The Good Men Do

[KKGlinka]

I'm trying to read The Good That Men Do. It's halfway a good story, but the narration relies heavily on telling rather than showing, often with several repetitions. The bits with Trip, Archer and Reed are decent - they have me convinced that Trip would be obsessed enough, in the midst of grief and fear, to join Section 31. I'm just not sure who that weepy Vulcan pod person with no apparent telepathic consciousness is. Right now, I'm going with Romulan dupe, programmed to believe she's T'Pol. It's either that or neither of the writers made any sincere effort to research basic Vulcan facts, or even paid attention to any episode of Enterprise that didn't actually focus on Trip. Which is fine, if you're writing Trip fic for Trip fans, but not so fine if you're writing a pro-novel.

Mostly, I'm leery because I read the end first. Granted, that's what made me read the beginning because I found it utterly hilarious that a pro-novel was going along with the same premise many fic authors have used now: Trip faked his death to play secret agent man and/or retire on Vulcan. But, you know those old classic war movies and such, where the manly hero grabs his girl, and she's tearful and woe and he kisses and she's all oh noes don't leave me! How will I ever cope? Yeah, you know those? Try to imagine a Vulcan as the girl.

Try harder.

*nods* I gave up, too. If I read a fic that OOC, I'd be hitting the close tab button. So I'm not really inclined to finish the book. (Feel free to give me a summary). Not when I'm sitting here wondering why T'Pol didn't know right away that Archer and Phlox lied to her face the first time she meditated while Trip was asleep and lo' and behold, their canonically established telepathic link kicked in. So there would be Secret Agent Man Trip trying to frantically explain how he thought faking his death to spare her from that sinister life, while she does a *facepalm* and explains that she's already a spook, but oh, your best friend who knew all along didn't tell you?

That scene should have been somewhere in chapter three, and it wasn't. Also, the writers are under the mistaken impression she was fired by the High Command when, actually, she resigned and told them to shove it. Even less with the getting facts straight (the ones that are supposed to be). I can only imagine how many more accidental retcons pop up in the remaining 2/3 of the book. That sort of thing gets on my nerves.

Fun premise! Good Emo!Trip. So-so writing. Icky Romulan Dupe Girlfriend. The book would be a lot better of PodPerson!T'Pol were replaced by a trout. I can also tell you that the "sequel" book to this one features a 150 old man Trip who is still obsessed over his sister's death. I was just sitting there going, "I'm Tripman. My sister is dead." *power!emo* (It's a Batman joke).

[JadziaKathryn]

I can also tell you that the "sequel" book to this one features a 150 old man Trip who is still obsessed over his sister's death. I was just sitting there going, "I'm Tripman. My sister is dead." *power!emo* (It's a Batman joke).

Oh for crying out loud!!! That doesn't fit with season 4 at all.

I've gone on record as having no interest in TGTMD because, you see, *the_abomination* never happened. It was a stinking holodekc program! Any historian worth that title knows that records 100 years into the future can be wildly distorted. So we don't need to fix the finale, per se, because it was holo-tripe.

However, I am all for writing ENT books - but I have this thing where I like books to be well-written. I'm funny like that.

[CX]

Glad to know that I'm not the only one who find TGTMD pretty much as bad as *the_abomination* was to begin with. Usually we get shouted down in these parts because most everyone is just so happy about the idea that Trip isn't dead.

[Asso]

Well, CX. You know my ideas about TGTMD. I think this book is not worth discussing.

[Alelou]

I skimmed through TGTMD, which I bought for my son because he wanted it. I didn't think it was terrible -- actually, I remember developing a sneaking suspicion that it was somebody who also writes fanfic because of some stylistic similarities -- but it wasn't compelling enough for me to want to read the whole thing from beginning to end.

Which is kind of odd -- I've certainly read worse fanfic word for word. I guess I simply never expect TPTB to give me what I want. I'm kind of impressed that they even unbent enough to give Trip an out to the extent they did.

My son liked Icarus better. I might pick that up some day, even if it isn't TnT.

[justTripn]

Well, I wrote a very positive reivew of "The Good that Men Do" that was unfortunately lost in the crash. At this distance, I won't be able to give you a review with specifics, but I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed that books. Trip was Trip, and for me that's the main thing. He had a chemistry with everyone in the room, as usual. That included his partner in spying, a Human Asian guy?, and the Romulan "bad guy" they were sent to spy on. The Trip and T'Pol relationship WAS very close to fanfic portrayals of it. I had the feeling the authors had been reading over our shoulders, so to speak, and had incorporated some aspects of the Trip 'n T'Pol fanfic subculture, including alowing T'Pol to be all emotional over Trip.

I am not an uncritical reader. I had already thrown "Daedelus" into the trash can for being horrible. I didn't recognize any of the Enterprise characters in that one. Then I found fanfic, read that voraciously and said I would never go back to the horrible published novels. Then I was hearing some good things about TGTMD. I read it and thorougly enjoyed it. Yes, I had some nitpicks, but I read that thing with a big smile on my face and found most of it delightful.

Best aspects of "The Good that Men Do":

1) Trip was totally in character.
2) The T'nT relationship was fanfic-like!
3) I was eating up the DS9 Jake and Nog parts.
4) The technobabble, as Trip spies on Romulan technical secrets, was too perfect! Those few pages may have been worth the price of the book.
5) Adventure, thrills and excitement.
6) Heartwrenching personal drama.
7) The way the Mangels ripped the Enterprise "finale" to shreds and then thanked the Bragga for the "inspiration" for the story.

Annoying parts for me:

1) Anything with Archer and Shran.
2) Trip being a spy.
3) Trip being a Romulan.

Oh well, it was a fun ride . . .

I thought is was fanfic-like, but better than fanfic. Sorry . . .

[justTripn]

Oh and the authors give the background as they go, reminding the readers of all the plot points they are referencing. This may annoy hardcore fans like us, who hopefully have all the scripts memorized . . . Right??? . . . but, to tell you the truth, I also found it helpful. For any casual fan it would be totally necessary. I wonder if that is what KKGlinka means when he says the authors were "telling" not "showing." There are many interruptions in the story flow at the beginning as the authors establish the background.

[Distracted]

I haven't read it, and as much as the fanfics where T'Pol gets all weepy annoy me I probably shouldn't after KKGlinka's description of the ending. I'd rather Trip get weepy, to be honest with you. He's the HUMAN, for pete's sake! If you've got to have a badly written overly emotional tear-fest at least keep it in canon!!!

But noooo. Men don't cry.

Well, I have news for the author who wrote TGTMD. Vulcans don't either. Duh.

[Asso]

Well, for once JT and I are not in agreement.
But I think substantially because of a precise reason.
I saw your clarifications, Jt, and basically I share them.
But I share those of Distracted, too.
And also those of a lot of people, who enjoy that book, and also who doesn't enjoy.
So, the fact in my opinion is the Original Sin.
The Abomination.
TGTMD could have ignored it, but probably that wasn't possible.
But, I believe, the book could have handled it a tiny bit, with universal satisfaction.
From this Original Sin, everything proceeds.
So, all of us are boiling down to look for what we are enjoying (or not) in that book.
Because we are searching desperately (Well, maybe not exactly in this way!) something of what we would have liked in the show.
Original Sin.

[blacknblue]

If you accept the basic fact that Paramount required them to start with the premise that the abomination was canon, since it was shown on screen, they were stuck from the git go. But they could have done better IMO.

Granted, if they had to use the "dying" scene in sickbay and the conversation afterward in Trip's quarters, then ok, a faked death is as good an approach as any. And a faked death so Trip could go undercover would work as good as any other approach. It is no wilder than a lot of fanfic I have read.

But from that point on, it started to get a little shaky, as stated earlier in this thread. the bond issue it the biggie, I totally agree. It is canon that they can communicate over the bond. It is canon that T'Pol's meditation plus Trip daydreaming can trigger direct telepathic conversations. What are the odds of never encountering one another? It is canon that they contact each other while dreaming. The whole idea that T'Pol would buy his death is tripe, unless she suffered serious brain damage and lost half her IQ points at some point during the six years between losing their baby and the abomination.

[Asso]

Nothing else to add, blacknblue.
So, I wasn't wrong, I think.
ORIGINAL SIN.

[TPoptarts]

I haven't read it, and as much as the fanfics where T'Pol gets all weepy annoy me I probably shouldn't after KKGlinka's description of the ending. I'd rather Trip get weepy, to be honest with you. He's the HUMAN, for pete's sake! If you've got to have a badly written overly emotional tear-fest at least keep it in canon!!!

But noooo. Men don't cry.

Well, I have news for the author who wrote TGTMD. Vulcans don't either. Duh.

T'Pol did cry on screen though... at least twice (and hell if she cried over ARCHER I'd totally believe she'd cry over Trip... in a suppressed kinda way though not all boohoohoohooooo )

[Asso]

Exactly!
And then...
What find we charming in Vulcans (And, above all, in a vulcan female?).
Obviously, their Humanity in their Vulcanity.

[CX]

Yeah, and at least one of those times she was high on Trell.

And I have to say that I've found the vast majority of fan fic I've read to be better than what I've heard about TGTMD. Rigil even showed me an excerpt from it, and to be frank, the writing was flat.

[justTripn]

T'Pol cryed about her mother (on the show).