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From:Michael Okuka , Denise Okuda , Simon & Schuster Interactive ,
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A must-have for fans of s-f and Star Trek., 1997-12-05
Where regular encyclopedia's tend to be boring, this particular one will enjoy Star Trek fans and other fans of s-f for a very long time. Every listed item gets you in the mood for a related item, and simply looking up the plot of one of the episodes can often turn out into hours of extensive reading, learning, understanding and reliving great memories. Even with the updated and renewed version that has come out, this work should be a great addition to your book collection.
1 of 4 customers found the following review helpful:
 Why should an individual acquire this book in 24th century?, 1997-11-30
A sentence from the encyclopedia (page iii): "In compling this material, we have assumed editorially that both authors and readers are residents of the late 24th century, a number of years after the current Star Trek adventures." This is the basis by which I judged this text and by that standard the book fails. An encyclopedia is a source that has no conjectures or maybes. It provides information that is concrete. I understand the need for the authors to be flexible (such as the number of starships or the history of primary characters). However, the authors are so flexible as to make the text not a definitive reference. They want future writers the oppurtunity to expand the Star Trek universe. I believe that the best time for an encyclopedia is when the complete Star Trek has run its course and the authors are outside of Paramount Pictures. The reason being is that the new authors will have the time to create a encyclopedia that is truly definitive. Pictures are wonderful; however, the same pictures repeated can be redundant. An example is the use of the drawing of the Enterprise C which is on pages 2 (for the Adelphi), 11 (for the Ambassador Class), 138 (for Enterprise C), 473, and 578. There is a further problem and this regards the starship diagrams. I been through the encyclopedia many times and no where can I find the bow view of the Federation or any galactic power starship. For me, this is an acute problem for I have poor depth perception. And, one further problem. Mistakes still occur in the registry of starships and the omission of starships. 1st example, the U.S.S. Carolina is shown on page 66 to have a registy of NCC-235 and ,on page 471, to have registry NCC-160. This creates uncertainity. As I said earlier, an encyclopedia does not present uncertainities. Second, the omission of starships. In the first movies, in the Episilon Nine sequence, three starships are mentioned by name. Two are included in the encyclopedia-U.S.S. Columbia and U.S.S. Revere. The third, a dreadnought, the U.S.S. Entente (NCC-21249) is omitted. I didn't make this ship up. It is mentioned by audio-"This is the Starship U.S.S. Entente, Dreadnought, NCC-21249." Check it out on video. Also, regardless of what you may have read, this encyclopedia is missing entries and is not definitive. There is no entry for Pearl Harbor (The Enemy), Jesus Christ (Bread and Circuses), Romulan-Earth War (Balance of Terror), and many other entries. In an encyclopedia of the 24th century, there would be no such entry as this: "Station Salem One. Site of an infamous sneak attack in which many Federation citizens were killed in a bloody preamble to war." An individual of the late 24th century would want to know the location of this station, the adversary, the war, the year, and the resolution to the war. He or she would not want to read: "The adversary, the date, and the circumstances of this sneak attack were not established in the episode (The Enemy)...". The individual could be rightfully said to be annoyed or possibly dissatisfied with this entry. In my opinion, an encyclopedia of Star Trek should include: (a.) a map with all the stellar objects located; (b.) a complete starship chart for all nations with bow, port or starboard, and stern views; (c.) complete entries (this may require imagination-hell, isn't Star Trek a place built from imagination); (d.) no insider jokes-I don't understand them and they have no place in the encyclopedia; (e.) the episodes made into mission logs or made separate from the entries of the encyclopedia; (f.) maps of the major planets showing the locations of planetary sites-there is no map of any planet in the encyclopedia, not even one of earth (all encyclopedias that have geographical locations have maps); and (g.) there are no uncertainities. A further note of interest -the model of the S.S. Valiant is still considered conjectural even though there is a picture on page 539 and the diagram on page 579. The ship was also included in the previous issue of the Star Trek encyclopedia and chronologies. I wonder when the authors decide this model is no longer conjectural. It could be a long wait.
A Trekkie's Must Have, 1997-07-19
If you are obsessed with the Star Trek Universe or just saw one episode and didn't know what the "Rules of Acquisition" were or who Zefram Cochrane was you would enjoy this book. Everyone, everything, and everywhere in the Star Trek Universe is in this book
comprehensive, 1996-02-04
Gives a description of everything you can think of
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