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Book Review: The Star Trek Encyclopedia, Revised and Expanded Edition
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Star Trek Encyclopedia

The Star Trek Encyclopedia
A Reference Guide to the Future, Revised and Expanded Edition
2-Volume Hardcover Set
By Michael Okuda, Denise Okuda
Publisher: Harper Design
Release Date: October 18, 2016

A well-stocked English-language home library likely contains such reference books as The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Roget’s International Thesaurus, Strunk & White’s Elements of Style, Encyclopedia of World History, and Oxford’s Atlas of the World. Now, it’s time to make room on that shelf for the newly Revised and Expanded Edition of The Star Trek Encyclopedia, released by Harper Design in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Star Trek.

Authors Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda originally created The Star Trek Encyclopedia back in 1994, packing it with references to all the Star Trek television series and films up until that point. (You might remember the authors from their contributions to the Bonus Features on several Trek television series DVDs, especially the 2006 remastered Original Series.) The book was eventually reprinted in 1997, and in 1999, an Updated and Expanded Edition added in a 128-page addendum to include information through the end of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and the fifth season of the Star Trek: Voyager television series, as well as the film Star Trek: Insurrection.

But a lot has happened in the Star Trek franchise in the past 17 years, such as the end of Voyager, the creation of the Star Trek: Enterprise television series, the tenth feature film Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), and of course, the reboot of the entire Trek universe starting with director J.J. Abrams’ 2009 feature film Star Trek, followed up with 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness, and continuing with this year’s Star Trek Beyond. Except for Beyond, information on everything else is now included and collated into the new Revised and Expanded 2-volume hardcover set, which, by the way, is fully authorized.

If you’re in my age group (too young for the debut of Star Trek: The Original Series, but old enough to be there for the launch of The Next Generation), then you likely had a set of encyclopedias in your home to help you out with all of your term papers. And you’ll remember what it was like to have to grab a heavy volume off the shelf — well, this new The Star Trek Encyclopedia, which is housed in a beautifully designed slipcover, reminded me of that, because it is heavy. For any Trek fan, having this glorious set in your collection will be amazing. As much as you think you know about Star Trek, you will soon discover that there’s so much more.

I own the 1999 expanded edition paperback, and it’s something I’ve referred back to many times over the years, so I’m used to its layout and design. The new set is very similar in layout, with each page containing entries for characters’ name, episode titles, weapons, planets, and much more, accompanied by a description, and then full-color images and illustrations peppered throughout. But, the typeface is now smaller, and to my aging eyes, I found that that was something I had to get used to at first. This isn’t the type of book that you’d read straight through cover-to-cover, but rather by skipping through portions to find what you’re looking for, so the smaller text likely won’t cause a problem. (It was more difficult, though, in the Introduction, which has nothing to break up the text.)

It’s obvious right away how much more this new collection contains and perhaps the text size was decreased to avoid having to make a third volume, since this new edition now has over 1,000 pages spread out over two textbook-sized books and has even more photos of characters, props, and scenery, and illustrations of ships, weapons, and more. There’s also a lot of cross-referencing; for instance, when you get to “Planets,” there’s several pages of various planets, stars, and other celestial objects, along with its description, and the episode or film in which it makes an appearance. The second volume has appendices for starships, historical events, a timeline, writer and director credits, cast appendix, bibliography, and an About The Authors.

There is no other book that comes close to housing the knowledge of the vast and ever-expanding Star Trek like this Encyclopedia. Go ahead and look, but you won’t find it. This 2-volume tome even has an entry on Abraham Lincoln, who made an appearance in “The Savage Curtain,” a late third season episode of the original television series. It truly has everything (ok, almost everything — there was no time to get Star Trek Beyond in this set). The Star Trek Encyclopedia will keep you busy for days and weeks and possibly for life as you undoubtedly look back on it over time, and it makes a perfect edition to every SciFi geek’s library.

The list price is $150, but Amazon currently has it at a discounted price of $88.40, so if you’re planning on giving this as a gift this holiday season, you might want to get in it now while the price is lower.

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 it’s initial publication 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.

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