Tuesday 6 July 2021

Star Trek non-fiction books update: Shipyards, Nerd Search, Grudge the cat, and cookbook

Several publishers have announced new Star Trek non-fiction books recently, or updated covers and descriptions for books already known about. Continue below for the latest books on a diverse range of subjects spanning starships, cats, cookery, and puzzles!

First up, Eaglemoss: Hero Collector and Penguin Random House have revealed a new cover and updated title for the first of Alpha Quadrant alien ship books in the Star Trek Shipyards(ad) series, which is now known as Alpha Quadrant and Major Races: Acamarian to Ktarian(ad). Ben Robinson is listed as editor.


This is the seventh book in the Shipyards series, which catalogues in-universe the ships of the Star Trek universe - Some of the content is based on articles from The Official Starships Collection magazines, although increasingly these books are also providing a lot of new content as they seek to list all the ships of Star Trek, including many that have never been made by a model even from Eaglemoss' extensive collection. 

This book was initially listed as Volume one of a series of books to cover The Alpha and Beta Quadrant, the name change to Alpha Quadrant and Major Races, and the inclusion of Jem'Hadar ships on the cover, might suggest ships of Gamma Quadrant are also being rolled into this sub-set of books rather than getting a volume of their own (which is reasonable given there aren't all that many Gamma Quadrant ships).

Here's the updated blurb. The book is due out in November (which is a month later than previously suggested):
Boldly go and explore the ally and enemy ships encountered by the Federation in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants in the newest Star Trek Shipyards book.
 
Hero Collector’s popular Star Trek Shipyards series continues with detailed looks at ships from the Alpha and Beta Quadrants as seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: The Original Series, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. First up? Ships of the Breen, Cardassians, and those pesky Ferengi. Each featured ship is profiled with technical details, in-universe operational history, and illustrated with plan-view CG renders, wherever possible utilizing the original VFX models created for the Star Trek shows and features from across the franchise’s remarkable 55 years.
 
This volume includes more than 40 ships, including the Anaxar cargo vessel, the Breen Warship, the Cardassian Bok’Nor, Cardassian military freighter, the Ferengi shuttle, the Gorn warship, the Husnok warship and the Jem’Hadar battlecruiser.

Another growing series from Eaglemoss: Hero Collector is Nerd Search(ad), which is a sort of Where's Wally for detail orientated sci-fi fans. The second Star Trek book in this series (following the TOS book Quibbles with Tribbles(ad)) is coming in November from creator Glenn Dakin, and this volume is TNG themed. A new temp cover is missing artwork, but does reveal the quirky title and tagline: Bloopers of the Borg: The Mistakes Must Go - Make it So!(ad)


The new blurb lays out some of the challenges we can expect inside:

Do you possess Data-like recall of everything Star Trek: The Next Generation? Put that knowledge to the test with Hero Collector’s TNG Nerd Search Book.

The next generation of Hero Collector’s Star Trek Nerd Search book is here, literally. Star Trek Nerd Search: The Next Generation follows the TOS-centric “Quibbles with Tribbles” and it challenges TNG fans to find the made-on-purpose mistakes across its 44 pages. Think of it as a next-level “Where’s Waldo” for all the diehard Star Trek fans throughout the galaxy.

Glenn Dakin, the madman behind Hero Collector’s previous Nerd Search search-and-find titles, Ghostbusters: Eerie Errors & Suspect Ghosts and Star Trek: Quibbles with Tribbles, returns to playfully torment fans who boldly think they know it all. His fully illustrated book beams up the villainous Borg, who’ve created time-traveling Chaos Cubes that break down reality as we know it. The reader’s task is to spot the Cubes and save Picard’s mission.

Making it so, however, will be tough. The reader must spot five continuity errors caused by the Chaos Cubes, such as TNG characters in the wrong costume, or scene or… even the wrong series! Complicating the crises, Dakin has hidden 10 random items for every season of TNG… in each scene. Can you find the rogue elements and name the episode? And, upping the ante even further, next-level Next Gen fans should be on the lookout for five Super Quibbles, behind-the-scenes bits of business that only hardcore fans will uncover. Sounds exciting and challenging, right? Say it with us: Resistance will be futile.

It’s all in here: Quirky “Q” madness, those hirsute, cranky Klingons, and the ever-avaricious Ferengi. And, among the TNG episodes revisited are ‘The Best of Both Worlds,’ ‘The Big Goodbye,’ and ‘Encounter at Farpoint.’

Oh, and the goal is to achieve the top score of, appropriately, 11001001.


Also from Eaglemoss: Hero Collector is the whimsical Discovery book, The Book of Grudge(ad), by author Robb Pearlman. A new cover of course features Grudge:


Also due in November, the updated blurb gives a clear idea of what to expect in this Star Trek cat book:
New York Times bestselling author Robb Pearlman focuses on STAR TREK: DISCOVERY’s breakout star, Grudge the cat. Full of cat photos and whimsical illustrations!

Sharper than a claw and more stunning than a phaser blast, The Book of Grudge’s Prime Directive features her take on everything from space travel to the proper care and training of an array of alien species, STAR TREK-inspired quotes, and haiku meditations on Grudge’s most favorite things, including napping and people (as long as they’re far enough away).
 
Make no mistake, Cleveland Booker’s massive – and massively cool – cat, Grudge is no mundane mouser. This taciturn tabby is, in fact, “a Queen.” She knows it, and everyone aboard the Discovery knows it, too… though some realize it just a bit too late!
 
Get ready to live long and paws-purrrr, as The Book of Grudge delivers Grudge’s snarky thoughts on space travel, replicators, the Federation, and the humanoids she’s encountered on Discovery; offers expert advice regarding the proper care and training of humanoids; Grudge-ifies iconic Star Trek quotes; and shares 5 haiku meditations on her most favorite things, including napping in the starlight, napping in the glow of a nebula, and tolerating people (barely, and only as long as they’re far enough away).
 
And there’s even more catnip for fans, as The Book of Grudge features photography taken on the set of Star Trek: Discovery, as well as exclusive illustrations created especially for this book.


Finally, coming in January next year from Simon and Schuster's Gallery Books and author Chelsea Monroe-Cassel is The Star Trek Cookbook(ad). There's no cover for this one yet, but this blurb:
Learn how to make meals that are out of this world with this indispensable guide to the food of the stars! Perfect for every fan, this updated edition of The Star Trek Cookbook from the New York Times bestselling author comes with brand-new and delicious recipes, tantalizing visuals, and easy-to-follow instructions and advice to make the best foods from the future.

With all-new recipes right beside timeless classics, food stylist, and New York Times bestselling author Chelsea Monroe-Cassel’s reimagining of The Star Trek Cookbook presents a visual feast along with complete guides on favorite foods from across Star Trek, adapted for easy use in 21st century kitchens. Themed as a Starfleet-sponsored collection of recipes from across multiple quadrants and cultures, and intended to foster better understanding of different species from a human perspective with its Earth-centric ingredients, this must-have cookbook embraces the best of Star Trek and its core message of hope, acceptance, and exploration in the spirit of gastrodiplomacy.
It's curious this is described as an updated and reimagined edition of the Star Trek Cookbook(ad), which was published way back in 1999, and co-authored by no less than Mr Neelix himself, Ethan Phillips, as there is no indication Philips and William J. Birnes are being credited as authors again; maybe the title is the only thing being carried over? 

Chelsea Monroe-Cassel appears to be something of a tie-in cookery specialists, having also authored books on the food of Star Wars(ad)Firefly(ad), and several other(ad) TV, film, and game franchises.


Support The Trek Collective, via order links for mentioned books:
Star Trek Shipyards: Alpha Quadrant and Major Races: Acamarian to Ktarian
Nerd Search - Star Trek: The Next Generation - Bloopers of the Borg
Star Trek Discovery: The Book of Grudge
The Star Trek Cookbook
Amazon(ad)

To keep track of all the latest book releases, hit the books button on my 2021 schedule page. For further coverage, you can also look back through my books and non-fiction tags.
 




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