By the Book is a novel, the first original book based on Enterprise, written by Dean Wesley Smith & Kristine Kathryn Rusch and released by Pocket Books in January 2002.
Description[]
- In their first few weeks in space, Captain Jonathan Archer and the crew of the Enterprise have already discovered several new species and explored strange new worlds. But each planet brings new discoveries… and new dangers.
- The Fazi, whose ultraregulated culture ranges from strict conversation protocols to unvarying building designs, inhabit half of a planet discovered by Enterprise. But after a disastrous first contact with the ruler of the Fazi, Archer must depend on Vulcan science officer T'Pol and communication specialist Ensign Hoshi Sato to help him mend relations with the people of this planet, and unravel the mystery of the other creatures living on the world.
Summary[]
Enterprise comes across a planet inhabited by a race known as the Fazi, who have a highly structured society, even though they have recently achieved space travel. Jonathan Archer makes first contact with them but the first meeting goes disastrously when he fails to follow the protocol for speaking in turn.
Meanwhile, Malcolm Reed has become curious about an apparently primitive spiderlike race who live on the planet's southern continent and discovers they are actually an advanced underwater civilization. Archer again contacts the Fazi leader, Draa, but he brings the conversation to an abrupt end when Archer mentions the other race.
Travis Mayweather takes a team to the aliens' village to collect samples but when the aliens reappear suddenly, Crewman Jamal Edwards collapses in pain when they surround him. An attempt to retrieve him with the transporter accidentally brings one of the aliens onboard as well and, when two security guards also collapse in his presence, Archer has the alien secured in the brig.
T'Pol and Phlox realize the aliens communicate telepathically using a focused beam of psionic energy, which is damaging and potentially fatal to humanoid brains. Hoshi is able to develop a translator that converts thoughts into words and vice versa and junior engineers Novakovich and Williams are able to devise a psionic shield to protect Archer from the alien's thoughts. With these, Archer communicates with the alien, a Hipon, who explains his people colonized the world two thousand years previous when the Fazi were still primitive. Their attempts to communicate with them have proved fatal, for reasons that they didn't understand until now.
Mindful of affecting the aliens' development too much, Archer manages to establish peaceful relations with both races before leaving the planet in the hope they can build a beneficial relationship on their own.
References[]
Characters[]
Enterprise personnel[]
- James Anderson • Jonathan Archer • Elizabeth Cutler • Daniels • Jamal Edwards • Travis Mayweather • Alex Novakovich • Phlox • Pointer • Porthos • Malcolm Reed • Hoshi Sato • T'Pol • Charles Tucker III • Williams
- Referenced only
- Chef
Other characters[]
- Referenced only
- Klaang • Paul Mayweather, Sr. • Rianna Mayweather • Rust
Fictional characters[]
Starships and vehicles[]
- Referenced only
- transport
Locations[]
Races and cultures[]
States and organizations[]
- Fazi High Council • United Earth Starfleet
Ranks and titles[]
- anthropologist • captain • chief engineer • commander • councilman • crewman • doctor • ensign • game master • lieutenant • linguist • pilot • security chief • security officer • subcommander • undergraduate
Science and technology[]
- amphibian • arachnid • astronomy • bandwidth • biobed • biology • brain monitor • computer • crustacean • engineering • environmental suit • exobiology • fashion designer • geology • gill • hand scanner • larynx • lung • microbe • microbiology • orbit • oxygen • padd • phase pistol • pimple • psionic energy • psionic energy shield • psionic translator • satellite • tailbone • telepathy • transporter • universal translator • vertebrae • warp drive • warp trail
Other references[]
- 20th century • American Sign Language • aristocracy • art • beef stew • bolt • brick • bridge • cabbage soup • canal • Captain's starlog, Enterprise (NX-01) • chicken soup • chimney • chocolate chip cookie • circus • cloth pad • coffee • cologne • concrete • cow • crab • cricket • cup • dice • dictionary • first contact • fish • igloo • incense burner • jasmine • joystick • June bug • larvae • lizard • meat • mental ward • mess hall • music • nest • ocean • park • pickle • pin • plank • plant • Prime Directive • rope • RPG • sand • sandstorm • sandwich • skunk • sky bridge • slime • soap • space junk • spider • stew • stick • test flight • tomato • towel • vanilla • vegetable salad • Vulcan broth • water • wedding • World War III
Appendices[]
Related media[]
- "Strange New World": Novakovich is still recovering from the transporter malfunction.
Background[]
- Ensign Hoshi Sato is referred to as Ensign Hoshi (it should be Ensign Sato).
- Elizabeth Cutler is referred to as an ensign (she is an enlisted crewmember).
- Novakovich is given the first name of Alex twice in Chapter Three (it should be Ethan).
- According to "Fight or Flight", Enterprise didn't encounter any other species since leaving Qo'noS, so this novel must be set after that episode. It is also stated to take place "a few weeks" after the episode "Strange New World".
Images[]
Connections[]
Star Trek: Enterprise prose publications | ||
---|---|---|
Novelizations | Broken Bow • Shockwave • The Expanse | |
Original novels | set during the series | By the Book • What Price Honor? • Surak's Soul • Daedalus • Daedalus's Children • Last Full Measure • Rosetta |
set after the series | The Good That Men Do • Kobayashi Maru • The Romulan War (Beneath the Raptor's Wing • To Brave the Storm) • Rise of the Federation (A Choice of Futures • Tower of Babel • Uncertain Logic • Live by the Code • Patterns of Interference ) |
Timeline[]
published order | ||
---|---|---|
Previous novel: first in series |
Enterprise novels | Next novel: What Price Honor? |
chronological order | ||
Previous Adventure: Unexpected |
Next Adventure: Terra Nova |
Translations[]
- 2002
- German : Das Rätsel der Fazi, translated by Andreas Brandhorst. (Heyne)
- 2003
- Japanese : 未知なる種族の惑星, translated by Haku Saito. (Hayakawa Bunko)
External link[]
- By the Book article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.