Broken Bow (Star Trek Enterprise) (ISBN 0743470621)

The Beginning Of Starfleet:
This novel by veteran Star Trek writer Diane Carey is based upon the first 'Star Trek: Enterprise' episode, Broken Bow. It lays the foundation for the formation of Starfleet, which of course came before 'The United Federation Of Planets', and includes some events leading up to the aquisition of warp technology (this book is more detailed than the television version) including a bit more about Zephran Cochran, the inventor of warp drive on earth. This is really fascinating stuff. The plot and storyline are good, as is character development, required reading for any serious Star Trek fan. This book also goes into some detail concerning the start of Vulcan-Terran cooperation and mutual trust and respect, very interesting coverage here. This is great science fiction on any standard, well worth reading, written in an easy to read, flowing style.

Excellent adaptation of a fine episode.:
In this book, Diane Carey once again demonstrates what she is capable of when not attempting to show how cute and clever she can be with the language. In many of her earlier works, her writing was almost indecipherable due to a tendancy to try to find new, unusual uses for perfectly good words. More and more, in her recent efforts, she has gotten away from this quirk, and the result has been some truly fine writing; this is one of the best so far. The story itself is not as good as her story in "Day of Honor, Ancient Blood", but that isn't her fault. In this case, she is writing a novelization of an existing episode, and she does a solid, workmanlike job of it. The episode is good, just not as good as the best ideas that Ms. Carey has had on her own. This story is an excellent introduction to the "Enterprise" characters and storyline, and Ms. Carey's treatment of it is very worthwhile reading.

A nice read about the beginning of Starfleet.:
"Broken Bow" is the novelization of the first episode of the television series "Enterprise" and it is a quite enjoyable read. It is approximately 150 years from now. Mankind has made first contact with the Vulcans, and later a few other intelligent races, but Earthmen are still the "new kids on the block" and humans are just beginning to venture out into the stars in a significant way. Starfleet is very new, and mankind's mentors, the Vulcans, disapprove of these upstart humans getting loose outside of our Solar System. The novel delves into the politics of the construction of the Enterprise and Starfleet, both of which the Vulcans believe are premature, more than the initial television episode did. I personally find the setting in "Enterprise" to be more interesting and enjoyable than that in either The Original Series or The Next Generation (both of which I very much enjoyed!) simply because it has a wonderful "New Frontier" feeling to it. The new warp technology means that Starfleet has very little knowledge of what lies "out there," the other technology is new and sometimes quirky. The transporter is "safe for biotransport" but no one relishes the idea of riding the darned thing, which I can understand. Most races that Enterprise will encounter are new to mankind, and offer new challenges and opportunities. In this episode, humanity meets up with the Klingons, which is never an easy thing to do! The prose in the novel is good, and this is a very decent read for fans of "Star Trek" and the "Enterprise" concept.

The adventure begins...:
A great story about mankind reaching for the stars. After almost a century of being held back by Vulcan guidance Starfleet's first Warp 5 starship commanded by Capt. Johnathan Archer embarks on a mission to return a wounded Klingon named Klangg to his people. Along the way they run into temporal cold war agents-the Suliban and must try and prevent them from killing Klangg (as he carries valuable information back to the Klingon Empire). Archer must also overcome his distrust of Vulcans and his new Vulcan first officer T'pol. This pre-federation chapter of Star Trek is just as enticing as the other Star Trek series'. Even though the technologies featured (Only Warp 5 capable Engine designed by Archer's dad,no tractor beams on Enterprise,no phasers or photon torpedos) are a bit primitive compared to the other series you get to witness the early Starfleet deep space missions. An excellent story nonetheless and well worth reading or watching.

Entertaining:
Yes, the accuracy of this book can definitely be questioned. Lets be honest, there are contradictions throughout the Star Trek universe but you have to get over that. The key question is whether or not the contradictions are integral to the story --- they are not. This was an entertaining read and a good start to a new series. Could it have been beter -- yes. The encounter with the Klingons was disappointing. The continued conflict between humans and vulcans was a little annoying. But, still fun to read.