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Star Trek Chronology: The History of the Future

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A comprehensive chronology of Star Trek history begins with the birth of Captain James T. Kirk and his service on the Enterprise to the most recent adventures of Captain Jean Luc Picard and his crew.

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

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Michael Okuda

17 books33 followers

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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
Profile Image for Alejandro.
1,304 reviews3,777 followers
March 15, 2017
One of the best reference books of Star Trek!


THE FUTURE... THE FINAL FRONTIER

Let's face it, any reference book about an active franchise is "outdated" like the following day of its publishing, so it's no wonder that while this is honestly one of the best, and most gorgeous looking books about Star Trek, but due it was published in 1996, so what you'll find in the timeline here is...

-The whole Star Trek: The Original Series, along with its theatrical films, but sadly not the animated series since then it was not considered "canon" (while nowadays it got back to the canon).

-The whole Star Trek: The Next Generation, but in the case of theatrical films is up to Star Trek: First Contact.

-The first four seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

-The first two seasons of Star Trek: Voyager.

Therefore, there isn't anything about Star Trek: Enterprise, the Abramsverse theatrical films, and obviously nothing about Star Trek: Discovery.

However, trust me, while outdated, if you are Trekker and you have the chance to buy this reference book, I'd advise you to go for it, since it's a gorgeous edition, using prestige paper and full color photos in the whole book (since most of the Star Trek reference books had been published on regular paper with black-and-white photos (and trust me, I have bought most of those books! So, I know what I'm talking about!).

Just be careful to buy the right edition, this one, from 1996, that I'm reviewing is a "Revised Edition" clearly mentioning that it includes until Star Trek: First Contact theatrical film.

So far, I am aware, there isn't any more recent updated edition (that I found quite shocking) but since this edition indicates that it's a "revised" one, so I pretty much guess that there was at least one prior edition, so be careful of not buying an older version, since I can't guarantee that it'd be using the same kind of paper of color photos (that I honestly don't think it'd do).

You'll find an impressive timeline since the beginning of the universe until the 24th Century to the year of 2372 (also indicating the Stardates (whenever mentioned in the TV episode or movie)) and even it doesn't stop there...

...since in some stories there were mentioned several future events, far beyond of the shown and/or reached in TV or Cinema, but if there was a mentioned date, you can be sure that it's mentioned in the massive timeline.

Obviously, since this isn't a regular history book, so you won't find a detailed timeline before the 23rd Century, unless those events in the "past" of Star Trek had a pivotal relevance in some story featured in the already contained time period of the franchise.

Certainly if you are a Trekker, this will be a dreamy book for you, and it will be the most exciting history book ever read by you.

Live Long and Prosper!


265 reviews4 followers
June 24, 2024
Back when ST:TNG was at the height of its popularity, Pocker Books seemed to release a never-ending stream of Star Trek reference books, and I slavishly bought most of them. Most of them were good, this one not so much.

Ostensibly a chronological timeline of the Trek universe, from millennia ago to the far future, but covering only the original series, the first six films and the first five seasons of TNG, it's undoubtedly a Labour of love for those who compiled it but, for the most part just end up being a series of very brief story synopses with additional events dotted between them. Do we really need to know when Scotty bought a boat? Do Miles and Keiko need us to know when they conceived Molly??

It's clumsily written in places, the "almost 500 photos" are tiny and all black and white, and Ro Laren is represented by the same photo three times in just a handful of pages. Vaguely interesting at times, ultimately unsatisfying and, as with most things of this ilk, now horribly out of date.
Profile Image for Lisa (Harmonybites).
1,834 reviews410 followers
May 2, 2010
This was published in 1996 and as such has limited utility. It would were it completely up to date to be honest. Who really needs this other than that rarefied group who write Star Trek fan or professional fiction? And because it only covers until First Contact... Well, that means it covers only all of the Original Series and Next Generation episodes and the first 8 films, with only the first few years of Deep Space Nine, Voyager, nothing of Enterprise or the later feature films such as the Reboot. Still, I found it useful to have the "future history" (alternate history with the inconsistencies that piled up since the late sixties) of Trek laid out year by year, with the sources from the episodes and films, and with more detail than you can conveniently find online.
Profile Image for Daniel Kukwa.
4,741 reviews122 followers
February 21, 2011
Very disappointing when compared to the other Star Trek back-story books. Not as in-depth as the Trek Encyclopedia, or as imaginative as the tech manuals. Perhaps it would have worked better as more of a history text book (as found in the Star Wars chronology)...or by using the approach taken by the far superior Doctor Who equivalent, "A History", complete with footnotes and essays addressing questions of paradox and missing information. Perhaps someone will take a crack at it again in the future, with more satisfying results.
Profile Image for Natalie.
809 reviews2 followers
July 18, 2013
This book is fantastically amazing. For anyone who loves the original Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation and wants a comprehensive timeline of their history, this is most definitely it. It provides stardates of all the original episodes, plus the births and deaths of all the major characters. The only downside is the chronology stops at the end of season 5 of TNG. The Okudas should write another book, including the rest of TNG, the subsequent movies, and perhaps Voyager and DS9. I refer to this book all the time and it will always be on my shelf. A must read for any Trek fan!
Profile Image for Renee Taylor.
325 reviews7 followers
June 15, 2020
This is a good book for the time period that it was written (1996), covering TOS and TNG. However, because of the expansion of the franchise, it would be great if it was updated to cover these series also. The book does not include TAS, although it is generally considered to be canon. The book does include "Editor Notes" that provide some insight on certain episodes, etc.
Profile Image for Lafcadio.
Author 4 books48 followers
January 15, 2008
Chronicles the Star Trek universe from the distant past through 2371 (Deep Space Nine season 4 and Voyager season 2), and on into the future. Includes several appendices.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews

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