Unfortunately, it doesn't have previews, on Google Books or Amazon.com, so I don't know much about it. The 1986 edition is available for snippet view and I was able to find the sentence "At Starbase 12, Commodore L. T. Stone institutes a court-martial against Kirk after discovering that Enterprise computer records show that the captain did not give Finney an adequate chance to escape the pod". On one hand, it reveals Commodore Stone's first and middle initial, but on the other, it gets the Starbase number wrong, so I don't know how reliable the book is. Does the 1993 edition still have this mistake? Are there any color pictures in the book, or just black-and-white ones? How many pictures are there for each episode? Are there any details that are in the earlier editions that are missing in the later ones?
Is The Star Trek Compendium worth getting?
- Thread starter Extrocomp
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I enjoyed owning the 1979 edition for a long time, but Asherman presented a lot of his own speculation as "fact." (For example, "We can assume Spock later went back to Talos IV and relocated Christopher Pike to Omicron Ceti III so the spores could heal him." We can?) That material largely disappeared from the 1986 edition, as I recall; but, even though it was weird, it was part of what gave the book its charm.
If I remember, the 1986 and later editions illustrated each episode and movie with at least one still.
If I remember, the 1986 and later editions illustrated each episode and movie with at least one still.
I got the 1992 edition that went up to The Undiscovered Country when it came out. At the time, it was a nice enough companion to TOS; however, as more truths and realities have come out over the years it comes across as very quaint/naive e.g. we now know that NBC had no issue with a female first officer and a lot of other Roddenbery-centric are largely fable. All are presented in the Compendium as absolute fact.
I guess what I'm saying is it's very much the 'sanitised', Roddenberry endorsed history of Trek, but having said all that, I'm still pleased I've got it.
I guess what I'm saying is it's very much the 'sanitised', Roddenberry endorsed history of Trek, but having said all that, I'm still pleased I've got it.
I'd say buy it. Expecting it to be 100% perfect is a pipe dream anyway.
It's certainly a good general introduction to the Trek universe. I'd say if TOS is still fairly new to you, go for it. If you already know the show well, you may find that it's telling you a lot if things you've already heard elsewhere.
it was the must have companion book in the 80s/early 90s when no net and having all the eps/movies readily available to view wasn't the norm for fans
now not so much..but still quite an essential part of any collection (revised 'white' edition with VI - that used to be quite annoying finding a new version with a few extra pages when there was a new film
)
now not so much..but still quite an essential part of any collection (revised 'white' edition with VI - that used to be quite annoying finding a new version with a few extra pages when there was a new film
)
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I've got both the first (blue) and second (red) editions, myself. Haven't cracked either one in years, though. Wasn't even aware that there were revisions since the red edition.
Another vintage TOS (and also TAS) reference, perhaps of greater value, would be Bjo Trimble's Star Trek Concordance.
Another vintage TOS (and also TAS) reference, perhaps of greater value, would be Bjo Trimble's Star Trek Concordance.
And to tie this thread to the one about capricious behavior at Memory Beta:
Memory Beta refers to the Concordance as "unlicensed" (the fanzine editions certainly were, and the 1995 revision arguably was, but not the Ballantine edition), essentially putting it at a lower level than the long-since-deprecated-with-extreme-prejudice "Spaceflight Chronolgy" and the personally-deprecated-by-Doohan "Mr. Scott's Guide."
And Memory Alpha refers to the licensed status of the Ballantine Concordance as having its "short-lived official endorsement by Paramount Pictures , , , revoked." For pity's sake; it was the licensing contracts with Ballantine and Bantam that were revoked, and they were revoked shortly after the release of TMP because by that time, Simon & Schuster (and by extension, Pocket) was under the same ownership as Paramount.
Memory Beta refers to the Concordance as "unlicensed" (the fanzine editions certainly were, and the 1995 revision arguably was, but not the Ballantine edition), essentially putting it at a lower level than the long-since-deprecated-with-extreme-prejudice "Spaceflight Chronolgy" and the personally-deprecated-by-Doohan "Mr. Scott's Guide."
And Memory Alpha refers to the licensed status of the Ballantine Concordance as having its "short-lived official endorsement by Paramount Pictures , , , revoked." For pity's sake; it was the licensing contracts with Ballantine and Bantam that were revoked, and they were revoked shortly after the release of TMP because by that time, Simon & Schuster (and by extension, Pocket) was under the same ownership as Paramount.
What was Doohan's problem with Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise?
Basically, Doohan got sick and tired of getting asked questions about the book by fans at conventions who were under the mistaken impression that he'd somehow had some creative involvement with it (in a not-too-uncommon case of fans lacking in common sense failing to differentiate "actor" from "fictional character").
What "Leto_II" said. (BTW, where did you get the animated GIF?)
And when I witnessed his expression of distaste for the book (it was at the same Creation convention where I met hm face-to-face, and got his autograph), I also got the impression that, having a certain proprietary interest in the character, he had a feeling of "having his name taken in vain."
(I'm not sure, but I think that may have been the same convention wherein I met Pat Tallman, Camille Saviola, and Chase Masterson, all sharing the same autograph table, and told Ms. Tallman my Vorlon lightbulb joke [Vorlons don't change lightbulbs; Vorlons don't need lightbulbs; Vorlons could get jobs AS lightbulbs]).
And when I witnessed his expression of distaste for the book (it was at the same Creation convention where I met hm face-to-face, and got his autograph), I also got the impression that, having a certain proprietary interest in the character, he had a feeling of "having his name taken in vain."
(I'm not sure, but I think that may have been the same convention wherein I met Pat Tallman, Camille Saviola, and Chase Masterson, all sharing the same autograph table, and told Ms. Tallman my Vorlon lightbulb joke [Vorlons don't change lightbulbs; Vorlons don't need lightbulbs; Vorlons could get jobs AS lightbulbs]).
There's a thread about capricious behaviour at Memory Beta?
I've been very frustrated with that site as a wiki and as a reference source lately, so I'd love to see what others have been experiencing, but I can't seem to find the thread you're referring to.
Yeah, I can see how that would get irritating.
Some obscure alien race got a name change over on Alpha, the person fighting the good fight over the change came here and made a call to arms. It was all rather amusing.
I'd say it is a job related hazard when one is out collecting cash from fans.
Do I look like somebody who would (at least when in my right mind) rub salt in even my worst enemy's wounds, much less in the wounds of an old man for whom I had nothing but respect and admiration? No, I bought a photograph from whatever charity he was working with at the time.
That said, I do have a few odd autographs. I have "Tiny Ron" Taylor on a picture the size of a large postage stamp, and I have a pre-signed copy of one of DeForest Kelley's poems. When two relatively minor regulars from Emergency! showed up at a police/fire/ambulance show at a local shopping mall (namely, Ron Pinkard ["Dr. Morton"] and Marco Lopez), I got their autographs. I got at least one ST script reprint ("Phantasms, from TNG), autographed by the author(s). And many years ago, when I stumbled, by pure dumb luck, upon the retirement party of a church organist I greatly admired, without my copy of her one recording, I got her autograph on what I can only describe as a "filk psalm" that a choir member had written in her honor.
But no, if somebody finds a book distasteful, I would not ask that person to sign it. And if indeed Doohan regarded the title of the work in question as "taking his character's name in vain," as I had surmised, then I greatly sympathized with him on that.
That said, I do have a few odd autographs. I have "Tiny Ron" Taylor on a picture the size of a large postage stamp, and I have a pre-signed copy of one of DeForest Kelley's poems. When two relatively minor regulars from Emergency! showed up at a police/fire/ambulance show at a local shopping mall (namely, Ron Pinkard ["Dr. Morton"] and Marco Lopez), I got their autographs. I got at least one ST script reprint ("Phantasms, from TNG), autographed by the author(s). And many years ago, when I stumbled, by pure dumb luck, upon the retirement party of a church organist I greatly admired, without my copy of her one recording, I got her autograph on what I can only describe as a "filk psalm" that a choir member had written in her honor.
But no, if somebody finds a book distasteful, I would not ask that person to sign it. And if indeed Doohan regarded the title of the work in question as "taking his character's name in vain," as I had surmised, then I greatly sympathized with him on that.
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