Star Trek Enterprise Relaunch

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Part of the Star Trek Novel Verse, continuing the series Star Trek: Enterprise beyond its finale. The books detail many of the events viewers would have seen in later seasons had the show not been cancelled. These include the Romulan War and the evolution of the Coalition of Planets into what becomes the United Federation of Planets. Most notably, the series is a massive Retcon of the Star Trek: Enterprise finale, declaring it a historically inaccurate recreation.

There are currently five books:

  • Last Full Measure, essentially the jumping off point for the series proper.
  • The Good That Men Do
  • Kobayashi Maru
  • The Romulan War: Beneath the Raptor's Wing
  • The Romulan War: To Brave the Storm.

Rosetta, though taking place just prior to the series' penultimate episode, may also count as part of the relaunch, being written following the series' conclusion.


Tropes used in Star Trek Enterprise Relaunch include:
  • Abandon Ship: Several characters are forced to do so as the Romulan War heats up and their defenses prove inadequate against enemy assault. Examples include the crew of Atlantis, who escape before their ship is destroyed over Tau Ceti IV.
  • Actual Pacifist: The Aenar characters. Shran, who is now married to a trio of Aenar, has picked up some of their pacifistic philosophies. This causes him much distress as he tries to reconcile these new ideals with his role in the Imperial Guard, and the current necessity of action (which the Aenar don't seem to realize).
  • A.I. Is a Crapshoot: The so-called "Antianna" in Rosetta. A mysterious race launching unprovoked attacks on established shipping lanes, they're revealed to be an ancient robotic intelligence left over from a long-concluded war.
  • The Alliance: The Coalition of Planets.
  • Alternative Calendar: Chapters featuring scenes given from the viewpoint of major alien cultures - such as Vulcans, Romulans, Andorians and Klingons - give their dates alongside the Earth date.
  • Ambiguous Gender: The Kanthropians in Rosetta. Hoshi Sato addresses Kanthropian Elder Green as "sir", only to be wryly informed that the correct honourific would be "madam".
  • Apocalypse How: The Romulans cause widespread destruction through ramming their ships at planets...while the ship is at warp speed. As a result:
    • Draylax is a class 1 (a great many deaths), possibly even a class 2 (civilization knocked back to a more primitive level), though presumably the allies will help rebuild it.
    • Coridan is a class 1, with more than a billion dead.
    • Galorndon Core is a class 6, with the entire planet left an uninhabitable hellhole (as seen in episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation).
    • Also, Haakona is a class 3a, its dominant species wiped out, when the Romulans release the Loque'eque virus
  • Arranged Marriage: The Aenar in The Good That Men Do. Arranged marriage is actually the foundation of Aenar culture, as is the case with their mainstream Andorian cousins. Quads are brought together after genetic mapping to determine likely success in breeding. See also: Star Trek Deep Space Nine Relaunch.
  • Asshole Victim: A lot of readers find the captain of the Kobayashi Maru very unlikable, to the extent that several have expressed disatisfaction with the character.
  • The Assimilator: The Loque'eque virus, weaponized by the Romulans during the Haakona campaign.
  • Being Good Sucks: The Federation doesn't exist yet, meaning that those who live by an actual code of ethics have it far harder than in later eras. The people of Rigel X and Adigeon Prime demonstrate the lifestyle that ensures prosperity in this era; selfish greed, piracy, and a general policy of closing your eyes to injustice. Indeed, the leader of the Thelasian Trading Confederacy in Rosetta almost pities humans for their appeal to ethics. In The Good That Men Do, Archer and Shran acknowledge that currently the "good guys" are somewhat powerless; while at a slave market on Rigel X, there isn't anything they can do to help, not without bringing a worse fate down on themselves. Of course, as Shran is often an Honor Before Reason character, he almost does it anyway.
  • Big Damn Heroes: The Vulcan, Andorian and Tellarite fleets at the Battle of Cheron.
  • Brainwashed: It seems pretty much anyone who crosses paths with Ych'a is brainwashed in some way for some purpose at some point, whether they're her allies and colleagues or her enemies.
  • Byronic Hero: Shran might well be considered this sort of Anti-Hero, with his frequent jerkish behaviour, Honor Before Reason outlook, defense of passion and general pursuit of high emotion.
  • The Caligula: Romulan Praetor D'deridex was revealed to be this, to Admiral Valdore's considerable vexation.
  • Can't Argue with Elves: The intellectually and technologically advanced Vissians treat humanity (and Archer as humanity's representative) as immature children, despite humans having a greater claim to a fully inclusive society. Still, humans swallowing their pride and learning to be more tolerant of others' intolerance is one of Enterprise's more interesting (and controversial) themes.
  • Capital City: The Laibok/Laikan issue (which is the correct name for Andoria's capital?) is cleared up in Beneath the Raptor's Wing. They're two separate cities - one the political capital of Andoria, the other its leading hub of industry.
  • Contagious AI: The Roia software intelligence in Rosetta.
  • Continuity Cameo: The partnership between Slon and Tobin Dax was established in a short story that was later contradicted by canon and so by the mainstream Star Trek Novel Verse. In these books, though, most of the basic details from that story regarding the pair's occupations and activities are inserted back into continuity.
  • Continuity Nod: Many, if you're a committed fan and paying attention. Examples include an explanation for "Captain Dunsel", a reconciliation of the Human colonial history of Achernar Prime with the world's later Romulan affiliation, and the possible inspiration for Original Series Romulans' plasma weapons. Also, the characters of Slon, Tobin Dax and Lydia Littlejohn are inserted back into the main continuity via Broad Strokes-style cameos. Finally, many of the Romulan and Klingon characters have names which also appear on 24th century starships, presumably their namesakes. The series allows us to glimpse some of the history behind those names - for example, the Klingon warship Ya'Vang in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is named for a character in Kobayashi Maru.
  • Cuffs Off, Rub Wrists: Trip, after being briefly detained by Vulcan Security in To Brave the Storm.
  • Democracy Is Bad: The opinion of Governor Sen in Rosetta, an important part of his characterization given that he's in charge of a democratic government. One that's close to collapse.
  • Doomed by Canon: The TV Series included Coridan as a member of the fledgling Coalition of Planets. However, it had previously confirmed that the United Federation of Planets which grew out of the Coalition was founded by Humans, Vulcans, Andorians and Tellarites - no Coridanites. Hence, while the first novel in the relaunch has Coridan as part of the alliance, it also has them withdraw before the Coalition Compact is signed. The Rigellians and Denobulans were also part of the initial Coalition talks, but their absence is explained as their having been frightened off by Terra Prime in the series' penultimate episode.
  • Emotions vs. Stoicism: T'Pau fears that bringing Vulcan into the war against the Romulans will awaken her own people's bloodthirst and make Vulcan a second Romulus.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Admiral Valdore cares little for the appalling loss of life in the war of aggression he's waging. Indeed, despite some slight disquietude he shows little restraint in using near-genocidal tactics against Coridan. However, his love for his wife and children is always shown as completely genuine and admirable.
  • Evil Old Folks: Maxim Sen in Rosetta.
  • Expy: The Fris'len, the vampire/zombie Vulcans from T'Pol's flashbacks, are an expy of the Kurlans from the Star Trek Deep Space Nine Relaunch.
  • Fake Memories: Terix, thanks to the brainwashing techniques of Ych'a. Trip too, apparently
  • Fantasy Pantheon: The Andorian religion, featuring Uzaveh the Infinite and the First Kin, is mentioned; see the Star Trek Deep Space Nine Relaunch, where they first appeared. Essentially, their mention in this series is a Continuity Nod to established Andorian customs in the Deep Space Nine novels.
  • Fictionary: Many terms and units are derived from the established Rihannsu language, from the works of Diane Duane. Plus, the Romulan names for established human planets are given in Beneath the Raptor's Wing. There are also many uses of Klingon.
  • Fix Fic: As fan response to the show's finale was largely negative, the series is essentially one big Retcon to the events of that episode. This means that Trip's death is actually a fake, part of his new career in intelligence and espionage, thanks to being the only human engineer to have a familiarity of sorts with Romulan tech. Of course, Your Mileage May Vary.
  • Foregone Conclusion: Inevitable with a prequel series. The basic strokes of history are well established: The Romulan War will end with the creation of The Neutral Zone; the Humans, Vulcans, Andorians and Tellarites will found the United Federation of Planets. Trip remains legally dead, as revealed in the framing story to Last Full Measure.
  • Framing Story: In The Good That Men Do, with Jake Sisko and Nog in the 25th century, reading over recently released accounts of 22nd century history.
  • General Failure: Praetor D'deridex insisted on opening up a front at Haakona despite the Romulans being occupied fighting the Human/Andorian/Tellarite alliance. Admiral Valdore had no choice but to follow orders, despite knowing a war on two fronts would be a disaster for Romulus.
  • Has Two Mommies: Trip Tucker's brother Albert is married to another man, and they have an adopted son.
  • Historical In-Joke: Many.
  • Hold Your Hippogriffs: As the Andorians say, "if ice bores kill your ailicorne, make ailicorne steaks".
  • Honor Before Reason: Shran's behaviour in "The Good That Men Do". Archer practically has to beg him to consider the possible consequences before he makes a very ill-considered attempt to free the victims of a slave market.
  • Humans Advance Swiftly: A major reason why Romulans consider them a threat.
  • Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons: A battle during the Romulan War takes place on Berengaria VII. Dragons show up to eat Romulans. There's no particular reason for it, but, hey, we're on Berengaria, previously established in throwaway lines on the TV shows as home of the dragons, so why not have them eat people?
  • Intrepid Reporter: Gannet Brooks, who is far too intrepid for her own good, and eventually has to be pulled back from the front lines by her boss, who is concerned about her deteriorating mental health.
  • Know When to Fold'Em: The Klingons, of all people, when their attempt to invade the Thelasian Trading Confederacy is uncovered in Rosetta. Never mind; they implicitly get control of those worlds anyway, through politics.
  • Lady Land: Cygnet, which is heavily female dominated; a fact that causes problems for the Humans when male officers try to represent them in dealings with Cygnian authorities. The Enterprise crew knew that Cygnet XIV was governed by females, and programmed the translator accordingly. They didn't expect it to be that female dominated, though...The Cygnians refuse to take Captain Archer seriously as a leader and openly mock him.
  • The Load: Planet Draylax. A loyal Coalition member, it can't contribute much of anything to the war effort, but Earth is obligated to protect it. It doesn't help that government policy on Draylax is decided as slowly as possible, given that Draylaxians seem to prefer it that way. This means even when Draylax could be of use, it probably won't be.
  • Mind Rape: In Rosetta, R'shee Theera is put under the Klingon Mind Sifter to access her memories of the Antianna, a mysterious enemy of which she is the only known survivor.
  • Naive Newcomer: Humans, pretty much, particularly in Rosetta.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The crew of the Horizon leave a book about early 20th century Chicargo mob culture on Sigma Iotia II. One of them feels bad about it because the book was a favourite of his mother. Those familiar with Star Trek: The Original Series know he should actually be worried about the effect the book will have on the Iotians.
  • No Endor Holocaust: In Beneath the Raptor’s Wing, several starships explode in orbit over Andoria. The planet is fine, but characters note that had the explosions been a certain degree more powerful, the atmosphere could have been stripped away.
  • The Only One: No longer the case in later books. Ships other than Enterprise take part in major events, including battles of some importance. Previously, the trope was often justified for once - When Captain Archer says that NX-01 Enterprise is the fastest ship with the most experienced crew, he's right: Enterprise is the first Human vessel capable of Warp 5 (most others are around Warp 2). Then Columbia came along, to share in the missions. As the Romulan War breaks out, the NX-class starts being mass produced.
  • Our Zombies Are Different: The Fris'len. They're essentially zombie-vampire mutant Vulcans. They only appear in flashbacks, perhaps fortunately. One of planet Vulcan's many dark secrets.
  • President Evil: Governor Sen in Rosetta.
  • Pyrrhic Victory: Frequent for the Coalition of Planets, as the Human, Andorian and Tellarite fleets take a beating even in victory. It gets so bad that Andoria and Tellar pull back from the war effort, leaving Earth and Alpha Centauri to face the Romulans more or less alone.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: T'Pau, though she becomes a little less reasonable by the point of Beneath the Raptor's Wing. Or perhaps too reasonable. She essentially breaks apart the coalition and damages Vulcan's relations with its neighbours and allies, but ultimately she has logic on her side. She's calculating what she believes will be best for Vulcan in the long run. By the end of To Brave the Storm, she makes a compromise in order to set up a Big Damn Heroes moment, and while she appears to remain troubled, the reader understands both her original actions and her subsequent change of priorities.
    • Praetor Karzan seems to be this for the Romulans. At the very least, he's a lot more stable and sensible than D'deridex, and gets the war back on track.
  • Retcon: Several. The Andorians are skillfully presented here - the seeming contradictions between Star Trek: Enterprise Andorians and Star Trek Deep Space Nine Relaunch Andorians are resolved, helping keep the continuity unified. Then of course, there's the matter of Trip's (un)death, and the whole general business of the "inaccurate reconstruction". Finally, in Last Full Measure, the names of Xindi characters are a blend of screen names and those given in early novelizations. For example, the Xindi known as Dolim was named "Guruk" in the first novelization, so here his full name is given as "Guruk Dolim".
  • The Revolution Will Not Be Vilified: Averted. The Romulan dissidents in The Good That Men Do are no better than the government they oppose - and possibly even more dangerous.
  • Self-Destruct Mechanism: Starfleet introduces them for the first time in Beneath the Raptor's Wing. In the same novel, a Tellarite captain activates his ship's Self-Destruct Mechanism to prevent the Romulans taking control of the vessel. In fact, there are quite a few examples; two Vulcan ships and at least one Klingon use the same technique, denying the Romulans capture of their craft.
  • Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Theras and Shran in The Good That Men Do. Or, as they see it, snivelling coward and ignoble berserker. Shran at least has an epiphany; Theras dies, but possibly managed to grow as a person, too.
  • Shame If Something Happened: Praetor D'deridex pulls this on Valdore, after taking his family hostage. This is a very, very common trope when Romulan nobles are featured.
  • Shout-Out: Jabba the Hutt shows up in Last Full Measure. Well, Jabba-in-everything-but-name.
  • Space Pirate: Wungki is a fake Space Pirate, for hire. He stages kidnappings, hijackings and general mayhem at the request of his “victims”.
  • Suicide Attack: The Romulans send a ship to make a suicide run on planet Coridan, causing an antimatter explosion that kills a billion people and leaves Coridan aflame. Later they do the same to Draylax.
  • There Is No Kill Like Overkill: The Romulans want Coridan and its potential warp-seven breakthrough out of the picture. Really out of the picture. Their near-genocidal attack is later repeated on Draylax, to say nothing of a deliberate and total genocide of the Haakonans as a solution to the problem of fighting a war on two fronts.
  • Wretched Hive: The markets of Rigel X.
  • You Have Failed Me...: Romulan characters seem to live in fear of those situated above them in the power hierarchy doing this.
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