Russell Hoban
Here's something I like about ENT: the NX-01 is a toy compared to so many of the other ship they come across. It is clearly vulnerable. Pissy fire power, slow, lacking all kinds of bells and whistles other species bring to the arena of space. Obviously they have not blow up in 4 seasons so they do manage to get out of scrapes but their vulnerability is always evident. I love it that Archer gets so nervous about this in Silent Enemy he turns the ship around for upgrades. This is very refreshing after future set series where they had to bring in the Borg to find any kind of acceptable threat.
The NX-01 really feels like a starship. I love the utilitarian grey and the background noise and vibration that is so often evident. The curved ship's doorways, surely very annoying to step over, are a far cry from TNG's comfy Hilton. Fans who rail that it should look worse than the TOS era miss the point. It is less comfortable--see the metal bunks crewmates share. It is less colourful--even the mess hall, the social focus of a ship, is unadorned. The corridors are narrower to the point of being cramped. There are no lute recitals or chess playing in evidence; presumably personal life goes on in quarters. The ship is on a mission and once you don your practical unisex jumpsuit and leave your room you are too . It is early space exploration before anyone has had time to grow comfortable enough so far from home that they feel free to make a new one.
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