Voyages of Imagination

Voyages of Imagination is a trade paperback published by Pocket Books that focuses on the Star Trek novels published by Bantam Books and Pocket Books, among others.

The book is broken into two sections: the first has brief descriptions of each novel published to date, while the second section is a detailed timeline that fits each novel into the timeline from the Star Trek Chronology and also updates the timeline based on changes made after the second Chronology edition, such as the date for the first film.

Summary

 * From the book jacket:
 * Through four decades, five television series comprising over seven hundred episodes, ten feature films, and an animated series, fandom's thirst for more Star Trek stories has been unquenchable.


 * From the earliest short-story adaptations by James Blish in the 1960s, followed by the first original Star Trek novels during the seventies, and on throughout the eighties, nineties, and into the twenty-first century, fiction has offered an unparalleled expansion of the rich Star Trek tapestry. But what is it that makes these books such a powerfully attractive creative outlet to some and a compelling way to experience the Star Trek mythos anew to others?


 * Voyages of Imagination takes a look back on the first forty years of professionally published Star Trek fiction, revealing the personalities and sensibilities of many of the novels' imaginative contributors and offering an unprecedented glimpse into the creative processes, the growing pains, the risks, the innovations, the missteps, and the great strides taken in the books.


 * Author Jeff Ayers has immersed himself in nearly six hundred books and interviewed more than three hundred authors and editors in order to compile this definitive guide to the history and evolution of an incomparable publishing phenomenon. Fully illustrated with the covers of every book included herein, Voyages of Imagination is indexed by title and author, features a comprehensive timeline, and is a must-have for every fan.

Background

 * This companion features interviews with many Star Trek writers, including actors-turned-writers William Shatner (James T. Kirk), Armin Shimerman (Quark), Andrew Robinson (Elim Garak), and J.G. Hertzler (Martok).