Written by Ben Robinson and Ian Spelling
Published by Hero Collector
I’ll admit to having been a tad leery going into reading Star Trek: A Celebration.
I mean, I started buying books on Star Trek was back in the early ‘70s and when my wife and I married in the ‘90s, she brought a lot more Star Trek books into our library. And that’s not counting, of course, all the ones purchased since!
What could Star Trek: A Celebration possibly have to say new about something I had already read so much about for decades?
Well, let’s just say they showed ME!
Star Trek: A Celebration is not just a pretty rehash at all. It tells the basic story of the original series from pre-conception up through the early days of the fan phenomenon it became in the ‘70s due to reruns. Yes, I was there for much of this, but Ben Robinson and Ian Spelling, the credited authors here, have managed to pull together enough new information which, when combined with probably most of the classic ST publicity photos, make the story feel fresh, with previously unknown nuances highlighted.
Certain fan-favorite episodes including “The Trouble with Tribbles” and “City on the Edge of Forever” get detailed chapters under the microscope as, of course, do all the individual crew members and their actors. Some of the show’s previously revealed dirty laundry is re-aired, although without dwelling on any of it. The major writers and directors, too, get scrutinized, although I feel Joseph Pevney—who managed to direct numerous now-classic episodes while his wife, actress Mitzi Green, was dying of cancer—was perhaps glossed over a bit too much.
We find stories from the casting office, from the costuming department, the design department (with lots of rare art!), and some of the folks who mounted the campaign to save Star Trek. With many of the behind the scenes folks long gone by now, the authors manage to speak with their children or with relatively minor guest stars on the series for entirely new and sometimes surprising perspectives on the show. There’s even a whole chapter that settles once and for all the longtime mystery of who played the cat in “Assignment: Earth!”
At more than 250 enthralling pages of text, illustrations, and photos, the worst thing I can say about Star Trek: A Celebration is that the proofreader in me couldn’t help noticing an inordinate amount of just plain typos for a book as prestigious as this one is. Hardly a dealbreaker.
If you’re a longtime Star Trek fan, Star Trek: A Celebration is yet another worthy addition to your own personal library of Star Trek books. If you’re only familiar with the more recent iterations of the franchise, Star Trek: A Celebration would seem a perfect jumping on point for those new to ST: TOS (although watch out for spoilers in the chapters on individual episodes!).
Booksteve recommends.
