Star Trek Enterprise: the First Adventure
Written by Vonda N. McIntyre
Narrated by George Takei and Leonard Nimoy
4/5
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About this audiobook
James T. Kirk is the youngest man to be promoted to the rank of captain in Federation history. His crew consists of a first officer who finds him impetuous; a chief engineer who finds him arrogent; a chief medical officer who finds him trifling; and a helmsman who wants a transfer.
But the young crew, which would later become the legendary space explorers, quickly puts aside their differences when a monstrous starship appears on their nascent flight path.
Vonda N. McIntyre
Vonda N. McIntyre is the author of several fiction and nonfiction books. McIntyre won her first Nebula Award in 1973, for the novelette “Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand.” This later became part of the novel Dreamsnake (1978), which was rejected by the first editor who saw it, but went on to win both the Hugo and Nebula Awards. McIntyre was the third woman to receive the Hugo Award. She has also written a number of Star Trek and Star Wars novels. Visit her online at VondaNMcIntyre.com.
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Reviews for Star Trek Enterprise
33 ratings5 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Long before the 2010 reboot movie, and long before William Shatner's own take on Kirk and Spock's first meeting in the 2009 novel Star Trek: The Academy - Collision Course, was Vonda McIntyre's Star Trek Enterprise: The First Adventure written in 1986. First of all, it's very well written. A quick google search informed me that McIntyre won the Hugo Award for her original novel, Dreamsnake in 1978 (which I would now be interested in reading) so her writing is top-notch. McIntyre is also very good at characterization, everyone appears here - Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhura, Sulu, even Janice Rand - and all are written with nuance and depth. Janice Rand gets a surprising backstory that makes the character surprisingly sympathetic. Kirk and Spock's relationship is very interesting, as they do not get along so well at first, Spock is annoyed by the young captain's seemingly reckless ways and Kirk is annoyed by Spock, because he wanted a friend of his to be his first officer. Watching their friendship slowly begin to develop is a real treat and very well written. The overall plot though I found somewhat lacking and slow moving, and it didn't really hold my interest. For Kirk's first mission as captain of the Enterprise he is given the task of ferrying a carnival troupe to various Federation planets. He finds this insulting, but can't very well refuse. The leader of the troupe is a young woman magician and Kirk, being Kirk, is attracted to her. She also has a pegasus. Then they are joined by a Vulcan juggler, Stephen, who is as opposite Spock - and typical Vulcans - seeking out emotional experiences. There is also a female Klingon space-pirate to contend with.
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- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I enjoyed this book and the narrator was excellent. I will continue to find books by this narrator
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Vonda McIntyre's Star Trek- Enterprise: The First Adventure proposes a hypothetical first mission for Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the Starship Enterprise following Captain Christopher Pike's promotion to Commodore. McIntyre's writing captures the spirit of the original series, both in terms of story and tone, but she makes many plot decisions that either ignore or significantly alter the established canon from the original series and the existing films at the time of her writing. Examples of these changes include the backstory between Kirk and Gary Mitchell (previously explored in "Where No Man Has Gone Before", the second Star Trek pilot), the inclusion of a young Ensign Pavel Chekov on Kirk's first mission (Chekov first appeared in "Amok Time," during the second season of the original series), and Spock's cousin, Stephen, a "pervert" who seeks out emotional experiences (foreshadowing Spock's brother Sybok, who first appeared three years later in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier). Additionally, as Pocket Books published this prior to the beginning of Star Trek: The Next Generation, McIntyre was left to invent her own version of Klingon society, in which the empress is a figurehead in a society controlled by oligarchs. Anyone familiar with the rest of the franchise will find these elements jarring. Even though this long predates J.J. Abrams' 2009 reboot of these characters, McIntyre's Kirk reads more like a performance by Chris Pine than a young William Shatner. With that said, the story may entertain casual readers or those able to keep in mind its date of publication.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I think it is wonderful to see the top three when they first started working together.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Relatively long and complex, and is best enjoyed by fans because it's fun to say oh, so that's why Kirk does these things this way during TOS, and that's what the 'feud' between Spock and McCoy is all about" etc.
But still enjoyable, I think, for naive readers. The idea of having the Enterprise ferrying a vaudeville troupe and then encountering not only Klingons but a new sentient species (note the *literal* world-building explored), is purely entertaining in its own right.
I particularly liked the smaller plots, featuring Uhura, Sulu, Janice Rand, and Spock's distant cousin Stephen.
I liked the little details, like the fact that Kirk didn't know anything about Vulcan mind-melds. And the last 1/2 page - priceless. (oh, but don't skip ahead, read the whole book first to get the full benefit :)"