Voyages of Imagination: The Star Trek Fiction Companion (Paperback)

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Key Phrases: mirror universe, strike zone, second read pile, Star Trek, John Ordover, Strange New Worlds (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Through four decades, five television series comprising over seven hundred episodes, ten feature films, and an animated series, fandom's thirst for more Star Trek stories has been unquenchable.

From the earliest short-story adaptations by James Blish in the 1960s, followed by the first original Star Trek novels during the seventies, and on throughout the eighties, nineties, and into the twenty-first century, fiction has offered an unparalleled expansion of the rich Star Trek tapestry. But what is it that makes these books such a powerfully attractive creative outlet to some and a compelling way to experience the Star Trek mythos anew to others?

Voyages of Imagination takes a look back on the first forty years of professionally published Star Trek fiction, revealing the personalities and sensibilities of many of the novels' imaginative contributors and offering an unprecedented glimpse into the creative processes, the growing pains, the risks, the innovations, the missteps, and the great strides taken in the books.

Author Jeff Ayers has immersed himself in nearly six hundred books and interviewed more than three hundred authors and editors in order to compile this definitive guide to the history and evolution of an incomparable publishing phenomenon. Fully illustrated with the covers of every book included herein, Voyages of Imagination is indexed by title and author, features a comprehensive timeline, and is a must-have for every fan.

About the Author

Jeff Ayers is a reviewer for Library Journal and a freelance writer for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Product Details

• Paperback: 800 pages
• Publisher: Star Trek (November 14, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416503498
• ISBN-13: 978-1416503491
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #272,692 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The stories behind *every* piece of professional Trek fiction, November 2, 2006

By	Kevin Lauderdale (Annandale, VA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"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.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you read Star Trek books, you need this, November 17, 2006

By	Steve Roby (Ottawa, Canada) - See all my reviews

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.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding and Entertaining, November 4, 2006

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

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.