Enjoyable.

This, retcons (thankfully the already retcon happy 'These Are The Voyages') and re-interprets early Starfleet history.
All of which is fine because it means that Charles 'Trip' Tucker III isn't dead.

This novel really does have the 'feel' of an episode of Enterprise, there are the highs, the lows, the action sequences, the moral dilemmas and the speeches (Archer gives more than one rousing and inspirational speech).

However, Trip's decision, upon which (most) of the novel hinges doesn't really sit right. It seemed more than a little bit out of character for Trip's character to be making the decision to become a spy. Once he was in the business of the spying it wasn't as bad, but it was ignorable for the story.

Another thing, slightly disappointing, possibly because I am a T'Pol/Trip fan, there wasn't much in this novel. But it was there, just not as much as I would have liked (I guess that's what fanfiction is for)...

The Jake and Nog plot primer was a little unnecessary, plus all the continuity references that they brought.
I know that they're all part of the Star Trek-verse, but Enterprise is (continuity-history wise) first and there might be some fans who just followed Enterprise (or indeed didn't follow DS9). ( )

http://unreality-sf.net/reviews/start... ( )

As a previous reviewer has said, the characters are pretty much spot-on but Trip's crucial decision is extremely contrived. The buttressing with Jake and Nog is fluff exposition and unnecessary. The twist at the end is, unfortunately, just as goofy and Agatha Christie-esque.

Expect no resolutions or revelations. It's 450 pages of retconning for future books. ( )

http://www.sfreader.com/read_review.a... ( )

I liked Trip in the series while it aired on television, so I was pleased to see a novel centering around him.

Trip remains true to form in this book, I feel they capture both his outward, somewhat brash approach with a believable sense of introspection and thoughtfulness.

The method they use to place Trip in the story they wanted to write feels contrived (although I'm not sure that could be avoided). The adventure itself fails to build the suspense that may have been intended.

As a fan of star trek, I felt the book was about 'par' for a star trek novel. If you are a fan of Trip or Enterprise, you'll like the book. If you're not a star trek fan and/or didn't like the Enterprise series, I recommend you select a different book to read. ( )