 Cover of Version 3.0 | |
| Author | Michael Okuda,Denise Okuda, Debbie Mirek |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Doug Drexler |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Star Trek |
| Genre | Reference encyclopedia |
| Published | 1994 (1st edition) |
| Publisher | Pocket Books |
| Publication place | United States |
| 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 1994encyclopedia ofin-universe information from theStar Trek television series and films. It was written byMichael Okuda andDenise Okuda, who were production staff onStar Trek: The Next Generation,Star Trek: Deep Space Nine andStar Trek: Voyager and Debbie Mirek. It was illustrated byDoug Drexler.
TheEncyclopedia features highly detailed information about characters,planets,technologies andships of theStar 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.
TheEncyclopedia mostly covers material from theStar Trek television series and theStar Trek motion pictures. It is an officially licensed publication and includes some completely original information not included in anyStar Trek movie or television episode. According toGene Roddenberry, television series and the films are the extent of theStar Trek canon.[1]
Some entries in theEncyclopedia contain behind-the-scenes information, presented in italicized text.
Unlike theStar Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual, theEncyclopedia makes no detailed speculations aboutStar Trek technology.
TheEncyclopedia 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 onStar Trek. Michael Okuda developed a "worksheet" on which to record episode titles, episode production numbers,stardates, and any new ships, characters or technology.[2]
Four print editions have been published to date, in bothhardcover andpaperback: the first edition (ISBN 0-671-88684-3) was published in 1994; the second (ISBN0-671-53607-9) in 1997. The third edition (ISBN0-671-53609-5), published in 1999, includes material through the end ofStar Trek: Deep Space Nine, the fifth season ofStar Trek: Voyager, and the movieStar Trek: Insurrection—but as a non-collated addendum. The fourth edition (ISBN 978-0062371324) was published in 2016.
The print version was complemented by a similar electronic version, theStar Trek Omnipedia released in 1995. TheCD-ROM medium allowed theSimon & Schuster publishers to include video clips.It was released for bothWindows andMacintosh (ISBN0-684-87413-X), which was published bySimon & Schuster Interactive. This was the only version of the encyclopedia not to be published byPocket Books.Paramount Pictures is the owner of the copyright.
In the years since its 1999 publication, theEncyclopedia gradually became extremely out of date, containing no information from subsequentStar Trek films (Star Trek: Nemesis,Star Trek,Star Trek Into Darkness), the last two seasons ofStar Trek: Voyager orStar Trek: Enterprise. There had long been no plans to release an updated version of theEncyclopedia, as it had been superseded by online resources such as thewiki-based encyclopediaMemory Alpha.
During the August 2015 annualStar Trek convention in Las Vegas, an updated version of theEncyclopedia was announced for publication in 2016, the 50th Anniversary ofStar Trek. The total pages for this updated version is 1,056 pages.[3] It was announced that the updated version would have "300 new pages" and coverStar Trek: Voyager Seasons 4–7,Star Trek: Enterprise Seasons 1–4,Star Trek: Nemesis and would contain information regarding J.J. Abrams'Star Trek movie reboot. The version came out as a "two-volume hardcover edition".[4] The 2016 revised edition was published by Harper Design on October 18, 2016, for $150.[5]
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."[6]
Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry was accustomed to making statements about canon, but even he was known to change his mind.
