Quiz book Obsessed with Star Trek first appeared in 2011. Now revised and updated with an additional 200 questions covering the three Kelvin universe movies, it contains enough tough trivia to test even the most ardent Trekkie.
Divided into eleven sections covering the first five live action TV series, movies, characters, aliens, ships, technology, cosmic phenomena, and the Kelvin timeline, the book clocks in at an impressive 2,700 multiple-choice questions. And while questions aren’t divided by difficulty level, they range from the extremely easy (“What is Kirk’s middle name?”) to pretty damn difficult (“What was the interlink frequency of Unimatrix Zero based on?”). (Tiberius and Tri-axillating modulation, obviously). Plus the answers are handily givenat the bottom of each page, meaning there’s none of the constant skipping to the back common to many quiz books.
While the Original Series, Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise all have their own sections, there are a couple of surprising omissions. The Animated Series and, bizarrely, Discovery aren’t included. While The Animated Series is perhaps understandable given it’s semi-canonical status and relative obscurity, omitting the current series – in particular in a book which claims to be fully updated – is a surprising choice. While it’s still on air, the first season concluded in February – more than enough time for author Chip Carter to include a chapter.
Carter also clearly has an affinity for both the Original Series and Next Generation, assigning them far more relative space than their counterparts. Next Generation comprises 400 of the book’s 2,700 questions, with 300 for the Original Series – the same as Deep Space Nine, despite having under half as many episodes. Voyager and Enterprise fans (yes they do exist) may feel relatively short-changed, with both series clocking in at a meagre 200 questions each.
As for what is included, for the most part, it’s a very entertaining selection of questions, covering everything from deleted aliens in Star Trek V to Klingon opera singers. The multiple-choice options are for the most part all credible, making guesswork a lot harder (and trust us, when it comes to Klingon opera singers, we’re guessing!).
Each page also features a bit of trivia, linked to a question. These range from the obvious, such as episode descriptions, to the relatively obscure. And while there’s nothing particularly revelatory for the average Trekkie (or Trekker, as the blurb annoyingly insists) it’s a fun overview for the uninitiated (who probably shouldn’t be reading a Star Trek quiz book in the first place really).
Obsessed with Star Trek is a fun addition to any fan’s library, with questions ranging from stupidly easy to taxing enough to baffle Data (if he was having a bad day, anyway). While it loses points for not sorting questions by difficulty level, or attempting to organise questions into any sort of coherent quiz structure, it’s nonetheless a fun read and guaranteed to cause more than a little head scratching. Now, how many suns does Rura Penthe have?
OBSESSED WITH STAR TREK / AUTHOR: CHIP CARTER / PUBLISHER: TITAN BOOKS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
