Review of
Kobayashi Maru
Published:
September 2008
Reviewer Rating:
Avg User Rating:
(3.36)
With the new Coalition of Planets just beginning to find its legs, threats to the shipping lanes have got the Enterprise patrolling to prevent pirate raids. But there is so much more going on as the Romulans are using a new remote control device to take over enemy ships and use them as their own. This new insidious threat could have the young Coalition at each others throats or fighting a war against the wrong enemy!
Now that all the retconning of the Enterprise TV series finale is out of the way, this book is free to set up a new direction and open up the universe a bit. I know many feel that the early stages of this book are slow, but it serves to introduce everyone to the wider universe outside of just one ship. Here we get to finally explore the universe as the TV show couldn't. There you could only get the occasional glimpse of other characters and arenas, but you always stayed focused on the small group featured on the show. Now, in the novels, the authors can take us deeper into the universe and allow us to see things from different perspectives involving different characters.
We are introduced to the entire crew of the Columbia, the second NX-class ship in Starfleet. While we don't get to spend a large amount of time with them, it's nice to have a second crew out there and getting to know them should be important to the ongoing storyline. We're also given insight into the Coalition Council and it's members dealing with the political avenues and machinations behind all the big decisions. And while the Romulans don't get much beyond the hand-wringing and mustache-twirling, it's nice to see there's an organization that's opposing our heroes that actually have some faces and motivations of their own.
We do get to see the "historical" version of the famous Kobayashi Maru scenario made famous in the Star Trek movies. And while it's not exactly as portrayed in those places, I feel this was a realistic portrayal that the training scenario could be based on. Fans will get to see how Archer faces the "no win" scenario here, but his parameters are a little different and he faces the real and lasting consequences of his decisions. I did peek back at the movie versions and was pleased to see how much the authors gleaned out of those short scenes and put into the book. It was a fun fan moment.
Martin and Mangels do a lot of heavy-lifting in this book to set up the subsequent Enterprise stories with this book. They establish the characters, situations, and environments for the continuing story and set-up all the pieces for the Romulan War. Can't wait to see what comes next!
Now that all the retconning of the Enterprise TV series finale is out of the way, this book is free to set up a new direction and open up the universe a bit. I know many feel that the early stages of this book are slow, but it serves to introduce everyone to the wider universe outside of just one ship. Here we get to finally explore the universe as the TV show couldn't. There you could only get the occasional glimpse of other characters and arenas, but you always stayed focused on the small group featured on the show. Now, in the novels, the authors can take us deeper into the universe and allow us to see things from different perspectives involving different characters.
We are introduced to the entire crew of the Columbia, the second NX-class ship in Starfleet. While we don't get to spend a large amount of time with them, it's nice to have a second crew out there and getting to know them should be important to the ongoing storyline. We're also given insight into the Coalition Council and it's members dealing with the political avenues and machinations behind all the big decisions. And while the Romulans don't get much beyond the hand-wringing and mustache-twirling, it's nice to see there's an organization that's opposing our heroes that actually have some faces and motivations of their own.
We do get to see the "historical" version of the famous Kobayashi Maru scenario made famous in the Star Trek movies. And while it's not exactly as portrayed in those places, I feel this was a realistic portrayal that the training scenario could be based on. Fans will get to see how Archer faces the "no win" scenario here, but his parameters are a little different and he faces the real and lasting consequences of his decisions. I did peek back at the movie versions and was pleased to see how much the authors gleaned out of those short scenes and put into the book. It was a fun fan moment.
Martin and Mangels do a lot of heavy-lifting in this book to set up the subsequent Enterprise stories with this book. They establish the characters, situations, and environments for the continuing story and set-up all the pieces for the Romulan War. Can't wait to see what comes next!
