Ships of the Line (Star Trek) [Hardcover]

Margaret Clark (Editor), Doug Drexler (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Star Trek | Publication Date: November 7, 2006

They dared to risk it all in a skiff of reeds or leather, on a ship of wood or steel, knowing the only thing between them and certain death was their ship. To explore, to seek out what lay beyond the close and comfortable, every explorer had to embrace danger. And as they did so, what arose was a mystical bond, a passion for the ships that carried them. From the very first time humans dared to warp the fabric of space, escaping from the ashes of the third World War, they also created ships. These vessels have become the icons of mankind's desire to rise above the everyday, to seek out and make the unknown known. And these ships that travel the stellar seas have stirred the same passions as the ones that floated in the oceans.

While every captain has wished that their starship could be outfitted in the same manner as the sailing ship H.M.S. Beagle -- without weapons -- that proved untenable. From the start, Starfleet realized that each vessel, due to the limited range of the early warp engines, must be able to stand alone against any attack. Thus arose the idea, taken from the days of wooden sailing ships, that every Starfleet vessel must stand as a ship of the line. Through the actions of their captains and crews, countless starships have taken on that role. Here we remember some of those ships and their heroic crews.

In celebration of the fortieth anniversary of Star Trek, here for the very first time collected together are the spectacular images from the highly successful and acclaimed Star Trek: Ships of the Line calendars. Gloriously rendered, each of these illustrations was created exclusively for Pocket Books. With text by Michael Okuda (The Star Trek Encyclopedia), the story of each of these valiant starships comes to life.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Doug Drexler & Margaret Clark both grew up on Long Island, New York. At the very same time they became fans of the original Star Trek ® show. Fate being what it was, neither knew the other at the time, though they were mere miles apart. Doug left for California. Margaret stayed. Their lives intersected when Doug began working on a television show called Star Trek: The Next Generation ® -- and later on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ® -- and Margaret began working on Star Trek books. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 184 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books/Star Trek (November 7, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416532439
• ISBN-13: 978-1416532439
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 11.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #88,048 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Gorgeous, November 12, 2006

By 

Jacqueline Bundy (Calabasas, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ships of the Line (Star Trek) (Hardcover)

The vessels portrayed in Ships of the Line cover the length and breadth of the Star Trek universe. Arranged chronologically, from the earliest warp vessels to the futuristic Enterprise-J and darn near everything in between, this is a book you'll never tire of looking at.

Images of the U.S.S. Enterprise do dominate this collection but there are also wonderful representations of plenty of other Starfleet ships, as well as vessels associated with both friends and foes.

The variety of images is fantastic. Battle shots, alien landscapes, illustrations depicting the wonders of the universe and images that commemorate some of Star Trek's most memorable moments can all be found within the pages of Ships of the Line.

Each full-page illustration is accompanied by text written for each image by Michael Okuda on the opposite page. As you turn the pages it is a bit like an illustrated history of Star Trek as interpreted by Okuda.

Even if you've been collecting the calendars over the years that contain these same images, the high quality production values and the bargain price of $19.99(US) make Ships of the Line a must-have for every fans collection.

41 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars So much promise, so little content, April 18, 2007

By 

monoblocks (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ships of the Line (Star Trek) (Hardcover)

Sure there's some excellent artwork in this picture book. But instead of being an artistic guide to the ships of the Star Trek universe, 'Ships Of The Line' ends up being more like a photo album (albeit artist-rendered) of the central ship of each of the Star Trek television series. This is not anything close to a comprehensive spotter's book for the various Federation and alien space craft like the book's dust jacket suggests, which is EXACTLY the sort of book a Trekkie geek like me was expecting. Instead, this book lays out like a scrap book of the various iterations of U.S.S. Enterprises as it appeared on the various series and in film, the Defiant from DS9 and of course Voyager. Too few of the art panels focus on other ships in the Star Fleet inventory, or from any of the alien races that makes the Star Trek shows as rich and embellished as they were.

Too small to be a real coffee table book, and too lacking in the sort of minutiae information a Trek trivia fan craves to be useful as a real Star Trek reference guide, 'Ships Of The Line' needs to head back to the literary version of space dry dock for a content refit.

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing waste of paper, April 4, 2007

By 

Reluctant Reviewer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ships of the Line (Star Trek) (Hardcover)

I waited four months to get this book, because I read reviews saying it was a 'must get' and receiving it today am so disappointed. The dedication in the opening cover is to the artists, who indeed did good work. The book is just too small to do their work justice. A number of reviews have commented on the size, so let me restate, it's just a bit longer than a hardcover novel, worthless for eye candy. It's like getting a thumbnail of a print you want full size and makes me wonder if the publisher did this so people couldn't, say frame a page or scan it. The side flavor text was done by someone who isn't a fan, in bland type, kind of insulting to the artists itself in it's lack of style. I guess I'd been expecting something along the lines of a technical manual for the ships too (like a Jane's guide). This is just a randomly ordered artbook. The Table of Contents is worthless and the chapter breakdown random. There is no index of ships or artists. Again very disappointed, not something that I'll keep or would put on my bookshelves. Sorry, this is a bad review, but it is heart felt and honest I really wanted to see better.