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The Paraagan deep-space colony was just another first contact, unusual only in two aspects: it was a matriarchal society, and the planet's upper atmosphere was filled with a highly volatile gas. But the officers of "Enterprise" knew how to handle their shuttlepod, and they understood the Paraagan landing protocols. As the shuttlepod descended, they closed the plasma vents, certain that nothing could escape and ignite the gas.
Thirty-six hundred colonists were vaporized in the blast. Every building, every living thing, everything on the surface was destroyed in the fireball. Could the "Enterprise" crew have caused the destruction?
Recalled, Archer knows that the Vulcan High Command has convinced Starfleet of what they have long insisted. Humans are not ready for deep-space exploration.
But these were not the events as history recorded them. No one died. "Enterprise" was never recalled. This is the startling information offered by the mysterious Crewman Daniels -- who claims to be from the thirty-first century and a foot soldier in the temporal cold war. Archer sets out to prove "Enterprise'"s innocence. But time is a swiftly moving river in whose deadly rapids Enterprise is caught. Is there really anything they can do?
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Customer Reviews
Ruditis tries with a strong sense of loyalty to the script and it was actually in hindsight one of the strongest Enterprise scripts in a while.
In a nutshell Enterprise vaporises over 3000 people and according to a time traveller, history never recorded it. And thus ensues a romp between times going back 9 or 10 months and forward 1000 years in the series timeline, trying to follow Archer and his crew as they seek answers to the whys and wherfores of the incident. (Cue the temporal cold war as mentioned in Broken Bow)
The unfortunate part of this book is that as you are reading it all of the additional points such as scenes with Admiral Forrest in the prologue and epilogue seem to be dwarfed by the central story and long after the book has been finished these small scenes fade and the hugeness of the story remains.
And that is the crux of the problem with this book. The story has a monumental size to it and anything added was always going to pale in comparison. That's not to say it's a dire read or that it should be avoided like the plague, or even that the central point of the novel, the main story if you will, is badly written or poorly executed. In fact it isn't, it takes the episode and takes the reader from being a outside observer gives you an opportunity via imagination to become an active participant, it just falls short of satisfying the reader. Ruditis' descriptive power is good and it gets you into the centere of the story and that is one of this book's virtues
It's a great book if you've seen the episode/s. In fact it allows you the opportunity to re-live some of the good moments of the episode, but at the end of the day, it isn't the show and it is very rare for a novelisation to be able to successfully grapple with the original script and either improve or match it.
On the whole it's a fair and intriguing try. Intriguing because you can almost see the author trying desperately to put his own stamp on the story, but this was the one story that such a thing just comes accross as filler. I wouldn't part with the book it's good for long journeys and rainy days. It fulfills the distraction quota, but if your looking for something to sink into and engage your mind. A novelisation, just never was it!
Enjoyable, light and fun? Yes. As entertaining as Peter David's New Frontier? No! As warming as Voyager's "Day of Hounour"?Again with the No!
Ultimately, wait for it to go paperback.
The basic premise of the story is that the Enterprise manages to vaporise several thousand people in a major accident whilst visiting a planet. Then, as the Enterprise prepares to be recalled b...more"Shockwave" is a novelization of two Star Trek episodes; namely the Season 1 Finale and the Season 2 premier. I have to admit that I found Shockwave to be one of the better stories in the initial few seasons of the show so I was looking forward to refreshing my memory with this novel.
The basic premise of the story is that the Enterprise manages to vaporise several thousand people in a major accident whilst visiting a planet. Then, as the Enterprise prepares to be recalled back to Earth, Captain Archer is visited by a time traveller who explains that history had never recorded this incident and it is all part of the temporal cold war that was previously mentioned in the first Enterprise novel; Broken Bow. Thus begins an adventure through time, ranging from several months back to thousands of years in the future as the crew tries to unravel what has occurred and why.
The first thing I have to comment on is that it does stick very closely to the TV show and there isn't really anything new added in terms of the story or characters that you couldn't have gained by watching the show, but to be honest that is not a new issue when it comes to novelizations. I did note that various flashbacks to earlier episodes in season 1 have been added to the story. It is a nice way of ensuring that people who haven't seen the show will still understand aspects of the story. I actually appreciated it myself as it was many years ago that I watched the show and can only vaguely remember some of the episodes.
Paul Ruditis, has written the story well enough with his descriptions really bringing you into the centre of the story and the plot is well paced. Basically, I found the novel to be just as entertaining and interesting as I remembered the episodes were.
In summary, this book is a very faithful adaptation of a very enjoyable double episode. However, in a way this is its flaw as I still believe Star Trek books mainly appeal to those who have watched the TV show. Therefore, most people who pick this up will already know the story and it doesn't really add anything new to the experience. So, if you have already seen the Shockwave episodes, the only real reason to pick this up is to re-immerse yourself in this enjoyable story in another form which is perfectly reasonable. If you haven't seen the TV series then I think you will find this a fun and light Sci-Fi adventure book, although I would advise that you read Broken Arrow first as it does give some background and set-up for the overall plot.
If you're someone who doesn't notice stuff like this, and thinks I'm being overly picky to dwell on it, then you'll find much to enjoy in this book; the plot is enjoyable, and the pacing and such are excellent. But if, like me, you cringe when reading something by an allegedly professional writer that would have numerous red marks if it were handed in as a seventh grade project, steer clear of it.
Ruditis goes a step further by getting the reader caught up on the major happenings of Season 1. During the narrative of the 2 Shockwave episodes, Ruditis flashes us back to the events of the 'Temporal Cold War' and previous Suliban encounters. Again this is well written and helps you catch up on the key events of Season 1. Its a quick easy read and provides more detail than is possible on television.
If you are just now jumping into 'Enterprise' with Season 2, this novel and the novel of the series premier episode "Broken Bow" will be just about all you need to catch up.
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