Star Trek Star Charts [With Fold-Out Charts]

I like the fact that this book gives the fans a working atlas of the Star Trek galaxy. It is handsomely illustrated and gives the fans a sense of where planets are located within the Star Trek universe. Another aspect that is noteworthy is that we get to see the borders and boundaries of Federation,Romulan,Klingon,Cardassian, Ferengi, Borg, Dominion areas of space in relationship to each other and the whole Milky Way Galaxy. Geoffrey Mandel along with the Star Trek art department does a really good job on the graphic art from the front of the cover to the back. I especially like the section that gives us a look at a graphic representation of planets with some information on the planets right before each map of a quadrant. So many Alpha Quadrant planets like Earth, Bajor, Cardassia Prime are listed with statistical information and the same goes for the Beta Quadrant with Planets like Vulcan, Romulus, Kronos. Something that is cool is that some planets like Earth and Vulcan are singled out so we get to see how the solar system is set up. The only negative thing about this reference book is that it does not have an easy way to find many notable planets and trying to look for them all is tiring on the eyes.

Star Trek fans have wondered for years where the Cardassian Union is in relationship to the Ferengi Alliance, or how large the Neutral Zone is between the United Federation of Planets and the Romulan Star Empire. This book answers those questions in a full-color, highly-stylized illustrative manner.The atlas is in wonderful detail and the illustrations are in vibrant colors. I really liked the explanations of all of the classes of planets (Class M, Class K, etc.) as well as an explanation of the different stars.The book even goes so far as to explain the coordinate system that Star Fleet uses to designate sectors, i.e. the difference between sector 001 and Sector 21505 et al.Finally, a book that shows the geography of Star Trek and an arranged view of the Federation. This book should go on your bookshelf right along with "The Star Trek Encyclopedia", "Star Trek Chronology", "Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual", and "Deep Space Nine: Tecnical Manual" to complete any true fan's reference library.

Finally after years of waiting and wishing for this particular Trek extra to be released, Geoffrey Mandel brings it to fruition. Star Trek Star Charts, from cover to cover has many of the details that fans have been waiting for. The Milky Way Galaxy in all its glory, as it's mapped by the Federation. The stars and planets are typed and explained in all of their details. Most everything that is known about the four quadrants; Alpha, Beta, Delta and Gamma are mapped skillfully and explained in detail. This wonderful book is worth every last penny for the casual Trek fan and the die hard Trek fan alike. One can see that this can also be extremely helpful to the professional Trek authors and the amateurs wishing to get published in the yearly Strange New Worlds contest. As these Trek extras go, it's best to purchase this one as soon as possible because it will not be long before this is out of publication! {ssintrepid}

If you're a fan of any of the Star Trek series, you must pick up this book! See the route Archer's NX-01 has taken... find out where the Bajoran Wormhole opens up at... the locations of many of Trek's most know, and not known systems!Find out how sectors are work, and the galaxy is divided up... and how the Enterprise took Klang home in a few days, even though Klingon space is 100s of light years away from Earth.What route did Voyager take to get back to Alpha Quadrant? It's here in thsi book!The book is filled with detailed maps of the Star Trek galxy, and four posters that, when combined, represent a detailed map of Federation Space.So pick this book up, and pepare to set course for any where your heart desires!

When one deals with as potentially complicated (and sometimes contradictory) a thing as the "geography" of the galaxy as described by the various Star Trek series and films, it's always a challenge to get a good understanding of just what's going on. To lay it out in a set of charts is even more of a challenge.Geoff Mandel has met this challenge, and done it very, very well. While this new book is a very different way of looking at Star Trek's known space than the previous seminal publication on the topic--Bantam's Star Trek Maps, published over two decades ago--Mr. Mandel does the job excellently, bringing an even greater sense of verisimilitude and realism to the topic. When one is done reading this book, one can believe in the galaxy shown here, and believe that it could be the world that Star Trek's starships and stations and people inhabit.Visually, this book is a treat, and it's filled with details that will keep the reader coming back to it again and again. A few small errors--a typo here, an erroneous date there--do not detract significantly from the overall rich tapestry of pictures and maps and the sheer volume of fascinating information contained within this book. Indeed, if there's one major negative to this book, it's that it's simply not enough. I wanted more, more starmaps, more planetary system details, more of all the things that are going to make this book an important part of my collection. I hope Pocket Books can be encouraged to do another edition, and expand it.As it is, though, I still highly recommend _Star Charts_. It's a huge amount of fun, and is absolutely worth your time and money. Buy it!