TREKCORE > SPECIALS > Boarding the Enterprise Review

ARTICLE: Boarding the Enterprise Review
PUBLISHED: September 19, 2006
AUTHOR: Virogen

Star Trek is special.

Visiting a book store today, you will find multiple copies of the never ending relaunch novels. You may find the odd reprint of the Physics of Star Trek, or the Star Trek Encyclopedia, but for the most part Trek literature is limited to the fiction novel. This year, Benbella Books is adding some nonfiction to our bookshelves in a collection of retrospective essays called “Boarding the Enterprise: Transporters, Tribbles and the Vulcan Death Grip in Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek”. A unique title to say the least, and one that is very likely to catch the attentions of fans perusing stores. I would not call the title fitting, nor particularly descriptive of the content, but with the alternative being “A collection of retrospective essays analyzing the original Star Trek”, I can see why they chose the title they did. The book is also unauthorized, hence no Pocket Books, and hence a cover cleverly mimicking but no copying the poster of the first Star Trek film.

Let me lay some concerns to rest straight away. These essays do not fall into the “Star Trek is dead” and “Beam me up Scotty” traps. That is, they do not bore us with the repetitive clichéd content plaguing Star Trek articles in the media over the past five years. I am also pleased to say that they are engrossing, informative, and wholly entertaining reads. For those of you who hoped to never read another essay after high school, let me tell you, these are nothing like the essays your unimaginative high school teachers made you read.

The authors are of this collection are as varied as the contents of their contributions. Some of you may instantly recognize names such as David Gerrold (writer of The Trouble with Tribbles), DC Fontana (long time Star Trek contributor), and to a lesser extent, Howard Weinstein (writer of an Animated Series episode). The more well read science fiction fans may recognize Hugo award nominees/winners Allen Steele, Michael Burnstein, Laurence Watt-Evans, and Paul Levinson. These all have contributed to this book, in addition to a multitude of lesser known, but completely talented writers.

“Boarding the Enterprise” is focused on analyzing the many facets of the Original Series, and its subsequent impact on society. DC Fontana’s essay was very intriguing as she recalled stories and events from the filming of the series. David Gerrold’s contribution is filled with gems of information about the beginnings of the franchise, like that RCA owned NBC and wanted Star Trek redone in color so they could push sales of their new color TV sets. He also comments on the famous writing campaign and first conventions. To be fair, those of you who lived during the era may not find this particularly “new”, but to a younger fan like myself, it is enlightening. In fact, the entire book deepened my interest in the Original Series and my appreciation of the Star Trek franchise as a whole.

Paul Levinson’s essay analyzes how Star Trek began, forty years ago, the destruction of the dominance of network television, which is very pronounced in current times. In “Who Killed The Space Race”, Adam Roberts poses Star Trek as the killer of the space programs. And he has a point, too. And then there are the comedic essays like “What Have You Done With Spock’s Brain?”, where Don DeBrandt argues the irrationality of the Vulcan race, and “Lost Secrets of Pre-War Human Technology: Seat Belts, Circuit Breakers and Memory Allocation”, where Lawrence Watt-Evans writes from the view of xenopyschologist Gleep and answers the age old question about lack of seat belts on a starship.

As you see the content is quite varied. Another somewhat humorous article with a focus on technology is Roberta Metzger’s “Exaggerate with Extreme Prejudice”, which raised and answered some questions about how some of the most basic treknology works. What may interest many is his explanation as to how a transporter may be possible, countering the claims that it would be impossible to store all the information to reproduce a person. And for the slash virgins like myself, Melissa Dickinson, a Strange New Worlds winner, writes a very insightful essay about the motivations of fan fiction and slash fiction writers – it may change your opinion on those who write slash!

By the end of the fifteen essays, I was honestly left with a rediscovered love for the franchise, something many Trek fans could use today. The respect and love the authors have for the show comes through as they describe the many ways Star Trek was revolutionary. Like anyone, I enjoyed certain essays more than others, but the impressive variety means there is something for each person to enjoy. In the end, the message is Star Trek is special. If you agree, this collection will be an affirmation of this, and perhaps help you discover new reasons to love and respect it.

Buy "Boarding the Enterprise" at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk