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USS ENTERPRISE HAYNES OWNERS MANUAL (Part 3)

Well, gift received and read cover to cover. Verdict, OK. It reads more like a beginners guide to Star Trek and I can see why some fans might be disappointed.

The cutaway drawings are by no means poor but they do lack in detail. All you need do is look at the Star Wars cutaway books to realise what could have been done had the effort been put in. The Star Wars cutaways look like the creation of someone with a deep passion for the subject matter, the ones in this book look like someone has simply been given a brief and a time-scale.

Its very 'by the book', you wont find anything in here you didn't know before. If you want in depth schematics etc then simply search google images, it will save you time and money. If you need a crash course in the Enterprise then it makes perfect sense.

Not bad but could have been so much more. (its not going on e bay, the missus would kill me)
 
Wow... I just read the reviews on Amazon... people are really letting fly at this book, lol...

Like I said... I don't dislike the book itself... it IS a good book if you can regard it as something like an RPG supplement... a quick-and-dirty reference for basics. But it's NOT what it was billed to be.

I said it before, and I'll say it again... my biggest gripe was that stuff we were told would be IN the book, was left OUT of the book. I don't like dishonesty, and if someone sells me something using dishonesty, I won't give them my business anymore. I just hope that if they ever do another tech book after this debacle, that they actually do it right... like I said, hand the whole project over to Probert, Okuda, Sternbach, and Eaves... let them go nuts, and do their thing, which is what we all want.
 
Just read some of the feedback myself on Amazon. Not sure if it's the same feedback in the UK as it is in the US. On the whole it's gotten 4 out of 5 but there are some highly critical responses out there.

Looks like they decided to play it safe with this book. As most people have said, it could have been so much better. Each ship on its own could fill an entire volume with schematics and cutaways and we are only presented with one in this book.

Sadly its nearly always the case when given an opportunity like this that the easy option will be taken rather than the painstaking artistic route.

After all the information, in depth knowledge and incredible artwork I have seen on this very forum I should imagine there must be someone out there who could compile a more detailed and skilfully drafted book of enterprise schematics.
 
Well I flipped through the book today and wow I haven't been this disappointed by a Star Trek book of any kind since Before Dishonor. I totally agree with Bolian Admiral's original assessment of the book and what many others have said about it, it's basically similar to an RPG supplement. The cutaway diagrams are...just shite, and one one of them for each ship? They barely show anything either, I literally had to squint and I wear glasses. "Complimenting" the art are photographs which just seem out of place for a book like this. I honestly am baffled that there were any significant delays on this book now. Just wow. I won't be getting this. I wouldn't even ask anyone to get this for me either.

I told you :)
 
^ Yes you did :) I just had to see it for myself. I agree with Bolian Admiral about the missing stuff they used to tease the book with. That material should be in the damn book. I also didn't like that it was hardcover but that is my own personal pet peeve :)
 
I'm not that much of a hardcore purist unlike everyone here (it seems that way); this book is satisfactory.
 
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Yeah. Some nice pictures, lots of mediocre pictures, and tons of very general information. It was good for one read-thru and then on the shelf.
 
I actually never bought a Star Trek book before; this is my first one.

EDIT: Even though I know most of this stuff already.
 
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I'll buy it when I have a 50% off coupon and nothing better to do with my money, or better yet when it's in the bargain bin for five bones...
 
^ I wouldn't bother even then sadly. Seriously you'd think that with all the delays that this book had and the enthusiasm expressed by most of us prior to it's released that a little more effort would have gone into the production of the book. It's promoted as an "owners" guide and I see it as nothing more than a primer for the Enterprise lineage. I wonder though after typing that if that was their intention all along? To produce a book for casual fans and maybe string a few new ones in knowing that all the hardcore fans wouldn't like the book?
 
WTF??? $25.00 for something that was SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE BOOK, but they LEFT OUT, and now they want us to pay $25.00 for it???

You know... I could say more, but I'd have to use language that'd get me banned.
 
$25? damn that's a bit steep. Think the missus picked mine up fir about £12 which is probably about $15(ish).

The book should deffo be titled 'beginners guide to the enterprise'.
 
I really have had it with Trek books at this point... they didn't get it with the SoTL book, and this latest offering was such a bumbling epic fail of a debacle, that I just have no faith that even if another book comes out in the future, it'd even be worth the second it'd take to glance at the cover.

I'll just produce my own Trek artwork, and maybe produce my own Treknical manual to share with people... for FREE.
 
Not going by the picture...

101831-20.jpg
 
As Warped9 has stated in the past..fans have produced some of the best schematics and technical artwork out there I believe because fans are somewhat aware of what we want to see and enjoy. I think that if Haynes had consulted or maybe done an online poll when they first announced this book for feedback maybe the owner's manual wouldn't be so bad.

I've scaled back my purchase of Trek books as of the last couple of years now. I only get the ones I really am interested in reading and owning, then either wait for the library to get them or in borrow from my friend who buys all of them lol. I used to be like him but don't have the cash any more or patience.
 
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