It isn't. Space is 3-dimensional and the maps don't convey the z-axis shape of things. No doubt part of UFP territory extends "above" or "below" Klingon territory.
I'm sorry... but were you saying that you weren't aware that space was 3-dimensional?...or that the UFP extends "below/above" Klingon territory?
Man I was hoping to get this. I did get Star Charts though cuz I told my wife I should get that before Stellar Cartography. I was hoping for both. But I got fourother TrekLit books, plus got to give my brother Twist of Fate, furthering his new interest in TrekLit.
Got this yesterday from my boyfriend, just had the chance to open it today, and full review will follow on my website, and it will be harsh. The maps are beautifully put together, as they should be since they're all reprints of what Geoff Mandel did back in 2002 in Star Charts. The book itself is numbered to 47 pages, but when you take out endpapers, contents, and the reprints of the maps (24 pages) that leaves just 19 pages of text. It is an absolute, utter rip-off. That it is nicely packaged is the one thing I can say in it's favour.
Then perhaps you should just take it back for a refund? It's obviously not aimed at your demographic. There are plenty of new fans of Trek who cannot get hold of a minty-fresh copy of Bantam's old "Star Trek Maps" nor Pocket Books' "Star Trek Star Charts" at a reasonable cost. And this new product fills that niche in a way that retailers would be willing to order stock. Remember that "Star Charts" was said to have had disappointing sales, so "Stellar Cartography" would seem to be a risky venture. Your expectations seem to be way off. I certainly wasn't expecting the book inside the "Stellar Cartography" package to be any more text-heavy than "Introduction to Navigation" (in "Star Trek Maps") or "Star Trek Star Charts". It has plenty of new info, and ties in with the publisher's "Federation" manual of last year. And are you sure that the maps are "all reprints" from Pocket's "Star Charts"? I haven't dragged out my copy of "Star Charts" and made a map-by-map comparison, but most of the new maps looked fresh and different to me. In any case, a new map of the real universe's regions is going to look quite like "a reprint" at first glance, 'cos... it's a map!
I think a lot of people didn't really pay attention to the solicits and information available prior to Stellar Cartography's release. I know if I hadn't, I would have been expecting a bit more out of this than what there is, but as it is, I understood what to expect, and got exactly that. In this case, most of the disappointment can be laid at the feet of inattentiveness, a lack of asking questions, and inaccurate expectations because of same.
The information I had was that posted by Amazon UK - "The Starfleet Reference Library: Stellar Cartography collects together ten original, never-before-seen large-format maps of the Star Trek universe. Pulled from the cartography archives of Starfleet Academy, these beautifully reproduced maps provide a rare opportunity to view the expanse of Federation space (and beyond) through the multiple lenses of the Galaxy's key players. The maps include an ancient Vulcan map, a Klingon Empire map from the pre-Organian Peace Treaty era (in the native Klingon), an official Romulan government map of the Empire, a native Cardassian Union map from the Bajor occupation, along with Federation maps from the modern era. Housed in a handsome clamshell case and paired with a fully-illustrated reference book providing detailed information on planets, systems, and topography, this A tri-fold clamshell case 48-page 8” x 10” hardcover book Ten 24” x 36” removable maps" Yes, I had high expectations - "this exclusive collection showcases the Star Trek universe like never before" reads to me slightly differently than "contains largely previously available material and a pamphlet of written pages." And the maps are clearly taken from Mandel's work - same colour scheme, same typefaces, same map key. I don't object to a new and revised edition, I do object to paying a lot of money for something I believe to be a new work to find out that it serves the same purpose as a book I've had for over a decade.
So what? That means they match the previous work. They are also based on his work for Bantam. You wanted them to toss out all previous work and start again? When I buy a new street directory, it pleases me when the colour schemes, typefaces, and map key are familiar. And the hardcover book is nothing like "a pamphlet". Me too. In fact, it was prettier!
I got this for Christmas too, and yes count me in the Disappointed column too. Now I knew what I was getting, 10 maps, thin book etc. And I knew it wasn't going to be some radical reinterpretation of the Star Charts book (massive fan of btw. I've been comparing this using my 22 page A-Z word document I made over 2003 of all the stars/planets featured throughout Star Charts. As you can look at "Renavi" for example, but I don't think everyone is gonna remember offhand that's the location of a duke's harem where Kor and Curzon Dax defeated the site's security and entered the forbidden place- DS9: Once More Unto The Breach, so my A-Z really comes in handy when looking at these.) So what disappoints me is that this just is Star Charts; barely anything has been updated. Now I know there hasn't been a tonne of live-action Trek since that came out, just ENT s2-4 and the two movies (Nemesis was kinda included in SC, the Bassen Rift is there for example) So I did kinda expect ENT s2-4 to be covered... But no. There's all the stuff there from ENT s1, even all the little random stuff like the home of Phlox's Pyrthian bat, the Kantare (Oasis), Lorillia (the asthma aliens in Broken Bow), Mazar (Fallen Hero), Xarantine (Sleeping Dogs) etc etc So where's all the planets from Season 2?? I can't remember their names offhand but what about all the planets featured in episodes such as- A Night in Sickbay, The Seventh, The Communicator, Dawn, Cease Fire, The Breach, Cogenitor, etc. Nevermind all the mentions of planets and aliens featured throughout the season, as how was done for Season 1. And Season 3? Well they've slapped the Delphic Expanse in, I can see Azati Prime there but that's it. Again, episodes with planets- The Xindi, Exile, The Shipment, North Star, Chosen Realm, Hatchery, that species from Damage, etc Season 4 has less so as it mainly established stuff, I can see Cold Station 12, but what about the Klingon planet in forehead 2-parter, the Borderland area of space, etc I like how they've still included the Route of the NX-01 2151-52 (season 1) on one of the maps, but made no effort to continue it for Season 2. Or what about a close up of the Delphic Expanse, Enterprise's route through that would have been awesome. Like Cold Station 12 I can see a few little things they've added, like adding "Klach D'Kel Bracht" to the Briar Patch. But mostly ENT s2-4 has just been ignored. Very lame.
^So what did the author (?artist) actually do? From the interviews he did, or the descriptions we were given, I believed that we are getting the updated Star Charts. Supposedly, he did a lot of research and so on... Did he at least correct the mistakes, or did he only make new ones? Is the only new thing the look? So for practical purposes the Star Charts are still better, or even startrekmap.com (even though it is no longer updated, apparently)... Still waiting for mine to arrive, I have my fingers crossed for tomorrow.
Research and write the new text in the book... Consult with Geoffrey Mandel on the updated maps... And so on. IIRC, the main criticism of "Star Charts" was that people wanted separate maps they could unfold and spread on the floor, like they used to do with "Star Trek Maps". But they also didn't want them printed on both sides. Some people had "Star Charts" for several months and didn't realise that what they thought was a blank page at the back actually unfolded into a map. (Hilarious!) "Stellar Cartography" gives ten separate, single-sided, large map/posters and also binds them into the book as well.
Ha, yeah I remember I think I had mine for a few days before I realised that btw, on the big fold out maps, the one of Romulan space, on mine none of the stars have any names on, whereas the same picture in the book does have the names on. Is that just mine or an error in the printing of them all? Also noticed little niggles on the Earth-Romulan War map, the key refers to 'Federation ships' when it should be Earth ships (pre-Federation here) and the Battle of Cheron is noted as 2060, rather than 2160. I know it's not the end of the world but I wish things like were picked up better on proof reads, seen as I noticed it straight away
Looking at my copy of the fold-out Romulan map? My copy does have the names in English (using Mata Bold from T-26 Fonts) and Okuda-Romulan-Standard. As for the Earth-Romulan War map...I suspect that the Earth/Federation thing may be down to Nemecek and company working from Federation: The First 150 Years rather than the Romulan War novels.
But the war being pre-Federation is an idea that existed decades before the TRW novels. That was established in the Okuda Chronology, based on the fact that it was called "The Earth-Romulan War" in "Balance of Terror" rather than "The Federation-Romulan War."