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336 PAGES · £6.99
Author:
Michael A Martin and Andy Mangels
Publisher:
Pocket Books
ISBN:
1-4165-0358-7
Rating: 4/5
We don't know about you, but when we open an Enterprise spinoff novel, we get the fear. Never average, they range from fantastically thrilling to interminably dull. Here, the fear is uniquely intense – after all, when your book’s dedicated to the memory of James Doohan, it had better be good. But fear not: Measure is ace.
Set mainly on the Enterprise in the middle of season three’s Earth/Xindi war, Measure documents the trials and tribulations experienced by the ship’s crew, and the MACO soldiers forced to live there. The two groups become engaged in petty bickering until the Xindi begin a strange new war-game, and they’re forced to work together…
It’s a premise that results in great tension and humour, with Enterprise explorers (labelled “squids” by the “shark” MACOs) feeling put-out by their new aggressive room-mates but not for the reasons you’d assume. The Enterprise crew want to kill the Xindi as much as the next grunt – they’re just offended that the soldiers look down on a team with as much battle experience as them. Essentially The Odd Couple in space, with some cut-aways to our old Xindi friends (including some glimpses at some familiar furry/spiky/ridgey/mandibley old faces).
Not that you’ll need any added incentive to read it right to the end, but page 330 contains one of the best ever Enterprise in-jokes/guest appearances we’ve seen. It’ll make you smile, but, on the strength of what’s come before that point, we’d wager that Enterprise fans’ll be smiling already.
Sam Ashurst
