The Star Trek Encyclopedia

The Star Trek Encyclopedia

Cover of Version 3.0
Author Michael Okuda, Denise Okuda, Debbie Mirek
Illustrator Doug Drexler
Country United States
Language English
Subject Star Trek
Genre Reference encyclopedia
Published 1994 (1st edition)
Publisher Pocket Books
Media type Hardback, Paperback, CD ROM editions
Pages 396
ISBN 0671869051 (1st edition)
OCLC 30144117

The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future is a 1994 encyclopedia of in-universe information from the Star Trek television series and films. It was written by Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda, who were production staff on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager and Debbie Mirek. It was illustrated by Doug Drexler.

The Encyclopedia features highly detailed information about characters, planets, technologies and ships of the Star Trek franchise as well as brief episode and film synopses. It is organised alphabetically and is replete with illustrations, many of which are in color in later editions.

As a rule, the Encyclopedia exclusively covers material from the live-action television series and the motion pictures, which, according to Gene Roddenberry, are the extent of the Star Trek canon. It does however include some material from Star Trek: The Animated Series and occasionally provides completely original information. Given that this information is part of an officially-licensed publication but not actually included in any Star Trek movie or television episode, its canonicity is disputed.

Some entries in the Encyclopedia contain behind-the-scenes information, presented in italicized text.

Unlike the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual, the Encyclopedia makes no detailed speculations about Star Trek technology.

Publication history

The Encyclopedia was inspired by a previous book by the same writing team, The Star Trek Chronology, which had been directly commissioned by Gene Roddenberry as a way of ensuring continuity on Star Trek. Michael Okuda developed a "worksheet" on which to record episode titles, episode production numbers, stardates, and any new ships, characters or technology.[1]

Three print editions have been published to date, in both hardcover and paperback: the first edition (ISBN 0-671-88684-3) was published in 1994; the second (ISBN 0-671-53607-9) in 1997. The most recent edition (ISBN 0-671-53609-5), published in 1999, includes material through the end of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the fifth season of Star Trek: Voyager, and the movie Star Trek: Insurrection—but as a non-collated addendum.

The print version was later complemented by a similar electronic version, the Star Trek Omnipedia. The CD-ROM medium allowed the Simon & Schuster publishers to include video clips. It was released for both Windows and Macintosh (ISBN 0-684-87413-X), which was published by Simon & Schuster Interactive. This was the only version of the encyclopedia not to be published by Pocket Books. Paramount Pictures is the owner of the copyright.

In the years since its 1999 publication, the Encyclopedia had become extremely out of date, containing no information from the most recent four Star Trek films (Star Trek Nemesis, Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Trek Beyond), the last two seasons of Star Trek: Voyager and the most recent series, Star Trek: Enterprise. There had long been no plans to release an updated version of the Encyclopedia, as its usefulness had been superseded in recent years by online, digital resources such as Memory Alpha.

During the August 2015 annual Star Trek convention in Las Vegas, an updated version of the Encyclopedia was announced for publication in 2016, the 50th Anniversary of Star Trek. The total pages for this updated version is 1,056 pages.[2] According to a post on StarTrek.com on August 8, 2015, the day it was announced at the Las Vegas convention, the updated version will have "300 new pages" that will cover Star Trek: Voyager Seasons 4-7, Star Trek: Enterprise Seasons 1-4, Star Trek: Nemesis and will contain information regarding J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movie reboot. The version will come as a " two-volume hardcover edition" and will cost USD $99.[3] However, the publisher for the updated version states the SRP is USD $100.00[4]

In a 2016 interview with Geek Speak Magazine, Denise Okuda stated that there is "two, maybe three times as much text in the 2016 edition as in the original, and way more than three times as many photos and illustrations."[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "www.trekplace.com". trekplace.com.
  2. ↑ "The Star Trek Encyclopedia A Reference Guide for the Future". Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Star Trek Encyclopedia Getting Massive Update". August 8, 2015. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  4. ↑ "The Star Trek Encyclopedia A Reference Guide for the Future". Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Encyclopedic Knowledge — An Interview with Star Trek Encyclopedia Authors Michael and Denise Okuda – Geek Speak Magazine". geekspeakmagazine.com.
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