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1) The Nitpicker's Guide for Next Generation Trekkers, Vol. 1
Definitely my least favorite of the nonfiction Trek books I read in 2022, which is why I led with it! A nitpicker's life is not for me. I was hoping for something like this:
"In Episode 6, the alien creature has yellow blood. But this couldn't possibly be true because as Geordi says in Scene 3, these alien creatures are carbon-based life forms with iron atoms in their blood, which binds to oxygen, and as we all know..."
I was essentially hoping for a science-based takedown of any silly errors in the show. But what I found was...well, nitpicking. Like the title says. And much of it I disagreed with, but whether I disagreed or not, it was all pretty silly. "Why did Riker's clone decide to grow out a beard at the exact same time that Riker did?" and stuff like that.
2) Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion
In contrast, I loved this one and found it very helpful. This is an episode-by-episode guide to TNG. It includes a detailed synopsis of each episode, some behind the scenes info, and photos. I often struggle to find the episodes I want to watch, and fandom's tendency to write wikis as if all these events actually took place....doesn't help. Memory Alpha is better than most, since it actually cites episodes, but it's still tough to look through Memory Alpha and get a comprehensive list of major episodes for a given character, imo.
For me, this was a very helpful guide. Plus it contains lots of fun trivia like guest stars, screenwriters, directors, behind the scenes "how it was made" info, and so on.
3) The World of the Federation
In contrast, the content of this book has been pretty much usurped by Internet fandom. This book lists the ambassadors for various species and gives you a brief overview of the planet's environment and culture. I love books like this for Star Wars -- the old West End Games RPG line is my favorite source for easy worldbuilding. This guide was fun, but a little less useful. I still found inspiration for some fan-writing through its descriptions of Betazed, for example, but ultimately, you get more from reading the Memory Alpha entries online or visiting fan forums.
4) Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Manual
Working off season-one TNG, this book is exactly what it says on the tin, but largely contradicted by later canon. It's still a lot of fun to look at as a sort of fandom time capsule.
5) The Art of Star Trek
Fantastic! This art book covers TOS, TNG, Voyager, DS9, the animated series, and all the movies up until ... I want to say 96? It's packed full with color photos of set pieces and costumes, blueprints and sketches, anything you could ask for, really. The text goes into detail (sometimes not entirely relevant detail) about the process each show's costumers and designers went through to get to the final product. By the time DS9 rolls around, you've got a tight ship and a lot of ephemera to pore through!
Obviously, this isn't much use if you're more into NuTrek, but it's lots of fun for the old stuff. Since that's where my interest lies anyway, it was a great pick for me.
6) The City on the Edge of Forever: The Original Teleplay
If you look on Goodreads you'll see lots of negative reviews for this one. Personally, I had tons of fun reading it, and it's one of my favorite nonfiction Trek books so far. If you have a high opinion of Gene Roddenberry, maybe skip it. This one starts with a VERY long essay by Harlan Ellison where he rants at length about Star Trek in general, Roddenberry in particular, and of course the butchering of his teleplay. Whether or not you enjoy this rant will depend on how much you love gossip, I guess, and how abrasive you find Ellison.
(Personally, I'm meh about Ellison's fiction writing but love his nonfiction rants)
The teleplay itself is golden. Once you read it, you're like, shit, he's not just an angry little man...he's got a damn point. And the book ends with a series of essays by other Star Trek writers and actors, including David Gerrold, Leonard Nimoy, Melinda Snodgrass, Peter David, and more. This is a book LOTS of people will hate, but I still recommend it to every ST fan.
7) Fan Fiction by Brent Spiner
Not really "nonfiction", but I found it really endearing, goofy, and funny. I don't think there's much value to this book if you're not a TNG fan, but if you ARE, there's no reason not to pick it up. Spiner's affection for his castmates leaps off the pages, and the self-deprecating humor is ... well, charming as hell, at least to me. It's a fun popcorn read, and the writing doesn't make me want to claw my brains out, so it's a step up from most Star Trek novels.
8) To Seek Out New Life: The Biology of Star Trek
This is my top nonfiction read of the list. Detailed, thoughtful, funny, it feels like you're sitting down for a riveting conversation with someone who's ready to dig deep on everything from biology (obvs) to ethics, with a bit of fannish critique and squeeing tossed in for good measure. This felt a hundred times more substantial and serious than the other fandom science books you see on the shelves. Physics of Star Wars, Putting the Science in Science Fiction, stuff like that. The author explains concepts succinctly and clearly, and then holds your hand through possibilities branching off from the original topic, which I found lots of fun.
A typical chapter goes like this:
"What is a holodeck? Here's how it looks in Star Trek, and here's how ST explains the science. Let's pick that apart in detail. Now that you know why this wouldn't work, let's explore some ways it WOULD. And while we're at it, let's explore the social ramifications of a holodeck. Are these holo-people intelligent? Do they have free will? What does it mean to them when we close the holodeck down?"
Along the way, there are plenty of references to real episodes and characters to anchor the reader. I'm not very familiar with Voyager, but the references to VOY helped a lot. I read recently (in Skeptical Inquirer) that people need stories to make sense of science, and the author uses that knowledge very well here, by grounding the science in characters and storylines that are largely familiar to the reader.
Definitely my least favorite of the nonfiction Trek books I read in 2022, which is why I led with it! A nitpicker's life is not for me. I was hoping for something like this:
"In Episode 6, the alien creature has yellow blood. But this couldn't possibly be true because as Geordi says in Scene 3, these alien creatures are carbon-based life forms with iron atoms in their blood, which binds to oxygen, and as we all know..."
I was essentially hoping for a science-based takedown of any silly errors in the show. But what I found was...well, nitpicking. Like the title says. And much of it I disagreed with, but whether I disagreed or not, it was all pretty silly. "Why did Riker's clone decide to grow out a beard at the exact same time that Riker did?" and stuff like that.
2) Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion
In contrast, I loved this one and found it very helpful. This is an episode-by-episode guide to TNG. It includes a detailed synopsis of each episode, some behind the scenes info, and photos. I often struggle to find the episodes I want to watch, and fandom's tendency to write wikis as if all these events actually took place....doesn't help. Memory Alpha is better than most, since it actually cites episodes, but it's still tough to look through Memory Alpha and get a comprehensive list of major episodes for a given character, imo.
For me, this was a very helpful guide. Plus it contains lots of fun trivia like guest stars, screenwriters, directors, behind the scenes "how it was made" info, and so on.
3) The World of the Federation
In contrast, the content of this book has been pretty much usurped by Internet fandom. This book lists the ambassadors for various species and gives you a brief overview of the planet's environment and culture. I love books like this for Star Wars -- the old West End Games RPG line is my favorite source for easy worldbuilding. This guide was fun, but a little less useful. I still found inspiration for some fan-writing through its descriptions of Betazed, for example, but ultimately, you get more from reading the Memory Alpha entries online or visiting fan forums.
4) Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Manual
Working off season-one TNG, this book is exactly what it says on the tin, but largely contradicted by later canon. It's still a lot of fun to look at as a sort of fandom time capsule.
5) The Art of Star Trek
Fantastic! This art book covers TOS, TNG, Voyager, DS9, the animated series, and all the movies up until ... I want to say 96? It's packed full with color photos of set pieces and costumes, blueprints and sketches, anything you could ask for, really. The text goes into detail (sometimes not entirely relevant detail) about the process each show's costumers and designers went through to get to the final product. By the time DS9 rolls around, you've got a tight ship and a lot of ephemera to pore through!
Obviously, this isn't much use if you're more into NuTrek, but it's lots of fun for the old stuff. Since that's where my interest lies anyway, it was a great pick for me.
6) The City on the Edge of Forever: The Original Teleplay
If you look on Goodreads you'll see lots of negative reviews for this one. Personally, I had tons of fun reading it, and it's one of my favorite nonfiction Trek books so far. If you have a high opinion of Gene Roddenberry, maybe skip it. This one starts with a VERY long essay by Harlan Ellison where he rants at length about Star Trek in general, Roddenberry in particular, and of course the butchering of his teleplay. Whether or not you enjoy this rant will depend on how much you love gossip, I guess, and how abrasive you find Ellison.
(Personally, I'm meh about Ellison's fiction writing but love his nonfiction rants)
The teleplay itself is golden. Once you read it, you're like, shit, he's not just an angry little man...he's got a damn point. And the book ends with a series of essays by other Star Trek writers and actors, including David Gerrold, Leonard Nimoy, Melinda Snodgrass, Peter David, and more. This is a book LOTS of people will hate, but I still recommend it to every ST fan.
7) Fan Fiction by Brent Spiner
Not really "nonfiction", but I found it really endearing, goofy, and funny. I don't think there's much value to this book if you're not a TNG fan, but if you ARE, there's no reason not to pick it up. Spiner's affection for his castmates leaps off the pages, and the self-deprecating humor is ... well, charming as hell, at least to me. It's a fun popcorn read, and the writing doesn't make me want to claw my brains out, so it's a step up from most Star Trek novels.
8) To Seek Out New Life: The Biology of Star Trek
This is my top nonfiction read of the list. Detailed, thoughtful, funny, it feels like you're sitting down for a riveting conversation with someone who's ready to dig deep on everything from biology (obvs) to ethics, with a bit of fannish critique and squeeing tossed in for good measure. This felt a hundred times more substantial and serious than the other fandom science books you see on the shelves. Physics of Star Wars, Putting the Science in Science Fiction, stuff like that. The author explains concepts succinctly and clearly, and then holds your hand through possibilities branching off from the original topic, which I found lots of fun.
A typical chapter goes like this:
"What is a holodeck? Here's how it looks in Star Trek, and here's how ST explains the science. Let's pick that apart in detail. Now that you know why this wouldn't work, let's explore some ways it WOULD. And while we're at it, let's explore the social ramifications of a holodeck. Are these holo-people intelligent? Do they have free will? What does it mean to them when we close the holodeck down?"
Along the way, there are plenty of references to real episodes and characters to anchor the reader. I'm not very familiar with Voyager, but the references to VOY helped a lot. I read recently (in Skeptical Inquirer) that people need stories to make sense of science, and the author uses that knowledge very well here, by grounding the science in characters and storylines that are largely familiar to the reader.
