Paper Universe (Star Trek) (Paperback)

by Andrew Pang (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Toys are getting increasingly expensive and complicated. Upon the creation of interactive games, the promise was held out that you could travel to other worlds, but it was still lust a promise. You couldn't reach out, touch, feel, and truly interact with those places. Wouldn't it be great to be able to create a starship from something as vivid as your own imagination? A ship that you could hold, but was lust a simple, inexpensive piece of paper? You could create and command a fleet of starships in lust minutes.

An ancient art form can give you the ability to hold a piece of the final frontier in your own hands. Star Trek: Paper Universe presents easy-to-follow steps and clear explanations of classic origami techniques and folds. From a simple piece of paper you'll be able to create familiar vessels like the Starship Enterprise™, a Klingon bird-of-prey, a Cardassian battle cruiser, or a Borg cube!

Star Trek: Paper Universe brings you a whole new way to create your own adventures. You'll be building your own starships, space station, and shuttlecraft at warp speed!

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Star Trek (August 29, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671042157
• ISBN-13: 978-0671042158
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #692,554 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For origami enthusiasts and Trek completists only, October 1, 2000

By	John DiBello (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you're an intermediate or advanced fan of origami, you'll enjoy this book. If you're a completist collector who absolutely must have every Trek book published, sure, go ahead, buy it. Aside from that, there's probably not a reason for you to pick up "Star Trek: Paper Universe."

It's a clever concept: using origami, create 16 "Star Trek" starships from all the Enterprises to a Klingon cruiser. Ten small sheets of origami paper are included to get you started, and a decent introduction to the basic folds and concepts of paper folding gives you the bare essentials of the craft. The problem is, it really *is* the bare essentials. Even with careful practice, these are complicated and difficult models to make, and may prove frustrating to a beginner.

I'm giving this four stars as it's exactly what it promises: a solid and comprehensive guide to creating paper starships. Still, there are a couple minor problems. First, there too few sheets of paper that come with the books, and they're too small to practice on: if you truly wish to make these models (and correctly made, they really are quite impressive!), get yourself a big stack of larger origami paper than comes with the book. A second problem is that even though none of these ship models are beginner-level, some *are* simpler than others. So, rather than dividing the book by theme (Part One is Enterprises, followed by other Federation vessels, followed by alien ships), why not arrange them in order of difficulty? You *should* learn how to make a Borg Cube before attempting an Enterprise-E.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Definitely not for beginners, September 9, 2000

By A Customer

If there were an entrance exam for this book, one of the questions would be, "Have you ever folded the inflated frog? Out of a piece of paper about the size of your hand?"

If your answer to both were "Yes", then you'll love what the author has brought to the world of Origami.

If your answer to either was "No", then you'll have a hard time getting any of the 16 folds to look like your favorite ships from the ST Universe (with the exception of the "Borg Cube" - it's the balloon fold squared-up).

The Bad: Some diagrams could have been improved by inserting a few more photos in mid-fold, as certain steps are just plain confusing unless you can see what's going on in 3-D. Also, some crease locations are vague, meaning you'll have to fold a few variations before you get them right.

The paper included is just too small to use when first learning these complicated and detailed folds. For example, the two Enterprises pictured on the cover (the 1701-E and the 1701) each require the creasing of so many layers and re-tapering of already small and tapered points that it'll take you more than the 10 included sheets to learn how to get things looking the way they should. Go to your local art store, and purchase 100 sheets of 12x12" (31x31cm) or larger to practice with, before wowing your friends with starships made from the included sheets. I suspect the cover folds were made from sheets of paper substantially larger than those included.

The Good: Well ... It's Origami Star Trek! Once you get good at the folds, paper starships the size of 2-3 AAA batteries will drop jaws. Also, the fact that Voyager and even the Enterprise-D from ST:TNG are made of one(!) contiguous sheet of paper will amaze all but expert folders.

Verdict: DON'T get this book for a first-time folder. DO get it if you want to add to your already impressive paper folding repertoire.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun but challenging, September 7, 2000

By	Andy D. Sigears (San Francisco,ca USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a great book. It is a little difficult for the beginning Origami artist (like myself). But I found it fun, and you can have endless hours of entertainment doing these models. I have attempted to create one of the models 3 times with no success yet, however I get closer to doing it right every time. If you have patience and enjoy star trek, then get this book. You will love it.