I seem to notice that an overwhelming amount of the interest in the Lit forum revolves around the fiction aspect of Trek, which is great. I *love* reading the continuing adventures of Trek. But I noticed that most of my non-fiction Trek threads kinda get ignored or have minimal interaction. Normally, I don't mind if a topic doesn't take off. Hey, it happens! But I noticed a pattern that it's mainly non-fiction Trek threads that get tossed aside. I guess it could be that many of the topics I've brought up are "old topics" that have been covered in detail way before I joined this community. After all, all the books that I've read this year have been out for years. But I'm also wondering if maybe there's not a lot of interest? (The exception being Herb Solow and Bob Justman's book and the upcoming Return to Tomorrow book.) Does anyone here read the biographies, making of books and the like?
I have always enjoyed the reference books. I tore through the Star Trek Compendium back in the mid 80s. Same goes for first editions of the TNG Companion, TNG Technical Manual, and ST Chronology. I slowed down during the 90s, but still picked picked up the DS9 Companion and Voyages Of The Imagination. Lately I've been picking up some of the books that I skipped and fortunately they can be found at bargain prices these days. I picked up The Making Of DS9 and the hardcover Art Of Star Trek for only a couple of dollars each. Unfortunately the DS9 Technical Manual and the Star Charts are a bit pricey in good condition. I've never been very interested in actor biographies, but I do have Shatner's Memories books in audio form and really enjoyed them.
Yup, I love the non-fiction books. My latest to be received was this: http://www.amazon.com/New-Life-Civi...r=8-1&keywords=new+life+and+new+civilizations and I have this one coming in October: http://creaturefeatures.com/shop/books/returntotomorrow/
I have an extensive collection of Trek non-fiction, and recently picked up The Klingon Art of War. But I imagine that non-fiction is harder to have a conversation about since there's no actual plot to pick apart and discuss. "Ohmigod, I can't believe that Sisko violated the Prime Directive like that--and what does this say about Klingon-Romulan relations?" Not a lack of an interest, then, but perhaps less likely to stimulate lots of debate and discussion.
I've been reading almost purely Trek non-fiction this year. Off the top of my head, I've read: 1-3) The 3 main Roddenberry biographies (by David Alexander, Joel Engel, and Yvonne Fern) 4) Inside Trek by Susan Sackett 5) The Making of Star Trek (Whitfield & Roddenberry) 6) The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture 7) The Making of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan 8) Captain's Log: William Shatner's Personal Account of The Making of Star Trek V 9) Inside Star Trek by Solow and Justman 10) Chekov's Enteprise 11) The Longest Trek by Grace Lee Whitney. 12) Nick Meyer's autobiography 13) From Sawdust to Stardust (De Kelley's biography) 14) I Am Not Spock 15) I Am Spock Not to mention, I've listened to Shatner's audiobooks "Star Trek Memories and Movie Memories" for the umpteenth time, though I've read the actual books as well in years past. Years ago, I did read Takei's "To The Stars", and wondered why he made no mention of his love life. It was still a good biography. I've also heard/read Shatner's "Get a Life" and listened to Shatner's autobiography "Up Until Now".
I've never read any of the actors' books, but I have just about all of the compendia and tech books from over the years, the chronology, etc....
Absolutely! In addition to the 'making of' books and autobiographies, there are three books that I really enjoyed: On the Good Ship Enterprise (Bjo Trimble), The Making of the Trek Conventions (Joan Winston), and Star Trek Lives! (Jacqueline Lichtenberg, Sondra Marshak, and Joan Winston).
I have those 3 books sitting side by side on my shelf. I have to read them soon. I'm really curious about those because they're fan based.
I have fond memories of the TOS Compendium, the TNG Companion, Making of Star Trek, Phase II: The Lost Series, Inside Star Trek, A Vision of the Future: The Making of Star Trek Voyager and Voyages of Imagination. Most recently in Trek nonfiction, I read and thoroughly enjoyed Joan Marie Verba's Boldly Writing, a free eBook about the rise of Trek fanzines. I keep meaning to read Star Trek Lives.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but were Altman and Gross involved with Hal Schuster and James Van Hise? Or am I mixed up?
Altman was a correspondent for Cinefantastique and Gross for Starlog, as I recall. I don't suppose that would preclude them writing for Schuster's publications, though.
Altman had pretty much crossed over to his own publication (Sci-Fi Universe; the Larry Flynt-published version, that is) by the time he and Gross put out their Captain's Logs books and other entries, but I'm intrigued about their 50th anniversary book that's in the pipeline. Hopefully it'll contain new reporting, with only some recycled content from their previous books (which, to be fair, were pretty comprehensive in their own right).
I forgot about the 365 books. I recently picked up copies of each (TOS and TNG) for a reasonable fee. They are nice alternatives to the old companion books.
Star Trek Lives! is responsible for the fact that I have a huge bookshelf in my apartment that's stuffed with print 'zines from Spockanalia (in the '60s) to Tal-Shaya Reboot (recently) and many dozens inbetween, including the original print version of the stories linked in my sig (those have been revised and expanded now that they're online). It took many years to get my collection going, but in the last three years or so I added a lot, thanks to eBay. I prefer the print versions over online because they include poetry and illustrations.
Most (all?) of Starlog is available digitally through www.archive.org. I have an extensive collection of nonfiction Star Trek books. It's larger, I would imagine, than my collection of Star Trek fiction, which I stopped buying around 2004 (although my research has spurned some interest in the early Trek books, mostly episodic adaptations, by James Blish and Alan Dean Foster). There's still a few early books I need to get, though. I don't have Star Trek Lives! or the first edition of The World of Star Trek yet. Working on it.
It depends on which ones you want, and if you're willing to accept well-read ones, later editions, and so forth. You also have to do your research re prices. For example, one eBay seller recently listed Spock Enslaved (one of the 'zines mentioned in Star Trek Lives!; it's a rather famous one) for $271.00 CDN. That's insane. I've also seen them listed for around $20-$30 CDN. Saurian Brandy Digest and T-Negative aren't that rare, and some specific issues seem to be plentiful. A first edition of Spockanalia will cost more than a reprint (there are 5 issues). A lot of Orion Press 'zines are actually available free online, as are the Kraith stories (also discussed in Star Trek Lives!). The Valjiir stories linked in my sig were originally published in In A Different Reality, and one of the authors is a member of this forum. Anyway, if you'd like to chat a bit more about fanzines, drop me a PM (we shouldn't derail this thread too much more, given we're in the Literature forum). I'll be glad to send you some links and recommendations.
I forgot to mention The Making of Star Trek and The Trouble With Tribbles [and Star Trek Lives!], and the 365 books are quite cool and double as ballast or self-defense. I first saw The Making of Star Trek in a grocery store bookshelf as a kid, and ran to convince my mom to get it for me.