Date: 01 Aug 2012 00:09 Title: Epilogue
A great introduction to your writing for me Gildir. I love the ties you made between ENT, TOS and AOS. An affectionate nod and appreciation of each and using each to enrich and better tell a story. Given that some are inclined to favour one fandom over another it is a joy reading a tale that weaves and uses all of the various incarnations of Trek to tell a good story. Job very well done and welcome to the Archives.
Author's Response: Once again, thank you so much for all your reviews. One of my goals in writing this story was to show how all the versions of Trek can flow together into a greater whole, and I'm very glad that that aspect of the story seems to have pleased many readers. Again, thanks! :-)
Date: 01 Aug 2012 00:04 Title: Act Four
More great stuff and after the action and drama of the previous chapter we get some good old fashioned talk on matters of philosophy and life. How very Trekian. How very good.
Author's Response: Once again, thank you. I was concerned that Acts Two and Four might be too talky (and slightly too long) in comparison to the shorter, action-packed Act Three; I'm glad you found the balance effective. The serious thematic issues in this story were the main reason I wanted to write it, and dictated much of the actual plot, so I'm glad that the more philosophical parts went over well. :-)
Date: 31 Jul 2012 23:51 Title: Act Three
Lots of action here and the switching from one reality was happenign at whiplash speeds. Made for a tense chapter. I found it easy to read myself but for other readers you might want to consider from a purely formatting poit of view an extra line break between the switches in realities.
Author's Response: Thank you for the minor constructive criticism, which I appreciate. :-) My beta reader (someone I know in real life rather than on the Internet) found the sequence of flash-forwards from within the flashback confusing until I added the date and place headings. I probably could have handled it even better, somehow (putting the headings in bold rather than regular type?). Oh, well... :-)
Date: 31 Jul 2012 23:45 Title: Act Two
Well some answers - as such - given. However, what struck me most was the fact that Scotty had a hero in Trip. Given how he was such an inspirational, legendary figure himself, it seems fitting and cool beans that he should have a hero too. Better yet one from a previous Enterprise and a taste of his own legend to come.
Author's Response: Yes, I wanted to foreshadow Scotty's legendary status with the irony of his thinking that there would never be a greater Starfleet engineer than Trip (as well as expressing my own admiration for Trip, certainly my favorite ENT character).
Date: 31 Jul 2012 23:32 Title: Act One
My what a twisted game is afoot here. And poor ole Scotty. You're really messing with him. And playing with the timeline/alternate universe thing too. (I bet you had fun writing this!) A very interesting story here.
Author's Response: Yes, this story was a lot of fun to write. Something I wanted to do here was to do the opposite of what the 2009 film and the IDW comics have done: rather than tell a story set in the alternate reality exploring its differences from the Prime Timeline, I wanted to do a story in the Prime Timeline exploring its differences from the alternate reality. Once again, glad you liked it. :-)
Date: 31 Jul 2012 22:03 Title: Prologue
Oh, what a starter. Heck of an opener. Starts with a little bit of whimsy for our heroes, and loved the focus on Scotty and Uhura here. But gasp at your little cliffhanger teaser.
Author's Response: Thank you for your reviews, starting with this one. I began with Scotty and Uhura together because of their flirtation in "The Final Frontier" (alluded to later in the story); in fact, I had originally intended for Uhura to have a larger role, but the story didn't work out that way as it developed. I also wanted to make sure all the chapters ended with strong cliffhangers, like the act endings of the TV shows. Glad you liked it.
Date: 31 Jul 2012 17:20 Title: Act Two
Very excellent! I liked the callbacks and references to Enterprise. They felt much more natural than having Riker and Troi talk about them. Nice job!
Author's Response: Thank you for your review. As I've mentioned to other reviewers, it was very important to me to pay homage to ENT and its place in the Star Trek mythos; Archer and his crew would logically be legendary heroes to the people of Kirk's time, just as Kirk and his crew were to the 24th century characters. I'm happy that you liked it. :-)
Date: 30 Jul 2012 22:44 Title: Epilogue
Wow! That's all I can say. I love how you managed to weave ENT, TOS the JJverse and real life all together into a cohesive, believable story that adds understanding to who Keenser was and why he was so important to Monty - I mean Scotty. ;-)
This was incredibly well done. Bravo!!
Author's Response: Thank you so much for your review. As I mentioned to another reviewer below, one of the things I wanted to do in this story was to show how all of Star Trek, including ENT and the 2009 film, are parts of a larger whole. I'm so glad you enjoyed it. :-)
Date: 30 Jul 2012 16:34 Title: Epilogue
Very well done. It was kinda funny, I was reading young Monty like Simon Pegg, and then back to Jimmy Doohan for older Scotty. I thought it was an interesting look at such an iconic character's past, and a neat way to answer "well, where was Keenser from the movie in TOS?" Was very sad there at the end, dealing with the fight and then having to make the decision to let him go. Good job!
Author's Response: Thank you for your review. I myself imagined Monty as Pegg and Scotty as Doohan while writing the story, and one of my main goals was to explain Keenser's absence from TOS. I'm glad that the story achieved what I wanted. :-)
Date: 29 Jul 2012 06:22 Title: Prologue
Ooh, what a tense and scary beginning! I definitely want to know more!
Date: 12 Jul 2012 00:15 Title: Epilogue
Talk about a rip-roaring adventure! It's almost like one of the novels in terms of tone, feel and plot, and man, there is never such a thing as too much Scotty. Well done! Welcome to Ad Astra!
Author's Response: Thank you so much for your review. Knowing that you're Ad Astra's resident Scotty expert, I was looking forward to finding out what you thought of it! Thanks again. :-)
Date: 11 Jul 2012 01:06 Title: Epilogue
Lovely - and very well-executed.
Author's Response: And again, thank you for all your reviews. I'm very happy that you were satisfied with the story all the way until the end. I really appreciate it. :-)
Date: 11 Jul 2012 00:54 Title: Act Three
Eek - must ... turn ... page .... /Shatner
Date: 11 Jul 2012 00:46 Title: Act Two
Ooh.
I like the ENT shout-outs (the Reed spaceport, the USS Mayweather and of course the mention of Tucker in TATV).
Good, seamless integration between the two series and the films.
Author's Response: Once again, a heartwarming review. The references to ENT (especially the material about Trip) were among my own favorite elements of the story, especially since ENT sometimes doesn't seem to get enough respect among fans. I'm very happy you picked up on the "Reed Spaceport" reference, which was more obscure and fleeting than the others (the idea, of course, being that, as a Brit, Malcolm got a London spaceport named after him). One of the things I wanted to do with this story was to show how all of Trek (including ENT and the 2009 film) can be woven into a greater whole. Once again, thanks.
Date: 11 Jul 2012 00:34 Title: Act One
It's almost like the first Alien film, when the thing is still on Kane's face. When someone says, "That thing is feeding him oxygen," you realize that Kane is doomed. You just don't know how.
I have the same sense of foreboading here.
Date: 11 Jul 2012 00:26 Title: Prologue
Oh! Your first story! Your first review! W00t!!
I like the beginning very much. Very, very good eye for detail, and page-turning.
Author's Response: Thank you so much for your reviews, starting with this one. Getting the story off to a good start was very important to me.