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Starfleet Corps of Engineers #3
Some Assembly Required
Need to corral a group of giant monsters that fell through an interdimensional gateway? Need to get your brand-new planetary computer system working -- but the instructions are written in an alien language? Contact the Starfleet Corps of Engineers team on the U.S.S. da Vinci. Led by Captain David Gold and former Starship Enterprise™ engineer Commander Sonya Gomez, the crew live by their motto: Have tech, will travel.
Overseen by Starfleet legend Captain Montgomery Scott, the S.C.E. crew must solve the mystery of an outpost attacked by a strange new weapon and improvise a way to defeat a foe who has them outgunned in a heart-stopping space battle.
Join Starfleet's miracle workers for a death-defying journey!
295 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 1, 2003
3 people are currently reading
119 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 30, 2010
The stories were quick to read, but they didn't really have any substance. There was little character development even though each one starts roughly where the last one leaves off, and the situations and resolutions seemed forced.
I thought 'Ambush' was cute. The plot wasn't that believable, but I felt more connected with the crew and the one off characters.
I thought 'Ambush' was cute. The plot wasn't that believable, but I felt more connected with the crew and the one off characters.
March 20, 2025
A Riddled Post
This one was right down the line of being nothing bad but nothing great. There was a mystery here but it was uninteresting. This story had so many meetings in their observation lounge I don't even know why they spent the time going down to the planet - especially since they had to take a shuttle ride every time. I was waiting for the two survivors to contribute anything to the story but they didn't. 3/5
Here There Be Monsters
Well I read this one last year as a part of the Gateways series and prior to reading any of the SCE and I liked it then and I still like it now. It added its little bit to the aftermath of the Gateways series and now I can appreciate who these characters are and how they operate. Still like the book and now after reading others it's one of the higher tiered SCE stories thus far. Still odd that this is another story that references the SCE's first mission that I have only HEARD about and never read.
Have I missed a book somewhere? 4/5
Ambush
I think the biggest ambush was building up the character Sanders as a nice guy and then having him verbally attack Gomez at the end of the book where the captain has to put him in his place. I thought that was so odd as he was a character you were rooting for them to save and then he turns into a jerk. Now I know he's stressed but seemed like such an odd story choice. As for the rest of the book it seemed kind of sloppy and all over the place - probably should have just stuck to a few characters perspective instead of getting everyone involved and then going nowhere with the story threads. Did they save the Horta with the viral outbreak? Didn't seem like anyone cared at the end.
3/5
Some Assembly Required
You have Ambush that can't shove enough characters in there and then you move to this book which plucks 3 characters, two of which were minor enough I couldn't remember much of what they had done in the other books. Soloman is a bit off in this book but I liked the other characters, the problem they had to solve, the very peculiar alien race that was in need of assistance and the problem they brought upon themselves. I appreciated how the three main characters in the story had to learn to think on their feet and solve a big problem without the help of the ship. The biggest fault was that this one was ANOTHER planetary computer problem - I think it's like the 3rd thus far. 4/5
This one was right down the line of being nothing bad but nothing great. There was a mystery here but it was uninteresting. This story had so many meetings in their observation lounge I don't even know why they spent the time going down to the planet - especially since they had to take a shuttle ride every time. I was waiting for the two survivors to contribute anything to the story but they didn't. 3/5
Here There Be Monsters
Well I read this one last year as a part of the Gateways series and prior to reading any of the SCE and I liked it then and I still like it now. It added its little bit to the aftermath of the Gateways series and now I can appreciate who these characters are and how they operate. Still like the book and now after reading others it's one of the higher tiered SCE stories thus far. Still odd that this is another story that references the SCE's first mission that I have only HEARD about and never read.
Have I missed a book somewhere? 4/5
Ambush
I think the biggest ambush was building up the character Sanders as a nice guy and then having him verbally attack Gomez at the end of the book where the captain has to put him in his place. I thought that was so odd as he was a character you were rooting for them to save and then he turns into a jerk. Now I know he's stressed but seemed like such an odd story choice. As for the rest of the book it seemed kind of sloppy and all over the place - probably should have just stuck to a few characters perspective instead of getting everyone involved and then going nowhere with the story threads. Did they save the Horta with the viral outbreak? Didn't seem like anyone cared at the end.
3/5
Some Assembly Required
You have Ambush that can't shove enough characters in there and then you move to this book which plucks 3 characters, two of which were minor enough I couldn't remember much of what they had done in the other books. Soloman is a bit off in this book but I liked the other characters, the problem they had to solve, the very peculiar alien race that was in need of assistance and the problem they brought upon themselves. I appreciated how the three main characters in the story had to learn to think on their feet and solve a big problem without the help of the ship. The biggest fault was that this one was ANOTHER planetary computer problem - I think it's like the 3rd thus far. 4/5
July 26, 2019
Really love these S.C.E. novellas. Every story is about 75 pages in length. The crew of the USS da Vinci is top-notch. Especially love Bart Faulwell the gay, male, human linguist. Keith DeCandido's story is the best of the bunch and is an epilogue to the Gateways crossover. Absolutely one of my favorite Star Trek series that I'm reading and maybe only the New Frontier series is better. Going to have to crack open the fourth book in the series before the end of the day.
November 8, 2018
I'm kind of just skimming through these now. They have so little substance to them, and the characters have only the vaguest of personalities (plus, they feel like different people in each story thanks to all the different authors). The overly dramatic adventures they keep having are getting in the way of giving these characters any growth.
September 20, 2023
Another fantastic omnibus in a fantastic series of technological mystery stories.
This book contains 4 more excellent stories, the first is the mystery of an outpost literally riddled with holes as if it were Swiss cheese, first it seems like an attack but there might be something else going on. Second, a rather wacky offbeat monster hunting adventure where once again all is not what it seems, and appearances show to be deceiving. This is an epilogue to the Gateway series which I have yet to read. The third is the first prolonged combat story, and we get to see our crew improvise under pressure not just to save their lives, but the lives of an outpost, and the Horta race as well. Finally we have a small adventure of the resident linguist, computer specialist, and Cultural specialist. I really like the characters of Bart Faulwell and Soloman so naturally I enjoyed this too. As they scramble to save a planet.
I enjoyed all three stories, but winner has to be the first one this time. Not because it is the most thrilling, not because it is the most action pact, because it truly has none. I liked it so much this time around because it encapsulates why I enjoy this series so much. How they can tell interesting stories, with limited, or in this case non existent conflict. This is truly an engineering puzzle story, they need to figure out what happened, and basically can take as long as they need.
We don't see stories like that so often, and that is what struck me while reading. the only place we get this often is mystery novels, oh sure sometimes there might be a scary confrontation with the murderer, but that is rarely the focus. Just like it is fun to see a good detective do his job well, it can also be fun to see good engineers do theirs. I have heard this refereed to as competency porn, a phrase that works as well as any other I suppose.
On a side note I am really enjoying the build up of the longer story lines like the Romance between Duffy and Gomez, but also the more concerning story of Lens and her over reliance on the EMH. That particular story will be coming to ahead in the next omnibus, so if you want more on that read that review when it comes out!
The SCE is right now holding up to my memory of it, and that is saying a lot. Any star trek fan should read these!
This book contains 4 more excellent stories, the first is the mystery of an outpost literally riddled with holes as if it were Swiss cheese, first it seems like an attack but there might be something else going on. Second, a rather wacky offbeat monster hunting adventure where once again all is not what it seems, and appearances show to be deceiving. This is an epilogue to the Gateway series which I have yet to read. The third is the first prolonged combat story, and we get to see our crew improvise under pressure not just to save their lives, but the lives of an outpost, and the Horta race as well. Finally we have a small adventure of the resident linguist, computer specialist, and Cultural specialist. I really like the characters of Bart Faulwell and Soloman so naturally I enjoyed this too. As they scramble to save a planet.
I enjoyed all three stories, but winner has to be the first one this time. Not because it is the most thrilling, not because it is the most action pact, because it truly has none. I liked it so much this time around because it encapsulates why I enjoy this series so much. How they can tell interesting stories, with limited, or in this case non existent conflict. This is truly an engineering puzzle story, they need to figure out what happened, and basically can take as long as they need.
We don't see stories like that so often, and that is what struck me while reading. the only place we get this often is mystery novels, oh sure sometimes there might be a scary confrontation with the murderer, but that is rarely the focus. Just like it is fun to see a good detective do his job well, it can also be fun to see good engineers do theirs. I have heard this refereed to as competency porn, a phrase that works as well as any other I suppose.
On a side note I am really enjoying the build up of the longer story lines like the Romance between Duffy and Gomez, but also the more concerning story of Lens and her over reliance on the EMH. That particular story will be coming to ahead in the next omnibus, so if you want more on that read that review when it comes out!
The SCE is right now holding up to my memory of it, and that is saying a lot. Any star trek fan should read these!
April 29, 2013
This third collection of Star Trek Starfleet Corps of Engineers e-books was much like the previous two. Given the short format of the stories a lot has happened in 12 short stories, but the main thing I wanted to read out of this one was the follow-up tie-in to the Gateways crossover (book 7 of 7 here: Gateways Book Seven: What Lay Beyond: Star Trek All Series), which I'd read years ago. Those 7 were some really good TNG/DS9/VOY/TOS (and even New Frontier) books and I figured the completionist in me would insist on reading every tie-in. Other than that kind of crossover (of which there was a DS9 crossover in volume 2) I didn't really have much desire for this series to begin with, but now some of the characters, new and old (some Enterprise 1701-D characters are in the crew), are growing on me. I may yet seek out volume 4. But for this set of stories, the characters grow and solve another batch of 4 engineering puzzles, each of which stands on its own merits sort of like episodes of the TNG television series: connected by way of character but mostly resolved in one story. I think my favorite character so far must be the first officer Gomez (a 1701-D character) and the solitary Bynar, Soloman. Not much really to say from a bird's eye view without getting into the individual stories, although my favorite of the four was the first story about the mystery of the mining station's demise. I also appreciate the fact that the stories, since they are short, make for easier reading on the bus & train to work, because I can finish one in a day or two and feel a sense of completion as opposed to reading a 400 pager that drags on for weeks....
February 21, 2012
Four more light stories, with continuity from the previous book and other semi-canon trek incidents. These are fun stories, I'll definitely read more.
August 4, 2012
Fun and interesting. I enjoyed the short stories. =)
October 10, 2014
Really good stories by really good writers.
Thank you everyone.
Thank you everyone.
February 15, 2010
SCE 9-12
read SCE 10 (Feb. 11/10)
have ebooks, not Omnibus
currently reading SCE 12
read SCE 10 (Feb. 11/10)
have ebooks, not Omnibus
currently reading SCE 12
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews