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Deep Space Nine Companion
Erdmann was given unprecedented access to every aspect of the production of Star Trek Deep Space Nine in order to compile this book which is considered, by some, the ultimate guide to Star Trek's grittiest and most complex series.
736 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
March 23, 2011
If I could give this book six stars, it would get it. Easily the best of all the Star Trek Companion books, if you've got the Deep Space Nine series on DVD, it's a must have. It's well written, in depth, and has every juicy tidbit you'd ever want to know about the series - and then some.
September 8, 2013
Basically, this book is text DVD extras for every episode of DS9. If you like craft nuts-and-bolts stuff, it is a wonderful experience to read each entry in this book after you watch each episode. Warning: the book is written under the assumption that you've already seen the whole show. Spoilers are woven throughout.
December 18, 2011
A wonderful companion to the Deep Space Nine series.
August 13, 2014
Star Trek Deep Space Nine is my favorite Star Trek series. I grew up watching this show and got immersed in the great characters. Star Trek has always been like an old friend to me, one that I may have lost touch with but always has been in the back of my mind. I think I read this book years ago, but decided to read it again after a recent renewal in watching Star Trek, in particular old TNG episodes. I own a few seasons of this show on DVD. The book has an introduction to each season, then an episode guide, with lots and lots and lots of insight by cast, crew and directors. After reading most of it, it got to be a bit much, but this book is truly a great read for a Niner like myself.
July 3, 2017
Obwohl ich Star Trek mit vereinzelten Classic-Episoden für mich entdeckt habe (später habe ich natürlich alle gesehen, auch die animated Folgen), mit TNG zum Fan wurde und dann auch Voyager und Enterprise kennenlernte, hat Deep Space Nine einen besonderen Platz in meinem Herzen und es ist über die Jahre die Serie geworden, die von allen Serien am häufigsten über meinen Bildschirm flimmert (es ist 2017 und noch ist meine Hoffnung auf HD-Version dieser Serie nicht gestorben).
Der Companion enthält jeweils einen Staffelüberblick, Episodeninhalte incl. (thematisch wechselnde) ergänzende Informationen wie z.B. Anmerkungen der Produzenten, der Autoren, Komponisten, Art-Set-Abteilung, Schauspieler etc. Für mich gab es hier einiges zu lesen und zu entdecken, von Bedenken der Schauspieler über erste Drehbücher bis hin zu Produktionsbedingungen beim Außendreh. Es finden sich zudem Fotos u. Designskizzen (jeweils schwarz-weiß) und ein paar Sonderartikel z.B. darüber, wie eine Story entwickelt wird oder visuelle Effekte.
Ich wünschte, der Companion wäre nicht so unhandlich - Softcover und ca. DINA4 mit über 720 Seiten - und die Fotos in Farbe gewesen; aber dafür will ich nichts bei der Bewertung abziehen. ;)
December 6, 2018
Deep Space Nine is not only the best Star Trek show of all time, but it's also one of the Top 3 shows in the history of sci-fiction. That said, it's also the red headed stepchild of Star Trek, and is only now getting appreciated.
The Companion book is the closest thing to the special features extras on DVDs. Because of CBS/Paramount/whoever owns the right, they're never going to release them at an affordable price. Although there is the IndieGoGo DS9 backed project that should be out soon.
If you want to know more about the best Star Trek show ever, this is a must read. I read it after each episode(s) I watched. It gives you great insight into the actors, producers, and writers. Even though it's in a written word, it doesn't lose any of its impact. It just makes me sad that the Powers That Be aren't doing anything more with DS9.
DS9 was ahead of it's time. It had a great ensemble cast and a serialized story arc with characters that grew. People had their own motives and there was a lot of gray area. Unlike most Star Trek, things weren't black or white. It's only now, 20 years later, that the show is starting to be appreciated. Here's hoping that one day it'll get the worldwide recognition it deserves.
The Companion book is the closest thing to the special features extras on DVDs. Because of CBS/Paramount/whoever owns the right, they're never going to release them at an affordable price. Although there is the IndieGoGo DS9 backed project that should be out soon.
If you want to know more about the best Star Trek show ever, this is a must read. I read it after each episode(s) I watched. It gives you great insight into the actors, producers, and writers. Even though it's in a written word, it doesn't lose any of its impact. It just makes me sad that the Powers That Be aren't doing anything more with DS9.
DS9 was ahead of it's time. It had a great ensemble cast and a serialized story arc with characters that grew. People had their own motives and there was a lot of gray area. Unlike most Star Trek, things weren't black or white. It's only now, 20 years later, that the show is starting to be appreciated. Here's hoping that one day it'll get the worldwide recognition it deserves.
March 27, 2022
This is an good book for what it is. Its 750 pages & summarizes the plot of every DS9 Episode, and provides Producer Ira Behr (and a few of the writers) opinion on each episode. Occasionally, a few of the actors or directors will also provide comments. Quite a few pictures. No critical analysis. No in-depth analysis of the characters. Everything is upbeat and positive.
Just to reiterate, you get a lot of Ira Behr. He comments on every episode. And often he's the only one or the dominant one. Frankly, I got a little tired of reading his opinions.
Just to reiterate, you get a lot of Ira Behr. He comments on every episode. And often he's the only one or the dominant one. Frankly, I got a little tired of reading his opinions.
October 19, 2020
AMAZING ! I Was able to finally get a copy of this book and it’s more than a simple companion book.
Each episode is deeply analysed with BtheScene facts/ production noteS/ sketches...
Ps: I’m French and English is my 2nd language. You must be fluent to read this book.
Each episode is deeply analysed with BtheScene facts/ production noteS/ sketches...
Ps: I’m French and English is my 2nd language. You must be fluent to read this book.
September 25, 2019
By far the best of the Star Trek Compendiums, this is so rich with stories in front of and behind the scenes for each episode. Just great!
October 20, 2019
I love this show
April 25, 2023
A must for anyone looking to get more out of a watch or rewatch of DS9.
February 14, 2017
Another book I started last summer when DS9 began its run on Heroes & Icons. I had missed big chunks of the show during its original run, and hadn't seen it at all since it wrapped up. I had to track this out-of-print book down through Alibris, and it was well worth it. Like the Voyager Companion, it has episode synopses, cast lists, and lots of pictures. The only index covers episode titles. What makes this book so much better than the other Star Trek volumes is the extensive behind the scenes information, including the writing process on many of the episodes (often showing that the finished episode had very little in common with the original concept), how special effects were done, reactions of the actors to their characters' development, and so on. In my opinion, DS9 was the best written series in the franchise, and the Companion gives fascinating insight into how that was accomplished.
October 4, 2010
This is a very interesting work, commissioned and researched over the series' entire 7-year-period. 'Deep Space Nine' is a probing work of television that deserves a good guide. This is far from perfect - some entries lack the depth or critical analysis that one would like - but it also offers a great deal. Overall, Erdmann covers every aspect of production from casting and writing to props and costume creation. On top of this, the show's writers are somewhat critical of their own work when need be. One for any collector.
April 4, 2010
I previously read most of the Next Generation Companion, and the Star Trek Chronology, and while those both have cool information, the Deep Space Nine Companion has much more detail and is in an excellent style to read, very engaging. I'm learning a lot about the episode plots, but also a lot about how a TV series can work. Just what I need now.
February 11, 2011
The most honest account, the most detailed account, the most hilarious & fascinating account...this is the ULTIMATE behind-the-scene episode guide & story of the most amazing of the modern Star Trek series. Rather appropriate, given that DS9 was the series with the depth to deserve such a detailed examination.
January 31, 2011
This was a series that did not get the attention it deserved. Exceptionally well-written and insightful, DS9 was the culmination of the original vision (and it's been all downhill since). The Companion gives great backstory to the development and writing of this excellent series.
May 20, 2013
What a fantastic book for a fan of the show. Synopses and behind the scenes info for each episode, including fascinating looks at the creative process make it a must not only if you're a fan but also if you're interested in the inner workings of a tv show.
August 7, 2013
Mentre anni fa ancora attendevo che le TV italiche trasmettessero l'intera serie, ebbi la fortuna di acquistare questo ottimo volume, e la sfortuna di spoilerarmi alcune situazioni. Oggi è quanto mai essenziale per un vero appassionato di Star Trek.
May 14, 2023
Really fantastic look behind the scenes. Occasionally it felt like interviews were missing – actors would be interviewed for fairly minor appearances, but not for major character episodes – but there’s only so much content you can fit into one book.
October 22, 2009
I love this book!!! As much fun as rewatching the series is, watching each episode and then reading the "behind the scenes" pages on it is that much more fun. Absolute brilliance.
June 14, 2010
This companion guide has all the episodes of Star Trek Deep Space Nine but also has other information from behind the scenes and why certain things happened in different episodes.
July 17, 2011
Awsome insight into how a tv show is made, episode by episode over the course of 7 years
March 4, 2013
The definitive guide to the best Star Trek TV series.
April 16, 2017
Deep Space Nine, the second spin-off from the original Star Trek series, ran for seven seasons from 1993 to 1999. At the time it was originally on the air it was considered the 'awkward child' of the Star Trek franchise, being overshadowed at the start of its run by the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation and then for the rest of its run by the start of Star Trek: Voyager. Time has been kind to the series, however, and it is now widely regarded as the best - or at least the most consistently excellent - of the Star Trek television series.
It's therefore appropriate that the best Star Trek series got the best companion book out of all of the series, and in fact probably the best non-fiction book ever written about Star Trek. To write it, Terry J. Erdmann took the unusual step of developing it alongside the series. He literally started writing it in 1993 when the show launched and completed it in 1999 after it concluded, publishing it in 2000. This - slightly mental - way of writing the book allowed him to interview the writers, actors and production staff at regular intervals when their memories of each episode were fresh, and in some cases be on-set for the filming of scenes. This wasn't a cash-in hack job to ride on the show's popularity, but an eight-year project that is impressive in showing its creators' commitment to doing as good a job as possible.
The format of the book is fairly standard. The book is divided into seven sections, one for each season of the show. There's an overview of the season as a whole and then a summary of each episode, as well as cast lists, transmission dates and all the usual gubbins you get in books like this. However, the meat of the book is the elaborate 'behind the scenes' section for each and every one of the 173 episodes that was made. These sections usually feature interviews with the episode writers about how the idea for the episode came about, comments from the actors who were heavily featured (regular, recurring and guest stars alike) in the episode in question, and discussions with the director and production crew who had to turn each script into a reality.
These behind-the-scenes sections are impressive. Every episode, no matter how minor or unsuccessful, has one, and they're usually between 2 and 4 A4 pages of reasonably small print in length. This is why the book is over 700 pages long, which is bordering on the 'insane' side of things for an episode guide. The reason for the length is that almost everyone involved in the making of the series offers insightful thoughts on the production process. The writers (including future Battlestar Galactica showrunner Ronald D. Moore) are honest and forthright in debating their writing choices, including what went wrong as well as what went right. Showrunner Ira Steven Behr's brutally honest appraisals of how dire episodes like Let He Who Is Without Sin and Proft and Lace made it to the screen are interesting and also extremely funny.
The actors also have their say, talking about how they developed their characters from episode to episode and why they made the acting choices that they did. Production crew are also interviewed, from the director of each episode down to the stuntmen, visual effects personnel and occasionally even the extras. The book makes it clear that vast amounts of work went into making each episode of the show. That the series turned out as well as it did under the chaos of a production schedule almost unthinkable today is clearly a tribute to the professionalism of everyone involved.
What is most interesting is the way the guide tackles the sometimes challenging relationship between DS9 and the rest of the Star Trek franchise. The writers are unapologetic about the problems they had on The Next Generation, where interpersonal conflict between the human characters was not allowed, and applaud the freedom that Deep Space Nine gave them to write more interesting psychological stories. They also reveal that Deep Space Nine had cast-iron rules about limiting the amount of technobabble in the series and a total ban on 'holodeck malfunction' episodes. However whilst the contributors are surprisingly honest, this is still an official tie-in book, so the severity of the disagreements between the DS9 staff and overall Star Trek franchise-runner Rick Berman are downplayed (more recent interviews indicate some of these disagreements were a lot more serious than this book indicates, with Berman eventually giving up and preferring to work on Voyager). The absence of any mention of the rivalry between the DS9 and Babylon 5 fanbases is also interesting given some of the things happening at the time, probably another casualty of the book trying to take a positive view of everything.
Still, whilst there's a few areas the book doesn't touch on, pretty much everything else about the series is explored in ridiculous detail. From the transition of motion-controlled model work to full CGI (the revelation that a considerably more elaborate version of the Battle of Wolf 359 from the pilot episode was shot but has never been shown is tantalising; maybe something for a future Blu-Ray release?) to the ongoing evolution of the prosthetics work, there's few side-areas of the production that are not touched upon.
The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (*****) is hands-down the best tie-in book of its nature I've ever read, and in this age of instant and free-to-access wikis and production videos and webcasts, maybe the best there ever will be. It's an impressive guide to how this series was conceived and filmed, packed with fascinating revelations and trivia. Even if you have no interest in DS9, it's still a fascinating read for anyone interested in the process of producing a weekly science fiction TV show. The book is - sadly - long out of print, but copies (for somewhat excessive prices) can still be found on Amazon UK and Amazon USA.
It's therefore appropriate that the best Star Trek series got the best companion book out of all of the series, and in fact probably the best non-fiction book ever written about Star Trek. To write it, Terry J. Erdmann took the unusual step of developing it alongside the series. He literally started writing it in 1993 when the show launched and completed it in 1999 after it concluded, publishing it in 2000. This - slightly mental - way of writing the book allowed him to interview the writers, actors and production staff at regular intervals when their memories of each episode were fresh, and in some cases be on-set for the filming of scenes. This wasn't a cash-in hack job to ride on the show's popularity, but an eight-year project that is impressive in showing its creators' commitment to doing as good a job as possible.
The format of the book is fairly standard. The book is divided into seven sections, one for each season of the show. There's an overview of the season as a whole and then a summary of each episode, as well as cast lists, transmission dates and all the usual gubbins you get in books like this. However, the meat of the book is the elaborate 'behind the scenes' section for each and every one of the 173 episodes that was made. These sections usually feature interviews with the episode writers about how the idea for the episode came about, comments from the actors who were heavily featured (regular, recurring and guest stars alike) in the episode in question, and discussions with the director and production crew who had to turn each script into a reality.
These behind-the-scenes sections are impressive. Every episode, no matter how minor or unsuccessful, has one, and they're usually between 2 and 4 A4 pages of reasonably small print in length. This is why the book is over 700 pages long, which is bordering on the 'insane' side of things for an episode guide. The reason for the length is that almost everyone involved in the making of the series offers insightful thoughts on the production process. The writers (including future Battlestar Galactica showrunner Ronald D. Moore) are honest and forthright in debating their writing choices, including what went wrong as well as what went right. Showrunner Ira Steven Behr's brutally honest appraisals of how dire episodes like Let He Who Is Without Sin and Proft and Lace made it to the screen are interesting and also extremely funny.
The actors also have their say, talking about how they developed their characters from episode to episode and why they made the acting choices that they did. Production crew are also interviewed, from the director of each episode down to the stuntmen, visual effects personnel and occasionally even the extras. The book makes it clear that vast amounts of work went into making each episode of the show. That the series turned out as well as it did under the chaos of a production schedule almost unthinkable today is clearly a tribute to the professionalism of everyone involved.
What is most interesting is the way the guide tackles the sometimes challenging relationship between DS9 and the rest of the Star Trek franchise. The writers are unapologetic about the problems they had on The Next Generation, where interpersonal conflict between the human characters was not allowed, and applaud the freedom that Deep Space Nine gave them to write more interesting psychological stories. They also reveal that Deep Space Nine had cast-iron rules about limiting the amount of technobabble in the series and a total ban on 'holodeck malfunction' episodes. However whilst the contributors are surprisingly honest, this is still an official tie-in book, so the severity of the disagreements between the DS9 staff and overall Star Trek franchise-runner Rick Berman are downplayed (more recent interviews indicate some of these disagreements were a lot more serious than this book indicates, with Berman eventually giving up and preferring to work on Voyager). The absence of any mention of the rivalry between the DS9 and Babylon 5 fanbases is also interesting given some of the things happening at the time, probably another casualty of the book trying to take a positive view of everything.
Still, whilst there's a few areas the book doesn't touch on, pretty much everything else about the series is explored in ridiculous detail. From the transition of motion-controlled model work to full CGI (the revelation that a considerably more elaborate version of the Battle of Wolf 359 from the pilot episode was shot but has never been shown is tantalising; maybe something for a future Blu-Ray release?) to the ongoing evolution of the prosthetics work, there's few side-areas of the production that are not touched upon.
The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (*****) is hands-down the best tie-in book of its nature I've ever read, and in this age of instant and free-to-access wikis and production videos and webcasts, maybe the best there ever will be. It's an impressive guide to how this series was conceived and filmed, packed with fascinating revelations and trivia. Even if you have no interest in DS9, it's still a fascinating read for anyone interested in the process of producing a weekly science fiction TV show. The book is - sadly - long out of print, but copies (for somewhat excessive prices) can still be found on Amazon UK and Amazon USA.
December 8, 2017
Clearly, a huge compendium like this is not meant for the casual reader, but for the truly obsessed! I was even able to watch parts of episodes as I poured through this guide (as I now own all 7 seasons on DVD!). A stocking stuffer IF you have big, sturdy stockings!
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews