Most of the other big sci-fi, fantasy and comic book franchises has had those Visual Dictionary large-format books put out by DK Publishing. One major sci-fi franchise noticeably left out was Star Trek and that universe is a perfect fit for these informative books with their large, visually pleasing pictures and lay outs. Finally, one has been made for Star Trek and it’s just been released.

It was worth the wait.

Star Trek: The Visual Dictionary by Paul Ruditis is a beautifully designed and laid out book full of rich pictures and information about the Star Trek universe. It is lay out and format is similar to the other Visual Dictionary books of other franchises and covers all the Star Trek shows in their universe’s chronological order. So it starts with humanity discovering warp drive, continues through Star Trek: Enterprise and finishes with Star Trek: Voyager.

Basically, the major races, characters and some events are presented and all the shows are given equal space. Alien races included are popular ones like Vulcans and Klingons to more obscure ones like the Vidiians. So there is some meat for fans of any particular show.

The only complaint that can be made about Star Trek: The Visual Dictionary is that it’s a bit short. It couldn’t be a mammoth reference guide like The Star Trek Encyclopedia, but some characters and aliens were unfortunately left out. DK Publishing could’ve done what they did with the Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary books and published more than one volume. Hopefully this will prove to be a test to see if there is a market to put out more volumes. There is plenty of material left to cover. It wouldn’t surprise anyone if one were to be made for the new Star Trek reboot films.

In any event, it certainly is a treat for Star Trek fans and at an affordable price ($20) Star Trek: The Visual Dictionary makes a terrific addition to a fan’s library collection.

Lewis T. Grove