Critical Myth-Interpretations

When “Enterprise” went off the air after four seasons of varying quality, the final episode brought fans of all stripes together by giving them something to revile.  Fans of “Enterprise” can refer to my review of the episode “There Are the Voyages” for a quick reminder of the sins of Rick Berman and Brannon Braga.

This book is essentially a refutation of nearly every element of that episode.  Consider that notion for a moment: the publishing arm of the Star Trek license has published a massive novel that exists for no other reason than to render one of the television episodes moot.  More than that, the story itself undermines any credibility that the episode might have had, with characters providing pointed criticism.  Trek novels have shown nuances unseen in episodes or differing perspective, but rarely with such inherent disrespect and derision for the original material.

That said, that disrespect and derision is completely warranted, so the book starts in the right place.  Like the original episode, the story is framed in a future period, decades after the “Next Generation” era that was the framework of “These Are the Voyages”.  This is meant to be the “true” history behind the “false” history shown in the episode, and on that level, it’s quite satisfying.  (It also fits very well into the Critical Myth concept!)  The characterizations are far more logical, and it leaves the door open for future tales.

In fact, had a fifth season of “Enterprise” emerged, this could have been the premiere, restoring Trip as a viable character and realigning events in a more logical fashion.  The rest of the characters get reasonable treatment, and the authors do a great job of reconciling the portrayal of the Romulans in “Enterprise” with the information given in the original series.  Besides, how can a novel with so much Shran fail to please?

The book, however, is not perfect.  The episode took place at the founding of the Federation; this book, by necessity, cannot reconcile that easily and still stand as a proper refutation and restoration.  It also portrays Archer as a determined, gritty hero, which was implied by the writing of the series but never convincingly communicated by Scott Bakula.

The book also courted controversy with the inclusion, at the very end, of a gay couple.  Basically, Trip is revealed to have a homosexual brother with a longtime partner (husband?), something that was never mentioned in the series itself.  In and of itself, this is hardly objectionable; the Trek mythos, in theory, would be more than accepting of same-sex couples.  All the same, the insertion of this item, late in the story, comes across as intrusive and unnecessary.  It adds nothing to the story.  Mangels and Martin have a tendency to incorporate homosexual characters into the majority of their stories, and while it sometimes works very well, it can sometimes be artless.  This would be one of those instances, and while some of those objecting are probably bigots, there are objective reasons to disagree with its inclusion.

Rating: 8/10