Customer Reviews

Star Trek: Voyages of Imagination: The Star Trek Fiction Companion

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Voyages" is an amazing resource that's fun to read. Every piece of authorized Star Trek fiction ever published is in here: over 500 novels, the ebooks, the anthologies . . . From "Spock Must Die!" (1970) to David George's "Crucible" Trilogy (2006-2007).

For each book and short story you get a cover reproduction, publication date, page count, and a short, non-spoiler summary of the plot. And then you get the backstory . . . And that's what this volume is all about: how the story came to be what you finally read between the book covers. Sometimes it's just a paragraph. Sometimes it's pages. And that includes all nine volumes of "Strange New Worlds" (a good chunk of the book right there), which should prove very inspirational to would-be writers. Ayers interviewed hundreds of writers.

This book is definitive. If it was professionally published, it's in here. Even the controversies regarding "Killing Time", "Ishmael", and "Probe" are covered. By virtue of its scope, "Voyages" ends up being a nearly complete oral history of Trek writing and a record of how many people progressed from being fans to being writers.

Just a few of the many highlights are:

- The execution of the four way collaboration between Carmen Carter, Peter David, Michael Jan Friedman and Robert Greenberger on "Doomsday World."

- What Peter David endured to write the first DS9 novel, "The Siege", in just 14 days.

- Richard Arnold tells all from his point of view.

- The financial reasons why the pseudonymous Nathan Archer is still Nathan Archer after all these years.

-The timeline. 70+ pages placing every novel and short story in a precisely dated chronology along with the episodes and movies.

Bottom line: Anybody who reads Trek fiction needs (and will want!) this book. Nuf said.

First, some minor quibbles that should not discourage anyone from buying this book:

The grammar in the plot synopses is sometimes shaky. That could be the result of the difficulty of summing up a novel in a few lines, at least in part, but the book has an unusually large number of dangling modifiers. There were a few entries that, in my opinion, at least, were lacking in key information. For example, the entry on the Generations novelization should have mentioned the fact that the hardcover and paperback have different endings. The Killing Time entry has a Richard Arnold explanation for the situation that doesn't match up with any other account of the event that I have ever read. Another disappointment was predictable and well out of Jeff's control: the unavailability of certain writers. This is pretty minor, given the number of writers who did contribute.

But... these are quibbles. Nitpicks. In no way should these minor little things deter anyone from buying this. Jeff went through several hundred novels, anthologies, and ebooks. He went after all the writers for interviews, and he managed to speak to the majority of them. He whipped what must have been an enormous mass of information into an organized work that people will be referring back to years from now.

Jeff elicited surprising revelations from a lot of writers. Were some novelists in it for the money and uninterested in Star Trek? Were some cynical about the whole thing? Do some say they got what they needed from the experience and they have no interest in doing it again? Do some exude smugness or arrogance? Do some have horror stories about the whole process? Yes.

On the other hand... do some writers whose work I've disliked come across as well-intentioned and enthusiastic about writing Star Trek? Do some writers come across as fans thrilled by being in a position to write novels about a show and characters they've always loved? Do some writers make the whole Trek novel-writing process sound like a great, fun, challenging adventure? Do some make you lose any shred of cynicism you may have about tie-in writing and just get you excited and happy about this forty-year journey? Do some make you want to read the next story, to get around to reading that novel or anthology or ebook you haven't read yet? Oh, yes.

Voyages of Imagination is a remarkable treasure trove of information, covering everything from James Blish's adaptations and Mack Reynolds's Mission to Horatius right up to the Crucible trilogy, but it's also a celebration of the history of Star Trek fiction. As you read, you can see how Star Trek and the books based on it have changed over the years.

Let me put it this way: if you've read this far, you need this book.

And I haven't even mentioned the Timeline yet. I can only imagine how much work went into it. It's a great supplementary feature for a book like this.

So go. Buy it.

This compendium has a summary of every Star Trek novel to-date, and interviews with at least half of the authors. For someone like me, who will glom onto a series and read them in order, this is the most wonderful and interesting help. There are other "inside" information type sections as well. I bought a copy for our library, as it's too good to keep to oneself.

I am not a big Star Trek Fiction consumer but I bought this book because I wanted the ability to review the increasingly complicated history of Star Trek Fiction. This book does a superb job bringing the book franchise into focus and is an essential part of the Trekkers' reference collection.

I will echo what Jackie and Kevin have said about Voyages of Imagination. It is an excellent read with lots of interesting information in the interviews. I recommend it to any and all Star Trek Fans. If you look closely you will find some obscure Star Trek books in the Fiction timeline that arent mentioned in the body of the book. This is the most complete resource for printed Star Trek in existance and well worth the price.

At last a definative reference to Star Trek novels-this book is a must have for every fans library!!

It's not only a great reference but extremely readable and endlessly interesting. The fiction timeline is wonderful as well.

Star Trek has been a vibrant part of our culture for four decades, and now comes Jeff Ayers' book that gives concise and lively reviews of each of the novels. Ayers also interviews many of the authors who tell how they became Star Trek fans, and how they came to write their first Star Trek books, and they also tell funny and fascinating anecdotes about their novels. Most of the Star Trek covers are displayed next to the reviews. The timeline is fascinating, placing each novel on a chronology that covers thousands of years. Jeff Ayers did a staggering amount of work, and Star Trek fans will be grateful. This is a must-have book.

Hi all, if you read the star trek novels and have plenty of them this is THE STARTING POINT to figure out what books are placed where in the star trek chronology. Thuis one shows the books covers and gives a synopsis of each book - simply amazing. And its a thick book too, so perfect fot that rainy day to sort through your star trek novels = ) And the price if great too, so click that mouse and get it sent you - highly recomended!!!

If you're a fan of Star Trek - the series, movies or books, then you must have this book. It includes everything that a fan needs to know and everything a casual fan wants to know. The author went to incredible lengths to bring all the details together in a book that is not just accurate, but fun to read.

Whether you have read one Star Trek novel or one hundred, I truly believe that you can get as much enjoyment out of "Voyages of Imagination" because it is so well put together. Everything that can be thought of that you wanted to know; is pretty much covered in this one book. There is a nice history of how the novels came to be, and each one has a summary of what they are about. One thing that I liked about this is that it explains how each book's series, original and based on a TV series, came to be. If you are looking for a particular novel, the index is really put together well and I found it very easy to use. This is a big book, and will take a long time to read everything! So, you definitely get your moneys worth getting this. It serves as a great thing to have for novels you want to buy. This gives good summaries for each story and you determine if it is worth buying or not. Overall, if you love collecting and reading Trek novels, then this is a must have. If you like Trek in general but have never read a novel based on Trek, this may get you started. It is that great, informative and fun to read!