Mark A. Altman & Edward Gross: Trek Navigator: The Ultimate Guide To The Entire Trek Saga

Trek Navigator: The Ultimate Guide To The Entire Trek Saga is not a unique book. There are plenty of other Star Trek episode guides for the discerning fan, many of which also contain plot synopses and ratings for all the shows in every series, movies included. Each book or set of books has its own quirk, such as the Nitpicker's Guides To Star Trek, which gleefully point out continuity and technical errors in every show. But they all pay lip service to a cultural icon which long ago took on a bloated life of its own. That's too bad, because authors Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross really believe in this particular icon, as evidenced by their painstaking and comprehensive reviews of every episode in existence at the time the book went to press. They even review the ancient and poorly done animated series, making Trek Navigator a true labor of love. Of course, in a cult environment, love alone doesn't set anyone apart. Altman and Gross do distinguish themselves, not by being smarter in a field of self-proclaimed smart people, but by exercising slightly more frankness than most Trek fans can bring themselves to muster up. Altman is a former editor of Sci-Fi Universe, and Gross is a senior editor of Cinefantastique, and this experience presumably helped them in the cultivation of a little skepticism. If you absolutely need an episode guide, this is probably the most even-handed one you'll find. But no matter how good it is, Trek Navigator cannot escape a legacy of fanhood which seems to be wearing a little thin. Still, it's the best of its curious little breed.