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8one6's review against another edition
3.0
The Belly of the Beast by Dean Wesley Smith
"My ship, whom I love like a woman..." is my favorite line from the Futurama episode "Where No Fan Has Gone Before" because it is a perfect example of the majority of fan fiction. It's stilted, cliche, and renders the characters cardboard cutouts of the the characters from the original media. On every single page of this book I was reminded of that line. The dialogue is awkward and unnatural, the characters from the show are flat imitations, the new characters are uninteresting, and the mess is full of weird random blocks of exposition.
Frankly this is not a promising start to the S.C.E. series.
Fatal Error by Keith R.A. DeCandido
The second SCE book picks up almost where the first book left off, but it appears that in the brief break between stories the da Vinci stopped at Starbase Competent Writer and resupplied on plot, dialogue, and characterization.
The story is a bit of a homage to a few classic TOS episodes, with a massive central computer that controlled everything about an alien world and its civilization, but this time when things go wrong Starfleet is there to correct the issues and not talk the computer to death. Overall it was a fun little story that felt like it could have been slotted into one of the Trek shows. The author's exploration of the Bynar character's development without their bonded pair was a bit shallow, but that's to be expected from a 100 page long action/technobable story.
Compared to The Belly of the Beast the characters are more lifelike, the dialogue is feels natural, and when the previous book left Geordi on the da Vinci Mr. DeCandido wisely put him in the background to let the new characters shine.
Hard Crash by Christie Golden
It's not as bad as the first book in the SCE series, but it has put me off from wanting to read anything else by the author. Hard crash is the least action oriented of the SCE stories so far, but the characters haven't gotten enough development to carry a mostly dramatic story. While the premise is sound I think the awkward dialogue really turns this down to at best second tier daytime tv levels of melodrama near the end. The short length and steady pace are the only real saving graces of Hard Crash, so I'd recommend not bothering with this one
Interphase, Part 1 by Dayton Ward, Kevin Dilmore
It looks like the "Even Numbered Trek" rule is going to hold firm with the SCE books as the fourth entry into the SCE series is well written, with natural dialogue (well, as natural as sci-fi dialogue can be), and characters who feel like they exist for more than to just push around plot bricks. The authors make good use of the existing Trek setting and some dangling threads from the Original Series to tell a fun and fast paced first half of a story.
"My ship, whom I love like a woman..." is my favorite line from the Futurama episode "Where No Fan Has Gone Before" because it is a perfect example of the majority of fan fiction. It's stilted, cliche, and renders the characters cardboard cutouts of the the characters from the original media. On every single page of this book I was reminded of that line. The dialogue is awkward and unnatural, the characters from the show are flat imitations, the new characters are uninteresting, and the mess is full of weird random blocks of exposition.
Frankly this is not a promising start to the S.C.E. series.
Fatal Error by Keith R.A. DeCandido
The second SCE book picks up almost where the first book left off, but it appears that in the brief break between stories the da Vinci stopped at Starbase Competent Writer and resupplied on plot, dialogue, and characterization.
The story is a bit of a homage to a few classic TOS episodes, with a massive central computer that controlled everything about an alien world and its civilization, but this time when things go wrong Starfleet is there to correct the issues and not talk the computer to death. Overall it was a fun little story that felt like it could have been slotted into one of the Trek shows. The author's exploration of the Bynar character's development without their bonded pair was a bit shallow, but that's to be expected from a 100 page long action/technobable story.
Compared to The Belly of the Beast the characters are more lifelike, the dialogue is feels natural, and when the previous book left Geordi on the da Vinci Mr. DeCandido wisely put him in the background to let the new characters shine.
Hard Crash by Christie Golden
It's not as bad as the first book in the SCE series, but it has put me off from wanting to read anything else by the author. Hard crash is the least action oriented of the SCE stories so far, but the characters haven't gotten enough development to carry a mostly dramatic story. While the premise is sound I think the awkward dialogue really turns this down to at best second tier daytime tv levels of melodrama near the end. The short length and steady pace are the only real saving graces of Hard Crash, so I'd recommend not bothering with this one
Interphase, Part 1 by Dayton Ward, Kevin Dilmore
It looks like the "Even Numbered Trek" rule is going to hold firm with the SCE books as the fourth entry into the SCE series is well written, with natural dialogue (well, as natural as sci-fi dialogue can be), and characters who feel like they exist for more than to just push around plot bricks. The authors make good use of the existing Trek setting and some dangling threads from the Original Series to tell a fun and fast paced first half of a story.
maddandroid's review against another edition
3.0
This could have been a four star book, it's made up of 3 and 1/2 novellas. I took a star off as the marketing department clearly made the decision to cut the last novella in half, moving the conclusion to book 2 series. I would have bought the next book anyway given the quality of the first 3 stories but now I'm not sure I will, I want to find out what happens but I don't want to reward such crappy marketing and if they cut the last story in the first book who's to say they won't do it again in book 2.
nmorse80's review against another edition
2.0
Collection of short stories of a team of scientists who solve problems, with new characters with an occasional guest spot by a known character. The characters are not really grabbing me and seem kind of flat. Maybe that will change over the course of the series.
andypickwell's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
vingilot's review against another edition
5.0
Ah, the Starfleet Core of Engineers, I feel like I am home again.
i just love these stories, I just love this crew. I have read through the series twice before, and loved it more each time. Seriously anyone reading this, if you have not read these books and are the slightest bit interested in Star Trek you need to read these.
This is what I describe as a Star Trek show published in the form of books. Unlike most trek books these stories are the same length and scope as your average star trek episode. No longer do we need universe defying stakes in every other books, this is episodic story telling at its finest. yet it still has a definitive overarching story arc for the characters, and reading this first one in the series was great because you can see them all being set up. In particular I would recommend new readers pay attention to the Bynar characters...
If I had to point out a problem with this omnibus it would be this, La forge sticks around too long... He is the crossover charcter like Mcoy appearing in the pilot of TNG, Picard in the pilot of DS9, Quark on the pilot of Voyager, and Cochrane in Enterprise. However these were little more than cameos, La Forge sticks around for 3 episodes. This is not necessarily bad, but the tension between him and the main engineer character of these new books is also repeated thrice, a side effect of the different authors I suppose. Other than that there are just a few inconsistencies with the later books, but that is true of all the shows to some extent. Nothing that truly breaks the immersion.
This will be my first time reading the series on paper, and I am proud to have the books adorning my shelves. I look forward to the emotional rollercoaster that is the SCE, especially Wildfire which I simultaneously want to read right away, but also want to delay as long as possible. ANyone who has read it will understand.
i just love these stories, I just love this crew. I have read through the series twice before, and loved it more each time. Seriously anyone reading this, if you have not read these books and are the slightest bit interested in Star Trek you need to read these.
This is what I describe as a Star Trek show published in the form of books. Unlike most trek books these stories are the same length and scope as your average star trek episode. No longer do we need universe defying stakes in every other books, this is episodic story telling at its finest. yet it still has a definitive overarching story arc for the characters, and reading this first one in the series was great because you can see them all being set up. In particular I would recommend new readers pay attention to the Bynar characters...
If I had to point out a problem with this omnibus it would be this, La forge sticks around too long... He is the crossover charcter like Mcoy appearing in the pilot of TNG, Picard in the pilot of DS9, Quark on the pilot of Voyager, and Cochrane in Enterprise. However these were little more than cameos, La Forge sticks around for 3 episodes. This is not necessarily bad, but the tension between him and the main engineer character of these new books is also repeated thrice, a side effect of the different authors I suppose. Other than that there are just a few inconsistencies with the later books, but that is true of all the shows to some extent. Nothing that truly breaks the immersion.
This will be my first time reading the series on paper, and I am proud to have the books adorning my shelves. I look forward to the emotional rollercoaster that is the SCE, especially Wildfire which I simultaneously want to read right away, but also want to delay as long as possible. ANyone who has read it will understand.
ac_lytle's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.25
4 fun novellas set in the Star Trek universe. Not challenging at all, possibly YA or YA adjacent.
thomcat's review against another edition
3.0
A collection of four stories, not all superb. Ends on a cliffhanger, so I have to move on to the fifth story (in the second collection) quite soon.
lefthandedmatt's review against another edition
3.0
The first four books from the Starfleet Corps of Engineers (SCE) series are collected here. Each is somewhere between the length of a short story and a novella. They are easy reads, but vary wildly in quality and tone.
The fact that each story is handled by a different author means that there is a lack of cohesion. The characters don't feel quite like the same people each time we encounter them. In fact, I have to say that the stories are far more focused on the adventures than the cast, so there isn't much character development to speak of at all. So far, I'm not invested in anyone involved and can't tell you that much about their personalities.
Each story is a mysterious adventure in which the crew need to use their technical skills. It's not quite as immature as that sentence makes it sound, but there's huge room for growth here. I hope the books get better.
The fact that each story is handled by a different author means that there is a lack of cohesion. The characters don't feel quite like the same people each time we encounter them. In fact, I have to say that the stories are far more focused on the adventures than the cast, so there isn't much character development to speak of at all. So far, I'm not invested in anyone involved and can't tell you that much about their personalities.
Each story is a mysterious adventure in which the crew need to use their technical skills. It's not quite as immature as that sentence makes it sound, but there's huge room for growth here. I hope the books get better.
djwudi's review
3.0
A collection of four novellas following the S.C.E. characters. More of Trek’s expanded universe.