Ships of the Line (Star Trek)

asked by jazzman on October 30, 2006 4:59 AM

They dared to risk it all in a skiff of reeds or leather, on a ship of wood or steel, knowing the only thing between them and certain death was their ship. To explore, to seek out what lay beyond the close and comfortable, every explorer had to embrace danger. And as they did so, what arose was a mystical bond, a passion for the ships that carried them. From the very first time humans dared to warp the fabric of space, escaping from the ashes of the third World War, they also created ships. These vessels have become the icons of mankind's desire to rise above the everyday, to seek out and make the unknown known. And these ships that travel the stellar seas have stirred the same passions as the ones that floated in the oceans.

While every captain has wished that their starship could be outfitted in the same manner as the sailing ship H.M.S. Beagle -- without weapons -- that proved

untenable. From the start, Starfleet realized that each vessel, due to the limited range of the early warp engines, must be able to stand alone against any

attack. Thus arose the idea, taken from the days of wooden sailing ships, that every Starfleet vessel must stand as a ship of the line. Through the actions of their captains and crews, countless starships have taken on that role. Here we remember some of those ships and their heroic crews.

In celebration of the fortieth anniversary of Star Trek, here for the very first time collected together are the spectacular images from the highly successful and acclaimed Star Trek: Ships of the Line calendars. Gloriously rendered, each of these illustrations was created exclusively for Pocket Books. With text by Michael Okuda (The Star Trek Encyclopedia), the story of each of these valiant starships comes to life.

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Reviews

All things considered, a great book for the price. It's big enough to leave out on the coffee table, but small enough so that your blasphemously ignorant non-Trek associates won't mock you. The action shots are amazing, and the captions stir the imagination. Not being an avid Trek reader, I presume that these are taken from the novels?

That said, I was really hoping that the book would feature ships that we don't get to see very often in video (Enterprise B and C). I was really disappointed that the Enterprise B was repeatedly depicted as an Excelsior class ship, minus the refit, as it was depicted in "Generations" when it first launched. They even missed it on the cover!

Also, I wish the actual book cover matched the slipcover, but instead it's just about the plainest binding I've ever seen. However, I will be leaving the book setting out for guests to see, open to the purported Starfleet initial conceptual design for the refit Constitution class Enterprise.

reviewed by ozone on November 8, 2006 2:26 PM

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The wildest thing about this book is the size --its so much smaller than I anticipated! I guess it never occured to me that the images in this book would be printed at about half the size they are in the calendars, but that, in fact, is the case. It looks like a book that has been cut in half! I've kept every "Ship of the Line" calendar, and the content of this book is wonderful. I was very much looking forward to this compilation... but now, I feel let down. Never a good feeling!

reviewed by vern on November 9, 2006 6:46 PM

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