All I Really Need to Know I Learned from Watching (Star Trek)

All I Really Need to Know I Learned from Watching Star Trek

0517883864

Three Rivers Press

10 May, 1995

This is a fun little book chock full of wise sayings gleaned from episodes of the original Star Trek. The original was not a space opera, it was a futurized series of life's lessons, very carefully crafted. Each episode had a heavy-duty message embedded within--and not very hard to spot either. This book does not necessarily include these thematic messages, but it does excerpt a number of pithy, humorous quotes from the characters. It is highly reminiscent of a poster my dentist has in his office of Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. I expect there is also a book with that name, but I haven't read it. These words of wisdom also remind me of Dr. Akin's famous "Laws of Spacecraft Design" which you can access on the internet. With his permission, I used several in my book "The Knowledge Management and Information Technology Encyclopedia" (published by the Government and not for sale). My favorite submits from Marinaccio's delightful book are:
 
 
 Gossip is often confused with conversation. In fact it often takes the place of conversation. Take gossip away from some folks and they would turn into mimes. p.61
 
 When everyone is responsible, ultimately no one is responsible. p.52
 
 Idiot-proofing is also genius-proofing. p.94
 
 Great people talk about ideas. Average people talk about things. Small people talk about people. p.61
 
 Attitude is the top priority; after attitude, talent or gifts are important. p.64
 
 As Yogi Berra, the great Yankees catcher, once said, "You can observe a lot, just by watching." p.23
 
 A person who understands a rule knows when to break it. p.50
 
 Competent people know which rules to follow and which to ignore ... when people of good judgement are allowed to exercise their insights, good results usually follow. When people=s hands are tied, they are ineffective. p.94
 
 The more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play. pp. 8, 53, & 54
 
 Difficult choices expose how we truly feel. What we believe deep inside. p.39
 
 The most important time to help someone is when they need it. p.8
 
 For man, Utopia is endless challenge. p.17 This book was very enjoyable & easy to read. I had read it when it first came out & again this week & would recommend it to Trek fan's & to those who just don't "get it"! Okay, I confess: I was amused by this book, and since I suspect that that was most of its intention, perhaps I'm being too harsh in giving it only two stars. And yes, there were some legitimately thought-provoking ideas to be found...but only a few. If you can find this book used, cheap, as I did, it's definitely worthwhile for a lark. But there is DEFINITELY NOT enough book here to be worth list price. It is grossly overpriced to capitalize on the Star Trek market, and that's the source of my dissatisfaction.

Starships: Star Trek Roleplaying Game

1582369062

Decipher Inc.

May, 2003

For roleplaying, I prefer Star Wars - Star Trek can be a bit tedious; still, being a hard core Trekkie for over 25 years, I wanted to give this book a chance. I was hoping that it would be equally useful as an information reference, and as an RPG supplement. As far as gaming is concerned, it's ok. The books major flaw is that it does not stand alone. In order to use it, you must already own the Narrator's Guide. Practically every section tells you to refer back to the other guide - the only bright point is that it usually gives you the page number. The writers could have easily transferred the necessary information to this volume; but instead, a marketing ploy was used to sell more books. For a refference: The ship statistics given are pretty good, but in large part, only relevant in terms of game usage. Ships' backgrounds could have been fleshed out a little more, and the graphics style used to depict the vessels appears chunky and angular. I'd hoped the entry quality would be closer to that of the now defunct Star Trek Magazine, or the various Trek technical manuals. Despite all that, as a source of info, my biggest complaint is volume. Sure, they covered "Over forty different starship designs," but they neglected throngs of others. Given that they chose to make a complementary book of nothing but ships, I feel they should have been exhaustive in their efforts. So, regarding both information and roleplaying, I'd say this book is incomplete. I wouldn't recommend its purchase unless you are heavily into the RPG. It only deserves two stars, but the simple fact that it's Star Trek earns it an extra star. Starships is a very worthwhile purchase for narrators that plan on duing heavy-duty starship combat in their campaigns. The expanded construction rules really allow your imagination to take full control and create whatever you so desire, and the book provides a plethora of different starships from major galactic powers (e.g. the UFP, Romulans, Cardassians, Klingons and Borg). You'll need the Narrator's Guide in addition to this book if you want to create an expanded edition starship because they did not copy over various key tables. It's also a bit frusturating that they did not provide an updated Starship Profile sheet. But overall, I'd say Starships is a worthwhile addition the Star Trek RPG family.