Charting the Trek
- Thread starter Mr_Homn
- Start date
There's plenty of Starchart books out there which show not only the rough voyages of ships but the boundaries of the borders between the nations. Personally, I think they're a bit sketchy and the borders of the nations, until confirmed solidly through canon, are however you interpret it.
We've seen sections of maps on screen during this episodes or that, those would be canon. However we also hear about disputed territories and border wars, so with the exception of the Romulan border and neutral zone I get the impression that borders in the Trek universe are less than static.
The Star Trek Maps (1980), Star Trek Star Charts (2002) and Stellar Cartography (2013) books are what you're looking for.
They try to map some of Trek's adventures but it never really makes sense, because the writers never paid heed to speed and distance. For example, Starfleet's fastest ship Voyager would take 75 years to cross 70,000 lightyears at warp 9.975, but a century before that the old Enterprise zipped from Earth to the rim of the galaxy and to the centre (twice, if you include the animated series) in no time. They also explicitly cover 1,000 light years at warp 8.4 in "That Which Survives", and get from Earth to the centre (a 30,000+ light year journey) at warp 7 in the fifth movie seemingly in a matter of hours. All the Trek writers guides had warp speed/distance/time graphs (many of which are reproduced in Trek tech manuals), but they were never ever adhered to.
So there's a pattern, but it's a pattern of discontinuity!
Which of them do you think is the best?
Stellar Cartography (2013) would be the most complete, simply because it's the most recent. Star Charts (2002) is very good, but lacks a lot of the info covered in later seasons of Enterprise. Star Charts also includes several pages tracking the path of Voyager from the Caretaker array back to Earth. I have never seen the old Maps.
Note that Star Charts is out of print and often commands a premium for a copy in good condition. Stellar Cartography is pricey as well, but worth it for the large pull-out maps.
Note that Star Charts is out of print and often commands a premium for a copy in good condition. Stellar Cartography is pricey as well, but worth it for the large pull-out maps.
Star Charts doesn't do all that well on one of the two "tracking the adventures" subjects. Unfortunately, it assumes that Archer's Enterprise began her post-pilot adventures from the orbit of Earth, whereas the episode "Broken Bow" clearly shows the ship first sailing to the somewhat distant Klingon homeworld and starting the adventures from there, only returning to Earth at the start of the third season.
On the other hand, while the Voyager route map contains a few outright errors, it's a very accurate description of that particular voyage - because the Star Charts graphics on the route were actually used on screen to depict the voyage! The big map with the four quadrants is used as a background graphic at Astrometrics in a couple of Season 7 episodes.
Star Charts does not attempt to describe the route of Kirk's TOS adventures, but the map of the Alpha and Beta quadrants was in fact created with such a route in mind. Whenever the placement of a specific star or other location was otherwise uncertain, it was dropped where it would best fit in terms of the episode-to-episode progress of the hero starship (in stardate/production order, not in airdate order, FWIW). Similarly, the episode-to-episode movements of Picard's ship influenced location placement on the maps. This may not be immediately evident from the maps, though...
Stellar Cartography is largely based on Star Charts and corrects a few of the blunders, so I wouldn't worry about the older book being out of print. Star Trek Maps in turn operates under different basic assumptions and may not be compatible with modern Trek, but it's visually perhaps the most striking of the lot, and an interesting piece of paraphernalia to own.
Timo Saloniemi
On the other hand, while the Voyager route map contains a few outright errors, it's a very accurate description of that particular voyage - because the Star Charts graphics on the route were actually used on screen to depict the voyage! The big map with the four quadrants is used as a background graphic at Astrometrics in a couple of Season 7 episodes.
Star Charts does not attempt to describe the route of Kirk's TOS adventures, but the map of the Alpha and Beta quadrants was in fact created with such a route in mind. Whenever the placement of a specific star or other location was otherwise uncertain, it was dropped where it would best fit in terms of the episode-to-episode progress of the hero starship (in stardate/production order, not in airdate order, FWIW). Similarly, the episode-to-episode movements of Picard's ship influenced location placement on the maps. This may not be immediately evident from the maps, though...
Stellar Cartography is largely based on Star Charts and corrects a few of the blunders, so I wouldn't worry about the older book being out of print. Star Trek Maps in turn operates under different basic assumptions and may not be compatible with modern Trek, but it's visually perhaps the most striking of the lot, and an interesting piece of paraphernalia to own.
Timo Saloniemi
You may àlso appreciate this fan made website. Make sure to look at all the maps, including the real life sttarcharts.
http://www.stdimension.org
http://www.stdimension.org
I only have Star Charts but I like to assemble my view on the Trek quadrant power borders through various sources, both in books and simple fan work online, as well as what I like to 'think' of.
To me, that's the best system. Compile what you have and come out with a conclusion that fits best for you. Like, for instance, the Star Charts has these oblong parts of the Federation clumped and blobbed completely separated from Federation space, like this one part of the Federation in the middle of Klingon space. Stuff like that makes me really cringe and while the book is definitely good, it detracts from it heavily and makes me draw different conclusions.
