Star Trek: Enterprise: Rise of the Federation: A Choice of Futures

My last encounter with Enterprise as a series was the final episode back in 2005 and that was, as we will all remember, less than stellar.

So this latest Enterprise novel from the halls of Simon and Schuster is something of a voyage into the unknown. A lot seems to have happened since the final episode and in essence only the characters actually align this to the show in any manner. So be warned there might be SPOILERS as we open the pages and read on...

There is no Enterprise and for me the whole nature of the show was about those first exploratory steps and initial technological advances. It's a difficult concept to grasp but in some respects it is honouring the memory of the short-lived series by expanding the story into the evolution of the Federation.

In A Choice of Futures things have moved on and the beginnings of the Federation are starting to evolve but as always there are some dark nasties looking to cause trouble from the wings and disrupt everything. Our familiars from the series have all moved on, whether into command of other starships or more senior positions at least. Even dead ones seem to have, as seems to be the trend with Star Trek, the ability to return from beyond the grave.

I have two differing opinions on this novel. One says to me that Enterprise novels should be confined to the arc of the series but in another heartbeat I know that moving events forward in time and defining the galaxy of the 23rd and 24th Centuries. What we get is kind of a mix up of lots of things and at the end of it not a lot to show. 

I spent a great deal of the first 200 pages not really getting where this was going. There were some nice chats about promotions, lots of talking about what they might do, some chats about relationships, a few words about an enemy called the "Mutes", a bit of eating and two thirds of the book seemed to have drifted by. I was not impressed and I got the sense that there was a lot of filler here. Most of the focus is on Archer, T'Pol and Reed with Sato and Mayweather filling out the background. For a lot of the time they are barely more than bit parts which is a shame but reflects exactly how they were in Enterprise.

Don't get me wrong, Christopher L Bennett tries to make this interesting but it's as though he's not got a lot to work with and fills out the novel with lots of nice little character bits but no serious, hard-hitting stuff until much later but the problem is that by that stage I really didn't care. I was looking forward to getting into this book BUT the problem is that it's all buildup with a group of characters that just don't seem to lift off the page and do anything vaguely interesting.

Archer for one seems totally neutered as an admiral, spending time hoping around between ships and the Federation Council playing mediator. Sitting on that very council is Enterprise guest-star favourite Shran and his initial introduction belays that the character has chilled out since we saw him in the series. That in itself is a real shame as I would have hoped that this individual would have managed to light some kind of fire within this book and make it engaging. Sadly that's not the case and Shran spends a lot of time doing a lot of time sitting around...chatting.

The villain here in the form of the Mutes just don't get that threatening and I never really believe their case because the bulk of the book does what it does best - talks about them, builds them up and then leaves them in a position which can only make them something of a disappointment. Their reveal could have been great and pivotal to the plot but after dragging out the "action" for a long time I didn't care that much. Sorry; I just wasn't fussed.

Aside from the fact that Enterprise is missing the Enterprise in all but a few off-hand "oh yeah, this is based on that series" references the crew are just bland, even more so than many fans may regrettably recall from the series. Bringing Trip "back" from the dead might have seemed like a great idea somewhere along the line but it just adds a further insult to the injury that was These Are the Voyages.... While that might not have been the author's fault you do get the sense that he's had to work with it. Trip should have stayed dead because it only makes that error of a final episode even more horrid and his return feels apologetic - did we even need him to be in Section 31?!

OK, OK, it's pretty apparent that I am not giving this book a good review but there are some great redeeming points within the pages that are worth finding through all the misjudgements and stilted pacing. Bennett works a treat in around the transporter systems and their potential dangers. It's a great notion and something that only a couple of characters (McCoy and Pulaski) ever really hint at. Here those concerns are met and covered; the only thing is it's thought another one of Those Chats that litter this publication. 

Nicely for those who like a good bit of continuity we also get to meet one of the former Dax hosts, Tobin who is working on a project for the Federation of, without doubt, the utmost importance. It's a nice nod to the franchise and Deep Space Nine in particular which I would never have expected to be referenced in an Enterprise novel. There are more nods to the Kir'Shara, the Xindi and even, oddly at a time when I've just discovered a show is being made about Garth of Izar, Axanar which played such a pivotal role in his life and career (here's the link to their Facebook page)

Perhaps though a highlight of the book and one that did stick with me throughout was a section dealt with starship design and why the Federation would be going along the lines of Earth's ships rather than those of the Vulcans or the Andorians. It's a decent answer and I'll give that one to Christopher L Bennett, it's a question that I'd never asked but when it was proposed here it did make me think. The reasoning is particularly nicely explained. I also did like the way in which one story strand brought back the USS Essex and Captain Bryce Shumar who were featured in The Next Generation's Power Play. I didn't expect their addition so it was a nice diversion in the plot. The challenge with these s well as the extra crew involved on the Endeavour and the Pioneer is that they aren't the main cast and as such their relationships and input into the story just don't excite. Sorry, but while it does feel like they are essential to the story their personalities are a little on the flat side.

In the last year I've read a lot of Star Trek novels for SKoST and this has to be bottom of the pile by some distance. It would even make me reconsider reviewing any more Enterprise novels in the future. The recent Eaglemoss release of the NX-01 relit my interest in this much maligned spawn of Star Trek and when I come to rewatching the series in some months time I hope that time has been kind and that A Choice of Futures isn't how it was back in the day.

Love's Labours Warped: Trek's Romantic Jinx

In line with it being Valentine's Day I thought it would be a golden opportunity to take a skating glance at the romances of Star Trek. Well, OK, let's be fair, there aren't many that end happily.

Off the top of my head I can name a couple that actually end up Happily Ever After. Admittedly it takes Troi and Riker over a decade to get their act together and Tom and B'Elanna are married in another quadrant but on the whole it's never good news if you're attempting a long term relationship - or even consider a long term relationship in the Star Trek universe. Fair to say this is almost an anti-Valentine's post. Apologies. I'm not a "bah humbug" in the romance department. I love my other half very much - but I have to blame a mid-morning Twitter conversation with @Starfinder4 over top Trek romances. I just took it a step further. A bit. OK, a lot.

Starting back aboard the NX-01, there was only ever one relationship that developed. That between Trip Tucker and Vulcan first officer, T'Pol. Just to remind us all here, there's nothing particularly ordinary about this relationship from the start - it's a clone of the ship's engineer that puts his foot into it and instigates the romance which, as seems to be a trait in later examples (or earlier dependent on your temporal perspective) it's not appreciated until its almost too late and then things are complicated with the revelation of a child within the closing episodes - oh, and the death of Trip in the series finale, "These are the Voyages" - a little permanent and something of a recurring theme as we may come to see, whatever universe you're wandering through.

The original series steered away from any kind of serious relationships - there were guest stars week in week out, Edith Keeler, Leila Kalomi, Lenore Karidian, Deela, Mira Romaine, Natira...the list goes on for the crew, but none of the crew saw anything lasting. Kirk had something of a relationship at some time and David Marcus exists to prove it but the romance there has moved on. The original crew were not one to put down roots on screen and develop anything as the series and movies progressed. The only way we know Sulu became a family man is by the appearance of Demora Sulu at the helm of the Enterprise-B in Star Trek Generations. Stability here is a no-go and it keeps with the more military stance portrayed particularly in the six movies. Guest cast have a purpose and you can guarantee they won't be around next week to pick up the pieces.

Sidestepping from the "Prime" universe for a moment we do need to mention the original series in the Abrams remix. The whole Spock and Uhura thing. Ok, so in the 60's series there were on occasion some suggestions - minor, almost insignificant moments - and on one occasion a scene that was cut from "Way to Eden" that might've pushed not only the interracial boundaries but interplanetary ones too (for more on this take a look at the superlative Star Trek 365 book). Anyway, what is it with this relationship? It comes from nowhere in the Abrams universe and really blew me sideways. I didn't see it coming and I suspect neither did fandom. Rightly though it's back in Star Trek Into Darkness and not shied away from in the slightest. I look forward to seeing how this will progress - oddly at some points I can almost see Nichelle Nichols and Leonard Nimoy attempting some kind of soppy moment at the end of The Wrath of Khan if this is the way Gene Roddenberry had chosen to develop his characters. Can you imagine what that would've ended up like?!

However the path of love and true romance is anything but easy when you're in Starfleet. While Riker and Troi manage to tie the knot in the final adventure of The Next Generation crew in Nemesis it's a rocky path that we're never really sure if they're together or not. Riker is there to listen and comfort when the moment arises and on occasion we're reminded of their relationship with the mere mention of the word "Imzadi" first uttered in "Encounter at Farpoint". It would take Troi a rather unforeseen sojourn away with Worf in the seventh season and some aging regression thanks to the planet of the Bak'u in Insurrection to get together. That's one heck of a long time to get it right!

Picard and Dr Crusher were almost as bad having "something" to say at just the wrong time everytime. It would take an alternative future to eventually marry them off - and get divorced. Those alternative futures/realities can really emphasise the way relationships in Trek just aren't meant to run smoothly! Case in point is "Parallels" which really kicked off the ill-conceived Troi/Worf thing after some tentative suggestions back in the midst of season five and following that up would be Voyager's "Endgame" with the tragedy of Seven of Nine and Chakotay's romance. Luckily there it's given some hope through the ship's return to Earth at the story's finale with all parties intact. Thank goodness for time-travelling admirals. You can never find enough when you need them.

Perhaps it's DS9 that really hits Relationship Factor Nine. Not only do we have the franchise's most stable family unit in the form of the O'Brien clan (although we never actually saw any of the romance pre-wedding) but everyone seems to be loved up or has been loved up by the series end. Sisko provides that perfect mangled relationship structure - boy is married to girl, boy loses girl to Borg, boy finds girl, girl turns out to be terrorist, girl goes to prison, girl comes out of prison, boy and girl marry, girl find out she's pregnant, boy becomes god-like being. Phew. Think that covered it. Romance-wise it's good to see the captain get to grips with a new relationship, move on from past tragedy and love over the course of the series to the point of marriage - the only captain to do so in fact. The crippling blow is that Sisko is destined for another path and his wife and son are left behind.

Kira and Odo fair no better in all honesty. For a series which is set in one place and can gather up a great deal of continuity, romance is not one of its strengths! They only get together after Kira finds out from Odo's alternate future self in "Children of Time" that he's always loved her and even then she keeps her distance for another year until "His Way" in season six. It seems like a good strong relationship with a wonderfully romantic beginning in the Vic Fontaine simulation with their first kiss on the Promenade in front of just about everyone. However, like Sisko and Kasidy Yates it's doomed to end with Odo's return to save the Great Link in "What You Leave Behind". Considering how long it took for this to come to pass in the first place, the ending is left open for a potential return but with the closure of the series we know that can only ever happen in the written, fictional Trek universe. This is one of my favourite relationships of the series as we see it develop and never really fade away. They are still clearly in love as Odo melts away at the end of the series.

In two bodies Dax is also something of a handful when it comes to love on DS9. First there's repeated, fumbling interest from Julian Bashir during the show's fledgling years, even mentioned in close proximity to Jadzia's eventual marriage to Worf in "You Are Cordially Invited". Theirs is an interesting and tense romance harbouring on some serious pain one would suggest given their mutual admiration for Klingon traditions. There's so much to their partnership that Worf risks his career to save the life of his wife ("Change of Heart") and they even consider the possibility of starting a family - as we know it would not come to pass with Jadzia's untimely death in "Tears of the Prophets". This left the way open for Bashir and Jadzia's successor Ezri to develop the relationship hinted at back in "Emissary" but dismissed by the symbiont's then-host. If it's not tragedy-tipped then you can suspect that your Alpha Quadrant relationship will certainly have its twists and turns as it blossoms. Nicely though we do have the O'Brien family and Rom and Leeta to remind us that relationships can work. In the example of the latter it's truly opposites attract and they wouldn't be the couple you would have put together when either of these characters was initially introduced - indeed we all probably thought Leeta was going to end up with Dr Bashir. But hey, it's deep space and anything can happen. It's a great love story with Rom eventually as the heroic husband ("Call to Arms") and Leeta as a strong wife and step-mother.

Spare a thought for our favourite Klingon though - love and relationships really aren't his raktajino. His mate, K'Ehelyr is killed by his nemesis, Duras, so Worf in turn kills him and his wife is murdered at the hands of Gul Dukat in DS9's Bajoran temple. Somehow Counsellor Troi survived! It's a shame and his luck with women is even passed over into the fictional universe with David Mack's The Persistence of Memory from the Cold Equations trilogy. Perhaps someone should tell Worf to steer clear of anything long term - then the odds must be against him as he does have more screen time than any other Trek character. Oddly apart from the instances of relationships for Worf noted here he tends to steer clear of female company. Maybe he knows something we don't - or perhaps is even more aware of his jinx than we are!

So enjoy Valentine's Day if you're partaking of it's romantic vibes. What have we learned here? Don't date a Klingon? Make sure that you have a relationship in the Delta Quadrant if you do? Don't give up on a Trill (at least not for a couple of lifetimes) or a Betazoid? Possibly worth keeping away from anyone who happens to be deeply involved in the spiritual background of an alien people too....never know what could happen there.

Just think yourself lucky that you're not posted out in deep space or living in an alternative timeline considering what we've glimpsed over here - and the less said about the romance between two lizard creatures, the better. Add avoiding crossing the warp threshold to the above list in that case....