A Masterpiece of Meticulous Exactitude | Deep Space Nine Companion (Star Trek Deep Space Nine)

The Best of the Star Trek Universe | Deep Space Nine Companion (Star Trek Deep Space Nine) | Terry J. Erdmann, Paula M. Block

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	• Deep Space Nine Companion (Star Trek Deep Space Nine) Terry J. Erdmann, Paula M. Block Star Trek, 2000 - 736 pages average customer review:based on 38 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

great product for Trekers, good price

Love this in my Star Trek collection. Helps you to remember all of the great episodes of this series.

A Masterpiece of Meticulous Exactitude

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine first aired from 1993 to 1999 and with it television science fiction was reborn. This remarkable science fiction series was very definitely a writers' show - there was little producer involvement (some would use the term "meddling") except when the producers were writers for the show as well.

It can sometimes be difficult to keep track of the intricate tapestry that was this series - that is why the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion" is a must for any fan of Deep Space Nine or science fiction in general.

This work is second only to "Inside Section One: Creating and Producing TV's La Femme Nikita" by Christopher Heyn. Unfortunately, the "Deep Space Nine Companion" doesn't go into as intricate of detail as that work. Heyn's wonderful book works at being a television production textbook as well as a Nikita companion. In the realm of Star Trek companions, the "Deep Space Nine Companion" is unparallelled and very nearly perfect.

The "Deep Space Nine Companion" presents a very candid (for an official production) view of what went on behind the scenes at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The writers were not afraid to admit mistakes and they don't pull punches when they admit which episodes did and didn't work. Insights are also gained into the other aspects of production for Deep Space Nine, though this work does focus mainly on the writers.

Unfortunately, this book does feature thin pages and a soft binding - no doubt to cut down on the price and weight of what is already a massive work. All the illustrations and photographs are in black and white and they can be quite small. Unlike the "Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion," the "Deep Space Nine Companion does not include indexes. If any future revisions to the book were to be made (which is unfortunately extremely unlikely,) I would put indexes at the very top of the list.

I recommend this book to most Star Trek fans, all Niners, and to many science fiction fans. It truly is a "masterpiece of meticulous exactitude."

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The Best of the Star Trek Universe

In the words of Vic Fontaine, this one's "from the heart" - a gift to all Star Trek fans and a special gift to those of us who think Star Trek's "middle child" is the best show the Star Trek universe ever produced. TV Guide rightly called Deep Space Nine "the best acted, written, produced, and altogether finest...Star Trek series."

This official guide to all 176 episodes lets the reader trek again and again to that grungy gyroscope in the middle of nowhere with its intriguing mix of lifeforms. On this space station life is as real as it gets - multifaceted characters engrossed in learning how to live with each other while coping with internal and external conflict, cultural differences, and bizarre situations. Here no prissy-perfect Star Fleet solves everyone's problems.

One of the best things about this book is that the authors waited until the series was complete before they finished it - no parade of updates and revisions. The narrative is structured by season, each having a general introduction followed by episode synopses with guest cast and production lists and behind-the-scenes information about the making of each episode. Groups of episodes that form arcs have one information summary covering the entire group. The publication production team chose, rightly in my opinion, to be lavish with black-and-white illustrations rather than use the illustration budget to have only few in color. Many fascinating sidebars provide information that didn't fit neatly into the text. Several nifty original maps of Bajor are also included.

For all its completeness, the book lacks a couple of indexes that would greatly aid the reader. First of all, it needs a listing of the episodes in the order in which they were shown, done either as a table of contents or as an appendix. An alphabetical list of actors from the guest cast lists with the episodes or pages where they appear would also have been helpful.

All things considered, this book is the best companion book to a TV series that I've ever seen. There's nothing cute or slick here, just great reading - a good solid well-researched, well-written and edited account of one of the best science fiction shows ever made. You'll soon wear the covers limp with the number of times you dip into it to verify a plot detail, hunt up your favorite guest actors, or check out information such as what Nana Visitor and Rene Auberjoinois really thought about the Kira-Odo romance or whether the Sidney Opera House design was the inspiration for one of Kai Winn's hats.

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What's great about this book...

Everything!

The Star Trek Deep Space Nine Companion is an "absolute must" for any DS9er or Star Trek fan. I owned this book for several years and would occasionally read about specific episodes. But this summer, I decided to watch every episode and then read what the author wrote about it. Now, I know why it's called a companion.

The book supplies, what I believe to be, an appropriate amount of information to introduce the reader to (or remind them about) the show and then continues with a behind the scenes "peek" from the perspective of the writers, directors, cast members and crew. Frequently, the author reveals the inspiration of the episode. And it is a very common occurrence to learn that the finished product was not always what the writers originally imagined. Without saying it, the author conveys all the hard work, patience and persistence associated with each episode and a glimpse into the Star Trek universe.

The companion contains numerous quotes from the writers, actors and directors. Included are their assessments of whether they considered the episode to be good, great, or not-so-great. The opinions and experiences of the guest stars, supporting cast members and even the stunt guys are also included. And the author delays revealing the back-story until the very end of a story arc, on those occasions when a particular story spans several episodes, to prevent the reader from getting too much information. Special treats include "close ups" on secondary characters, maps of Bajor, drawings and pictures of artifacts used in the show. Even a pronunciation guide for one of the episode titles is included.

This book is the perfect complement to the series. It's more than an episode guide. Future Star Trek companions will find this book to be a tough act to follow. I highly recommend it!

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Indispensible tome; the gold standard for episode guides

I'll just add to the heaps of praise for this massive work covering the complete Deep Space Nine series. The plot of every episode is described in detail, as one would expect, but this volume goes much further, devoting a great deal of text on each episode and season, primarily offering points of view from the writers, story editors, producers, directors, and other production staff, and occasionally from the actors. What's especially great, aside from all the detail that fans salivate over, is that everyone involved with the production is generally pretty candid about what does and doesn't work, so the less-inpsired episodes aren't subjected to faux praise for the sake of selling DVDs.

It's not flawless, however. Too much detail is sometimes given about how a story evolved into what finally aired, whereas there are often other questions about plot and character development, or lack thereof, that would've been more compelling to read. Also, there are spoilers in some of the behind-the-scenes info that could've been better disguised; it makes it difficult to share the book with someone who is watching the series for the first time. Those are small nits to pick, though. No other Trek episode guide comes anywhere near the level of depth and quality of this one, and I can't recommend it highly enough to fans of the series, even those who don't consider DS9 their favorite part of the ST franchise.

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"The challenge of putting together a television show for the first time was especially intimidating because of the traditions and the expectations for Star Trek®."

-- Michael Piller, co-creator, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

It might be hard to believe, but there was a time when launching a new Star Trek series was considered a risky venture. Maybe it was just luck that Star Trek: The Next Generation® had succeeded. Could another show capture the imagination of the viewers?

The creators of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine® built a cast of characters totally different from the more comfortable, familiar ones that had been seen on previous incarnations of Star Trek. One of the writers observed, "You can see right away they're not perfectly engineered humans....They seem more real....They represent a different way to tell a story." The setting for the show was a space station, a dark, almost sinister, alien place -- the diametrical opposite of a bright reassuring starship. This new Star Trek series set every expectation on its head -- and it succeeded. Deep Space Nine created some of the most visionary, emotionally charged and critically acclaimed hours of television ever made, and at the end of seven years it could boast of ranking at the top of the syndicated ratings year after year.

The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion is the official guide to all 176 spectacular episodes of this revolutionary series. Detailed synopses, behind-the-scenes information, and in-depth interviews with the cast and crew are provided for each show. Hundreds of photographs and illustrations -- many never before seen -- fill the pages of this book. For the casual reader or the fan who wants to know more, this is the definitive book on this groundbreaking series. From its explosive beginning to the heartrending conclusion, relive it all and see why TV Guide called it "the best acted, written, produced, and altogether finest...Star Trek series."

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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