The Art of Star Trek (1995)

The Art of Star Trek (1995)

Authors: Judith + Garfield Reeves-Stevens | Illustrators: Various | Page Count: 298

'If we define art as "the activity of creating beautiful things," then STAR TREK's futuristic, alien, often bizarre imagery most assuredly qualifies.'

I do sometimes 'state the obvious' for the benefit of folks that are curious but aren't a part of a particular franchise's fandom, but a book titled The Art of Star Trek explains itself. So if there's anyone still in any doubt as to what the content is, then you're probably reading the wrong blog.

What can't be gleaned from the cover alone is the sheer range of content inside, from rarely seen production sketches to familiar but still awesome key art, some of which has been used on posters and commercial home video formats for decades, and all presented on lavishly glossy paper stock.

Firstly, there's a huge amount of traditional two-dimensional art, black and white and full colour, including standard concept drawings of various ships and their interiors, futuristic gadgets, consoles and computer screens, alien cities imagined in pencil, make-believe planetary vistas, various uniform insignia and fashion magazine-esque sketches from the costume department, and much more - even a Ferengi ear brush! *shudder

- NOTE: Image has been cropped at top and bottom to fit this space.-

Fans who prefer to see actual props and set dressings up close will enjoy the sections that focus on such, with photographs of Starfleet and alien weapons, tricorders, medical gadgets, furniture, etc. Some of what's pictured will have been present in the concept drawing section, albeit now fully realised in moulded plastic, metal, wood, three-dimensional foamcore models, etc.

The book covers the TOS (including the cancelled Phase II), TAS, TNG, DS9, and VOY TV series. The films are included, too, with each one getting its own respective chapter, but only as far as what was released prior to the book's publication, which means Generations (1994) is the only TNG film featured. On the plus side, there's none of that Kelvin crap to skip past.

Let's not forget the storyboards, animation cells, and detailed breakdown of a title sequence, all of which are interesting if that's your cup of tea (earl grey, hot, naturally). All in all, if production photos and behind the scenes glimpses are things that don't have you nodding off, then The Art of Star Trek might well be your idea of nerd heaven, in paper form. (That's HB or PB.)

- Does this mean that someone somewhere has 'Space Hooker' on their CV? -