coffeemonk reviewed The Good That Men Do by Andy Mangels (Star Trek, Enterprise)
Review of 'The Good That Men Do' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I have to admit it... I liked Enterprise. The premise had promise, and the characters, when well-written, were engaging and enjoyable. Whole volumes could be written about just how much, and why, the show sucked so bad, and exactly who was responsible (Berman, Braga, I'm lookin' at you). When in the fourth season they brought on a new Exec and head writer, it really started to fulfill its potential. Then, of course, it was canceled and they ended with one of the single worst, most offensive and disrespectful series finales I've ever witnessed. How the actors didn't raze Paramount's studios to the ground when they left, I'll never know.
But anyway, we're talking about a book.
Right out of the gate you must understand, this is pop-fiction (see my other Trek novel reviews for my feelings 'bout that). As a Star Trek novel, this is actually pretty good—I've read better, …
I have to admit it... I liked Enterprise. The premise had promise, and the characters, when well-written, were engaging and enjoyable. Whole volumes could be written about just how much, and why, the show sucked so bad, and exactly who was responsible (Berman, Braga, I'm lookin' at you). When in the fourth season they brought on a new Exec and head writer, it really started to fulfill its potential. Then, of course, it was canceled and they ended with one of the single worst, most offensive and disrespectful series finales I've ever witnessed. How the actors didn't raze Paramount's studios to the ground when they left, I'll never know.
But anyway, we're talking about a book.
Right out of the gate you must understand, this is pop-fiction (see my other Trek novel reviews for my feelings 'bout that). As a Star Trek novel, this is actually pretty good—I've read better, I've read worse. The plot is fairly well conceived and the story moves well and entertains.
The really interesting, and frankly welcomed, thing about this particular novel—compared to most other such novels—is the complete circumvention of established canon.
Not to spoil it for you (can you spoil something so terrible?) but in that travesty of a series finale, one of the main characters (arguably the best character) dies, in an incredibly lame way, for incredibly lame reasons.
So, what this novel offers to the offended fans of the show, is a complete rewrite of some of the events in that finale, transforming the steaming piles of shit into something at least a bit more palatable. Not only does the character not die, he becomes a singularly important (if mostly unsung) hero in the Trek universe.
I have to be honest though, the writing isn't all that hot. The story is good and compelling, but I often found myself cringing at awkward or redundant sentence structures. The writing was loose, and the editing seemed almost non-existent. But, we don't read Star Trek novels to be treated to shining examples of the English language.
If you're a Trek fan, dig in. If you're a disappointed Enterprise fan, you need to read this. If you're neither of those, why the hell are you bothering with this review?
