Book Review: 'The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future - Fourth Edition' (2016)
The first edition of The Star Trek Encyclopedia was published in May of 1994, just as Star Trek: The Next Generation's seven-season run in syndication wound down. Due to the vagaries of the book's production schedule, this edition - co-written by the Okudas with Debbie Mirek - covers Star Trek: The Original Series in its entirety, the first six theatrical films, most of Star Trek: The Next Generation (but not much of Season Seven), and part of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's premiere season. This edition was published as a hardcover (which was tough to find in those days before online shopping) and a mass trade paperback edition.
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| (C) 1994 Pocket Books and Paramount Pictures |
Though it was lavishly illustrated with production stills and artwork by Doug Drexler and other illustrators, the 1994 edition was published with no color illustrations - only black-and-white photos, charts, and renditions of various starships from the Federation and other galactic entities.
Pocket Books published the second edition of The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future in December of 1997. By then, co-author Mirek had left the team, but since she had contributed a considerable amount of material to the first edition, she still earned a place (albeit a less prominent one) in the credits listing on the front page.
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| The cover now depicts four variants of the Enterprise, the Defiant, and Voyager. Note also that Debbie Mirek's credit has been moved off to the right-hand corner of the cover. (C) 1997 Pocket Books and Paramount Pictures |
Two years later, after the release of Star Trek: Insurrection (the third Next Generation movie) and the end of Deep Space Nine drawing near, Pocket Books published a third "updated and revised" edition (illustrated above) in hardcover and paperback formats. Again, the first two TV series were covered comprehensively, as were the nine existing feature films, plus coverage of six complete seasons and part of Season Seven of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (with some revelations about the series' major characters' fates at the end of Season Seven). Voyager was also covered up to part of its fifth season; the series still had two more years to go before its finale episode (Endgame) aired on May 23, 2001.
Then, after that, silence. Pocket Books stopped publishing updated and revised editions of The Star Trek Encyclopedia in "hard copy" versions. (There was a 1995 CD-ROM Omnipedia set based on The Star Trek Encyclopedia and The Star Trek Chronology by Simon & Schuster, but as far as I know, there weren't any follow-up versions to that, either.)
Pocket Books apparently came to the conclusion that creating a continuing reference books about franchises that are constantly evolving is, in the end, a never-ending and expensive proposition. If Gene Roddenberry and his creative heirs (Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor, Brannon Braga, and J.J. Abrams) had not created any spin-offs to the Original Series beyond the first six films, or even if Paramount had stopped the franchise expansion at the end of Voyager, then perhaps Pocket Books would have done a fourth edition of The Star Trek Encyclopedia in 2002 or even 2003 to cover Star Trek: Nemesis and the final season of Star Trek: Voyager.
That changed last year when HarperCollins, in collaboration with CBS Consumer Products and becker&meyer! published The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future's fourth edition in a deluxe two-volume set.
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| (C) 2016 HarperCollins and CBS Studios |
The Star Trek Encyclopedia, Version 4.0
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the classic show,
a fully authorized revision of the popular reference companion: a two-volume
encyclopedia featuring a completely new design, stunning new full-color
photographs and illustrations, and 300 pages of new entries, packaged in a
specially designed and shrink-wrapped deluxe slipcase.
When it debuted in 1966, the Star Trek series quickly became
a pop culture phenomenon, inspiring six spin-off series and thirteen
films—including Star Trek Beyond, opening July 22, 2016—as well as books,
comics, games, toys, and more. One of the largest franchises of all time, Star
Trek’s overall box office revenue totals more than $1.93 billion to date.
Since its initial publication almost twenty-five years ago,
The Star Trek Encyclopedia has been the go-to source for everything related to
the franchise’s canon. Packed with highly detailed information, including brief
episode and film synopses, no other book has come close to offering the same
wealth of insight into the Star Trek universe. Now, The Star Trek Encyclopedia
has been thoroughly revised and redesigned for a new generation of fans. This
updated and expanded edition includes 300 more pages, information, photographs
and illustrations, and offers exhaustively researched and detailed entries on
the characters, ships, and events from the last fifteen years of Star Trek
television shows and films, including Star Trek: Voyager seasons 4-7, Star
Trek: Enterprise seasons 1-4, and Star Trek Nemesis. It also features material
detailing the recent big-screen films Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek: Into
Darkness.
Packaged in a stunning deluxe slipcase, this two-volume set
is a must-have for every Star Trek fan’s library. - Promotional insert, The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future
As in the three previous Pocket Books editions, HarperCollins' The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future's writers "assumed editorially that both authors and readers are residents of the 25th Century some decades after Star Trek: Nemesis. This is our attempt to place everything in a historical perspective."
Content
The two volumes (A-L) and (M-Z) contains information about characters, planets, star systems, starships, historical events, foods, cultures, weapons, and species seen in the official Star Trek canon, which is defined as "material from finished and aired versions of episodes and released versions of films." Thus, the entries refer to:
- Star Trek, aka Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS)
- Star Trek: The Motion Picture
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
- Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
- Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
- Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
- Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
- Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG)
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9)
- Star Trek: Voyager (VGR)
- Star Trek: Generations
- Star Trek: First Contact
- Star Trek: Insurrection
- Star Trek: Nemesis
- Star Trek: Enterprise (ENT)
- Star Trek (2009)
- Star Trek Into Darkness
In addition, entries that refer to the alternate "Kelvin timeline" created in J.J. Abrams' ongoing series of reboots are identified with an asterisk (*). Also, the first film in this series is referred to simply as Star Trek (2009) to avoid confusion with The Original Series.
As in previous editions of The Star Trek Encyclopedia, no information is derived from any novels, video games, or role-playing game resource books. In fact, because the Okudas are official members of Paramount/CBS Studios' Star Trek production team, the authors' two reference works (The Star Trek Encyclopedia and The Star Trek Chronology) are the only such books that are considered canonical in their own right. Other in-universe "reference books, including Franz Joseph's 1975 The Star Fleet Technical Manual and Shane Johnson's Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise have lost whatever canonical status they had before 1994.
Star Trek: The Animated Series, too, is not covered in The Star Trek Encyclopedia as a result of an odd decision by Gene Roddenberry to consider the series apocryphal and not part of the canon. Star Trek: The Animated Series should be canon; after all, even though it was made by the animation company Filmation, Roddenberry was The Animated Series' creator and co-executive producer (with D.C. Fontana), and most of The Original Series' live action cast (except Walter Koenig) provided voices for the animated versions of their Star Trek alter egos. The scripts, too, were written by veterans of the original 1966-1969 show and were almost up to par with some of the live-action Star Trek episodes even though they were shorter and suffered from Filmation's limited animation techniques. Paramount/CBS Studios has incorporated a lot of material from The Animated Series, but until there is an edict in writing that annuls Roddenberry's wishes, the Okudas won't include entries based strictly on the show.
The Encyclopedia is an A-Z reference book with entries about everything seen in the Star Trek universe, from 'audet IX, a planet seen in The Child (TNG) to Zyznian church mouse, a small rodent mentioned in Q2 (VGR). Entries tend to be around a paragraph or two in length, although major characters, such as James T. Kirk, Spock, Leonard McCoy, Jean-Luc Picard, and Benjamin Sisko are allotted one or two pages' worth of coverage.
As in the second and third revised editions, all of the illustrations, including starship comparison charts, uniform and insignia collections, and character photographs, are full-color. The starships in this edition are depicted in beautifully-rendered CGI illustrations, and the various alien species (Romulans, Klingons, Kazon, etc.) are depicted as they appear throughout the 50 years of Star Trek lore in hand-drawn illustrations.
One of the biggest surprises (for me, anyway) in this reference work is that the Enterprise in Star Trek (2009) is the second-largest of the nine Starships Enterprise seen in the entire franchise. Though it's a ship of the Constitution class in both timelines, the Kelvin Enterprise is 725 meters long, compared to The Original Series' famous Enterprise, which is only 289 meters long. (The biggest Enterprise is the Universe-class Enterprise-J, which was seen in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode The Council. According to the Starships Enterprise chart on page 244 of the A-L volume, the NCC-1701-J is 3,219 meters in overall length.)
Whether you are a die-hard fan who first saw Star Trek: The Original Series in "living color" from the first day it aired (September 8, 1966) on NBC or are just becoming acquainted with the franchise with the J.J. Abrams reboots and look forward to the upcoming Star Trek: Discovery television series, The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future is a must-have addition to your library. It's informative, to be sure, but it's also fun to read.
As in previous editions of The Star Trek Encyclopedia, no information is derived from any novels, video games, or role-playing game resource books. In fact, because the Okudas are official members of Paramount/CBS Studios' Star Trek production team, the authors' two reference works (The Star Trek Encyclopedia and The Star Trek Chronology) are the only such books that are considered canonical in their own right. Other in-universe "reference books, including Franz Joseph's 1975 The Star Fleet Technical Manual and Shane Johnson's Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise have lost whatever canonical status they had before 1994.
Star Trek: The Animated Series, too, is not covered in The Star Trek Encyclopedia as a result of an odd decision by Gene Roddenberry to consider the series apocryphal and not part of the canon. Star Trek: The Animated Series should be canon; after all, even though it was made by the animation company Filmation, Roddenberry was The Animated Series' creator and co-executive producer (with D.C. Fontana), and most of The Original Series' live action cast (except Walter Koenig) provided voices for the animated versions of their Star Trek alter egos. The scripts, too, were written by veterans of the original 1966-1969 show and were almost up to par with some of the live-action Star Trek episodes even though they were shorter and suffered from Filmation's limited animation techniques. Paramount/CBS Studios has incorporated a lot of material from The Animated Series, but until there is an edict in writing that annuls Roddenberry's wishes, the Okudas won't include entries based strictly on the show.
 |
| The two-volume set (A-L and M-Z) comes in an attractive and sturdy slipcover. (C) 2016 HarperCollins |
The Encyclopedia is an A-Z reference book with entries about everything seen in the Star Trek universe, from 'audet IX, a planet seen in The Child (TNG) to Zyznian church mouse, a small rodent mentioned in Q2 (VGR). Entries tend to be around a paragraph or two in length, although major characters, such as James T. Kirk, Spock, Leonard McCoy, Jean-Luc Picard, and Benjamin Sisko are allotted one or two pages' worth of coverage.
As in the second and third revised editions, all of the illustrations, including starship comparison charts, uniform and insignia collections, and character photographs, are full-color. The starships in this edition are depicted in beautifully-rendered CGI illustrations, and the various alien species (Romulans, Klingons, Kazon, etc.) are depicted as they appear throughout the 50 years of Star Trek lore in hand-drawn illustrations.
One of the biggest surprises (for me, anyway) in this reference work is that the Enterprise in Star Trek (2009) is the second-largest of the nine Starships Enterprise seen in the entire franchise. Though it's a ship of the Constitution class in both timelines, the Kelvin Enterprise is 725 meters long, compared to The Original Series' famous Enterprise, which is only 289 meters long. (The biggest Enterprise is the Universe-class Enterprise-J, which was seen in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode The Council. According to the Starships Enterprise chart on page 244 of the A-L volume, the NCC-1701-J is 3,219 meters in overall length.)
Whether you are a die-hard fan who first saw Star Trek: The Original Series in "living color" from the first day it aired (September 8, 1966) on NBC or are just becoming acquainted with the franchise with the J.J. Abrams reboots and look forward to the upcoming Star Trek: Discovery television series, The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future is a must-have addition to your library. It's informative, to be sure, but it's also fun to read.
- Hardcover: 1056 pages
- Publisher: Harper Design; Revised, Expanded Edition (October 18, 2016)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0062371320
- ISBN-13: 978-0062371324
- Product
Dimensions: 9.2 x 3.1 x
11.9 inches
- Shipping
Weight: 11.6 pounds
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