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Enterprise book recap
16 Jun 2015 11:21 pmI finished the 2nd book last night.
The plot makes less and less sense as they go on, but I can't stop reading. I'm thinking about going back and making notes on some of the crazier parts--both plot and language.
Here's some highlights of the plot:
The events of the final episode of Enterprise are rewritten with the premise that the aired events were a cover-up for the real events that Nog and Jack Sisko discover as old men.
As in the episode, Enterprise is supposed to be heading to Earth for the signing of the Coalition of Planets agreement (precursor to the Federation), but they keep getting sidetracked by things, namely Shran who calls in his last favor from Archer.
Trip is convinced that the Romulans are going to attack in Coalition space, but no one will believe him. Frustrated, he goes to Malcolm's shadowy Section 31 contact and is recruited as a spy. Riiiiiight. Because a chief engineer makes an awesome spy! Actually, they convince him because he's such a people person, can think on his feet, and he's an engineer going in to sabotage or steal the Romulan's warp 7 technology. Apparently no one else can do this.
Malcolm, Archer and Phlox agree to help fake Trip's death so he can go off the grid. He refuses to tell T'Pol for some unfathomable reason (which is addressed later in the book). After his "death," he is transported to a ship run by the "pirates" that attacked Enterprise and supposedly killed him. Everyone is sad, even Archer because his BFF is gone (he mentions this a lot. A. LOT.)
Trip goes with the pirates and is then introduced to his new buddy Phoung, who is a three-year veteran spy or something. Together they go to some unheard of planet inhabited by bird people with an uncanny ability for advanced cosmetic surgery. They also just happen to know what the most secretive people in the galaxy look like. Of course, Trip is shocked to find out Romulans look like Vulcans. Trip is made to look like a specific Romulan--an assistant of some warp designer--with a voice modulator, although, he apparently still has his Southern accent (no one comments on this, though).
They make it into Romulan space and visit some dissident group. Things don't go according to plan, Phoung is killed, and Trip barely escapes with the warp scientist they were sent to stop (a senile old codger). The scientist eventually figures out that Trip isn't who he says he is, but helps him escape because he doesn't want anyone to really have the warp 7 tech because he doesn't like the direction his gov't is going.
Meanwhile stuff happens on Enterprise. T'Pol is convinced Trip is still alive and has a meltdown at his memorial service, but then she turns back into a robot, er, Vulcan. Archer continually laments the loss of his BFF and how he can't talk to his other BFF (T'Pol) about it. Woe is him. I really don't even remember what else happens to them. I think they rescue Shran's wife or something.
Eventually Enterprise does make it back to Earth in time to sign the treaty (almost exactly like is shown in the last episode). Archer and T'Pol meet Trip's parents who have now lost a daughter and son. Apparently Trip's older brother is gay and now hates Starfleet because of reasons. His husband tries to talk sense into him, but he won't have it. I have no idea why their POV was included other than the fact that Bert Tucker was gay and so is one of the authors* and "gay agenda!!!!" Really, there was no point to the scene. There are a lot of characters that have no point in the story.
(* in reading the reviews on Amazon, there were so many people bitching about the gay agenda in the book because one freaking character in one scene was gay--okay, two characters technically. Seriously. Just mentioning someone is gay is enough of an agenda to some people... I don't get it.)
Trip, after escaping from the Romulans, goes back to Earth where everyone just thinks he's a Vulcan so he can see Archer give his speech. They have a little chat then Trip sees T'Pol where he finally realizes that out of all of his friends, she's the one he probably could have trusted the most with his secret identity and mission. Dumbass.
Despite nearly dying a couple of times and T'Pol pretty much begging him to stay, he decides to go back in to finish his mission. Obviously he's been sniffing too much plasma coolant back in engineering.
In the second book, Trip takes up the same identity but working for a Romulan admiral in the capital city helping the same scientist he rescued from the dissidents. The scientist knows who he really is, but plays along.
The Romulans have also perfected some "telecapture" tech that allows them to take over another ship. They hijack some Klingon ships and turn them against Coalition ships and planets nearly causing a war with the Klingons, except for Archer saving the day. As usual. Freaking attention whore.
Oh, apparently the Klingon admiral is also gay which was very random, as is this comment.
Enterprise and Columbia are supposed to be patrolling shipping lanes (because you always send your flagships to babysit freighters), but keep getting drawn into the Klingon/Romulan affair. Columbia nearly gets blown up. Twice. Travis Mayweather's family is shot into a star. T'Pol and Malcolm steal a shuttlepod to go looking for Trip. Other stuff happens I think. Archer can't stop thinking about how much he misses Trip and T'Pol and Malcolm because he has no one to talk to.
Meanwhile, Trip is behind enemy lines, and they are getting suspicious. The scientist is killed which makes him sad (but he's not going native). The admiral sends him on a mission to retrieve some files from the dissidents that he escaped from in the first mission. He suspects they think he's a Vulcan spy. He also expects to be killed at the end, so he's going to have to kill his escort first. They get to the hide-out only to find the guy in charge is the same dissident leader as before, except Trip knows the guy is really a Vulcan. The leader outs Trip as a human, so he outs the leader as a Vulcan which completely confuses everyone else in the room. Total spy vs. spy going on--I was laughing so hard. It's never really established if the guy is a Vulcan disguised as a Romulan or the other way around or who exactly he's working for. As far as I could tell he's a triple agent playing the Vulcans against the Romulans against the dissidents. Trip is just as confused.
He almost gets his head blown off, but Malcolm and T'Pol show up just in the nick of time. Of course, he'soverjoyed pissed to see them. They are royally fucking up his mission. He refuses to go back to Enterprise with them, but has wicked good-bye sex with T'Pol. They leave and Trip goes back into enemy territory.
Back on Enterprise, Malcolm and T'Pol don't even get a slap on the wrist. They get bear hugs and near-tears.
Trip never makes it back to the capital. He's picked up by another ship which just happens to be captained by the dissident leader who survived the destruction of his hide-out. This is when Trip learns he's really working for the admiral to infiltrate the dissidents. But is he a Vulcan spy? The world may never know.
Now Trip's stuck on the ship as it gets ready to attack Enterprise, using the Kobayashi Maru as bait. This is where the title of the book comes in, and the most famous no-win scenario is finally explained. Of course, Trip can't have this because he doesn't believe in no-win situations. Despite having his hands figuratively tied (the station he's at isn't hooked up to anything important) he manages to get a Morse Code signal to Hoshi that the Romulans are going to remotely take over Enterprise. When he's discovered, he goes all YOLO and manages to crash the ship into an asteroid for the win!
Archer has to make the ultimate decision--stay and try to rescue the remaining crew/passengers of the Maru, risking having Starfleet's most advanced ship fall into enemy hands, or run while they still can, leaving the people on the Maru to die. Sometimes it sucks to be the captain. He chooses to save the ship which pisses off Travis who just found out his family (who run a freight ship) died.
The book ends with the newly formed Coalition on the verge of war with the Romulans, the Columbia missing, and Trip barely escaping from the Romulan ship before it blows up. He takes the Vulcan/Romulan spy with him. Last thing we see is his escape pod on its way to crashing into a mine, ending with a one-liner from Trip.
Tune in to the next book to see how it all ends.
I've read the next book, but have no memory of what happens.
The plot makes little sense. It's one of those, "it's so stupid, I have to see how it ends," plots. The random POV changes add little. Some are put in there for no apparent reason. The information could have been presented from a different, established POV, but instead a new character is introduced for like two scenes. I hate that crap.
But at least Trip didn't die.
Yet.
The plot makes less and less sense as they go on, but I can't stop reading. I'm thinking about going back and making notes on some of the crazier parts--both plot and language.
Here's some highlights of the plot:
As in the episode, Enterprise is supposed to be heading to Earth for the signing of the Coalition of Planets agreement (precursor to the Federation), but they keep getting sidetracked by things, namely Shran who calls in his last favor from Archer.
Trip is convinced that the Romulans are going to attack in Coalition space, but no one will believe him. Frustrated, he goes to Malcolm's shadowy Section 31 contact and is recruited as a spy. Riiiiiight. Because a chief engineer makes an awesome spy! Actually, they convince him because he's such a people person, can think on his feet, and he's an engineer going in to sabotage or steal the Romulan's warp 7 technology. Apparently no one else can do this.
Malcolm, Archer and Phlox agree to help fake Trip's death so he can go off the grid. He refuses to tell T'Pol for some unfathomable reason (which is addressed later in the book). After his "death," he is transported to a ship run by the "pirates" that attacked Enterprise and supposedly killed him. Everyone is sad, even Archer because his BFF is gone (he mentions this a lot. A. LOT.)
Trip goes with the pirates and is then introduced to his new buddy Phoung, who is a three-year veteran spy or something. Together they go to some unheard of planet inhabited by bird people with an uncanny ability for advanced cosmetic surgery. They also just happen to know what the most secretive people in the galaxy look like. Of course, Trip is shocked to find out Romulans look like Vulcans. Trip is made to look like a specific Romulan--an assistant of some warp designer--with a voice modulator, although, he apparently still has his Southern accent (no one comments on this, though).
They make it into Romulan space and visit some dissident group. Things don't go according to plan, Phoung is killed, and Trip barely escapes with the warp scientist they were sent to stop (a senile old codger). The scientist eventually figures out that Trip isn't who he says he is, but helps him escape because he doesn't want anyone to really have the warp 7 tech because he doesn't like the direction his gov't is going.
Meanwhile stuff happens on Enterprise. T'Pol is convinced Trip is still alive and has a meltdown at his memorial service, but then she turns back into a robot, er, Vulcan. Archer continually laments the loss of his BFF and how he can't talk to his other BFF (T'Pol) about it. Woe is him. I really don't even remember what else happens to them. I think they rescue Shran's wife or something.
Eventually Enterprise does make it back to Earth in time to sign the treaty (almost exactly like is shown in the last episode). Archer and T'Pol meet Trip's parents who have now lost a daughter and son. Apparently Trip's older brother is gay and now hates Starfleet because of reasons. His husband tries to talk sense into him, but he won't have it. I have no idea why their POV was included other than the fact that Bert Tucker was gay and so is one of the authors* and "gay agenda!!!!" Really, there was no point to the scene. There are a lot of characters that have no point in the story.
(* in reading the reviews on Amazon, there were so many people bitching about the gay agenda in the book because one freaking character in one scene was gay--okay, two characters technically. Seriously. Just mentioning someone is gay is enough of an agenda to some people... I don't get it.)
Trip, after escaping from the Romulans, goes back to Earth where everyone just thinks he's a Vulcan so he can see Archer give his speech. They have a little chat then Trip sees T'Pol where he finally realizes that out of all of his friends, she's the one he probably could have trusted the most with his secret identity and mission. Dumbass.
Despite nearly dying a couple of times and T'Pol pretty much begging him to stay, he decides to go back in to finish his mission. Obviously he's been sniffing too much plasma coolant back in engineering.
In the second book, Trip takes up the same identity but working for a Romulan admiral in the capital city helping the same scientist he rescued from the dissidents. The scientist knows who he really is, but plays along.
The Romulans have also perfected some "telecapture" tech that allows them to take over another ship. They hijack some Klingon ships and turn them against Coalition ships and planets nearly causing a war with the Klingons, except for Archer saving the day. As usual. Freaking attention whore.
Oh, apparently the Klingon admiral is also gay which was very random, as is this comment.
Enterprise and Columbia are supposed to be patrolling shipping lanes (because you always send your flagships to babysit freighters), but keep getting drawn into the Klingon/Romulan affair. Columbia nearly gets blown up. Twice. Travis Mayweather's family is shot into a star. T'Pol and Malcolm steal a shuttlepod to go looking for Trip. Other stuff happens I think. Archer can't stop thinking about how much he misses Trip and T'Pol and Malcolm because he has no one to talk to.
Meanwhile, Trip is behind enemy lines, and they are getting suspicious. The scientist is killed which makes him sad (but he's not going native). The admiral sends him on a mission to retrieve some files from the dissidents that he escaped from in the first mission. He suspects they think he's a Vulcan spy. He also expects to be killed at the end, so he's going to have to kill his escort first. They get to the hide-out only to find the guy in charge is the same dissident leader as before, except Trip knows the guy is really a Vulcan. The leader outs Trip as a human, so he outs the leader as a Vulcan which completely confuses everyone else in the room. Total spy vs. spy going on--I was laughing so hard. It's never really established if the guy is a Vulcan disguised as a Romulan or the other way around or who exactly he's working for. As far as I could tell he's a triple agent playing the Vulcans against the Romulans against the dissidents. Trip is just as confused.
He almost gets his head blown off, but Malcolm and T'Pol show up just in the nick of time. Of course, he's
Back on Enterprise, Malcolm and T'Pol don't even get a slap on the wrist. They get bear hugs and near-tears.
Trip never makes it back to the capital. He's picked up by another ship which just happens to be captained by the dissident leader who survived the destruction of his hide-out. This is when Trip learns he's really working for the admiral to infiltrate the dissidents. But is he a Vulcan spy? The world may never know.
Now Trip's stuck on the ship as it gets ready to attack Enterprise, using the Kobayashi Maru as bait. This is where the title of the book comes in, and the most famous no-win scenario is finally explained. Of course, Trip can't have this because he doesn't believe in no-win situations. Despite having his hands figuratively tied (the station he's at isn't hooked up to anything important) he manages to get a Morse Code signal to Hoshi that the Romulans are going to remotely take over Enterprise. When he's discovered, he goes all YOLO and manages to crash the ship into an asteroid for the win!
Archer has to make the ultimate decision--stay and try to rescue the remaining crew/passengers of the Maru, risking having Starfleet's most advanced ship fall into enemy hands, or run while they still can, leaving the people on the Maru to die. Sometimes it sucks to be the captain. He chooses to save the ship which pisses off Travis who just found out his family (who run a freight ship) died.
The book ends with the newly formed Coalition on the verge of war with the Romulans, the Columbia missing, and Trip barely escaping from the Romulan ship before it blows up. He takes the Vulcan/Romulan spy with him. Last thing we see is his escape pod on its way to crashing into a mine, ending with a one-liner from Trip.
Tune in to the next book to see how it all ends.
I've read the next book, but have no memory of what happens.
The plot makes little sense. It's one of those, "it's so stupid, I have to see how it ends," plots. The random POV changes add little. Some are put in there for no apparent reason. The information could have been presented from a different, established POV, but instead a new character is introduced for like two scenes. I hate that crap.
But at least Trip didn't die.
Yet.
