Gonna have to disagree with accusations of American chauvanism...

books:


	• Articles of the Federation (Star Trek) Keith R. A. DeCandido Star Trek, 2005 - 416 pages average customer review:based on 17 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

It would be better if the All-American chauvinism was cut off

It is a cross between Star Trek, The West Wing and Commander in Chief. Very interesting, light story. As long as you ignore its annoying faults: The presidential staff never loses a battle, which is highly improbable. (They also seem to be permanently on the verge of a nervous breakdown.) Also, I would advise the author to travel abroad, in order to loose her All-American crap: It is amazing senior staff members of the Federation Council living in Paris have never ever heard about Germany (!), but they know about some obscure 20th. Century baseball player. It is also pathetic that the President regards a stupid baseball match as more important than the lives of the Federation citizens, considering that even now this sport is simply ignored outside the USA. This is boring. Fortunately, the good parts of the book are really good.

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Nan Bacco is slightly off.

Those who describe this novel as Star Trek meets The West Wing are pretty accurate. The characters in this book are as entertaining & idiosyncratically annoying as those on Aaron Sorkin's show. The President is just as big a know-it-all as Bartlett and she and her staff are just as apt to use humor at inappropriate times. I like The West Wing for the most part but as a Trek fan I prefer to keep my fictional universes separate. And while DeCandido is a talented writer who spins a good yarn, he borrows too much from TWW. His Federation government also seems somewhat confused as to whether it's supposed to represent the U.S. with President Bacco as a stand-in for the American President or the U.N. with talk of a Security Council with permanent & non-permanent members. And while there is no indication of separation of powers in the Federation, Bacco seems to have even more power than either an American President or Secretary-General. She acts as President, Speaker of a legislative body (i.e. the Federation Council), and as Chief Justice of the Judiciary Committee (which contradicts established Trek canon of a Federation Supreme Court.) But then again, canon also established that the Federation Council meets in San Francisco and Paris only serves as the location of the President's office. What bothers me the most about the main character of Bacco is that she seems unhinged at times, half-jokingly (or perhaps she is serious) threatening to beat up witnesses with her podium during open council sessions. Joking around in private is one thing, but no sane President would carry-on in such a manner while presiding in an official capacity.

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One of the best

This is, hands down one of the best Star Trek related books that I have read. If you like the West Wing you will like this book. Second only to 'The Lives of Dax'

Another Great ST Book from Keith R.A. DeCandido

I was hesitant to read this one because of all the reviews comparing it to West Wing (which I don't watch) and that it sounded like it would be nothing but a bunch of political junk based in the Star Trek universe. I'm the type who likes a good adventure with Kirk or Picard saving the universe.

Am I glad I read it anyways! It is chocked full of the political going-ons of a year in the life of President Nan Bacco. After the first few chapters I realized it was full of exactly what I was afraid it was full of - politics - but I liked it!

Quit reading all these Amazon reviews and read this book!

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Gonna have to disagree with accusations of American chauvanism...

"Articles of the Federation" is a very good book -- it's my second-favorite Trek novel, after "Spock's World." It's not without its flaws -- several plotlines mirror plots from "The West Wing" a little too closely for my tastes, and I find some of the novel's assumptions about separation of powers a lit irritating. But the accusations that it's chauvanistically American seem off-base to me.

First off, it can't be a cross between "Star Trek," "The West Wing," and "Commander-in-Chief," because "Commander-in-Chief" had not premired when "Articles" was published in late spring of '05. It can be accurately described as "Star Trek: The West Wing."

There's some validity to the criticism that the Federation President never loses a fight, though it's not completely accurate. The Reman asylum plot ends in what can only be described as failure for everyone involved, and the re-settlement of the Reman people (a plot begun in "Titan: Taking Wing") also ends in failure for the president and her team. Further, the novel establishes pretty early on that Nan Bacco sometimes makes impulsive decisions that cost her (the slavery arc). I'm not sure what could prompt anyone to claim that they're always on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Alan Pires Ferreira claims the following: "Also, I would advise the author to travel abroad, in order to loose her All-American crap:"

Author Keith R.A. DeCandido is male, not female.

"It is amazing senior staff members of the Federation Council living in Paris have never ever heard about Germany (!),"

You might recall that the individual in question was not from Earth and was an alien.

"but they know about some obscure 20th. Century baseball player."

Only President Bacco and Esperanza were depicted as knowing much of anything about baseball -- Bacco because she's a fan, and Esperanza because she's known Bacco forever. The character that did not know what Germany was did not know much about baseball, either.

"It is also pathetic that the President regards a stupid baseball match as more important than the lives of the Federation citizens,"

This criticism makes no sense. At no point does President Bacco place baseball over the lives of Federation citizens -- and at no point is there even a question about that. There's a scene where Esperanza orders a goodwill tour of the Federation to be re-ordered so that the president can visit her home planet when baseball season starts; that's all. There's no indication that the re-ordering of the trip harms anyone whatsoever.

"considering that even now this sport is simply ignored outside the USA."

And "Articles of the Federation" makes it clear that the sport is mostly ignored outside of the president's home planet.

Far too little credit is also given in Mr. Ferreira's review to the fact that the Federation government in "AotF" is specifically designed not to resemble the American government overly-much. The US government features a popularly-elected head of government and head of state who is independent of the legislature, a bicameral legislature, an independent judiciary, and a strong partisan tradition. The Federation government of "AotF," on the other hand, features a popularly elected head of state/government who also serves as presiding officer for sessions of the legislature and must command the support of that legislature to make sub-council appointments; the legislature is also the supreme judicial authority, and gets strong input into executive decision-making. In these manners, the Federation government more closely resembles a parliamentary system of government, with its close and interconnected executive and legislative branches.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

"Following the surprise resignation of Federation President Min Zife after the disastrous Tezwa affair, Nan Bacco of Cestus III has won a hotly contested election to become the new chief executive of over one hundred fifty planetary civilizations and their colonies. But no sooner does she take office than the Romulan Star Empire falls into chaos. With tensions already high, a Reman refugee ship is sighted approaching a Federation outpost, its intentions unknown. As the first year of the Bacco Administration unfolds, the Federation Council is slow to work with its new president, and not always supportive of her policies or her appointments to key council positions; a successful first contact suddenly becomes a diplomatic disaster; and the sins of President Zife prove difficult to lay to rest...as one celebrated Starfleet officer's career reaches a turning point. "

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