Customer Reviews
Not so frustrating in hindsight... - By: R. W. Merriman, 06 Dec 2008 
My initial gripe with this work was with what I considered to be a glaring continuity error; the book is setin 2155, following on from Trip's 'faked' death in... 2161! Ok, so this is the first of the post-series novels I've read, & I'd missed the (apparent) decision to justify thisin context of the story, so I'll forgive the admittedly respected authors, & accept this as correct (whether or not it counts as canon...)
With thatin mind, I can accept that this is a fascinating story about the birth pangs of what eventually became the United Federation of Planets, involving espionage, sabotage & diplomacy. There is a large amount of what the late Craig Hinton referred to as "fanwank", including a reference to the ST:TOS episode "A Piece of the Action", which is totally unnecessary, a tad laboured, but fun anyway, although the biggest bit of fanwank is, of course, the inclusion of the Kobayashi Maru itself, as well as Captain Archer's own solution to it (no, I'm not going to give it away, but it's worth waiting for...)
The distinct elements of the narrative include the mission of both Enterprise & her sister ship Columbia, the sinister shenanigans of the rascally Romulans (as well as Trip's attempts to spy on TWO separate factions!), & the knife-edge tensionin the the fledgling Coalition council chamber. Who knows what, & how much are they telling, becomes a major issue among many of the protagonists.
Ok, so here's the controversial bit: gay Klingons! Before I get bombarded with abuse about this, let me state I am NOT homophobic. I accept that tv (and its written analogues) should reflect real life even to the extent that Star Trek can reflect real life, so homosexuality should not be treated as abnormal; remember the rumour that Lt Reed was gay? And when one of the authors is openly gay, you can reasonably expect his sexuality to be reflectedin his work. But when you are presented with a gay Klingon admiral, it's a stretch too far for me. Maybe not for everyone, but there have been references (notably by Worf) to Klingon mating rituals, & I just can't can't reconcile the two concepts.
Allin all, once I've adapted to the time line issue, this is basically a good, entertaining story, purporting to explain the causes of the Earth-Romulan Warin 2156. If you can ignore the niggly bits, whichin truth isn't too hard, you have a book you'll struggle to put down. So it falls just short of four stars for me.
On the Brink of the Romulan War - By: George Wood, 26 Sep 2008 The adventures of the first starship Enterprise continuein the latest novel sequel to a TV series that ended too soon. Andin the tradition of that series, a blank spotin the rest of the Star Trek universe has been filled in.
The Koybayashi Maru was first referred toin the beginning of the film "The Wrath of Khan" as part of a Starfleet cadet training exercise. A freighterin trouble lures the trainee crew into an ambush. This book brings us the original ambush.
The Romulans are preparing war against Earth & the new Coalition of Planets, the forerunner of the Federation. Their secret weapon is a device that allows them to take control of other ships, first Klingon, later others. Using captured Klingon ships, they are on the verge of provoking the Coalition into war with the Klingons, but for Jonathan Archer & his crew, who figure out the deception.
Meanwhile, the officially dead Trip Tucker is actually alivein Romulan space trying to stop their efforts to develop a much faster warp engine.
It's good have Trip back, &in true secret within secret spy style we still don't know if the apparent Vulcan renegade Sopek is a double agent or a triple agent.
And when you get to the end, you need to read the sequel as soon as possible...because the Romulan War (referred toin the original TV series) is here.
Sadly though, it seems the sequel, called simply "The Romulan War", won't be published until October next year. One wishes the publishers of Star Trek books could bunch their connected series a little better.
