TREK REVIEWS: Television Heaven series reviews

I've four new reviews up on Television Heaven covering the breadth of Star Trek for your reading pleasure.The cute and underrated kids' spin-off Star Trek: The Animated Series, the flawed but watchable Star Trek: Voyager, the equally flawed Enterprise (but my do I have a soft spot for it), and bringing us right up to date, a review of Star Trek: Picard S1 as a whole, to sit alongside my episode reviews on the blog.

While we're at it, John Winterson Richard and Peter Henshuls have covered the ever popular Star Trek: The Next Generation, the connoisseur's choice, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and along with site runner Laurence Marcus, they've gone back to the beginning with a look at the original Star Trek.

TREK REVIEW: Rise of the Federation: Patterns of Interference

Patterns of Interference is the fifth novel in the Rise of the Federation series, Christopher L. Bennett's sequence of adventures for the characters of Star Trek: Enterprise. The series charts the earliest events of the United Federation of Planets through the 2160s, both following on from threads from episodes of Enterprise and working backwards from various historical bits and pieces mentioned in other series.

Previous novels in the series have followed up on the deadly technological threat from “Dead Stop,” named by Bennett as the Ware, which has been neutralised with unforeseen consequences for the local galactic neighbourhood. First contact has been made with the planet Sauria but Federation trade with the despotic Maltuvis has led the planet into political chaos. The Rigel system has joined the Federation, but this itself has led to political fallout among such powers as the Orion Syndicate and a breakout movement from the Malurian system. It's fair to say that in a few years the UFP has made a big impact in local space, but frequently with unpredictable consequences.

This lies at the heart of the novel, as Admiral Jonathan Archer campaigns for the creation of a non-interference directive to prevent reckless meddling in the affairs of other peoples. Don't expect to see the founding of the Prime Directive here, though; Bennett understands that policy decisions like this take years to come into effect. Archer has to deal with both logical and impassioned pleas against non-interference, including from his enemy-turned-friend Shran. Meanwhile, other organisations have a vested interest in Starfleet becoming so shamed by its interference that the Federation retreats into isolationism. Multiple factions play against each other, in a plot that increases in complexity as different characters come together at the hotbed that is Sauria.

Bennett's prose is always a pleasure to read. He knows how to spin a good adventure. There's also a good deal of social commentary in his work, and this novel is no exception, as the author uses futuristic situations as a commentary on contemporary issues in true Trek style. There are memorable instances on gender politics that see characters comment on how movements for equality can easily be reversed when society becomes more insular. While they're talking about colony worlds with a vested interest in keeping their populations growing, it's a comment on the shifts both backwards and forwards in gender politics today, and also an attempt to make sense of the sexism displayed in some episodes of The Original Series. In another plotline we spend time with Maltuvis, an idiotic, narcissistic tyrant who has come to power due to his wealth and by turning his people against minorities, a none-too-subtle pop at a certain president currently dominating the news.

All manner of characters from Enterprise and beyond turn up in this series and many of them are present in this book, all working to their own ends. While Archer pushes his political agenda, he is contacted by Trip Tucker, alive and working for Section 31 as per the novel The Good That Men Do. The two of them along with Captain Malcolm Reed, now of the USS Pioneer, put plans into place to bring down the clandestine organisation from the inside. Meanwhile, the Orions, led by the alluring three sisters introduced in Enterprise: “Bound,” conspire to interfere with Sauria themselves, with agents that include the Malurian Garos (from Enterprise: “Civilization”) and the Orion woman Devna (from TAS “The Time Trap”). Furthermore, there are roles for the crew of the USS Essex, the ancestors of one James T. Kirk and a member of the Paris dynasty. There's a real risk with works like this of small universe syndrome, but Bennett pulls it off with panache.

Although there's an overall optimism in the Rise of the Federation series, there's something rather doom laden about Patterns of Interference. In spite of everyone's best efforts here, Section 31 will live on to threaten Federation ideals in the future (both in the primary and Kelvin timelines). Garos's actions are for the good of the Malurian people, who will be rendered extinct off-screen in the TOS episode “The Changeling.” According to the TNG episode “Power Play,” the USS Essex will be lost with all hands at Mab-bu VI. Knowing the future of so many characters and groups makes casts a shadow over much of what happens here.

While all of this is going on, T'Pol and Hoshi, now of the flagship USS Endeavour NCC-06, are sent in to assist a group of boomers who have landed on a planet where plant life dominates. There a species of tree-like organisms dubbed dryads show potential as a source of medical compounds but also signs of sentience, and Hoshi is tasked with trying to identify their linguistic abilities. It's an interesting, pure science fiction storyline that feels somewhat divorced from the main events, but remains relevant to the ongoing questions of involvement with other worlds.

Rise of the Federation has been a strong line since its beginnings, and Patterns of Interference is one of its strongest instalments.

TREK REVIEW: Star Trek: Horizon

The majority of Star Trek fan films are intended to recreate the classic series, either as new adventures of Kirk and Spock  on the USS Enterprise or with newly conceived crews on her sister ships. A few look to recreate other series, though (or even "missing" eras, such as the now aborted Star Trek: Axanar).  Star Trek: Horizon is a new feature length fan production, that, while creating a new ship and crew, works very much as a lost episode of the series Enterprise.

Set in 2160, five years after the conclusion of Enterprise and at the height of the war with the Romulan Empire, Horizon introduces the starship Discovery NX-04 (NX starships traditionally being named after space shuttle orbiters). Commanded by Captain Harrison Hawke (Paul Lang), the Discovery has taken a beating on a mission to collect a Romulan defector (Tamar, played by Callie Bussell), but is soon repaired and rearmed to go on a new mission into disputed space, as part of a fleet of Starfleet and Vulcan ships. Things do not go as expected, with the Discovery pulled through time and space to a distant galaxy, arriving at a planet that is central to a deadly Romulan plot.

Horizon pulls together various elements of Trek lore to create a fan-pleasing but quite inventive storyline. As well as the fabled Romulan War that was never seen on screen, it brings in the Temporal Cold War that ran through Enterprise, with characters originating from various centuries. The Horizon of the title is a superweapon, created by aliens who fought the Iconians tens of thousands of years ago. Relics of the Iconians appeared in The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, and we get to see a little more of the ancient civilisation here, depicting them rather differently and certainly more benevolently than we'd been led to believe. Events from the new Abrams movie franchise are even alluded to; the film also takes a few stylistic cues from the blockbusters.

The plot is enjoyable and well-paced, with some finely directed action sequences as well as quieter, more emotional moments. I particularly liked that we get to see the senior crew in their off hours, acting like normal people away from the front line and their stations. Horizon was made on a tight budget, and that shows, with a small cast and limited sets, but the effects work is excellent and there are some fine visuals. On the other hand, the film has a low-res, soft focus quality throughout. This may be a stylistic choice, or intended to mask production shortcomings, but it detracts from the end product.

The acting, to be perfectly fair, isn't great. It's not terrible, it's never unwatchable, but it's quite mediocre. The dialogue is quite cliched and stilted, although there is the occasional fun line. It's significantly better in these regards than Star Trek: Renegades, which was made with the involvement of several professionals. Considering the tiny budget and the amateur nature of the production, this is quite the success, and worth your time if you're an Enterprise fan with 100 minutes to spare.

Watch Star Trek Horizon here.

It's what you do with it that counts

Dirk Loechel has finished his ultimate update to his gigantic starship comparison chart (that's a gigantic chart of gigantic starships). He's not the only person to produce these charts, but his are the best and most exhaustive. This is massive, so click on the image to be taken to DeviantArt where you can see a larger image and download the full-sized one. As Dirk states in his FEQ, things like the Death Star, V'Ger and other super-enormous structures are just too large for this chart, without losing everything else due to resolution limits. The TARDIS is on there, but it is both far too small to see at this scale, and infinitely large so impossible to resolve on the screen.

IXS Enterprise

NASA scientist Dr. Harold White has unveiled his designs for a prototype warp ship. As I pointed out before, we're a long, long way from creating a practical warp field, if such a thing is even practically possible. Still, the ship is gorgeous. The ISX Enterprise IXS-110 takes its inspiration from an obvious source. White even got Trek designer Mike Okuda to do some design work on it. So we have another Enterprise to add to the lineage - I guess this will go between Virgin Galactic's Spaceship-Two class VSS Enterprise and the United Earth Space Probe Agency's Declaration-class USS Enterprise.

flickr link for more pictures.

TREK REVIEW: A Choice of Futures by Christopher L. Bennett

Christopher L. Bennett is the first Star Trek author I've found myself following since the prolific Peter David. I look forward to each of his new Trek projects. He has a knack for balancing the two conflicting interests of both authors and fans: the desire for a new, original adventure, and shameless fanwank. I know of no other author who can fill a novel with so many references to elements throughout a franchise, while never letting those references overtake the story. It's a good thing that Bennett provides his novels with an appendix, and posts copious notes on his own website, to inform readers of the winks they may have missed.

His latest novel, which goes by the lengthy full title Star Trek: Enterprise - Rise of the Federation: A Choice of Futures, is no different, and it's clear that Bennett takes great pleasure in picking up on minor characters and background elements, and extrapolating their significance. As a titular Enterprise novel, A Choice of Futures focuses on the core characters and cultures of the Enterprise series, but looks forwards to the greater Star Trek universe and all the many series and sub-series that are to follow. Individuals briefly mentioned in the original series become fully-fledged characters, and unexplained mysteries of the Trek universe come under examination. Even the oft-forgotten animated series is pillaged for goods. It's all great fun for a fan, with plenty of cute 'Ah, I see what you did there!' moments.

All of this would be for nought, of course, without a decent story to back it all up. Bennett spins a great adventure here, taking us along on three missions of the fledgeling Federation Starfleet. There's the USS Endeavour, essentially the substitute Enterprise, now upgraded (and redesignated Columbia-class), under the command of Captain T'Pol and crewed by characters new and old. A particularly nice touch is the inclusion of Elizabeth Cutler, who was set up as a minor recurring character during Enterprise's first season before the sudden and untimely death of actress Kellie Waymire. The Endeavour becomes part of a taskforce dedicated to investigating the mysterious aliens from the Enterprise episode 'Silent Enemy,' an alien race that, having no explanation in the series, has intrigued fans since their appearance. Here, they are generally referred to as the 'Mutes,' although the fan and crew nickname the 'Shroomies' gets a nod. This main storyline is a good, old-fashioned Trek adventure, with the added interest of involving a new, still-forming Starfleet saddled with confusion and mistrust among its various members.

Alongside that, we have Captain Malcolm Reed, once armory officer on the Enterprise, commanding the USS Pioneer, on a mission that sees him and his crew put through dire straights and a near-fatal encounter with the many hazards of space travel. These scenes are some of the best at illustrating the difficulties that the newly allied species would have working together, and how they might overcome them. Then there is a third mission, involving Captain Bryce Shumar of the USS Essex, and his diplomatic mission to the planet Sauria. This strand illuminates how the Federation's current interventionist policy might do more harm than good, and will no doubt lead to the establishment of the famous Prime Directive.

It's not all Starfleet, however. The three starship-based stories intersect through the politics of the Federation as it deals with the tenuous treaties and alliances of the turbulant galaxy. Admirals Archer and Shran represent Starfleet (and it wouldn't be an Enterprise novel without Archer), but the Federation President and other officials are involved in events that will shape the future of the galaxy. Some familiar faces make some surprising appearances, with Orions, Malurians and more all becoming involved. There are intriguing developments both in the open and behind the scenes. There's a real sense of old friends being caught up in major events, making decisions that will have greater consequences than they could imagine.

A Choice of Futures follows on from the previous post-series Enterprise novels, including the Romulan War sequence. While it probably helps to have read those, it's not essential (indeed, I haven't read the War novels and still followed the set-up happily). Rise of the Federation isn't the first attempt to tell the story of the UFP's early years. Pocket books made an interesting attempt years ago with the serialised Starfleet: Year One, which was superceded almost immediately by Enterprise, and Titan Books have just released Federation: The First 150 Years, an entirely different account of period. As always, the novels provide an extra serving of Star Trek alongside the on-screen adventures, and there's no obligation to accept this as the 'true' history of the Federation. However, as far as I'm concerned, Rise of the Federation is the real deal, at least until Paramount one day produce a series about the period. I'm looking forward to the second volume, Tower of Babel, although I'd love to see Bennett's proposed 'Beginning' storyline see the light of day. I want to know what happened between First Contact and Enterprise.