Beneath the Raptor's Wing (Star Trek - The Romulan War

This story would be accessible to even the most casual Star Trek fan. It begins in the aftermath of the actual Kobayashi Maru incident and finds Jonathan Archer as desperate and compromised as he was in the Expanse (my favorite ST story arc of all time). The Coalition of Planets is not the Federation yet and the Romulans are close to strangling the Earth and its young colonies. A good read.

Several complaints with this book: 1) too many Romulan words. It does not add to the story and makes it confusing (ex.."we will engage the hevas in three jedsia, Admiral"...which freaking race is the hevas again? And is a jedsia a minute, an hour or a day?). 2) too many characters. Way too many. 3) plot lines that go nowhere and don't resolve. Ok many they will resolve in the sequel, but this book didn't advertise itself as part 1 of any number of books, so who knows? All in all, a frustrating read. I care about what happens to Archer, Tripp, T'Pol, Reed, Travis and Hoshi. I could care less about what happens to the dozens of Romulans, Andorians and Tellerites that consume way to many pages of this rather long Star Trek novel.

I wasn't impressed with this Enterprise book. There was a few good points, but not many. The characters were a little bland. I just wanted to get through to the end. Which of course, there is no end. I have to wait for the next one. I hope the next is an improvement.

This is an exceptional novel. It fulfills a great need to fill in an important time in the pre-history of the Federation, as well as clearing up an amazing number of general "loose ends" between the time of Star Trek: Enterprise and the Original Series era.
Bravo!

I have been reading ST novels since the early 80s, and this is one of the worst written. This is what happens when you take a good story and give to the marketing people who then shop it around with the directives of; add lots of meaningless Romulan vocabulary, jargon to add color, don't forget to throw in as many trivial references from the original show as possible in order to demonstrate authenticity. Oh, don't forget to jump around so much so that the reader won't notice that the story is light on any kind of character development. Feels like Tom Clancy without Tom Clancy. Overall, I'd have to say this novel is not worthy of the ST franchise and does a disservice to ST Enterprise. I want my time and money back.

I normally look forward to new additions to the star trek universe, however this one is written with a particular emphasis on adding new words to the star trek lexicon. It adds numerous new Romulan words and references that detract from the storyline. I am very familiar with the star trek characters and phrases used. I usually finish these books in about a day. I have beeen stuck for a week in the middle of this one and am not sure that I will finish it.

The author has turned a great premise into a platform for current politics. Naming a space facility after a guy who decreased funding for NASA and turned our space exploration resources back toward Earth makes no sense. Not the Trek legacy I would like to see.

Michael A. Martin describes the Enterprise orbiting at "the McKinley drydock station, or perhaps the Obama facility." Really!? The Obama facility? What BB (bail-out boon-doggle) paid for that? Was it "shovel ready?"

Note: For some reason the store will no let me review both books. It thinks that Beneath the Raptor's Wings and To Brave the Storm are the same books. This is then a review of both.

First Beneath Raptor's Wings:

This material has always fascinated Star Trek fans mainly because it never came to the screen. That being said the author has done this material a disservice. Boring, long winded, confusing are words to describe this book.

The Enterprise crew is hardly featured in this book. Instead we get Romulan spies, Vulcan nonsense and news reporters all over the place. Half the time with the Romulans and Vulcans you don't even know what they are saying due to the overuse of new words without definition. Adding to the fun is the confusing plot featuring Trip and his spy buddies who have switched sides so frequently I can't tell you who is who.

The author continues the disappointing writing by having Trip continue as a spy. He goes out of his way to reign him back in for another book as a spy dressed like a Romulan. It lost its appeal in the last book.

Finally, it's way too long. 566 pages in paperback is exhausting. I'll read the last book but this one has been disappointing.

P.S Travis would never have left his captain and gone to ten other ships. Not believable.

The second book has the opposite problem. The timeline is accelerated beyond belief. Now events are occurring at warp speed. Years tick of with pages. Important questions are never explained like how Trip developed his program to help destroy the warbirds? After all the talk about the Battle of Cheron, it hardly is even a battle. Ships explode and somehow the Enterprise survives but no detail are given.

Trip makes an awful Vulcan. He's always excited and using Earth terms. He would have been exposed before he left spacedock. Totally not believable.

Two very different books from the same author with problems galore. One is way too long and the other is too short and doesn't explain anything.

After being unable to put the previous titles in this series down, I couldn't wait to read this one. I give it three stars because the writing is good and we do go all the way through to the end of the war. Clearly the objective is to get from Beneath the Raptor's Wing and connect to Starfleet Year One. This was accomplished, and if you have not read Starfleet Year One you will be able to slide into it and not miss a beat. If you read it and were clueless, you can read it again and things will make sense now.

I liked some things about the book, and I can see the potential for future books to grow out of this. What happens to Brooks in the future? Clearly we have some guest character appearances who are ancestors of our beloved characters from other series (e.g. Alexander Robert Picard). Fascinating appearances with room to grow. Major thumbs up!

However, there are numerous subplot introductions left hanging, and this is extremely uncharacteristic. What happened here? This book is not overly long. There could have been room allowed for those resolutions. I did not appreciate being left hanging. Will we later find out that Nog finds another data chip somewhere with more classified info about how that stuff was resolved? Also, we don't find out the connection between events in the beginning of the book and the appearance of the child in the end of the book. I feel disappointed for the first time in my reading of Trek books, and I can't write this one off by saying that sometimes Trek writers don't use the same timelines.

Though the author is very thorough and this story is well written, its title does not match the story due the near total absence of anything that resembles ship-to-ship or even fleet-to-fleet stand up fights. Repeatedly in this book, the author sets up a clash between groups of starships or task forces only to "skip" any description of the action and go straight to the results- "...the debris from the battle floated in space as Enterprise entered the system," is as much of the action as you get. That's not a WAR, that's a documentary. I expected at least a taste of tactics, maneuvers and real-time orders given by the captain. Never once in this book do you get the classic lines such as "target the flanking warbird," or "fire phasers on my mark." This book's battles are like romance scenes in PG movies- you see the couple kiss, then hug, then turn the lights off, then the room goes dark and the next thing you see is the couple waking up the next morning. For a book that was 535 pages (Nook version), I was very disappointed in the action scenes. Otherwise, it is a good book, worth the buy.

Many people describe this book as too verbose, not necessarily directly associated with Enterprise crew, and containing too many subplots that for some seem unnecessary. In part this is true, it can be hard to read every once in awhile, but overall this book does a really good of setting up two key concepts: 1) a coalition comprehensive view of the Earth-Romulan conflict, and 2) presenting the reader with significant background for the next book. Though not directly marketed as a two-part series, any time a Star Trek series focuses on a major event in history it is signified by a subtitle: Typhon Pact, Millennium Series, etc. This book does a decent job, not great, of connecting humanity's influence in the Coalition and later in the Federation. It connects together ideas like the prefix code from Wrath of Kahn as being key to Starfleet's ability to thwart off the Romulans where Andorians and Vulcans have their trouble. The connections make the future plausible and the author really has done his homework. I am not a fan of this belief that humanity has the answers to all problems and in epic space battles we show the galaxy is boss. That is not Trek and that is why I like this book. Because there is conflict between members of the Coalition, none of the species are out of character, and Archer really has to use his brains to figure out the Romulans. This series is in a way meant to be a game of chess, because Romulans never have been directly confrontational and you see how they can lead a war from the shadows.

The most impressive aspect of this book is the depth the author goes into many characters' point of view in Earth's role in the cosmos and on the war. Mayweather for once has something to do, he strongly disagrees with Archer's decision to abandon the Kobayashi Maru, a conflict which also rages in Archer, and carries through the series. For me, war literature is best when it can present as many perspectives as possible. What did women and children do and feel during WWII back Home (it even now)? How do the soldiers feel? Though they carry out orders, do they necessarily agree with them? Though this makes the story less about the crew of the Enterprise, rarely do we have an author who tries to present the multitude of perspectives during war time in Trek literature. Again, I tire of epic space battles where we as humans are the only ones clever and brave enough to overcome all. Such ethnocentric views are not Star Trek. How one ship can save the entire galaxy like in Voyager or with Enterprise in the Xindi conflict make great entertainment, but it is hardly realistic. This does a really decent job of showing human ingenuity, but not at the expense of the Coalition members.

Give the book a try and keep an open mind about the enormous task the author took upon himself to create a Trek story encompassing so many facets. For all the setup he does in this book, the second part of this series feels rushed ans short with little substance.

If you were looking for an epic war story . . . keep looking.

This book chronicles the beginning of the Earth-Romulan War. It takes place after the events of the "Star Trek: Enterprise" TV series and the books "The Good that Men Do" and "Kobayashi Maru", both co-authored by Michael A. Martin.

Although I liked Martin's previous works, this book fell far below my expectations. Unlike other Trek books I've read, especially those set during wartime, this book failed to strike any sort of emotional cord within me. There was just too little story spread over too many pages, as if the editor said, "Mr. Martin, write me a 450-page-long book in which empty descriptions and dull dialogue fill up 100 of those pages."

There are also way too many insignificant characters that we get introduced to, each with their own little sub-plot that gets lost in the fray and then suddenly pops up 15 chapters later. The overall effect of these mini plot lines is that the chapters about Enterprise are too few and far between for my liking. I mean, after all, the book is titled: "Star Trek: ENTERPRISE: The Romulan War", not "Star Trek: EVERYONE ELSE and a Bit of Enterprise: The Romulan War"! I want to read more about Archer and his crew, not a news reporter or a Romulan admiral!

The book's short list of redeeming qualities are as follows: 1) It stays true to the notion established in The Original Series that the Romulan War was fought with nuclear weapons; 2) It tries to explain why The Original Series ships look so bulky and technologically ancient compared to the Enterprise NX-01; 3) The ending is actually interesting and makes me want to know what's next.

My recommendation is to only buy this book if you really, REALLY cannot stand not knowing about the Romulan War.

"Beneath the Raptor's Wings" picks up exactly where the previous 2 Enterprise relaunch novels left off. It is an excellent war story that feels like the WW2 pacific front before the Battle of Midway. I enjoyed how the subsequent NX ships were named for the space shuttle fleet (and hopefully there will be a future one named Buran). The characters were very true to their television presentation, except for Travis Mayweather who seemed completely out of character. His former reporter girlfriend also is a frequent character, reporting on the war; her cameo was the worst part of the book. I got to the point where I skipped all the chapters reporting on the war because they were so boring, unnecessary, and I just didn't care.

Though the story was good, Martin's style is far too wordy with lots of boring side stories. Enterprise fans really need to read this book, but don't be afraid to skip the boring bits, you're not missing anything. The cliffhanger ending was also incredible though poorly written. I look forward to the next book but I hope Martin's editor with save some trees and skim the fat. Ultimately, I hope someone else will start contributing their authorship to the series.

I eagerly looked forward to this book when I found out it would deal with the Romulan War, a much referred to yet "undocumented" period of Trek history. After reading it, I'm not sure I truly enjoyed it, but I appreciate the effort made by the author.

First, the bad:

I didn't realize going in that this was the start of a new series of books about the Romulan War. At least I hope it is, because the story isn't over where the book ends. There is no indication if there will be one more book, or dozens. I like to know what I'm getting into before I become caught up in a story. A simple "Book I" on the cover would have alleviated that to some extent.

Why, oh why, are the main characters so spread out? Archer, Reed, Sato and Phlox are still on Enterprise, but Mayweather leaves for other postings, and T'Pol goes off to Vulcan. And then there's Tucker. My biggest disappointment in this book is that he's still off on secret missions. I can only hope the main characters are reunited in subsequent book(s).

I really don't care for some of the extraneous characters, such as the reporter Gannet Brooks, but I can understand why she's utilized. She's giving a perspective on what the rest of humanity thinks about the conflict with the Romulans. What's really a shame is that more time is devoted to her than either Reed or Sato.

Now the good:

The main characters were, for the most part, believable. Some character development was shown, but it didn't become overly bogged down to the extent that it interfered with the plotline. Archer's depression/regret over what happened with the Kobayashi Maru, for instance.

The book drags -- almost the entire first half -- until the action starts. But the background leading up to the action is needed to better understand precisely why the Romulans view Earth as a threat and how the humans and their Coalition allies respond.

Trip and T'Pol's relationship is renewed in a way that's both believable and understated, and works well for the story.

The machinations behind the scenes of the Romulan Empire are quite well done.

The ending (for the book, not the war) surprised me to the extent that I do want to read more. Here's hoping that it isn't long before the next book comes out.

The Romulan War was the subject of the proposed season 5 of the TV show! It all comes together here. We get to see all the characters depicted on the cover. Most of all I love the return of General Shran. This one has it all. Space battles,diplomatic intrigue,and lots of character moments for Archer and the crew. I can't wait for part 2 and hope the wait isn't too long. For Martin's first solo Enterprise book; it's one of my top ten favorites. It's a good thing I didn't listen to some of the other reviews. If you like Enterprise, this one is a must buy!

Great tie up to loose ends from the series. Would have like more about trip and T'pol, but probably just not enough room in this story. Action and story does well and kept me interested to conclusion. This is a better book than the first in the series.

I have been reading Sar Trek novels (TOS) since the early '80s and have to say, it was really hard to finish this one. All the negative connotations of previous reviewers is correct: too many characters, irrelevent topics and too wordy. Not enough about the Enterprise crew. Book could have easily been half the size and no loss of clarity.

I really wanted to like this book because the Romulans to me are fascinating. What an opportunity to expand the Romulan character; closer to the last scene in Balance of Terror when the Romulan Commander confides to Kirk possible friendship. However, Romulans are depicted as Nazis of the future. The "Mickey Mouse" weapon the Romulans use: the remote Hijacking device...come on!!!

I suppose I will buy the next installment to see what happens. My only hope is that the author takes these unfavorable reviews into account when he writes the rest of the story of the Romulan War.

Captain Archer, T'Pol, "Trip" Tucker from Enterprise continue here. Having watched the series from the first with Captain Kirk, I snagged it from a library display. Good read. Familiar technology, dilemmas, etc. Curious that with ships traversing galaxies, they seem to have to be within visual distance to do battle.

Earth being abandoned by the Coalition reminds me of the story of pre-WWII Germany, where "First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a communist", over and over, until "Then they came for me--
and there was no one left to speak out for me." Martin Niemöller

Moves along quite well, but felt like I should have a notepad to keep track of the year jumps from chapter to chapter. Anyway, enjoy!

This book was okay, though overly ambitious. With the number of characters and situations it went thru, it said remarkably little despite its length. I think readers would've been better served if it had been broken up into two books.

Not sure I totally bought how Tucker's character just did what everybody told him to. It seems like his character was a bit less passive in the series.

Finally, I agree with an earlier reviewer that there was a bit of a disconnect with the disappearance of the Columbia. In the "Destiny" books, it's pretty clear that they have no participation in (or knowledge of) the war whatsoever.

First off, this book has too much political correctness, uselessly injected into it. Tucker's dad's husband, female special op's leaders, etc. I've had enough of this stuff in comics and Sci Fi. Does every editing group have a PC department now, forcing their interests into every final draft?? It's annoying and distracting and to be honest, it does the opposite of what it is probably thought to do, regarding any opinions I might have. Second, the story covers a long amount of time, like a decade or so. Star Trek (on TV) has almost always been stories spanning a day or two, some exceptions aside. With this amount of time covered, the story jumps too much after each chapter to really keep me engaged. Adding details about characters' pasts or thoughts almost seems like FYI as the story hurries into the next month or year with each new chapter. It comes across as more of a historical account of a large war (which is basicly what it is) rather than a "story" to enjoy. Fine. Not my taste. I'm not going to finish it. I give it one star. I'd give it less if I could. Shame, as the tv series was great.

This book is about average for the series. Nothing great and nothing really bad. The biggest problem is with the author, a sick Liberal who cannot get the Bush Administration out of his mind. Why he must always right something in either the book or the dedication to put down anything and anyone connected to the Republican party is showing how small a person he really is. Someone ought to tell him that this is Science Fiction and not a place to make political statements that can offend the very people who buy his books. I think he is a total moron.

Far far too many characters introduced for no reason. Also WAY too much bureaucracy. Wasn't this book supposed to be at least somewhat about Enterprise? After the outstanding "The Good That Men Do" this was a tough read with no payoff. There's an editor somewhere that needs to go.

Michael Martin has managed to butcher Enterprise's potential and leave me feeling as let down with this series as I was after watching the show's television finale. The failings of this book begin on the cover where you see multiple NX class ships in a battle with "War" in the title. This is extremely misleading as the Enterprise is the only NX ship in the book and all the major battles and incursions in this war are skipped over save the final one with Enterprise rarely supporting the war effort. Reading this novel is like tuning into a football game only to have the reporters focus completely on what's happening with the players on the bench.

Granted, the editors at Pocket Books cut the series down to two books, but rather than make the most of this with an action packed and morally provocative story with rich character development, Martin skips over the meaningful parts in a careless way that leaves the book without depth or emotion. So I'm glad I know how the war went but I am left feeling like I would if my entire knowledge of WW2 came from its Wikipedia entry.

I'm glad the overabundance of side stories involving forgettable characters and the author's philosophical musings about warfare that plagued "Beneath the Raptor's Wings" are not in this book. Even though this was largely done, the book still hops around a lot with large gaps between chapters with every chapter seeming more like its own individual short story than part of a singular and unraveling plot. There were still erroneous and boring mini stories involving Enterprise rescuing ships in distress and the Vissians from ENT: Cogenetor that were not effectively related to the whole and should have been removed in favor of more interesting action sequences and the compelling formation of treaties that concluded the war and formed the Federation.

It was frustrating how Martin would spend pages setting up interesting tactical situations and as you are ready for a great battle sequence, the action sequence would be skipped over and take the reader directly to the aftermath. A major victory for the Romulans was taking an enemy dockyard, but we just get what happens after they've secured it. Later a Romulan ship is going to execute a masterful strategy against 2 Starfleet ships but then the attack is skipped completely as the Enterprise crew discusses what just happened; the conversation involves dropping the name of an important character in the series so this scene easily could have been developed with an appeal to readers but instead we just get a casualty report which has nowhere near the emotional impact. Later still, there is an attack on Earth and Mars but the pivotal moments are skipped leaving you having to glean what happened by characters discussing it. Is this a war story or a book about desk jockeys talking about a war around an office water cooler!?!

Martin has effectively killed all the enthusiasm I had for ENT novels after reading "The Good That Men Do" and for any of his future works. Though I'm glad to have at least a basic knowledge of how the war went and how the Federation was founded, I feel Martin needs to make like the protagonists in this book and watch Trek stories unfold from the sidelines.

At first glance I was extremely excited to read this book. YOu always hear a lot about the Romulan War but never really learn anything specific about it. This book will bore you to tears. I won't bring in any major spoilers, but it barely talks about any of the Enterprise crew and brings in a slew up other characters that I could care less about. It's supposed to be about Enterprise, not every character in the ST universe during STENT time period. Don't waste your time.

Ever since Captain James Kirk mentioned the war fought with the Romulans fans have wanted to know all about it. I, for myself, LOVED this book series. In this the final book of the series , the fans are finally given the details from not just earths side but from the Romulans too. I enjoyed this book and recomend it to any scifi fan, thanks Star trek!!

You'll need patience and persistence to get through this book. Space becomes "an infinitely large velvet blanket of emptiness." Barangaria VII becomes "the planet the expansionist Terran hevam call Barangaria VII." "That's not worth an Australian dollar" becomes "I doubt that's worth much more than half a pre-U.E. Australian dollar", followed by a 37-word explanation of that reference. The few interesting developments to be found in this fog of words may be enough for me to read the next installment, but I won't buy it new.

it doesn't follow the continuity established in the previous Star Trek Destiny novels, namely that the U.S.S. Columbia was not involved in the Romulan War at all. Further, having read this author's previous works, I'm growing tired of his ramming his politics into Star Trek. The Bush administration is over - let it go.