Why The First Star Trek: Enterprise Novel Infuriated The Show's Co-Creator

Many Trekkies have watched every episode of every "Star Trek" show to have aired since the franchise's inception in 1966. That's 900-some episode in total, so it takes a lot of commitment to stay abreast of the whole property. Deep-cut Trekkies, however, have not only seen all 900-some episodes, but have also studied sourcebooks, comics, and oral histories, trying to know as much about the show as possible. The next time you're with a Trekkie friend, ask to see their copy of Larry Nemecek's "The Star Trek The Next Generation Companion" or Rick Sternbach and Mike Okuda's "Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual." I assure you, they have those books. They are required reading on the "Star Trek" syllabus.

Deep-cut Trekkies may also be familiar with the hundreds and hundreds of sanctioned — but non-canonical — "Star Trek" novels that have been published over the years. "Star Trek" tie-in novels, for neophytes, feature established "Star Trek" characters, but engage in new, speculative adventures. The novels are written by a special raft of authors who are given a series of rules to follow, and most of the books, like the TV shows, return all their characters to the status quo by the end ... for the most part. "Star Trek" novel enthusiasts may even have their favorite authors; Peter David tends to write more playful "Star Trek" stories, for instance. John Vornholt, Michael Jan Friedman, and Diane Duane might also be familiar to Trekkish bibliophiles. For more on that, check out /FIlm's rundown of the best "Star Trek" books on the (second hard) market.

Diane Carey, meanwhile, is one of the more prolific "Star Trek" authors ... although not one that, it seems, who is universally beloved by those who've worked on the franchise. In fact, "Star Trek: Enterprise" co-creator Brannon Braga once said on one of the show's Blu-ray special features (as transcribed on a "Star Trek" BBS) that Carey manhandled his teleplay for "Broken Bow," the "Enterprise" pilot episode. Carey clearly didn't like Braga's teleplay, so she slipped in a few acidic commentaries. Braga noticed.

Carey, it should be noted, had already authored 28 "Star Trek" novels when her novelization of "Broken Bow" was published in 2001. She had penned tie-ins to all four live-action "Star Trek" shows up to that point and had a deep understanding of the franchise. I should pause to clarify that while the bulk of "Star Trek" tie-in novels are original stories, a small handful of them are straight-up novelizations of notable extant "Star Trek" episodes. Carey was one of the go-to authors of straightforward episode adaptations, having been hired by Pocket Books to hype up the bigger "Star Trek" TV events. "Broken Bow" was her 10th novelization.

Braga, himself one of the "Star Trek" franchise's most respected writers, hated it. Carey, he argued, added snarky asides that specifically criticized his writing. Speaking about the novel with his "Enterprise" co-creator Rick Berman, Braga explained how much he hated it:

"Do you remember ... the novelization of the 'Enterprise' pilot, in hardcover? That came out around the time the show did, by Diane Carey that ... It was very obvious in reading many passages that she hated the pilot script and was making her own meta-commentary on the show? Do you remember this? [...] It's filled with passages commenting on how s***ty the script is. You know, like ... I can't remember exactly, but you know: 'So, Trip and Reed found themselves in front of two stripper girls eating butterflies. A ridiculous concept, even on an alien world.' I mean, just like ..."

This refers to a scene in "Broken Bow" where Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer) and Malcolm Reed (Dominic Keating) visit an outpost on Rigel X. There, they spot an alien burlesque performance involving two alien women seductively using their elongated tongues to eat butterflies out of the air. Braga wrote the scene. Carey clearly hated it and got to say so. Braga got pissed.

Berman, listening to Braga, couldn't quite believe it, so Braga continued. There were a lot of little nitpicks in Carey's novel, so Braga paraphrased Carey's work, saying:

"This was in the novelization. And just, like, commenting on how stupid characters were: 'No good Starfleet captain would have done this, but Captain Archer was no ordinary 'Star Trek' captain.' But, it was filled ... and I don't know if it was you or me called just to say, 'Hey, we think this is funny, but you should know that this author has [ill will for you].' [...] Obviously, an editor missed the fact that she hates the show, and it's reeking with hatred from beginning to end. I don't know or remember exactly what happened. I think maybe she was reprimanded."

The two "Enterprise" creators were familiar enough with Carey's work to have noticed patterns emerging in her style. They noted that in her "Deep Space Nine" novelizations, she gave Captain Sisko (who is unique among "Star Trek" captains) interior monologues wherein he expressed contempt for his fellow officers, disgusted by their actions and dialogue. This was dialogue, of course, penned by a hard-working TV writer somewhere. Carey was clearly inserting her own reviews of the episodes she was adapting.

Most Trekkies might have noticed Carey's editorials and felt they were legitimate; fresh perspectives are welcome, and Carey merely got to offer her take on a (perhaps clunky) scene. The original episode writers, however, had every right to be upset.

It's unclear if Carey was ever reprimanded, but one may notice that she authored no additional "Star Trek" novels after 2001. In 2003, however, she wrote the adaptation of the film "S.W.A.T." before going on to write two novels based on "Aliens" in the mid-2000s. She has also written three original novels, all her own.