Book Reviews

The Star Trek Encyclopedia The Star Trek Encyclopedia

The Star Trek Encyclopedia is really a must for every fan. It shows just how complex the Star Trek universe has come to be. Apart from information from the show, the Encyclopedia also includes some behind-the-screens information, mostly in the form of starship classes and registry numbers. Of course, not everything is correct. But seeing how complex this book is, and how well illustrated, a few slip-ups don't do much harm.

Rating: 9/10

Star Trek Chronology Star Trek Chronology

Like the Encyclopedia, the Star Trek Chronology is a good reference book for the Star Trek universe. The timeline of the Chronology is the one mostly used by writers for the show, so it carries some weight in terms of 'canon'. But also like the Encyclopedia, there are some slip-ups and the Chronology is sadly not very up to date. The latest episodes are "Basics, Part I" for Voyager and "Broken Link" for DS9 and the new series Enterprise will no doubt invalidate certain assumptions.

Rating: 8/10

Star Trek: The Next Genereation: Technical Manual Star Trek: The Next Genereation: Technical Manual

This book is great for everyone fascinated by technobabble. The Technical Manual explains everything from 24th century waste disposal to warp drive, and in meticulous detail. Although most information in completely conjectural, and some things have already been disproven in the series, most of it makes sense (in a 'Star Trek' kind of way). Don't expect flashy colour photo's and high-gloss paper, but instead a healthy dose of fictional quasi-science.

Rating: 8.5/10

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Technical Manual Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Technical Manual

The Deep Space Nine version of the above book, this time with full-colour drawings and photos. Although it gives an interesting look at DS9, the runabouts and the Defiant, it is not as solid as the TNG Manual. Still an enjoyable book though, if you can look beyond some of the obvious errors.

Rating: 7/10

Star Trek Concordance Star Trek Concordance

The Concordance is in a way the predecessor to the Encyclopedia, covering everthing on the original Star Trek series, the Animated series and the movies. Especially the inclusion of TAS makes this book special. It gives a detailed synopsis of all original and animated episodes and a handful of later episodes where TOS characters played an important role. The TOS movies are also covered. The lexicon, ship list and astronomical reference are sometimes a bit unclear and cluttered. The book is illustrated with fan art. A must have for TOS fans.

Rating: 8/10

Star Trek Sketchbook: The Original Series Star Trek Sketchbook: The Original Series

I was a little disappointed with this book. Most of the skecthes are of sets and costumes, and the last chapter seems to have very little to do with Star Trek at all. The only really interesting bit is the chapter on Matt Jefferies, with a lot of sketches of the very early Enterprise, the ship that became the Botany Bay and some auxilliary craft that never made it to the screen.

Rating: 6/10

Star Trek Sketchbook: The Original Series Star Trek Sketchbook: The Original Series

The TNG Sketchbook is a big improvement over the TOS Sketchbook. It provides a lot of interesting sketches, including an Enterprise-B cutaway and some never realized First Contact starships, like the Endeavour. The development of the Enterprise-E is also interesting.

Rating: 7.5/10