Rosetta (Star Trek : Enterprise) (ISBN 1416509569)

Breaks some basic rules of science fiction writing:
I agree with other reviewers about the book being too long and slow, not delivering, and not up to par with other Star Trek books that I've read. The author also breaks a few rules of science fiction writing: + Don't make the enemy so technologically advanced and superior that they have no weaknesses and are undefeatable. It becomes completely unbelievable and readers can't relate; it crosses way over the line from science fiction to become fantasy. + When this superior enemy has the upper hand and could defeat our heroes and the reader is wondering how the heroes will get out of it, don't make the enemy just *vanish* without a trace or explanation. Again, that's fantasy instead of science fiction, and it's not even good story telling. + Don't present intriguing possibilities (such as when Archer discovers his captor's secret) and then ignore those for stupid alternatives, such as pulling the plug. In the end, the book was a let down. As another reviewer said, it seemed to be (slowly, finally) building toward somthing about 2/3 of the way through, but then it just fizzled and was completely unsatisfying.

ST: Enterprise Rosetta:
Star Trek: Enterprise, Rosetta written by Dave Stern is a book about tranlations and the origins of the universal translator. The main plot is about confrontation and understanding as Captain Jonathan Archer and the Starship Enterprise crew are traveling in uncharted space and run across a race of beings called the Antianna. The Antianna have complicated language and it falls upon Ensign Hoshi Sato to translate this language and find out whether they are friend or foe. As Archer stears clear of the Antianna and gives Hoshi some extra time to translate the Antianna language they run into the Thelasian Trading Conferderacy headed by Governor Maxim Sen who is all but going to war with the Antianna. The events in this book take place between December 27, 2154 - while the Orion womem were passangers on the Enterprise ("Bound") and January 19, 2155 - when a xenophobic group tries to stop the formation of an alliance between Earth and several alien governments ("Demons"). Jonathan Archer and Ensign Hoshi Sato are the main characters in this book, but Hoshi's character could have been written better as she didn't shine that well throughout this book. The book is wordy in places and get bogged down a little in the plot. Although I found that it was a fast read but the substance wasn't there and left me with a hollow taste. This book could have been written much better, but with most of the Star Trek: Enterprise series, could use a rewrite to make it more interesting. There was action-adventure, mild as it was. There was dialog and character interaction making up most of the book, but as to deep insight this book was lacking. I gave this book 4 out 5 stars as it was better than most in the Star Trek: Enterprise series, but it missed the mark as to the standard in the other series in the Star Trek universe. It is worth reading as you get a feel for why spacefarers need a universal translator.

Very good story.:
As an official Star Trek geek, I will point out that there is no way that the Klingons had an entire fleet of cloaked ships by this point in time -- I doubt that they had cloaking technology at all, given that they got it from the Romulans, who were only experimenting with it at this time. However, that's a quibble that only a geek would care about, and otherwise, the story was excellent. Characterizations, plot, pacing, language are all excellently handled and there are virtually no careless proofreading/editing goofs. Undoubtedly the best Enterprise novel I've read so far.

Great promise, a bit disappointing:
I love the premise of this novel, the notion of translating a previously unknown language. As a history buff, it parallels with the notion of the early explorers meeting peoples they had never before had contact with and had to find a way of communicating with them although they had no conception of their language. Unfortunately, this novel got bogged down with a disappearance and political intrigue (which I would normally like, but I would have liked to see more focus on the alleged premise of the novel.) Also, the quality of writing was not as good as could have been hoped for either. The first half of the book was chock full of cliches and other tired and worn phrases that almost made me lose interest. The area of writing I DID like was the accurate citation and application of Chomsky's theory of "universal grammar" and its application to humans. I haven't seen as many of the Enterprise shows as I would have liked, though when I did, I really liked the Hoshi Sato character. She is in an interesting field, and as someone who is multilingual, admire that she seeks to expand linguistic knowledge. Not to mention that she is by no means unpleasant to look at. I really learned a lot about Sato in this novel, and I hope more novels are focused on her character in the future.

A fairly good "Star Trek: Enterprise" novel.:
This story is set in the "Star Trek" universe during the period of Archer's "Enterprise." To be precise it is set between 27th December 2254 while the Orion women were passengers on the Enterprise as described in "Bound," and January 19th 2255 when the events of "Demons" take place. As the title and cover indicate, the most important character in the book is Ensign Hoshi Sato, and her work translating alien languages is central to the story. The book starts with a strange and very powerful alien race blocking trade routes in defence of what they appear to regard as their territory. Both Enterprise and various other star nations attempt unsuccessfully to communicate with them. Can Archer, Hoshi and the Enterprise prevent the situation spiralling down to a devastating war ? Not everyone will like this book - a few of the plot devices have been over used in the series and are a bit tired - but I thought it was one of the better Star Trek Universe books that I have read.