13 – We have a resturant chain in the Eastern and Midwestern US known as Perkins, that had a promotional sandwich about a decade ago. It was ham, turkey, provolone, mustard on grilled sourdough bread with a side of chicken broth for dipping. It was only on for a month, but I ordered it up to the day that I moved to Indianapolis. It was able to pass the Soup Test with flying colors, and to this day I make it at home the same way. Sadly, I have yet to find a loaf of bread that I like the taste of that can hold up to th Butter Test. Glad you found the analogy to be useful, however… really, the bread can sometimes make or break the sammy… but in Forged in Fire, I can give it a pass.

17 – I didn’t intend to say that the material in the early and latter chapters was bad, per-se. I thought its presentation was disjointed and didn’t serve the remainder of the book quite so well. I also thought it could have been compressed a bit; but that’s just my thoughts. I do miss the old time Trek novels some days… the ones you could read in three hours flat. I think that the requirement to constrain the story actually made for a better story back then, even if we’d all scream NOT.CANON. now ;)

Rob+

As for the book, I read and really enjoyed Forged in Fire. It was an interesting take on how Sulu got command of the Excelsior, with a bit more depth than previous ideas on the subject. I didn’t find even the earlier sections extraneous, because there was a wealth of development of the situation and environment, as well as the introduction of a number of interesting character-relationships.

I’ve very much enjoyed what Mangels and Martin have done with the Excelsior books. What I’m looking for next is a straight-up story about that ship and her crew, especially in the mid-to-late 2290s when Chekov is firmly settled as XO. Either way, I totally want to see more Excelsior books. :)