of Futures by Christopher L. Bennett a shot. Star Trek books aren’t canonical, any more than Star Trek Online is, but it’s been a great story thus far.
I don’t want to give away any details of the plot, so I’ll let things rest here.
My opinions only, of course. I hope everyone is well!
Shaw
aka @CobaltBlueHero
hey Shaw, thanks for that, I might try the Enterprise novels if I see them available here anywhere other than amazon. Picked up a few of the Vanguard series at a flea market in the summer and have to say I found those very poor, hopefully will far better with the ENT ones…
Heya, Andy,
Well, I know taste is personal, so I can make no guarantess — I just felt that the current novel is a good one.
In fact, I wouldn’t bother with the earlier ones except, perhaps, the other one I linked which explains how Trip Tucker did not actually perish — and even this one, only if you’re interested in reading the details.
The new book by Christopher Bennett is intended as a new “jumping on point” for readers, so pretty much everything you need to know is folded in there somewhere.
The previous ENT books had serviceable plots, for the most part, but I found the quality of the writing (the words on the page) erratic at best, and really damned irritating at worst. Bennett’s prose in the newest novel is a lot smoother and more nuanced, at least in my opinion.
In the end, though, only you can decide for you, Andy, and I get that. I sincerely hope you find the book an enjoyable read.
Best to ya,
Shaw
aka @CobaltBlueHero
Hi all. Shaw again.
A bit of nerditry, for those who might be interested …
In the novel I mentioned above, Admiral Jonathan Archer’s new flagship, the USS Endeavour NCC-06 is described as being of the Columbia class, named in honor of both the lost space shuttle crew, and the NX-02 Columbia captained by Archer’s sometime paramour, Erika Hernandez, a ship which went MIA during the Romulan War in the timeline of the novels.
While the Columbia-class is described briefly in the novel, author Bennett later reveals that the Columbia-class is essentially designer Doug Drexler’s proposed NX-01 Refit design.
You can check out Drexler’s design below, if you’re curious (Click To See The Full Pic))
As you can see, the design is basically one more “evolutionary step” between Archer’s NX-01, and the iconic Enterprise design captained by Robert April, Christopher Pike, and James T. Kirk.
Enjoy!
Shaw
P.S. For those of you who might think the name on the Photobucket account is my real name, it’s not. Another alias. Sorry 🙂
aka @CobaltBlueHero
Hi Shaw,
I just downloaded the Novel from Amazon and I am currently on Chapter 3. It is proven to be a good read. Thanks for the tip.Also I love the look of the Upgraded NX / Columbia Class. I found a Kit to retrofit an NX model kit. I already have an NX model in the wings waiting to be built. I am really considering getting the Retrofit kit to build it.
I’m just glad that you’re finding the book entertaining, Sensei!
As for your model-building, you must post photos of your finished product(s): NX-01, or Columbia-class, or both!
I confess, I sometimes have model-envy — I always liked the idea of building models, but I was never very good at it, alas.
But I did have a self-built model of Kirk’s Enterprise hanging above my bed for years as a child, flaws and all. 🙂
Anyway, I’ll let you get back to your reading!
See you around the galaxy, captain,
Shaw
aka @CobaltBlueHero
Know of any good timelines for any of the Star Trek novels…I read most of the TNG novels but kind of lost track after those
Hello,
I used this site for help on the reading order.
http://shastrix.com/books/star_trek/readingorder.phpAnother ship being used in the Enterprise novels.
“Intrepid Type”
With the other series I started with the Destiny books for TNG and then the “Full Circle” books on Voyager.
Also the Mirror Universe “Rise like lions” is fun.Hello, captains,
I just wanted to mention — for those who might be interested — that the follow-up novel to the one I mentioned above has just been released, in both Kindle and dead-tree formats.
Amazon US link should be HERE
Cheers,
Shaw
aka @CobaltBlueHero
I’m enjoying it.
Don’t want to say to much 😀
It has both of the ships we discussed on the cover, that is cool.
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