U.S.S. Enterprise Manual (Haynes Owners Workshop Manual) [Hardcover]

Okay, let's get it out of the way: this is not a 'workshop manual' in the style of the traditional Haynes car manuals. It's full of colour artwork, background info and technical descriptions of what's inside each Enterprise and how certain things work (such as impulse engines, warp engines and transporters). Also, and perhaps rather obviously, it is not based on a complete strip down and rebuild like the Haynes car manuals, and it is absolutely fair to say that the level of technical detail does not match, for example, the Star Trek: TNG Technical Manual (Okuda/Sternbach). However, that book is over twenty years old, is black and white throughout and covers just the Enterprise D. The Haynes Enterprise Manual covers ALL the Enterprises (apart from the one in the new film, but I can sort of see why this would have been difficult), so it's bound to look light in comparison. I've read the previous Star Trek technical manuals, and they are pretty heavy going. Fine if that's what you want. But if you want something that's much easier to read, and MUCH better illustrated (full colour elevations plus cutaways of every Enterprise) then give this one a try. In short, it's not over technical and therefore may appear a bit 'lightweight' to the real trekkies out there, but for a good overview covering all the Enterprises in one book, it does the job. It is what it is, and even if that's not what you were expecting, it's still the first Star Trek 'technical' book in a very long time.

I used to be a big Star Trek fan and was the proud owner of the highly detailed technical manual of the Enterprise 'D' from The Next Generation, but recently I've rediscovered some of the wonder I used to feel for the franchise and I've come to appreciate this book.

It isn't as highly detailed as the book I used to have, and it doesn't have incredible schematic diagrams, but it still contains lots of great pictures and information about the various spacecraft which have carried the name Enterprise. Whichever Enterprise is your favourite, you'll find full colour front, rear, and side views in here. There are facts on each of the ships along with images from some of the films.

As well as overviews of the ships, there are articles on various other Star Trek elements such as Warp Speed, Impulse Engines, and Defence Shields. The information is presented alongside illustrations so you can see where the hardware being discussed is located on the ships. It also provides write-ups on the role of the Bridge, Consoles, the Nacelles, etc - all things which are instantly familiar to even the most casual viewer of any Star Trek series or film.

I didn't realise until I saw the other reviews that this information is effectively a collective of articles from other sources, but if you haven't seen them before then this is an impressive overview of the ships and technology iconic to Star Trek. It might not have the level of detail as other available books, but it certainly isn't light on information. This may not satisfy the appetite of a die-hard fan who wants full blueprints and cut-away sections showing all areas of each deck - but for those with a general interest who wants a single source of information with illustrations and overviews on key areas, then this is the perfect book.

In a nutshell: If you don't already have any literature on the Star Trek universe then this is a great starter point, if you already have a hefty library then this is a nice addition to the collection but perhaps offers little over what you already have. There's no doubting however that this is a well presented book which displays everything in an interesting way and utilises the stylistic schemes typical to Star Trek.

My starship developed a fault the other week, and I wasn't sure how the plasma coils should be removed. This book was a great help, and of course replacement was just a reversal of the removal process.

Although it's not a genuine manual as such, it's a nicely bound book containing interesting history and layouts of the various classes of starship and is an interesting read if you've not got much Star Trek technical info already in your Trek collection. A few of these on a shelf would probably be an interesting talking point for some.