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Star Trek: Enterprise #13
The Romulan War: Beneath the Raptor's Wing
At the start of the twenty-first century, unconditional war swept across the Earth. A war that engulfed the great and the small, the rich and the poor, giving no quarter. Each side strove for unconditional victory, and as battle built upon battle, the living began to envy the dead.
Chastised by the cataclysm that they had unleashed, the governments of Earth came together. Humanity vowed to put an end to war and to strive for the betterment of every living creature. A united Earth created Starfleet, an interstellar agency whose mission was to explore the cosmos, to come in peace for all mankind. It was a naïve wish that was battered by interstellar realities, yet man persists in the belief that peace is the way. Banding together with other powers to form a Coalition of Planets, humanity hopes that the strength each can offer the other will allow for peaceful exploration.
However, the rise of the Coalition strikes dread within the Romulan Star Empire. They feel its growing reach will cut them off from what is rightfully theirs. The Romulans know that the alliance is fragile, that the correct strategy could turn allies into foes. Perfecting a way of remotely controlling Coalition ships and using them as weapons against one another, the Romulans hope to drive a wedge of suspicion and mistrust between these new allies.
One Starfleet captain uncovers this insidious plot: Jonathan Archer of the Enterprise. Determined not to lose what they have gained, outmanned and outgunned, the captains of Starfleet stand tall, vowing to defend every inch of Coalition space until the tide begins to turn.
The Romulans now plan to strike at what they see as the heart of their problem. With nothing left to lose, the Romulan Star Empire engages in all-out war against humanity, determined once and for all to stop the human menace from spreading across the galaxy.
Chastised by the cataclysm that they had unleashed, the governments of Earth came together. Humanity vowed to put an end to war and to strive for the betterment of every living creature. A united Earth created Starfleet, an interstellar agency whose mission was to explore the cosmos, to come in peace for all mankind. It was a naïve wish that was battered by interstellar realities, yet man persists in the belief that peace is the way. Banding together with other powers to form a Coalition of Planets, humanity hopes that the strength each can offer the other will allow for peaceful exploration.
However, the rise of the Coalition strikes dread within the Romulan Star Empire. They feel its growing reach will cut them off from what is rightfully theirs. The Romulans know that the alliance is fragile, that the correct strategy could turn allies into foes. Perfecting a way of remotely controlling Coalition ships and using them as weapons against one another, the Romulans hope to drive a wedge of suspicion and mistrust between these new allies.
One Starfleet captain uncovers this insidious plot: Jonathan Archer of the Enterprise. Determined not to lose what they have gained, outmanned and outgunned, the captains of Starfleet stand tall, vowing to defend every inch of Coalition space until the tide begins to turn.
The Romulans now plan to strike at what they see as the heart of their problem. With nothing left to lose, the Romulan Star Empire engages in all-out war against humanity, determined once and for all to stop the human menace from spreading across the galaxy.
450 pages, Paperback
First published October 20, 2009
141 people are currently reading
695 people want to read
About the author
Michael A. Martin
92 books53 followersMichael A. Martin's solo short fiction has appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. He has also coauthored (with Andy Mangels) several Star Trek comics for Marvel and Wildstorm and numerous Star Trek novels and eBooks, including the USA Today bestseller Titan: Book One: Taking Wing; Titan: Book Two: The Red King; the Sy Fy Genre Award-winning Star Trek: Worlds of Deep Space 9 Book Two: Trill -- Unjoined; Star Trek: The Lost Era 2298 -- The Sundered; Star Trek: Deep Space 9 Mission: Gamma: Vol. Three: Cathedral; Star Trek: The Next Generation: Section 31 -- Rogue; Star Trek: Starfleet Corps of Engineers #30 and #31 ("Ishtar Rising" Books 1 and 2); stories in the Prophecy and Change, Tales of the Dominion War, and Tales from the Captain's Table anthologies; and three novels based on the Roswell television series. His most recent novels include Enterprise: The Romulan War and Star Trek Online: The Needs of the Many.
His work has also been published by Atlas Editions (in their Star Trek Universe subscription card series), Star Trek Monthly, Dreamwatch, Grolier Books, Visible Ink Press, The Oregonian, and Gareth Stevens, Inc., for whom he has penned several World Almanac Library of the States nonfiction books for young readers. He lives with his wife, Jenny, and their two sons in Portland, Oregon.
His work has also been published by Atlas Editions (in their Star Trek Universe subscription card series), Star Trek Monthly, Dreamwatch, Grolier Books, Visible Ink Press, The Oregonian, and Gareth Stevens, Inc., for whom he has penned several World Almanac Library of the States nonfiction books for young readers. He lives with his wife, Jenny, and their two sons in Portland, Oregon.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews
September 16, 2018
The Vulcan and Romulan POVs were a bit dull compared to other bits, but overall not too bad a story!
May 10, 2010
I relieved my bilious spleen in re "l'affaire Star Trek" in my review of Glass Empires Star Trek Mirror Universe here - http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13... - so I'll limit my comments to these:
1. Too long at 450 pages: The novel doesn't really "take off" until the last 100 pages or so, and jumps around among too many characters and plotlines to make any one sufficiently interesting before then.
2. Time scale seems to be off: Some Romulan sub-light ships get through a defense grid in a system's Kuiper Belt (for reference, the Solar System's Kuiper Belt is beyond Pluto) and two paragraphs later are screaming through the target planet's atmosphere. Even at warp speeds, it takes some time to cross that distance.
I think this bothered me because, otherwise, Martin is pretty good about recognizing and dealing with the fact that crossing interstellar distances takes TIME, especially in an era before ships could go faster than warp 5 (that's about a light-year every 2 days to you and me).
3a. The inability of Earth and her allies to figure out how the Romulans were getting through their warp-field-detection grids was played out a little too much.
3b. Related to that, Martin gives the Romulans a device that sneaks a virus into enemy ships that allows them to take over control of the ship and it takes the good guys forever to accept its existence and try to counteract it. You'd think after the umpteenth frakking encounter when everyone's ships went dead in space, the Coalition would try to avoid any further battles until they had a reasonable countermeasure.
And this remote-control virus seems more powerful (potentially) than the Romulan's fabled cloaking device - why didn't they spend the century between the Earth-Romulan War and "The Balance of Terror" perfecting that?
4. The idea introduced in "The Balance of Terror" that the Romulans were never seen because of the primitiveness of the ships used at the time of the war was always pretty "iffy" but the pretence can't be believably sustained considering how the series developed the Romulans. I've never liked the notion that the split between Vulcan and Romulus is only about 2,000 years old, or that Vulcan would conceal that fact until forced to reveal it after "The Balance of Terror," and the illogicality of that is brought out forcefully in this novel.
Overall, it's not a bad book. Definitely in the "brain candy" category and I'll probably have to read the follow up just to get closure on the Romulan War (the book ends mid-war with things looking grim for Earth).
1. Too long at 450 pages: The novel doesn't really "take off" until the last 100 pages or so, and jumps around among too many characters and plotlines to make any one sufficiently interesting before then.
2. Time scale seems to be off: Some Romulan sub-light ships get through a defense grid in a system's Kuiper Belt (for reference, the Solar System's Kuiper Belt is beyond Pluto) and two paragraphs later are screaming through the target planet's atmosphere. Even at warp speeds, it takes some time to cross that distance.
I think this bothered me because, otherwise, Martin is pretty good about recognizing and dealing with the fact that crossing interstellar distances takes TIME, especially in an era before ships could go faster than warp 5 (that's about a light-year every 2 days to you and me).
3a. The inability of Earth and her allies to figure out how the Romulans were getting through their warp-field-detection grids was played out a little too much.
3b. Related to that, Martin gives the Romulans a device that sneaks a virus into enemy ships that allows them to take over control of the ship and it takes the good guys forever to accept its existence and try to counteract it. You'd think after the umpteenth frakking encounter when everyone's ships went dead in space, the Coalition would try to avoid any further battles until they had a reasonable countermeasure.
And this remote-control virus seems more powerful (potentially) than the Romulan's fabled cloaking device - why didn't they spend the century between the Earth-Romulan War and "The Balance of Terror" perfecting that?
4. The idea introduced in "The Balance of Terror" that the Romulans were never seen because of the primitiveness of the ships used at the time of the war was always pretty "iffy" but the pretence can't be believably sustained considering how the series developed the Romulans. I've never liked the notion that the split between Vulcan and Romulus is only about 2,000 years old, or that Vulcan would conceal that fact until forced to reveal it after "The Balance of Terror," and the illogicality of that is brought out forcefully in this novel.
Overall, it's not a bad book. Definitely in the "brain candy" category and I'll probably have to read the follow up just to get closure on the Romulan War (the book ends mid-war with things looking grim for Earth).
April 19, 2018
Pre-Read: And here is where the Enterprise "relaunch" starts to come into it's own... Or so I've heard! I'm more looking forward to the Rise of the Federation saga, but this presumably sets the stage for that...
As an aside, I've spent much of my time on "Genre" books this year so far. Maybe I'll have to expand my oeuvre after this month...
***
Post-Read: 3.5 stars. Well done, but it feels a bit rushed for me, even though I know there's another volume devoted to the Romulan War...
As an aside, I've spent much of my time on "Genre" books this year so far. Maybe I'll have to expand my oeuvre after this month...
***
Post-Read: 3.5 stars. Well done, but it feels a bit rushed for me, even though I know there's another volume devoted to the Romulan War...
February 5, 2010
Very slow, but the writer is improving a lot. This one at least isn't a word-a-day calendar in story form. The characters seem right, but the number of them makes it hard to keep track. None of the story lines advance much.
I doubt I'll read another of these until I forget I read this one.
I doubt I'll read another of these until I forget I read this one.
Read
July 28, 2011Several complaints with this book: 1) too many Romulan words. It does not add to the story and makes it confusing (ex.."we will engage the hevas in three jedsia, Admiral"...which freaking race is the hevas again? And is a jedsia a minute, an hour or a day?). 2) too many characters. Way too many. 3) plot lines that go nowhere and don't resolve. Ok many they will resolve in the sequel, but this book didn't advertise itself as part 1 of any number of books, so who knows? All in all, a frustrating read. I care about what happens to Archer, Tripp, T'Pol, Reed, Travis and Hoshi. I could care less about what happens to the dozens of Romulans, Andorians and Tellerites that consume way to many pages of this rather long Star Trek novel.
October 13, 2017
I generally dislike giving unfavorable reviews. I'm someone who is usually fairly easily pleased, and I tend to really enjoy a good Star Trek story. This one, however, left me somewhat cold. The story seems too ponderous in places, and the pacing felt off. There are certainly some positive aspects, including the different perspectives presented by the author as well as the expansive feel of the political landscape during this period, but it's not enough to make this one a really compelling read. And it's too bad, really; The Romulan War should be an important story that greatly adds to the mythology of Star Trek history. Unfortunately, Beneath the Raptor's Wing somewhat misses the mark.
Full review: http://treklit.blogspot.com/2017/10/B...
Full review: http://treklit.blogspot.com/2017/10/B...
February 4, 2016
I am getting more interested in where this series is going. I like the reasoning for the technological changes between Enterprise and TOS.
October 17, 2019
Feeling threatened by the newly christened Coalition of Planets, the Romulan Star Empire begins a campaign to halt Coalition expansion and shatter the young alliance. Through direct attack and covertly capturing Coalition ships and turning them against their allies, the Romulans begin a war that will push everyone to the very edge.
I wanted to LOVE this book, but I merely liked it. I wanted to be awed by strategy, tactics, sneak attacks, and treated to a real "war" novel set in the early era of Star Trek. That's not really what we get here. While there is a bit of that - mostly from the Romulan side - the actual battles that are laid out in the book are fairly short and merely head-on engagements with little tactical regard. While it's enjoyable to see some of the early starships in action and learn more about the other ships in the fleet besides the Enterprise, it just doesn't give you enough to really care about. Martin does continue to flesh out the crew of the Columbia and at least puts some names to other crews as well, but you never really get enough time with any of them to care about them before their blown to kingdom come.
I thought the world-building aspect of the book was interesting. We got to visit several Earth colonies, learned about the politics between the Coalition worlds and even within them, visited the Cochrane Institute and generally get a whirlwind tour of the galaxy. Fans are also treated to some fun little nuggets that support deep Trek lore like providing justification for the relative "low tech" of the Original Series compared to Enterprise, or some cameos by characters that will be important in the future of the universe. The small moments sometimes made this read worthwhile.
The biggest drawback to the book is the whiplash structure. Chapters are only a few pages long and will often jet you between very diverse locations and plot points from one chapter to the next. Characters will often disappear for a hundred pages or so before reappearing and the same might be true of plot threads. We just don't get to spend enough time with any group of characters to provide a satisfying experience. In fact the Enterprise characters are probably in only about half of the book. Time passes very quickly as well, so pay attention to those dates at the beginning of the chapters! Taken as a whole the book is sort of disjointed and last 50 pages feels very rushed.
This really should be a landmark book in the series since it highlights such an important part of Star Trek history. It falls short of that mark. That's not to say it's horrible or a waste, but I really feel it could have been better developed and executed. Where it should be tense and exciting, it often feels sluggish and unfocused.
I'm hoping the next novel captures the feel a bit better.
I wanted to LOVE this book, but I merely liked it. I wanted to be awed by strategy, tactics, sneak attacks, and treated to a real "war" novel set in the early era of Star Trek. That's not really what we get here. While there is a bit of that - mostly from the Romulan side - the actual battles that are laid out in the book are fairly short and merely head-on engagements with little tactical regard. While it's enjoyable to see some of the early starships in action and learn more about the other ships in the fleet besides the Enterprise, it just doesn't give you enough to really care about. Martin does continue to flesh out the crew of the Columbia and at least puts some names to other crews as well, but you never really get enough time with any of them to care about them before their blown to kingdom come.
I thought the world-building aspect of the book was interesting. We got to visit several Earth colonies, learned about the politics between the Coalition worlds and even within them, visited the Cochrane Institute and generally get a whirlwind tour of the galaxy. Fans are also treated to some fun little nuggets that support deep Trek lore like providing justification for the relative "low tech" of the Original Series compared to Enterprise, or some cameos by characters that will be important in the future of the universe. The small moments sometimes made this read worthwhile.
The biggest drawback to the book is the whiplash structure. Chapters are only a few pages long and will often jet you between very diverse locations and plot points from one chapter to the next. Characters will often disappear for a hundred pages or so before reappearing and the same might be true of plot threads. We just don't get to spend enough time with any group of characters to provide a satisfying experience. In fact the Enterprise characters are probably in only about half of the book. Time passes very quickly as well, so pay attention to those dates at the beginning of the chapters! Taken as a whole the book is sort of disjointed and last 50 pages feels very rushed.
This really should be a landmark book in the series since it highlights such an important part of Star Trek history. It falls short of that mark. That's not to say it's horrible or a waste, but I really feel it could have been better developed and executed. Where it should be tense and exciting, it often feels sluggish and unfocused.
I'm hoping the next novel captures the feel a bit better.
March 8, 2021
Tough times for Archer’s Enterprise and Starfleet, fresh off the demoralizing loss of the Kobayashi Maru and striving without much success to rally their allies against a Romulan Empire that seems unbeatable because of a devastating new weapon.
Michael A. Martin has devised a basically interesting story, but there are several factors that mitigate against its complete success. I come to this series because I want more stories about the cast of characters that I enjoyed so much on the TV series. Martin spends far too much time padding the narrative with peripheral characters like journalist Gannett Brooks and Admiral Valdore while giving short shrift to Travis, Malcolm, Hoshi, and Dr. Phlox. The goal of using POV characters that can give us an expansive view of the action is laudable, but unfortunately those parts of the story really drag. The Romulan sections are littered with unpronounceable, ugly alien vocabulary. Finally, as much as I enjoyed Trip Tucker on TV, I think they should have left him dead in the novels. His espionage behind enemy lines has not been very interesting and is a further drag on the action. Lest I leave the impression that I found nothing to appreciate, Archer and T’Pol have interesting story arcs, and the overall development of the war narrative is well done.
https://thericochetreviewer.blogspot.com
Michael A. Martin has devised a basically interesting story, but there are several factors that mitigate against its complete success. I come to this series because I want more stories about the cast of characters that I enjoyed so much on the TV series. Martin spends far too much time padding the narrative with peripheral characters like journalist Gannett Brooks and Admiral Valdore while giving short shrift to Travis, Malcolm, Hoshi, and Dr. Phlox. The goal of using POV characters that can give us an expansive view of the action is laudable, but unfortunately those parts of the story really drag. The Romulan sections are littered with unpronounceable, ugly alien vocabulary. Finally, as much as I enjoyed Trip Tucker on TV, I think they should have left him dead in the novels. His espionage behind enemy lines has not been very interesting and is a further drag on the action. Lest I leave the impression that I found nothing to appreciate, Archer and T’Pol have interesting story arcs, and the overall development of the war narrative is well done.
https://thericochetreviewer.blogspot.com
February 21, 2021
Not bad, but there were too many Vulcans disguising themselves as Romulans and Romulans disguising themselves as Vulcans and it all got a bit confusing. Too long, too. There were a few subplots that could've been dropped or trimmed down. Nice to see more attempts to turn Travis into a character, though.
May 11, 2021
Looking forward to book two! This was written beautifully considering the only knowledge of the Romulan War is what Spock informed the bridge crew in TOS Balance of Terror.
January 4, 2014
Ok, so I didn't actually finish this book. I got to page 160, about a third of the way through it, and I had to stop. Ever since I saw the episode "Balance of Terror" from the original Star Trek show I have been fascinated by Romulans. They were obviously created to be very mysterious which instantly makes me want to know more about them. I was really looking forward to a book that would delve into the Romulan War: Romulan tactics, the battles and exactly how the Romulan Star Empire and the Federation came to a truce without ever having seen each other. But, of course, Star Trek: Enterprise had to swoop in and ruin everything. I should have realized after watching all four seasons of Star Trek: Enterprise, and hating every second of it, that I would hate this book since it uses that show as its backstory. I believe that Jonathan Archer is the worst captain in the Star Trek franchise.
The story is all over the place, like the author didn't know where he was going when he started, he just started and hoped for the best. I don't see the relavance of half the stuff in the book. Of course, maybe I would have if I finished the book.
But, Micheal A. Martin does a great job of characterization. The reason I read as far into the book as I did was because he made very dynamic secondary characters. I was also happy to find that he wrote very strong female characters without letting them fall into stereotypes. On the flip side, he wrote very weak male characters. I found Jonathan Archer to be very one dimensional.
In conclusion, I dislike all things Star Trek: Enterprise.
The story is all over the place, like the author didn't know where he was going when he started, he just started and hoped for the best. I don't see the relavance of half the stuff in the book. Of course, maybe I would have if I finished the book.
But, Micheal A. Martin does a great job of characterization. The reason I read as far into the book as I did was because he made very dynamic secondary characters. I was also happy to find that he wrote very strong female characters without letting them fall into stereotypes. On the flip side, he wrote very weak male characters. I found Jonathan Archer to be very one dimensional.
In conclusion, I dislike all things Star Trek: Enterprise.
May 3, 2021
Having heard very good things about the ‘Rise of the federation’ series of books by Christopher L Bennett, I decided to start from ‘The good that men do’ which is the first in the series of Enterprise Relaunch novels following the end of the series.
I have been reading this novel for around 2 years and have finally finished. It was a real struggle to get through but it did have a lot of good plot threads which for me were everything set on Enterprise and the stories about Trip and Tpol.
Unfortunately, most of the book is from the perspective of the romulan senate, a random reporter who was in an episode of season 4 of the show and various politicians of various species involved in the war. This may have seemed like an interesting idea beforehand, showing the multiple perspectives of the war and it’s far reaching influence. In execution though it’s super meandering and dull.
It’s very impressive how a story about a space war can be this boring. I feel happy that I somehow endured this to the end, and I am one step closer to the ‘Rise of the federation’ novels.
I do have part 2 of the romulan war to read first before I can get to read the books I actually want to. You can expect my review/rant on that novel promptly once I manage to complete it, which I estimate will be in around 10 years as I believe I have used up a lot of my stamina for tedious writing, and i will be even slower mulling through it. I hope this has been helpful to anyone thinking of diving in to these novels.
I have been reading this novel for around 2 years and have finally finished. It was a real struggle to get through but it did have a lot of good plot threads which for me were everything set on Enterprise and the stories about Trip and Tpol.
Unfortunately, most of the book is from the perspective of the romulan senate, a random reporter who was in an episode of season 4 of the show and various politicians of various species involved in the war. This may have seemed like an interesting idea beforehand, showing the multiple perspectives of the war and it’s far reaching influence. In execution though it’s super meandering and dull.
It’s very impressive how a story about a space war can be this boring. I feel happy that I somehow endured this to the end, and I am one step closer to the ‘Rise of the federation’ novels.
I do have part 2 of the romulan war to read first before I can get to read the books I actually want to. You can expect my review/rant on that novel promptly once I manage to complete it, which I estimate will be in around 10 years as I believe I have used up a lot of my stamina for tedious writing, and i will be even slower mulling through it. I hope this has been helpful to anyone thinking of diving in to these novels.
January 18, 2011
I actually bought this book over a year ago but didn't get around to reading it till just a few days ago. Surprisingly I found this book to be tough to get through. At times I found it dragging and slow going.
March 3, 2012
Why do I keep reading these
What is WITH the Trip characterization in them -- every five seconds he wants something completely different? It's like everything that happens to him is contrived to keep him a spy?!
I don't know, I think I need to be saved from myself.
What is WITH the Trip characterization in them -- every five seconds he wants something completely different? It's like everything that happens to him is contrived to keep him a spy?!
I don't know, I think I need to be saved from myself.
May 31, 2016
Not the best Star Trek book. Really hope part two is at least a slight improvement!
May 31, 2020
I have so far enjoyed my ride on the relaunch Enterprise books. And I’ve finally got to the Romulan Wars that has been talked about in numerous Star Trek media. Now, the latest book that I just finished reading was this one: Beneath the Raptor’s Wings. How did it go?
The book starts off by giving us a glimpse a year into the future (which is the time span that this book takes place) where Archer and T’Pol are meeting with the Klingons, to ask for help in the war. This chapter (called Tomorrow) ends right before we get to find out their answer.
We then jump back to the present which is about three days after the events of the previous book, Kobayashi Maru. We find out that because of the decision that Archer made during that mission, some of the crew want to leave their posts on the Enterprise; those crew members have lost their confidence in their captain. One of these officers is Ensign Mayweather. And while Ensign Hoshi wants to leave, too, her reason is different. But luckily for us, Archer finds a way to solve one of those.
We start to see the toll the war is having on everyday life and because the Romulans start capturing different outposts and colonies, tension and fear is on high alert all over coalition space. At one point at the beginning we see Enterprise picking up refugees from one of the early colonies to get destroyed and the outcome is brutal and sad.
We jump and see how our old buddy Trip is doing while he is deep undercover. The cliffhanger from the preceding adventure is resolved. And while it looks like he might be getting to go home finally after being in enemy territory (and being considered dead) for this long, things don’t go so smoothly (I mean what kind of story would we have if it did).
Another jump around is following Gannet Brooks (the reporter) at the start where she is starting her trip into space as she covers the war beat on the frontlines. It’s an interesting take when we get further along into the story to see how a reporter (and a regular citizen, too) handles being sent into the danger.
Another part that was fascinating to watch was the political side of things. The reader gets to see the inner workings of ambassadors from different worlds navigating their people’s interests and those of their allies. How loyal can an ally be when things get heated?
As you can see by what I just described, we do a huge amount of moving around quite a bit in this book. Because of this, the first half of the story, while still giving us some Enterprise stuff, puts her to the side (which is okay because she’s been recalled back to Earth and the months long journey gives us time to do and see other things) for a length. But it doesn’t only jump over that story element, we lose sight of Trip for a bit, too.
Mr. Martin covers a lot of ground. He wants us to see, hear and experience everything there is to these years during the Romulan war. He’s not complacent in only showing a handful of tales. He wants us to see as much as possible and to that he should be applauded.
In fact, we meet some people that we never see again. We catch a snippet of their lives and that’s it. Which I appreciated a lot to see how war hurts everyone in this universe that Martin (and earlier, Andy Mangels) has created (more like expanded on, but you get what I mean).
But that’s also one of the things that hurts it a little bit. Because there are times that all the jumping around does get a tad boring. We get sometimes some cool stuff and then it is taken away quite literally at breakneck speed. We are teased with a bone and it’s taken away at the last second. Sometimes though, we’re given scenes that do go on for a while and we end up not seeing those characters much for the rest of the novel.
That leads me to say that at the beginning of this novel I found myself a little bored with a few scenes. Not overly bad to the point where I wanted to quit, but enough to give me pause. And while in retrospect they seemed necessary, there was some dragging. Luckily, though, it didn’t happen too much and very soon after those I was rewarded a pace that picked up and kept me glued.
I found the characters that we’ve grown accustomed to to be spot on. Martin keeps their distinct voices intact and doesn’t lose them in the massive plot that he is keeping track of here.
And that’s another thing I want to say, the author does a great job of keeping his head doing all these happenings. He should be applauded for keeping the story together and still working through everything that is happening because if he can’t hold on to every thread, then, we can’t.
From the Romulans, to the Coalition, to the military, to the politicians and to the average citizen, we see it all. The pure scope that we are privy to in this story is massive and we get to feel what every moving part is going through and while I said there were a few hiccups (not as bad as others have said) in the early chapters, they by no means downgrade the story to the point of being non enjoyable. This book only has made me thirsty for the second half of the Romulan War.
The book starts off by giving us a glimpse a year into the future (which is the time span that this book takes place) where Archer and T’Pol are meeting with the Klingons, to ask for help in the war. This chapter (called Tomorrow) ends right before we get to find out their answer.
We then jump back to the present which is about three days after the events of the previous book, Kobayashi Maru. We find out that because of the decision that Archer made during that mission, some of the crew want to leave their posts on the Enterprise; those crew members have lost their confidence in their captain. One of these officers is Ensign Mayweather. And while Ensign Hoshi wants to leave, too, her reason is different. But luckily for us, Archer finds a way to solve one of those.
We start to see the toll the war is having on everyday life and because the Romulans start capturing different outposts and colonies, tension and fear is on high alert all over coalition space. At one point at the beginning we see Enterprise picking up refugees from one of the early colonies to get destroyed and the outcome is brutal and sad.
We jump and see how our old buddy Trip is doing while he is deep undercover. The cliffhanger from the preceding adventure is resolved. And while it looks like he might be getting to go home finally after being in enemy territory (and being considered dead) for this long, things don’t go so smoothly (I mean what kind of story would we have if it did).
Another jump around is following Gannet Brooks (the reporter) at the start where she is starting her trip into space as she covers the war beat on the frontlines. It’s an interesting take when we get further along into the story to see how a reporter (and a regular citizen, too) handles being sent into the danger.
Another part that was fascinating to watch was the political side of things. The reader gets to see the inner workings of ambassadors from different worlds navigating their people’s interests and those of their allies. How loyal can an ally be when things get heated?
As you can see by what I just described, we do a huge amount of moving around quite a bit in this book. Because of this, the first half of the story, while still giving us some Enterprise stuff, puts her to the side (which is okay because she’s been recalled back to Earth and the months long journey gives us time to do and see other things) for a length. But it doesn’t only jump over that story element, we lose sight of Trip for a bit, too.
Mr. Martin covers a lot of ground. He wants us to see, hear and experience everything there is to these years during the Romulan war. He’s not complacent in only showing a handful of tales. He wants us to see as much as possible and to that he should be applauded.
In fact, we meet some people that we never see again. We catch a snippet of their lives and that’s it. Which I appreciated a lot to see how war hurts everyone in this universe that Martin (and earlier, Andy Mangels) has created (more like expanded on, but you get what I mean).
But that’s also one of the things that hurts it a little bit. Because there are times that all the jumping around does get a tad boring. We get sometimes some cool stuff and then it is taken away quite literally at breakneck speed. We are teased with a bone and it’s taken away at the last second. Sometimes though, we’re given scenes that do go on for a while and we end up not seeing those characters much for the rest of the novel.
That leads me to say that at the beginning of this novel I found myself a little bored with a few scenes. Not overly bad to the point where I wanted to quit, but enough to give me pause. And while in retrospect they seemed necessary, there was some dragging. Luckily, though, it didn’t happen too much and very soon after those I was rewarded a pace that picked up and kept me glued.
I found the characters that we’ve grown accustomed to to be spot on. Martin keeps their distinct voices intact and doesn’t lose them in the massive plot that he is keeping track of here.
And that’s another thing I want to say, the author does a great job of keeping his head doing all these happenings. He should be applauded for keeping the story together and still working through everything that is happening because if he can’t hold on to every thread, then, we can’t.
From the Romulans, to the Coalition, to the military, to the politicians and to the average citizen, we see it all. The pure scope that we are privy to in this story is massive and we get to feel what every moving part is going through and while I said there were a few hiccups (not as bad as others have said) in the early chapters, they by no means downgrade the story to the point of being non enjoyable. This book only has made me thirsty for the second half of the Romulan War.
November 16, 2017
The Romulan War: Beneath the Raptor's Wing is a really good book if you are a fan of science fiction, but it is ok if you are not. This book, The Romulan War: Beneath the Raptor's Wing, has a lot of science fiction and war in it. Michael A. Martin, the author who wrote the book The Romulan War: Beneath the Raptor's Wing wrote many Star Trek novels. The Romulan War: Beneath the Raptor's Wing was published in October 29, 2009. Michael Martin has written many Star Trek novels and comics. The Romulan War: Beneath the Raptor's Wing mostly takes place in outer space. The main characters in this book are Gannet Brooks, Administrator T’Pau, and Captain Archer. Although there isn’t one main character, these three characters show up the most. The plot of this book is that there is a war taking place between an extraterrestrial species, called the Romulans, and the humans, that is sweeping across Earth in the twenty-second century.
The conflict that mostly takes place throughout the book is that the extraterrestrial species, the Vulcans, have helped humans develop technology to travel into deep space and make alliances with other species, but ever since Earth has made space colonies on planets like Deneva, the Romulans dread what the humans’ accomplishments are, therefore, the Romulans attack Earth colonies. The problem is that Vulcan has officially announced that they would not be helping Earth with this fight because they want Earth to emerge strong without the Vulcans “holding their hand”, but they will partially help them by giving Earth a burglar alarm system that can detect if any Romulan starship is entering their territory in space. The major topics in this book that would best fit, would be peace, war, and survival. These would be the three major topics in the book because peace and war is about how the characters, mostly the humans, are in a turmoil of conflict. All these topics relate to the theme that survival, peace, and war are necessary for humans to learn from mistakes and to become stronger every time a wave of struggle such as war hits. And because survival helps you become more aware of your surroundings.
They want to either fight off the Romulans in a nonviolent way or hide in the bushes. Survival is another topic related to the theme that survival can help you become stronger aware of your surroundings in this book because the humans are gambling odds to live another day against powerful alien beings with much sophisticated technology than they have. The Romulans have already destroyed five colony planets to their ruins by bombing them from the atmosphere, and they are planning to do the same to Earth. The tricky part is that nobody saw these attacks coming and although the humans set up the burglar alarm system, the Romulans used reverse engineering (to disassemble a product) to get passed these alarms.
I give this book a two star rating because it has too many characters and doesn’t talk about the actual main characters from the show this book originated from. This book has too many characters that I cannot pinpoint who is the lead character in this book. The book also talks about unimportant characters that wouldn’t show up as much on the show such as journalist, Gannet Brooks. This book feels slow and it feels dragging.
A similar movie The Romulan War: Beneath the Raptor's Wing reminds me of is Alien: Covenant because in that movie, the characters in the year 2100 go out into deep space to explore new worlds and make friends with other species, but instead, they have to fight of aliens to survive. A television series that this book also reminds me of is Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: The Next Generation. It reminds me of these shows because in both Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: The Next Generation, they have similar plots to The Romulan War: Beneath the Raptor's Wing. I think devoted, science fiction fans who read a lot and who watch Star Trek that are teenagers ages 14 to adults ages 50 would enjoy this. I say this because The Romulan War: Beneath the Raptor's Wing has a slow pace to it only fast readers could finish in less than three weeks and because The Romulan War: Beneath the Raptor's Wing has a lot of scientific vocabulary only huge science fiction fans would understand. It also triggers your imagination. For example, when you read the book, you have to picture how a specific type of alien looks like, even if the alien doesn’t exist in Star Trek movies.
This book is not relevant and important because it just doesn’t feel like your are reading Star Trek book. The pace is also slow and there isn’t much action to the book. This book is mostly about characters being interviewed about the unfortunate attacks on planets.
The conflict that mostly takes place throughout the book is that the extraterrestrial species, the Vulcans, have helped humans develop technology to travel into deep space and make alliances with other species, but ever since Earth has made space colonies on planets like Deneva, the Romulans dread what the humans’ accomplishments are, therefore, the Romulans attack Earth colonies. The problem is that Vulcan has officially announced that they would not be helping Earth with this fight because they want Earth to emerge strong without the Vulcans “holding their hand”, but they will partially help them by giving Earth a burglar alarm system that can detect if any Romulan starship is entering their territory in space. The major topics in this book that would best fit, would be peace, war, and survival. These would be the three major topics in the book because peace and war is about how the characters, mostly the humans, are in a turmoil of conflict. All these topics relate to the theme that survival, peace, and war are necessary for humans to learn from mistakes and to become stronger every time a wave of struggle such as war hits. And because survival helps you become more aware of your surroundings.
They want to either fight off the Romulans in a nonviolent way or hide in the bushes. Survival is another topic related to the theme that survival can help you become stronger aware of your surroundings in this book because the humans are gambling odds to live another day against powerful alien beings with much sophisticated technology than they have. The Romulans have already destroyed five colony planets to their ruins by bombing them from the atmosphere, and they are planning to do the same to Earth. The tricky part is that nobody saw these attacks coming and although the humans set up the burglar alarm system, the Romulans used reverse engineering (to disassemble a product) to get passed these alarms.
I give this book a two star rating because it has too many characters and doesn’t talk about the actual main characters from the show this book originated from. This book has too many characters that I cannot pinpoint who is the lead character in this book. The book also talks about unimportant characters that wouldn’t show up as much on the show such as journalist, Gannet Brooks. This book feels slow and it feels dragging.
A similar movie The Romulan War: Beneath the Raptor's Wing reminds me of is Alien: Covenant because in that movie, the characters in the year 2100 go out into deep space to explore new worlds and make friends with other species, but instead, they have to fight of aliens to survive. A television series that this book also reminds me of is Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: The Next Generation. It reminds me of these shows because in both Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: The Next Generation, they have similar plots to The Romulan War: Beneath the Raptor's Wing. I think devoted, science fiction fans who read a lot and who watch Star Trek that are teenagers ages 14 to adults ages 50 would enjoy this. I say this because The Romulan War: Beneath the Raptor's Wing has a slow pace to it only fast readers could finish in less than three weeks and because The Romulan War: Beneath the Raptor's Wing has a lot of scientific vocabulary only huge science fiction fans would understand. It also triggers your imagination. For example, when you read the book, you have to picture how a specific type of alien looks like, even if the alien doesn’t exist in Star Trek movies.
This book is not relevant and important because it just doesn’t feel like your are reading Star Trek book. The pace is also slow and there isn’t much action to the book. This book is mostly about characters being interviewed about the unfortunate attacks on planets.
July 16, 2025
Every book about war is also a book about many different things. War is exceedingly difficult to write about because of the logistics that need to factored, the scope that needs to be applied, and the points that need to be made. This is the most ambitious Star Trek book that I have read thus far, although once I fill in a few gaps, I'm sure it will have some competition.
This isn't an "Oh look at that weird spatial anomaly, Captain" kind of novel and it isn't advertised as such. It's a tie in that incorporates the messages and tropes of war with the utopian values that Star Trek was birthed from. It's probably an issue for some readers that the author puts Starfleet against the perils and the tough decisions of war.
I appreciated Archer in this book, and how the Kobayashi Maru incident affected his inner monologue and the interpersonal integrity of his ship. Some overdue morsels of character development for Mayweather and Hoshi, and a great scene with Phlox. Again, it was probably too dour for some people. I also wanted to express my appreciation for the nuance of Soval and Shran. It feels like their arcs are where they should have been if the show had continued.
I liked the philosophical undercurrents of the book. The journalist plots display two opposing views of the conflict, and the incorporation of Vulcan values leaves me unsure about where I would stand given the situation.
The promise that the title holds to tell the story of the Romulan War, while widely succesful does have some shortcomings.
1. This book is a little larger than most Star Trek books, and while I appreciate and am familiar with books that do this, I do think that there were a few chapters that can be excised. We don't need to know anything. We don't need to know which journalist is sleeping with who. I think that everyone has their own level of tolerance when it comes to detail and attempts at immersion. Again, I do appreciate the lengths the author goes to with reference after reference, and I interpret as a devoted love to the universe. I like the wider scope and the story would be worse without it, but I think it could be minimized by a centimeter or two.
2. A dramatis personae would have been really helpful, although I'm not sure where it would have fit. The thing about Romulans and Vulcans is that they all have very similar names. More than a dozen times, I read Sopek as Spock. I must admit that there were Romulan chapters where I was smiling and nodding pretending I remembered who these characters were and what they were doing. I was not as invested in the Romulan characters as I was in others, save a few that returned from the previous installments.
3. More random sexual things, except one at the end is kind of wholesome and I wouldn't have excised it.
Thing I feel neutrally about: I feel like the author found out about the word "sanguine" and really liked it. I remembered seeing it four times. On one hand I could feel like it was lazy, but on the other hand I feel like it's an easter egg for the readers who pay close attention.
This is a book that you shouldn't read if you are going to read it absentmindedly. It does ask a lot and it doesn't patronize you. What makes a good tie-in book for me is when the author tells a story that could not be told on the silver screen. I would think of Beneath the Raptor's Wing as more of a success than a failure and it was far from the worst thing a book could be in my eyes- boring. I am looking forward to the conclusion of this duology and the continuing paths of the Enterprise crew.
This isn't an "Oh look at that weird spatial anomaly, Captain" kind of novel and it isn't advertised as such. It's a tie in that incorporates the messages and tropes of war with the utopian values that Star Trek was birthed from. It's probably an issue for some readers that the author puts Starfleet against the perils and the tough decisions of war.
I appreciated Archer in this book, and how the Kobayashi Maru incident affected his inner monologue and the interpersonal integrity of his ship. Some overdue morsels of character development for Mayweather and Hoshi, and a great scene with Phlox. Again, it was probably too dour for some people. I also wanted to express my appreciation for the nuance of Soval and Shran. It feels like their arcs are where they should have been if the show had continued.
I liked the philosophical undercurrents of the book. The journalist plots display two opposing views of the conflict, and the incorporation of Vulcan values leaves me unsure about where I would stand given the situation.
The promise that the title holds to tell the story of the Romulan War, while widely succesful does have some shortcomings.
1. This book is a little larger than most Star Trek books, and while I appreciate and am familiar with books that do this, I do think that there were a few chapters that can be excised. We don't need to know anything. We don't need to know which journalist is sleeping with who. I think that everyone has their own level of tolerance when it comes to detail and attempts at immersion. Again, I do appreciate the lengths the author goes to with reference after reference, and I interpret as a devoted love to the universe. I like the wider scope and the story would be worse without it, but I think it could be minimized by a centimeter or two.
2. A dramatis personae would have been really helpful, although I'm not sure where it would have fit. The thing about Romulans and Vulcans is that they all have very similar names. More than a dozen times, I read Sopek as Spock. I must admit that there were Romulan chapters where I was smiling and nodding pretending I remembered who these characters were and what they were doing. I was not as invested in the Romulan characters as I was in others, save a few that returned from the previous installments.
3. More random sexual things, except one at the end is kind of wholesome and I wouldn't have excised it.
Thing I feel neutrally about: I feel like the author found out about the word "sanguine" and really liked it. I remembered seeing it four times. On one hand I could feel like it was lazy, but on the other hand I feel like it's an easter egg for the readers who pay close attention.
This is a book that you shouldn't read if you are going to read it absentmindedly. It does ask a lot and it doesn't patronize you. What makes a good tie-in book for me is when the author tells a story that could not be told on the silver screen. I would think of Beneath the Raptor's Wing as more of a success than a failure and it was far from the worst thing a book could be in my eyes- boring. I am looking forward to the conclusion of this duology and the continuing paths of the Enterprise crew.
January 7, 2024
This book is boring.
You wouldn’t think that a book about the start of the Romulan/Earth war would be a snooze-fest, but there you go.
It starts off promisingly enough, Archer goes to the Klingons to beg for help. He’s laughed out of the room. I thought “Sweet! How does THIS happen?!” Unfortunately, we never find that out. The Klingons are never mentioned again.
What happens next, and mostly for the rest of the LONG book, is simply what I would call a series of barely connected events. It really is just a series of events happening with no real thread binding everything together. They are connected in that everything that happens is in response to what the Romulans are doing, but there’s no one storyline or plot. Everyone’s just sort of off doing their own things.
The Enterprise is out of maybe 70% of the book because it took them a long time to get back to Earth.
Trip gets conscripted to do some sabotage work. But we only see the end of his mission.
Travis transfers to several ships that have some really bad luck.
The Vulcans are sitting this one out for…reasons. The Andorians and Tellerites show up occasionally. For some reason we see what people on Mars are doing, but it’s mostly pointless to the book because they never do anything. There’s one reporter who travels around sometimes talking to people.
T’Pol sort of helps a friend try to find his wife, but we never really see them do any of that. They just talk about how they couldn’t find her. She also tries to convince T’Pau to get in the war and help Earth, but she has gone ultra-pacifist and is perfectly willing to let everyone die.
The frustrating thing about this book is that there ARE real plot threads that could have been fleshed out. Romulans hijacking the Coalition ships is a great potential story. But it’s only mentioned occasionally that this happens and that some countermeasures are used. What are those countermeasures? We never know. What about that Vulcan early warning system that keeps failing? Why does that keep happening? We never know because the author is totally uninterested in exploring that. How about what is Trip up to over the course of the year that he’s undercover? Again, we never know until his mission is mostly over. What are the Andorians and Tellerites doing about the Romulan hijacking? We will never know.
Like I said. This book is a series of only barely connected events that has no solid plot. It was a drag to read.
I hope the next book doesn’t stink like this one.
You wouldn’t think that a book about the start of the Romulan/Earth war would be a snooze-fest, but there you go.
It starts off promisingly enough, Archer goes to the Klingons to beg for help. He’s laughed out of the room. I thought “Sweet! How does THIS happen?!” Unfortunately, we never find that out. The Klingons are never mentioned again.
What happens next, and mostly for the rest of the LONG book, is simply what I would call a series of barely connected events. It really is just a series of events happening with no real thread binding everything together. They are connected in that everything that happens is in response to what the Romulans are doing, but there’s no one storyline or plot. Everyone’s just sort of off doing their own things.
The Enterprise is out of maybe 70% of the book because it took them a long time to get back to Earth.
Trip gets conscripted to do some sabotage work. But we only see the end of his mission.
Travis transfers to several ships that have some really bad luck.
The Vulcans are sitting this one out for…reasons. The Andorians and Tellerites show up occasionally. For some reason we see what people on Mars are doing, but it’s mostly pointless to the book because they never do anything. There’s one reporter who travels around sometimes talking to people.
T’Pol sort of helps a friend try to find his wife, but we never really see them do any of that. They just talk about how they couldn’t find her. She also tries to convince T’Pau to get in the war and help Earth, but she has gone ultra-pacifist and is perfectly willing to let everyone die.
The frustrating thing about this book is that there ARE real plot threads that could have been fleshed out. Romulans hijacking the Coalition ships is a great potential story. But it’s only mentioned occasionally that this happens and that some countermeasures are used. What are those countermeasures? We never know. What about that Vulcan early warning system that keeps failing? Why does that keep happening? We never know because the author is totally uninterested in exploring that. How about what is Trip up to over the course of the year that he’s undercover? Again, we never know until his mission is mostly over. What are the Andorians and Tellerites doing about the Romulan hijacking? We will never know.
Like I said. This book is a series of only barely connected events that has no solid plot. It was a drag to read.
I hope the next book doesn’t stink like this one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 11, 2023
Adventurous, challenging, emotional, funny,
hopeful, inspiring, mysterious, reflective, sad, and tense.
Medium-paced
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25 ⭐
I really, really, really love the Star Trek: Enterprise storyline. This idea of us humans striving for the stars, being introduced to the universe as a whole...and being "bright eyed and bushy tailed", but also woefully ignorant to the larger scope of danger that lurks "just around the corner" in the Romulans.
As many of the fans believe...that last episode of Star Trek: Enterprise didn't REALLY happen, and this series is the TRUE extension to the popular TV series.
The war that has started by the Romulan aggresson...has just gotten a LOT harder...within the story of this book...and I feel for all the humans in this fledgling Coalition of Planets...and for our intreped crew of the Enterprise.
I have been savoring these books...and possibly taking "too long" to read them...for fear that once they have been read...the end of the series will have truly come to pass...and I honestly do NOT want that to happen, BUT this story is really good.
I would read a section. I'd then put the book down...to pick up another story...and get swept away on THAT adventure, but in my heart/mind...I'd revisit this current work..and ponder the next move of either the Romulans, the Coalition, the Vulcans, Section 31...and especially Trip.
I really would have loved to see Connor portraying a Romulan...and later a Vulcan on TV. Ugh...so sad for it's abrupt ending. That should NEVER have happened.
Now, I will pick up the next book...and possibly read it quicker, since now I had to know (urgently), what happens...next.
Loved this book. The characters jumped off the page...into my mind, like watching the show all over again. SO vividly present in my mind.
hopeful, inspiring, mysterious, reflective, sad, and tense.
Medium-paced
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25 ⭐
I really, really, really love the Star Trek: Enterprise storyline. This idea of us humans striving for the stars, being introduced to the universe as a whole...and being "bright eyed and bushy tailed", but also woefully ignorant to the larger scope of danger that lurks "just around the corner" in the Romulans.
As many of the fans believe...that last episode of Star Trek: Enterprise didn't REALLY happen, and this series is the TRUE extension to the popular TV series.
The war that has started by the Romulan aggresson...has just gotten a LOT harder...within the story of this book...and I feel for all the humans in this fledgling Coalition of Planets...and for our intreped crew of the Enterprise.
I have been savoring these books...and possibly taking "too long" to read them...for fear that once they have been read...the end of the series will have truly come to pass...and I honestly do NOT want that to happen, BUT this story is really good.
I would read a section. I'd then put the book down...to pick up another story...and get swept away on THAT adventure, but in my heart/mind...I'd revisit this current work..and ponder the next move of either the Romulans, the Coalition, the Vulcans, Section 31...and especially Trip.
I really would have loved to see Connor portraying a Romulan...and later a Vulcan on TV. Ugh...so sad for it's abrupt ending. That should NEVER have happened.
Now, I will pick up the next book...and possibly read it quicker, since now I had to know (urgently), what happens...next.
Loved this book. The characters jumped off the page...into my mind, like watching the show all over again. SO vividly present in my mind.
November 29, 2018
Continuing on with the Star Trek Enterprise relaunch series, this is an excellent addition.
The book details the beginnings of the Earth-Romulan war. The battles depicted were entertaining and kept me engaged. Even a few of the political situation between Earth and the coalition partners was interesting, even if it slowed the story down a bit. The worst was Trip's story. While it is good to see him around, his involvement behind the scenes as a "spy" still does not sit well with me personally. His involvement leads him to Vulcun. While it is interesting to read more about the Vulcans, their situation also slows down the story. Each chapter is divided up into a specific date that occurs during the war. While it's interesting and certainly useful for anyone who likes to map out the timeline, some sections does not seem to add up as well. But it does not distract from the story overall.
Overall, the "Beneath the Raptor's Wings" is a much better entry than the last book, "Kobayashi Maru", and moves at a much faster pace. The decision Archer made in the last book is explored a little further here by following a particular character (not mentioned because I do not want to avoid spoilers). Depending on whether or not you agree with that character's decision to leave Enterprise, in a weird way it was satisfying to see the character bounce around and face troubles on his own. It helped add a bit of depth to the character, that I thought was lacking in the show.
A recommended read for anyone who is interested with Star Trek Enterprise, the Earth Romulan war, or love to read starship battles.
The book details the beginnings of the Earth-Romulan war. The battles depicted were entertaining and kept me engaged. Even a few of the political situation between Earth and the coalition partners was interesting, even if it slowed the story down a bit. The worst was Trip's story. While it is good to see him around, his involvement behind the scenes as a "spy" still does not sit well with me personally. His involvement leads him to Vulcun. While it is interesting to read more about the Vulcans, their situation also slows down the story. Each chapter is divided up into a specific date that occurs during the war. While it's interesting and certainly useful for anyone who likes to map out the timeline, some sections does not seem to add up as well. But it does not distract from the story overall.
Overall, the "Beneath the Raptor's Wings" is a much better entry than the last book, "Kobayashi Maru", and moves at a much faster pace. The decision Archer made in the last book is explored a little further here by following a particular character (not mentioned because I do not want to avoid spoilers). Depending on whether or not you agree with that character's decision to leave Enterprise, in a weird way it was satisfying to see the character bounce around and face troubles on his own. It helped add a bit of depth to the character, that I thought was lacking in the show.
A recommended read for anyone who is interested with Star Trek Enterprise, the Earth Romulan war, or love to read starship battles.
November 15, 2023
I actually like Star Trek: Enterprise. It had its problems, and plenty of problem episodes, and I'm not a fan of the Expanse story. But whenever the series dealt with the Vulcans and Andorians (especially), the series was at its best, and showing Earth's initial influence on its neighbors was a good direction.
The apparent plans were that the fifth season would tackle the Earth-Romulan War mentioned in "Balance of Terror". So, in a series of novels dealing with carrying the Enterprise storyline forward, that is an obvious, and attractive, subject.
The first problem is that it is more tied into the previous novels than you'd think. This starts off right after Kobayashi Maru, and everyone is still dealing with the aftermath of that book... which I haven't read. Second, I am quite tired of in medias res openings that try to excite you with things that happen long after the start of the story. If the story's good, it can be good from the start, trust me. And this one is so bad that you don't even catch up to it until the next book! After that... the novel is a bit too ambitious. It covers a bit over a year with Star Fleet having to deal with a real shooting war that they're not really ready for, and the Coalition of Planets' mutual defense treaties buckle under. (Actually, the main problem is Vulcan staying steadfastly out of the war, and that's not handled as well as it could have been.)
The novel is long, and goes for the 'cast of thousands' side of things, which works here. Far better than it would in a shorter format, such as weekly episodes, so Martin making good use of his opportunities here. It does mean this is a much slower read than most any other Star Trek novel you're likely to run into. On the other hand, I think he needed to tighten up on tone and theme, and look more at how this war is shaping Star Fleet, and taking it ever further from it's pure exploration roots.
One sub-plot I have definite troubles with is with Tucker. The plot itself isn't a bad one, and certainly becomes important in the next book, but he just feels like a really unlikely choice for spy. Of course, this also flows out of a previous book (presumably Kobayashi Maru, but I don't know). There's a good attempt to explain why TOS's bridge controls are so... "retro" compared to everything else, but I think we just have leave that to the side, since Strange New Worlds has overwritten that part. Unfortunately, one bit in that part would be... frankly, impossible, and I'm glad it's just a one line mention. (There might be ways to make it work, but not as stated.)
Overall, it's a good book, and a good delve into a period that we won't see in any other way. There's a bit too much sand in the concrete of the foundation, but it still stands well on it's own, other than ending on a 'to be continued...' note as To Brave the Storm is directly tied into it.
The apparent plans were that the fifth season would tackle the Earth-Romulan War mentioned in "Balance of Terror". So, in a series of novels dealing with carrying the Enterprise storyline forward, that is an obvious, and attractive, subject.
The first problem is that it is more tied into the previous novels than you'd think. This starts off right after Kobayashi Maru, and everyone is still dealing with the aftermath of that book... which I haven't read. Second, I am quite tired of in medias res openings that try to excite you with things that happen long after the start of the story. If the story's good, it can be good from the start, trust me. And this one is so bad that you don't even catch up to it until the next book! After that... the novel is a bit too ambitious. It covers a bit over a year with Star Fleet having to deal with a real shooting war that they're not really ready for, and the Coalition of Planets' mutual defense treaties buckle under. (Actually, the main problem is Vulcan staying steadfastly out of the war, and that's not handled as well as it could have been.)
The novel is long, and goes for the 'cast of thousands' side of things, which works here. Far better than it would in a shorter format, such as weekly episodes, so Martin making good use of his opportunities here. It does mean this is a much slower read than most any other Star Trek novel you're likely to run into. On the other hand, I think he needed to tighten up on tone and theme, and look more at how this war is shaping Star Fleet, and taking it ever further from it's pure exploration roots.
One sub-plot I have definite troubles with is with Tucker. The plot itself isn't a bad one, and certainly becomes important in the next book, but he just feels like a really unlikely choice for spy. Of course, this also flows out of a previous book (presumably Kobayashi Maru, but I don't know). There's a good attempt to explain why TOS's bridge controls are so... "retro" compared to everything else, but I think we just have leave that to the side, since Strange New Worlds has overwritten that part. Unfortunately, one bit in that part would be... frankly, impossible, and I'm glad it's just a one line mention. (There might be ways to make it work, but not as stated.)
Overall, it's a good book, and a good delve into a period that we won't see in any other way. There's a bit too much sand in the concrete of the foundation, but it still stands well on it's own, other than ending on a 'to be continued...' note as To Brave the Storm is directly tied into it.
March 10, 2025
I didn't like this one, so much so that I began to feel guilty about how much I didn't like it. But there you go. I found this excessively tedious and unmoving.
It featured some good elements. I liked the surprising departure of Mayweather. I liked the crying Vulcan. I liked the evolving political division of the founding member planets. I liked, as always, Phlox's considered opinions.
I'm not sure if this came before or after 'Articles of the Federation' but it tried a similar approach and didn't nearly pull it off as well, in my opinion. I found the investigative reporter's story a superfluous distraction from the main events and the glimpses into political procedure were necessary but not at all compelling.
Trip and T'Pol had sex two too many times, but if you're into that then get your kink on right here. To be honest, I found Trip's involvement to be unconvincing in the least.
I'll continue, I couldn't possibly miss the conclusion of the Romulan War, but I am surprised that such a key moment in Federation history ended up being a rather disappointing read. I think perhaps this would have worked better split into a much longer series of books where each of the ideas here could be explored with more care than a passing glance.
It featured some good elements. I liked the surprising departure of Mayweather. I liked the crying Vulcan. I liked the evolving political division of the founding member planets. I liked, as always, Phlox's considered opinions.
I'm not sure if this came before or after 'Articles of the Federation' but it tried a similar approach and didn't nearly pull it off as well, in my opinion. I found the investigative reporter's story a superfluous distraction from the main events and the glimpses into political procedure were necessary but not at all compelling.
Trip and T'Pol had sex two too many times, but if you're into that then get your kink on right here. To be honest, I found Trip's involvement to be unconvincing in the least.
I'll continue, I couldn't possibly miss the conclusion of the Romulan War, but I am surprised that such a key moment in Federation history ended up being a rather disappointing read. I think perhaps this would have worked better split into a much longer series of books where each of the ideas here could be explored with more care than a passing glance.
May 19, 2018
This was a bit longer than the usual Trek novel. But with 85 chapters, most chapters are shorter than usual, which makes for a lot of good stopping points. A few things led to only three stars for this one. First, this may have been better split into two novels. A lot of time passes throughout the book and a lot happens. However, there were no major cliffhangers between most chapters, so maybe splitting it up wouldn’t have worked. Because of that, too, this was sometimes easy to put down for a bit. Also, sometimes I had a hard time keeping track of all the characters, especially those with more than one identity (i.e., undercover agents). Lastly, I wish a little more focus had been given to Columbia. I know its fate was discussed in the Destiny trilogy, but a little more lead-up would have been nice. Things I liked are the way this book describes the war and the reasons for it being the Earth-Romulan War rather than the Coalition-Romulan War. Nice bit of retconning with the use of the Daedalus-class fleet. The novel also had some good character development. I definitely recommend for those working through the Enterprise novels it does move the story along quite a bit.
May 12, 2021
War always makes for a heavy subject and this book really embraces that fact most ambitiously. This is a story with many facets, and thus we follow the action on the Enterprise, with T'Pol as she returns to Vulcan, with Trip as he remains undercover, and even with the Romulan side of the way, to name a few of the major point of view characters perspectives used to tell the story.
So there's a LOT to juggle, and this book is closely tied to previous Enterprise titles, particularly to the recent events of the Kobayashi Maru. I appreciate the thought put into all these long-term effects on the different characters, all while dealing with the ongoing war with the still-secretive Romulan Star Empire.
While it's a little hard to keep tabs on everything that's happening all across the quadrant (and then some), this is quite the brilliant effort to depict the war. It's a very gripping read and I appreciate the effort put into fleshing out this period in Trek history while still trying to respect existing canon. On to the next book!
So there's a LOT to juggle, and this book is closely tied to previous Enterprise titles, particularly to the recent events of the Kobayashi Maru. I appreciate the thought put into all these long-term effects on the different characters, all while dealing with the ongoing war with the still-secretive Romulan Star Empire.
While it's a little hard to keep tabs on everything that's happening all across the quadrant (and then some), this is quite the brilliant effort to depict the war. It's a very gripping read and I appreciate the effort put into fleshing out this period in Trek history while still trying to respect existing canon. On to the next book!
June 6, 2025
This takes place between the summer of 2155 and the summer of 2156. It is a further descent into war between the aggressive Romulans and the Coalition of Planets. The bickering in the Coalition Council and the Vulcan refusal to do things is like a premonition of Trump's actions from 2009 when it was published. It is a space opera, following characters from the key worlds of Earth, Romulus, Vulcan, Andoria and Tellar, which provides insight into their motivations - misunderstandings don't help the moves to peace - and also an intrepid war reporter who goes out into space but whose continuous questioning of the "home" team's actions undermines public opinion. It's involving and interesting if quite depressing - the descent into war, the deaths, etc. I think this is a book for Star Trek enthusiasts and makes more sense if the reader has finished the previous book, The Romulan War: Kobayashi Maru. It you qualify, I recommend you read it!
February 14, 2018
I liked this overall. There are a lot of good bits in here. This tries to be a kind of ... War & Peace for the Romulan war, focusing on many, many different subplots going on throughout the entire galaxy or sector or whatever. The threat quickly escalates, and in classic Star Trek style Archer is more focused on building a coalition than shooting lasers. It is an uphill battle, though.
It's cool, also, how events in the last books have fallout that goes somewhere here (Travis & Trip in particular).
Some of the plots, while I applaud the intent, just got bogged down (the reporter subplot, especially).
It's cool, also, how events in the last books have fallout that goes somewhere here (Travis & Trip in particular).
Some of the plots, while I applaud the intent, just got bogged down (the reporter subplot, especially).
April 2, 2020
Actually this is a 3.75 !! Idk why but the whole multiple pov’s at the same time with different people just weren’t my thing, made it hard to keep up.
Trip is still stupid but I got my ship development nonetheless /:)
Its weird yet amazing to see where the entire crew is heading, not just as a group but individually; suddenly this whole war brought out their inner problems even more and its truly a test for them, especially Archer!
I know that this was a build up to the finale so here I go ahhh hope it doesn’t disappoint like kill my fave character for a “memorable ending” ... YES ENTERPRISE PRODUCERS, I’m talking about you ;/
Trip is still stupid but I got my ship development nonetheless /:)
Its weird yet amazing to see where the entire crew is heading, not just as a group but individually; suddenly this whole war brought out their inner problems even more and its truly a test for them, especially Archer!
I know that this was a build up to the finale so here I go ahhh hope it doesn’t disappoint like kill my fave character for a “memorable ending” ... YES ENTERPRISE PRODUCERS, I’m talking about you ;/
April 3, 2022
3.5 stars.
I thought the last few Enterprise books had too many POVs but this one... Don't get me wrong, I do like seeing things from different characters perspectives. Say, 2 or 3 different people. But this book had SO MANY. I didn't count but off the top of my head, I can think of at least 10.
In my opinion, jumping to a different character pretty much every chapter, ruins the flow of the book and it honestly just annoyed me.
I did however, like the story itself. In parts, it dragged on slightly but as a whole I was eager to know how things would continue to unfold. I do still plan on reading the next book in the series.
I thought the last few Enterprise books had too many POVs but this one... Don't get me wrong, I do like seeing things from different characters perspectives. Say, 2 or 3 different people. But this book had SO MANY. I didn't count but off the top of my head, I can think of at least 10.
In my opinion, jumping to a different character pretty much every chapter, ruins the flow of the book and it honestly just annoyed me.
I did however, like the story itself. In parts, it dragged on slightly but as a whole I was eager to know how things would continue to unfold. I do still plan on reading the next book in the series.
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