Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #133389 in Books
• Published on: 2002-11-04
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

Synopsis
See how far Earth is from Vulcan or plot a course to the Klingon homeworld with these fabulous full colour maps of the Star Trek universe. Reproduced in stunning colour, this is the definitive guide to the Star Trek universe. From Qo'noS to Bajor, from Vulcan to the farthest reaches of the Delta Quadrant, these charts reveal the location of every major Star Trek world and star system. In addition to maps of the stars themselves there are mission charts for each of the main starships featured in the various Star Trek series, from the Enterprise commanded by Captain Kirk in the original classic series to the USS Voyager on her epic journey of exploration, and now back to the very first Enterprise of all as seen in the brand new Star Trek series, ENTERPRISE. PLUS as a special bonus there are charts from the upcoming tenth Star Trek feature film, Nemesis, currently scheduled for release in December 2001.

Customer Reviews

Good, but can be better
Overall this book is great as it finally allows us to know the actual locations of the planets seen in the Star Trek series (except for the later seasons of Enterprise), plotted among the "real" stars of the galaxy. The explanation on the quadrants and sectors are top class.

But as a Star Trek fan I feel let down by a few aspects. The choice of large and inconsistent fonts makes this book a little too childish instead of having the more serious look of an atlas or real-life star charts. The facts presented on individual planets and star systems seem sparse and one can read all of them in a day. A whole lot more facts can be included to make this a better reference material.

As for the star charts themselves, they are well researched and neatly presented. The author, of course, has free reign on where to place the planets in the galaxy. While I am very happy that the author had incorporated the fan-invented Vulcan planet names of T'Khut and T'Khasi and the locations of Vulcan at 40 Eridani A, the same cannot be said for another fan favourite, Andor, which is placed at Procyon instead of Epsilon Indi. The Federation charts also concentrate at the area around Earth, and do not cover the faraway Federation worlds at Deneb and Antares.

The sizes of the various empires are also a bit inconsistent. Romulan space is too small while the other smaller races have sizable swaths. I know this is down to the author's personal taste, but the apparent strength of the races seen on televison should be considered.

No Index
This is more of a guide to have at hand, when you are watching TNG or the other variations of Trek; it is mainly focussed on TNG, DS9, and ENT, but there is a detailed itinerary for the Voyager's route, which marks the most significant planets along the way.

WHAT'S GOOD

The star charts give you a perspective of where things are in the galaxy. It's all very well hearing characters in the Trek show mentioned the names of systems or arrays, but you don't get a perspective of where everything is; so that's where this book comes in handy. For example, when I heard Picard talking about the Argus array, I thought nothing of it, until I saw that it was on the edge of Cardassian territory bordering Federation Far Space; obviously I had images of S 31 using it to spy on the Cardassians, which was fun.

WHAT'S BAD

It can be difficult to find something on the maps when you need to. For example, it took me about half an hour to find the Barradas system on the map, after hearing it mentioned in the TNG episode Gambit. (This is probably my own fault, though). It would have been nice to have an index system, which at least hinted at which sector certain systems fall in. The fold out maps do not seperate from the book easily, and require you to cut them out with a pair of scissors (this means I have to thrown away the first copy and then buy another copy). But, then, I guess not many people would want to put the map sections into a whole map on their bedroom wall.

Just plain great.
This book is another must have for any really serious trekky.
I absoulutely loved this book. It describes all of the planetary classes, shows a number of major star systems in detail, explains the star trek mapping system, and most importantly, it had large page spreads with detailed star charts. They show all of the star systems, named, and their positions in space. It goes on (at least in the edition I have) to include a historical spacial layout and icludes Enterprises first year's course.
Although I found that the details were not exactly consistant with my other trek books, or details from the show, and it also lacks details in non federation space, I still found it really interesting and informative. It is a absolute must have and at only £10, it is well worth having as part of your collection.