Star Trek: Enterprise: The Good That Men Do

Exciting Prequel to the Earth-Romulan Conflict:
"Star Trek Enterprise: The Good That Men Do" is the untold story of Starfleet engineer Charles "Trip" Tucker's first secret mission for Section 31, deep behind enemy lines, in the relatively unknown realm that is the Romulan Star Empire. This may be the first "Star Trek" novel I've encountered that deals substantially with the origins of the Earth-Romulan conflict. "Star Trek" scribes Andy Mangelis and Michael A. Martin have written their best "Star Trek" novel yet, replete with ample action, and considerable character development too from the likes of not only Tucker, but surprisingly too, Andorian Imperial Guardsman Shran. As "Star Trek" entertainment, it will be of interest not only to fans of "Star Trek Enterprise", but also "Star Trek Deep Space Nine". Much to my amazement, the authors adroitly handle potential plot spoilers that could have unexpected consequences for Vulcan's diplomatic relations with the other major powers in the soon-to-be-formed United Federation of Planets. Though theirs isn't great space opera science fiction, I am certain that Mangelis and Martin's novel will delight those who are avid fans of "Star Trek".

This Book Was Terrible For Many Reasons:
First the relationship in the series should have been between Captain Archer and T'Pol since the first two seasons showed them getting closer. Trip and T'Pol never made a great couple. Second,when it comes to this book,you should just read the Historian's note section and the years during the chapters, for it totally doesn't follow canon and is WAY WRONG Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker III died in 2161 and thsi book happens right after the episode "Terra Prime" in 2155. The Enterprise series final "These Are The Voyages" was set 6 years later in the year 2161 during the founding of the United Federation of Planets. Therefore Trip was never dead when this book started and dies 6 years later in 2161. This book is the hoax, TRIP REALLY DID DIE and no book can change that since thsi book's plot takes place in 2155, its a hoax since Trip died in 2161. If you don't believe me, check startrek.com and the description for the last episode, "It says six years into the future...". This book therefore is the worst Star Trek Enterprise book ever along with the epilogue to teh novel "Last Full Measure". Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin are the worst Star Trek Enterprise authors ever and they shouldn't even be writing books none less getting them published since they totally fall out of canon set by the series and don't even follow the right timeline when it comes t oTrip's life, he never died in 2155 but died protecting Captain Archer in 2161.

Best ST:ENT Novel:
Season 4 of Enterprise was (most fans agree) their best season. That is, up until the crappy finale. This novel is not only the best Enterprise novel but it also fixes the horrible damage from that finale. Plus, it sets the stage for the timeline and events that form the basis of all the subsequent Star Trek series! You really couldn't ask for more, from a Trek continuity basis. The writing is fantastic overall and the character interactions are great. But again, the best thing about this novel is that it gives us the proper send-off that this show really should have had...and a plot that makes more sense that what we got in the finale.

Inconsistent timeline:
This book would have been better if not for the inconsistent timeline with the series. In the third season episode "Azati Prime", the temporal agent Daniels whisked Archer to the time of the Federation's founding. According to Daniels, it was about seven years from the midpoint of the Xindi crisis. The final episode "All Good Things" agreed with that timeline exactly. The subsequent book however, placed Trip's "death" and the founding of the Federation soon after the events of the fourth season episode "Terra Prime". Bottom line, TV and movies are canon, while books are not always, this one being a good example. Yes, it's sad that Trip died, everybody loved him. Let him rest in peace. It's not a good idea to resurrect a character without making sure that other storylines will fit together. Case in point, Spock came back in Star Trek III and everything fit perfectly. On the other hand, William Shatner created a series of novels in which Kirk came back after his death. But the novels don't fit other Star Trek timelines and have become known as the Shatnerverse. Maybe this book and the subsequent Enterprise book "Kobayshi Maru" should be known as part of the "Tripverse".

Great story, missing pages:
I loved this book!! It was a great alternative to how the series ended! It was true to the characters. The problem is the copy of the book I received had about about 15 completely blank pages in the middle of the story. It was a huge disappointment. I can't believe Amazon would ship a book that was so poorly printed.