Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion

The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion is a trade paperback published by Pocket Books that provides an extensive episode guide for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Written by Terry J. Erdmann and edited by Paula M. Block during the course of the last season of the series and beyond, the book was first published shortly afterwards in and provided episode summaries for every episode of all seven seasons, from  through. It also offers an in-depth look at what occurred behind the scenes of each episode through interviews with various creators, producers, main cast members, recurring actors, guest actors, directors, special effects artists and other production staff members.

Designed by Richard Oriolo, the book was fashioned after the earlier The Star Trek Compendium and the Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion providing extensive episode summaries, but with an enhanced formula by adding greatly embellished "making-of" commentaries, larger interviews with above mentioned contributors as well as by including production material graphics, the latter of which included the map of Bajor that Robert Hewitt Wolfe and Bradley Thompson made throughout the run of the series. The enhanced formula proved to be a strong selling point as was evidenced by, for example, the review in SFX magazine, praising the Deep Space Nine Companion as "the reference work fans have been waiting for, and the best non-fiction Trek book to date." The sentiment, not in the least due to its enhanced formula, was shared by its readership as was evidenced at the customer review section of Amazon.com, where it has prompted a reply of gratitude from one of its authors, Erdmann. Deep Space Nine production staffers too, held the book in high regard. Ira Steven Behr, for example, often used the Companion to jog his memory about Deep Space Nine. He also once stated "Everything we wanted to say about Deep Space Nine is pretty much in that book." ("Deep Space Memoirs", TV Zone magazine, issue 50)

While the Companion was in the process of being compiled, it gained the rare distinction of becoming a source of production material as well, as the episode summaries, written up until then, were used in to represent Benny Russell's Deep Space Nine stories that he was writing on the wall of his room.

The formula was completely abandoned with the follow-up trade paperback for Voyager (Star Trek: Voyager Companion). No companion has been released for Star Trek: Enterprise.

Summary

 * From the book jacket:
 * It might be hard to believe, but there was a time when launching a new Star Trek series was considered a risky venture. Maybe it was just luck that Star Trek: The Next Generation had succeeded. Could another'' show capture the imagination of viewers?


 * The creators of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine built a cast of characters totally different from the more comfortable, familiar ones that had been seen on previous incarnations of Star Trek. One of the writers observed, "You can see right away they're not perfectly engineered humans... They seem more real... They represent a different way to tell a story." The setting for the show was a space station, a dark, almost sinister, alien place – the diametrical opposite of a bright, reassuring starship. This new Star Trek series set every expectation on its head – and it succeeded. Deep Space Nine created some of the most visionary, emotionally charged, and critically acclaimed hours of television ever made, and at the end of seven years it could boast of ranking at the top of the syndicated ratings year after year.


 * The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion is the official guide to all 176 spectacular episodes of this revolutionary series. Detailed synopses, behind-the-scenes information, and in-depth interviews with the cast and crew are provided for each show. Hundreds of photographs and illustrations – many never before seen – fill the pages of this book. For the casual reader or the fan who wants to know more, this is the definitive book of this groundbreaking series. From its explosive beginning to the heartrending conclusion, relive it all and see why TV Guide called it "the best acted, written, produced, and altogether finest... Star Trek series.