| Type | Book |
|---|---|
| Date | 1975-11-01 |
| Pages | 194 |
| Series | Star Trek: The Original Series books |
| Tags | fictional reference, 75 in 2017 |
Now we come to a new kind of book: a reference book, presented as a non-fictional item from the fictional universe. Today's subject is the Star Trek Star Fleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph, published in November 1975. This book was preceded by the Star Trek Blueprints by the same author, published in April of the same year, which I do not presently have access to.
At the beginning is the Articles of Federation for the United Federation of Planets, twenty pages of dull pseudo-legalese devoted to which groups vote on which things and how. The most interesting thing here, probably, is the listing of the initial members of the Federation (in article 23):
The Federation Council shall consist of eleven (11) members of the United Federation. The United Nations of the Planet Earth, the Planetary Confederation of 40 Eridani, the United Planets of 61 Cygni, the Star Empire of Epsilon Indii, and the Alpha Centauri Concordium of Planets shall be permanent members of the Federation Council. The Supreme Assembly shall elect six (6) other members of the United Federation to be non-permanent members of the Federation Council, due regard being especially paid, in the first instance, to the contribution of the members of the United Federation to the maintenance of interplanetary peace and security and to the other purposes of the Federation, and also to equitable geo-galactical distribution;
40 Eridani is the Vulcan star system, 61 Cygni the Tellarite system, and Epsilon Indii the Andorian system.
The Articles of Federation are followed by the peace treaty with the Romulan Star Empire, then the peace treaty with the Klingons imposed by the Organians. After this are many pages of diagrams: the flags of the members of the Federation, patterns for uniforms, schematics for equipment, blueprints for buildings, everything you could wish for.
On the whole, this book is probably better as a sourcebook for Trek-related creative endeavors than as a standalone book.
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Franz Joseph | Author |