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The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future
Covers the three television series and the first six films
396 pages, Paperback
First published April 11, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
April 19, 2013
Before the Internet, there was the Star Trek Encyclopedia. When the Apocalypse happens, Netflix fails us, and the internet finally goes down, I will be safe and happy and warm, knowing that I will still have my Star Trek Encyclopedia.
December 3, 2016
Brings me back to the days of youth where Star Trek was king and I would voraciously devour anything Star Trek from novels to the technical manuals. Everything from the original series to the Kelvinverse is included in two MASSIVE encyclopedias. It's a return to form for Star Trek 50th anniversary. I haven't read a physical encyclopedia since the days of the encyclopedia Britannica and yes the Star Trek technical manuals
January 15, 2009
Out shopping at the mall one night, my mother and I originally bought this for my father. Over dinner, I started flipping through it...I eventually read it, cover to cover. And thus I became a Trekker...
December 17, 2011
One of the most amazing and knowledgeable books that I have ever read. It opened me up to so many aspects that I never knew about from my favorite TV series.
February 2, 2019
My Trekkie friend gets out of the car, "Hey I have a present for you."
"Oh?"
"Well, I mean, you can't keep it."
Now at this point I'm wondering what sort of present is not kept.
She hands me a book, "It's a Star Trek encyclopedia."
Seasoned Trekkie from Trekkie family loans a Trek encyclopedia to a relatively new watcher who is (sadly) only 17 episodes from the end of TNG.
A comment on being almost done with TNG: I want to watch DS9, but I'm really going to miss Data. I love Data.
Now, my Trekkie friend and her family are very against spoilers, yet they have loaned me this giant encyclopedia.
I hate spoilers.
Am I going to read this encyclopedia anyway?
Yes. Because it looks amazing.
Also because I will have to give it back and I don't think I have time to watch the rest of the Trek franchise before a reasonable loaning period has passed.
"Oh?"
"Well, I mean, you can't keep it."
Now at this point I'm wondering what sort of present is not kept.
She hands me a book, "It's a Star Trek encyclopedia."
Seasoned Trekkie from Trekkie family loans a Trek encyclopedia to a relatively new watcher who is (sadly) only 17 episodes from the end of TNG.
A comment on being almost done with TNG: I want to watch DS9, but I'm really going to miss Data. I love Data.
Now, my Trekkie friend and her family are very against spoilers, yet they have loaned me this giant encyclopedia.
I hate spoilers.
Am I going to read this encyclopedia anyway?
Yes. Because it looks amazing.
Also because I will have to give it back and I don't think I have time to watch the rest of the Trek franchise before a reasonable loaning period has passed.
August 26, 2012
I've been a Trekker since the original series aired in the 1960s and was lucky enough to meet many of the actors at various ST conventions. For anyone who enjoys any or all of the ST series, this encyclopedia is a MUST!
January 30, 2017
What? Like you didn't know I was a giant geek.
February 25, 2017
Geek Heaven. Full of things I did not know. A book where you read the cover, then the title and copyright gubbins, then page 1. Then you head where no man/one has gone before and head off wherever you like. You can go off in numerical order, you can stalk the Borg, the world is your oyster as someone else said. You keep coming back for more. Pity that the copy I have stops before the latest incarnation.
September 4, 2019
Originally published online at BORG.com.
It will take fans of the earlier editions of The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future, Revised and Expanded Edition less than a dozen pages of browsing to realize the enormity of the material–and the effort–required to update the previous 1999 edition for this 50th anniversary boxed, hardcover, two-volume reference published this week. Enterprise–the series that has been virtually ignored in Star Trek reference publications, finally gets its due, as does the later seasons of Voyager, the last season of Deep Space Nine, and the films Star Trek Nemesis, Star Trek (2009), and Star Trek Into Darkness.
An invaluable reference until the creation of the online fan-run Memory Alpha, the original three editions of the The Star Trek Encyclopedia were the only place for fans to get quick Star Trek data with the last update in 1999. The advent of the Internet seemed to have spelled certain doom for any hope of a revised and updated edition. Memory Alpha has more than 40,000 pages of detailed Star Trek reference data. How could a 1,056 page two-volume edition compete? For one, long-time fans of all or many of the Star Trek series likely appreciate the ability to pull a reference book off the shelf. Memory Alpha’s recent updates make the website difficult to navigate and website TrekCore’s value is very much in its screen captures. Star Trek reference works have been very sporadically released in the past 20 years, so fans are always clamoring for a new book. The Star Trek Encyclopedia is very much an encyclopedia, and many may not remember the days of pulling a volume of an encyclopedia off the shelf and reading it through for entertainment. This is a great set of books to do just that. And the detailed content is what fans want.
Excluding this summer’s release Star Trek Beyond, original edition creators (and former Star Trek art department creative gurus) Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda craftily and seamlessly weaved the J.J. Abrams’s movies–called the Kelvin timeline now– into this work as explained in their foreword (only Star Trek (2009)’s villain Nero’s entry, for example, bridges both the Prime timeline and the Kelvin timeline in The Star Trek Encyclopedia). The Star Trek Encyclopedia is also the first publication that thoroughly addresses the nuts and bolts of Star Trek Into Darkness.
I came up with a list of my favorite items: references, characters, objects, and places that did not turn up in the past editions, to see if they all were now included. They were, except for entries and images of certain key alien weapons, uniforms, and artifacts from the Kelvin timeline (like John Eaves’ beautifully designed Klingon weapons, Romulan disruptors and rifles, or the new Klingon uniforms and helmets). These types of updates are present across the board for Enterprise, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. Artist Ian Fullwood updates Doug Drexler’s artwork quite well, adding to his work updates with the same look and feel as Drexler’s original creations. Don’t expect past entries to be updated other than some have updated photographs–the research and preparation was clearly all about the new series and movies, also what the fans want and expect.
In the original volumes a reader might have a character name and want to see what actor played the character and the Encyclopedia provided that quick answer. Readers of this edition are more likely to find what they are after. Highlights include sections focusing on lifeforms, planets, spaceships (including new artwork and an updated registry), Starfleet uniforms, signage, and symbols, and appendices including a timeline of key events, a production timeline, and writer and director credits by episode/film.
My only quibble with the Encyclopedia is the same as my concerns with the prior editions, and that is with the use of the newly created artwork images (originally by Drexler, and in this edition supplemented with new art by Fullwood, whose spaceship drawings are a high point of the Encyclopedia). Very often the images rendered do not exactly match the items in the series or movies. As an example, the only self-sealing stembolt we’ve seen in canon was in Deep Space Nine, and the design of the reference image is very different from the prop as it appeared onscreen. Similarly, in an image of mirror universe Starfleet uniforms, the Enterprise era uniform artwork is missing the key black zippered shoulder belt worn in the two Enterprise mirror universe episodes. This wouldn’t have been an issue if photos were used. Do these things matter? Probably not, so long as the artwork isn’t used for reference purposes for other “study,” or for those after exact cosplay re-creation source material, etc.
That said, use of the artwork with the hundreds of small photos from screencaps of the series and movies is useful and attractive. It breaks up and gives variety to the book, and along with the new design, margin line art and colors, new easier to read type fonts and greater white space, the book is now easier to read and more enjoyable. These two volumes actually take you back to the days when the look and feel of Funk & Wagnall’s and The World Book Encyclopedia were eclipsed by the format of the more enticing, image-filled Encyclopedia Britannica.
An essential set of books from Harper Design for every Star Trek fan.
It will take fans of the earlier editions of The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future, Revised and Expanded Edition less than a dozen pages of browsing to realize the enormity of the material–and the effort–required to update the previous 1999 edition for this 50th anniversary boxed, hardcover, two-volume reference published this week. Enterprise–the series that has been virtually ignored in Star Trek reference publications, finally gets its due, as does the later seasons of Voyager, the last season of Deep Space Nine, and the films Star Trek Nemesis, Star Trek (2009), and Star Trek Into Darkness.
An invaluable reference until the creation of the online fan-run Memory Alpha, the original three editions of the The Star Trek Encyclopedia were the only place for fans to get quick Star Trek data with the last update in 1999. The advent of the Internet seemed to have spelled certain doom for any hope of a revised and updated edition. Memory Alpha has more than 40,000 pages of detailed Star Trek reference data. How could a 1,056 page two-volume edition compete? For one, long-time fans of all or many of the Star Trek series likely appreciate the ability to pull a reference book off the shelf. Memory Alpha’s recent updates make the website difficult to navigate and website TrekCore’s value is very much in its screen captures. Star Trek reference works have been very sporadically released in the past 20 years, so fans are always clamoring for a new book. The Star Trek Encyclopedia is very much an encyclopedia, and many may not remember the days of pulling a volume of an encyclopedia off the shelf and reading it through for entertainment. This is a great set of books to do just that. And the detailed content is what fans want.
Excluding this summer’s release Star Trek Beyond, original edition creators (and former Star Trek art department creative gurus) Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda craftily and seamlessly weaved the J.J. Abrams’s movies–called the Kelvin timeline now– into this work as explained in their foreword (only Star Trek (2009)’s villain Nero’s entry, for example, bridges both the Prime timeline and the Kelvin timeline in The Star Trek Encyclopedia). The Star Trek Encyclopedia is also the first publication that thoroughly addresses the nuts and bolts of Star Trek Into Darkness.
I came up with a list of my favorite items: references, characters, objects, and places that did not turn up in the past editions, to see if they all were now included. They were, except for entries and images of certain key alien weapons, uniforms, and artifacts from the Kelvin timeline (like John Eaves’ beautifully designed Klingon weapons, Romulan disruptors and rifles, or the new Klingon uniforms and helmets). These types of updates are present across the board for Enterprise, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. Artist Ian Fullwood updates Doug Drexler’s artwork quite well, adding to his work updates with the same look and feel as Drexler’s original creations. Don’t expect past entries to be updated other than some have updated photographs–the research and preparation was clearly all about the new series and movies, also what the fans want and expect.
In the original volumes a reader might have a character name and want to see what actor played the character and the Encyclopedia provided that quick answer. Readers of this edition are more likely to find what they are after. Highlights include sections focusing on lifeforms, planets, spaceships (including new artwork and an updated registry), Starfleet uniforms, signage, and symbols, and appendices including a timeline of key events, a production timeline, and writer and director credits by episode/film.
My only quibble with the Encyclopedia is the same as my concerns with the prior editions, and that is with the use of the newly created artwork images (originally by Drexler, and in this edition supplemented with new art by Fullwood, whose spaceship drawings are a high point of the Encyclopedia). Very often the images rendered do not exactly match the items in the series or movies. As an example, the only self-sealing stembolt we’ve seen in canon was in Deep Space Nine, and the design of the reference image is very different from the prop as it appeared onscreen. Similarly, in an image of mirror universe Starfleet uniforms, the Enterprise era uniform artwork is missing the key black zippered shoulder belt worn in the two Enterprise mirror universe episodes. This wouldn’t have been an issue if photos were used. Do these things matter? Probably not, so long as the artwork isn’t used for reference purposes for other “study,” or for those after exact cosplay re-creation source material, etc.
That said, use of the artwork with the hundreds of small photos from screencaps of the series and movies is useful and attractive. It breaks up and gives variety to the book, and along with the new design, margin line art and colors, new easier to read type fonts and greater white space, the book is now easier to read and more enjoyable. These two volumes actually take you back to the days when the look and feel of Funk & Wagnall’s and The World Book Encyclopedia were eclipsed by the format of the more enticing, image-filled Encyclopedia Britannica.
An essential set of books from Harper Design for every Star Trek fan.
March 1, 2009
This is the One.
Anything & everything you wanted to know about Trek is in here.
Listed alphabetically, it's an easy reference for anything Trek.
Thick & hardbound, it's a must have for any fans bookshelf.
Anything & everything you wanted to know about Trek is in here.
Listed alphabetically, it's an easy reference for anything Trek.
Thick & hardbound, it's a must have for any fans bookshelf.
May 15, 2009
This is the single most useful book EVER!
April 22, 2012
Am I drooling? This is just page after page of boom, fascinating Star Trek coolness. The only issue I have is it left me wanting even more, more, more, more!!!
November 6, 2012
I only read the material concerning the orginal series and that was very good.
February 29, 2016
A must for Trekkies/Trekkers!
December 6, 2023
This right here, this edition of the Star Trek Encyclopedia was what created and nurtured my love of Trek. Containing information on all "old" Trek, up until the penultimate season of VOY, it was my companion and my go-to manual to understand the complex universe of Gene Roddenberry and its power and ultimate meaning. For a High School kid from Greece, who was raised with adventure and "space battles", the more "cerebral" and "moral" part of Trek was elusive, until I pieced together pieces of lore and tracked its evolution through the various (then) Trek incarnations, which I was at the time watching in Greek free TV on reruns. Masterfully assembled by Michael & Denise Okuda and illustrated by Doug Drexler and other incredible artists, it brought upon me a whole new world to explore. Even though there have been new editions, even though there now is a wide wiki knowledge base, on almost anything related to "old" and "new" Trek, this particular paparback copy of this particular edition, will always be my go-to knowledge manual and a prized possesion in my library.
May 31, 2021
Jag sitter här lycklig med den nya Star Trek-encyklopedin som kom ut idag. Den är en dyr utgåva, då den är så kraftig utökad jämfört med den förra utgåvan för 17 år sedan. Hela 1056 sidor som de var tvungna att dela upp på två böcker.
Men för mig var den ett självklart köp - allt möjligt om Star Trek. Proppfullt med fakta om avsnitt, karaktärer och annat.
Visst kan man hitta mycket på Memory Alpha eller för den delen här på Star Trek Databas, men det är väldigt bra att ha allt lätt till hands i bokhyllan - vilken känsla man får när man kan bläddra bland så många olika ämnen!
Det finns saker som saknas i boken - exempelvis om skådespelarna bakom karaktärerna, men man kan väl inte få riktigt allt!
Men för mig var den ett självklart köp - allt möjligt om Star Trek. Proppfullt med fakta om avsnitt, karaktärer och annat.
Visst kan man hitta mycket på Memory Alpha eller för den delen här på Star Trek Databas, men det är väldigt bra att ha allt lätt till hands i bokhyllan - vilken känsla man får när man kan bläddra bland så många olika ämnen!
Det finns saker som saknas i boken - exempelvis om skådespelarna bakom karaktärerna, men man kan väl inte få riktigt allt!
February 12, 2022
4.5/ 5 stars
A very good resource for all Star Trek fans (and fanfiction writers). The encyclopaedia contains a lot of information and I must applaud the writers for their research. About everything Star Trek (up to 1994) is mentioned and I must admit that I more skimmed the text (as you can't really read encyclopaedias) and read the interesting entries. The entries themselves are also written in a very interesting way with the line between in-universe and behind the scenes material is drawn clearly. Certainly, a very good and interesting book that is very informative.
A very good resource for all Star Trek fans (and fanfiction writers). The encyclopaedia contains a lot of information and I must applaud the writers for their research. About everything Star Trek (up to 1994) is mentioned and I must admit that I more skimmed the text (as you can't really read encyclopaedias) and read the interesting entries. The entries themselves are also written in a very interesting way with the line between in-universe and behind the scenes material is drawn clearly. Certainly, a very good and interesting book that is very informative.
May 31, 2021
Det enda som saknas i denna bok är uppslag om böckerna. Eftersom de inte räknas till "kanon", alltså rättesnöret i Star Trek, har de inte tagits med, annars än som referenser i ett fåtal fall. Om detta hade varit med, så hade den varit än mer värdefull som en ständig medföljare, för i övrigt är den heltäckande.
Den täcker inte de sista två säsongerna av Star Trek: Voyager och heller inget av Enterprise.
Den täcker inte de sista två säsongerna av Star Trek: Voyager och heller inget av Enterprise.
December 20, 2019
I read this, for the first time, after it's initial release. It was an incredibly interesting, though not even for it's time comprehensive account of the Star Trek Universe. Many of the entries were not completely up to date with what at the time was current.
I did enjoy it though, reading detail about my favorite characters and places. It is sad they never released an updated version of this, or some kind of updated Star Trek encyclopedia.
I did enjoy it though, reading detail about my favorite characters and places. It is sad they never released an updated version of this, or some kind of updated Star Trek encyclopedia.
March 12, 2020
More like 4.5 rather than 4 stars. Cannot give it a full score of 5 simply because of the missing last season of VGR and the fact 'the expansion' is done via separate addendum rather than expansion of the original 1997 book.
Apart from that, this is absolutely fabulous treasure-trove for old-Trek aficionados. Book producers of nuTrek never read and book they would love to remove from existence, I am sure.
I will keep getting back to this one over and over again.
Apart from that, this is absolutely fabulous treasure-trove for old-Trek aficionados. Book producers of nuTrek never read and book they would love to remove from existence, I am sure.
I will keep getting back to this one over and over again.
July 3, 2018
Obviously, there is no way I can read these cover to cover. But if you want to know something about Star Trek, it's likely to be in here.
September 29, 2018
This book was great and very helpful. I just wish there would be more charts and diagrams as well as pictures.
February 1, 2019
How else would I know about the mating practices of Klingons? (hint--a broken collarbone is no biggie).
June 3, 2019
I think I’ve learned by this point that encyclopedias do not make for good reading. It’s just boring as all-get-out.
Read
October 8, 2020It's great, and a great expanded version of the original Star Trek encyclopedia.
January 26, 2021
Would have given it 5 stars but it stops before the end of Voyager. Would love a Kindle version that updates continuously. I'm probably wanting too much.
November 5, 2021
Printed out wiki.
Great for collectors, but as reference, I prefer electronic version.
Great for collectors, but as reference, I prefer electronic version.
February 14, 2023
Pensavo ci fosse qualcosa in più, ma sulle navi stellari non si spiega granché, forse perché lasciato a parte per un altro manuale, mentre sembra più una enciclopedia guida per tutte le serie.
March 22, 2017
The complete compendium of everything Star Trek. From ships to characters to exotic worlds of the galaxy's Final Frontier, this is an awesome read. A must for every Star Trek fan.
August 1, 2014
Ok second to Star Wars I love star trek - I grew up on the next generation and the films - I missed the DS9 run (though I can assure you I am catching up) and Voyager I enjoyed but Janeway did annoy me at times. Anyway this is the revised version which has additional pages and entries to capture the new episodes (as of the time it was printed) The book is informative and well illustrated which at times has let down other star trek books I will admit. The book is like any other encyclopaedia - it is not to be read from one to the other but instead you should allow yourself to move from one entry to the next following the cross links and references.
The book is great for die hard fans and newbies alike as it does not assume anything of the reader and yet it does not treat them like simpering fools devoid of any experience of the Star Trek universe. A fascinating book which I think is due an update to include the reboot films and dare I say Enterprise as well
The book is great for die hard fans and newbies alike as it does not assume anything of the reader and yet it does not treat them like simpering fools devoid of any experience of the Star Trek universe. A fascinating book which I think is due an update to include the reboot films and dare I say Enterprise as well
Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews