Review of
Last Full Measure
Published:
April 2006
Reviewer Rating:
Avg User Rating:
(2.72)
The Enterprise is exploring the Delphic Expanse in search of the Xindi, who have attacked Earth and killed 7 million people. In an effort to stop a second attack, Archer and his crew search desperately for the Xindi homeworld. New additions to the crew are 36 soldiers from Military Assault Command Operations group (MACOs) who are tasked with handling any combat-based missions. Tensions are running a bit high between the MACOs and the Starfleet crew due to cramped quarters and differing philosophies. But when some new information about the Xindi comes available, the two branches need to work together just to survive.
This book is simply about the relationship between the crew - Starfleet vs. MACOs. It's set very early in the Xindi hunt season of the series, so the MACOs are still fairly new onboard the ship and everyone is getting used to this new normal. Shared quarters, shared mess hall, and shared working spaces are making everyone uncomfortably on edge and tensions are rising. There is also little respect among the divisions for each other. The entire focus of this novel is to give everyone a better understanding of each other. It makes for an enjoyable enough story, but you can see where the author's are heading. Luckily they throw in a few curves and well-crafted new characters to keep the reader interested.
Martin and Mangels add some MACO characters to the Enterprise mythology that give the squad a broader base and some much-needed depth to their "bench." These characters are often the ones that are most interesting in this book and their issues kind of pull you through.
While the authors do pull a few of the main characters through the story, I feel they are slightly different than what we've seen on screen. Some of their actions and thoughts don't quite fit with what we've seen before or are too quickly developed to seem accurate here. Archer and Reed particularly suffer from this treatment throughout the book. In fact, Archer's character fluctuates dramatically - more than I can credit to his distressed frame of mind at this time.
The overall action in the book is decent, and there are a couple of very hair-raising sequences that spark some increased heart rates. Overall, though, the story doesn't seem to mean much in the greater sense except where it's focused on the two branches within the greater crew. There are also a lot of allusions to Star Wars that are fun, but a bit distracting.
In general, this is a decent read and serves to set up some things for the Xindi Hunt storyline that the series glosses over. I'd recommend this to anyone interested in exploring the complete Enterprise run.
This book is simply about the relationship between the crew - Starfleet vs. MACOs. It's set very early in the Xindi hunt season of the series, so the MACOs are still fairly new onboard the ship and everyone is getting used to this new normal. Shared quarters, shared mess hall, and shared working spaces are making everyone uncomfortably on edge and tensions are rising. There is also little respect among the divisions for each other. The entire focus of this novel is to give everyone a better understanding of each other. It makes for an enjoyable enough story, but you can see where the author's are heading. Luckily they throw in a few curves and well-crafted new characters to keep the reader interested.
Martin and Mangels add some MACO characters to the Enterprise mythology that give the squad a broader base and some much-needed depth to their "bench." These characters are often the ones that are most interesting in this book and their issues kind of pull you through.
While the authors do pull a few of the main characters through the story, I feel they are slightly different than what we've seen on screen. Some of their actions and thoughts don't quite fit with what we've seen before or are too quickly developed to seem accurate here. Archer and Reed particularly suffer from this treatment throughout the book. In fact, Archer's character fluctuates dramatically - more than I can credit to his distressed frame of mind at this time.
The overall action in the book is decent, and there are a couple of very hair-raising sequences that spark some increased heart rates. Overall, though, the story doesn't seem to mean much in the greater sense except where it's focused on the two branches within the greater crew. There are also a lot of allusions to Star Wars that are fun, but a bit distracting.
In general, this is a decent read and serves to set up some things for the Xindi Hunt storyline that the series glosses over. I'd recommend this to anyone interested in exploring the complete Enterprise run.
