An enjoyable if imperfect Star Trek compendium | Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages |...

A required addition for the die-hard Trekker | Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages | Edward Gross, Mark A. Altman

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	• Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages Edward Gross, Mark A. Altman Little Brown & Co (P), 1995 - 361 pages average customer review:based on 4 reviews view larger image
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Only for passionate Trekkers

This book is indeed, long and lenghty! To my amazement, it has "behind the scenes" of EACH episode of the Next Generation and Original Series. When the book was published, Voyager just came out and it talks about it for a chapter or so. Deep Space Nine also got a litte recognition from the writers, but don't expect too much. A BIG plus is the many, many pictures it has. Mostly from conventions and such. Unfortunately, the author might have fallen asleep while writing some sections because a few pages were repeated right after each other. All-in-all, it's pretty good, I'm thinking about getting the sequel, Captain's Logs Supplemental.

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An enjoyable if imperfect Star Trek compendium

I received this book as a Christmas gift from my parents in 1995, the year it was first released. I was quite happy to get it too - I have read it cover to cover no less than five times. Being a huge fan of the series (all of them!) I have found the book quite diverting. As mentioned in the other reviews here the book contains synopses of all of the episodes of both the classic original series and its successor 'The Next Generation'. The movies are covered here as well right up to the first big screen appearance of the TNG crew in 'Star Trek: Generations'. The information is as accurate as one could expect this type of 'prattle' to be; this is not a knock on the book but rather a valid point as I will explain later on.

The few reviews that appear here may or may not be a testament to "Captains' Logs" popularity among fans of the TV and/or movie series. Most of the Star Trek books, collectibles & memorabilia have their staunch defenders - no matter how 'cheesy' the item(s) might be. Perhaps the answer to the reluctance of fans to come to the defense of this book can be answered right here on this webpage. As one of the reviewers here summarized, what the book constitutes is no more than a glorified fanzine. And honestly, I could understand someone being disappointed with the contents of the book. If you had regularly read the publications or subscribed to 'Starlog' and 'The Next Generation' magazines, then you've definitely been exposed to most of the information here. It may not be firsthand information but having it all gathered here in one compendium sure makes it indispensable. Besides that the episode guides are handy and the background info on the TNG episodes is especially entertaining. But I thought the best parts of the book are the sections on the short-lived Saturday morning animated series and the busted television revival series. The animated series was much maligned during its two season run (the fall of both 1973 and 1974) and quickly forgotten. I was glad to have the history and genesis of this program; I always felt that these episodes provided a way to do things that couldn't be done on the live action series due to budget constraints. It's also interesting to note the fact that some of the episodes written for the busted TV revival series showed up on 'The Next Generation' in one form or another. One of the other episodes written about here for that same never-was TV series sounds remarkably similar to a 'Star Trek: Voyager' episode.

Now I want to explain what I meant when I used the word 'prattle'. Much of the information following the single episode synopses are really no more than 'sound bites' from the actors or production staff seemingly given at the time of production. While a good portion of the book is based on research many of the statements attributed here are transcribed from audio tapes of interviews that the authors conducted over a ten year period. That's not to say many articles that were previously published carried much of the same information. And seeing it here again would be considered a weakness by fans who regularly read the magazines I mentioned before. But I think we can all agree that we (the fans of Star Trek) can appreciate having this volume in our libraries. There are other books available dealing with each of the series on an individual basis and they are great in their own right. But the authors were right to conceive of this project and to try to demonstrate the continuity of the Star Trek universe. How well they succeeded is up to each individual's interpretation.

The main drawback to the book I thought was the proliferation of photos used throughout. The choices of some still photos that accompany the episode synopsis of some stories just boggle the mind - if you've seen the book you know what I mean. Some of them have no reason to be here at all, some have no discernible significance whatsoever. They're just from the surplus of publicity photos that seems inexhaustible in Hollywood. I do however value the reproductions and stills of many of the Star Trek inspired magazine covers that appear mainly towards the end of the book. Some of the featured covers are from popular juvenile publications like 'Cracked' and 'MAD' magazine; others are from more traditional pop culture magazines like 'TV Guide' and 'Entertainment Weekly'; and yet still others from the internationally respectable 'TIME' and 'LIFE'.

An update is inevitable - and in fact there is a publication available titled "Captains' Logs Supplemental" by the same authors. I haven't yet read the book and I don't know how much of the later 'Deep Space Nine' and 'Voyager' series are covered, but I'll still be curious enough to get a look at it when the opportunity arises. I do beg the authors to do one thing though before going to publication once again: please, please, please get someone to copyedit your manuscript!

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A required addition for the die-hard Trekker

Captain's Logs contains *very* detailed on some of the internal politics and strife during TOS (the original series) and TNG (Star Trek: The Next Generation), and several of the movies. (Because of the timing involved, there's not very much about DS9 or Voyager. This is covered in the supplemental volume.)

All of the episodes in TOS and TNG have a summary and most (>95%) have some behind-the-scenes arcana. There is surprisingly little "[actor] was also in [other feature]" type stuff, but rather juicier background on all of the writing and directorial changes.

While the honesty in stating "Star Trek 1 was terrible" is refreshing, it seems like the authors dwell more on the "problem" aspects of the show. For example, in discussing the episode "City on the Edge of Forever," the authors spend a much longer amount of time on the Harlon Ellison saga (Ellison writes the story, it gets butchered into an episode, both win awards, Roddenbery and Ellison at odds over credit).

The result is a less-than-flattering portrayal of Gene Roddenbery. (To be fair, I came away a greater awareness of and respect for Gene Coon and Rick Berman.)

Overall, a worthy read for the die-hardest Trekker.

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A lavishly illustrated guide takes readers behind the scenes of every episode of Star Trek and The Next Generation, with additional sections on Deep Space Nine and Voyager. 75,000 first printing.

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