The Star Trek galaxy has steadily expanded over the past 50 years, sprawling through four quadrants of our galaxy and adding worlds as the story grew and developed. That made for an immersive and increasingly well-mapped landscape for stories, one that hungry fans ate up.
The Klingon Empire is arguably the most popular of all Star Trek races and locations, and author Dayton Ward has placed the central world of Qo’Nos at the heart of this book and written a travel guide to Qo’Nos and the various locations across the Empire, complemented by evocative artwork by Livid Ramondelli and Peter Markowski.
From the First City and the Central Plains to Ketha Province and Tong Vey, this steers close to the style of a classic travel book. Want to know all about the Great Tribble Hunt? Ward fills us in (unsurprisingly, Klingons sing about every great battle apart from this). Perhaps you want to know about dining out in the Krennla region (where the best fish are hauled in from the BIQ’a’dung Ocean), or maybe the Klingon adaptation of Hamlet (Khamlet) that General Chang was so fond of in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. The book is packed full of handy information and fascinating facts.
Ramondelli and Markowski’s artwork helps give us an insight into the cities, provinces and key worlds of the Empire. Planets like Khitomer, the world where the historic Khitomer Accords were signed are looked at in detail as well as Narendra III, where the Klingons and Romulans clashed in 2344 as seen in the classic Next Generation season three episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise”.
Elements of Klingon lore from across the Star Trek timeline are folded into the book. You will learn that the book is written in plqaD, otherwise known as Klingonese, a phrase first heard in the classic episode “The Trouble With Tribbles”. The bulk of the content comes from the Next Generation, which so heavily focused on the Empire, along with the original crew’s movie series. Deep Space Nine continued that trend as the Klingon Empire joined the fight against the Dominion, and now with Discovery launching in late September and a new breed of Klingons joining the wider story, this book is more relevant than ever. Where else are you going to read about the Cultural Outreach Center in the Krennla Region, or the Snapped Bat’leth bar in Ketha Province?
If you were able to hop in a Klingon Bird of Prey, travel to the Klinzhai Star System and visit Qo’Nos, this is definitely the book you want stuffed in your back pocket. A fun and engaging read for long-time and casual fans.
HIDDEN UNIVERSE TRAVEL GUIDES: STAR TREK THE KLINGON EMPIRE / AUTHOR: DAYTON WARD / PUBLISHER: TITAN BOOKS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
