This episode guidebook is a fresh, insightful take on the world of Star Trek, offering thoughtful commentary and plenty of fun facts without taking itself too seriously. It’s perfect for longtime fans or newcomers looking to explore the series in a light-hearted, engaging way. Whether you’re revisiting iconic moments or discovering them for the first time, this guide makes the journey through the Star Trek universe an enjoyable and accessible adventure.

4 stars = Great! Might re-read

This is so fun! I enjoyed the writer's voice in this and the set up of the episode reviews. I'd love to read through this while doing my own watch of the episodes. Great for the Trek fan in your life.

Star Trek: Discovering the TV Series is a fun book with brief commentaries on episodes from the original series, the cartoon and Star Trek: The Next Generation. I will say that I wish the plots of all the episodes were explained a bit more. I have seen all of Star Trek: TNG so those commentaries were easier to follow than the others. Overall I wish there was a bit more substance to this book.

Star Trek has been a part of my adult life. I came upon it in reruns not long after its initial run, I was never a fully fledged Trekkie but I have enjoyed the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Forty two years ago it was my intense pleasure to interview all the leads during a press junket for Wrath Of Khan. I even had William Shatner leap into my lap- on camera! I have some lovely memories of both the original series and the subsequent movies and other series. So when I saw this book come up for review, I was happy to download it and give it a read.

Because there is so much material to cover, none of the sections can be particularly long but it does an admirable pop-culture review of the various episodes and the films. It is written by a true fan, albeit a very young one who first came to Trek through tie in books and then watched everything in order to write the book. Often I agree with what he says. Even the episodes that he, rightly so, calls out for blatant sexism and less blatant racism (after all, the show did break some boundaries in that area), I still recall with fondness. It was of it’s time and it was ahead of it’s time. When it was good it was very, very good. When it was less than good it was never horrible. And it was entertaining.

I am not sure how well it will have aged if I was to sit down and watch the original series again. I suspect my favourite episodes would hold up admirably. I do know the movies, especially 2, my memorable Khan, and 4. Some of the things the author did not love about them were the things I loved best but then that is probably more caused by a difference in age than anything. But what does come through is a passion and admiration for Star Trek. Something to which, I suspect, all Trekkies, even minor ones, will agree. Four purrs and two paws up.

A must for any Star Trek fan episode guide for ST original series thought to The Next Generation. Lots of information from behind the camera. Loves it. Thanks to Pen & Sword and Netgalley for a review copy.

I've been a fan of Star Trek for a while and always enjoy reading books about this series. It does a great job in what I was hoping for and thought Tom Salinsky wrote this perfectly. It was a strong feel that I was looking for and glad I read this.

I have always enjoyed Star Trek, the Original Series. All of the series that came after that, I felt were never as good at telling a story. I was looking forward to this book, but quickly became disinterested in it as it just didn't seem to tell you anything you didn't know. The short telling of the episodes were just blurbs, sometimes not really giving the point of the story. Star Trek was so much more than this. I really didn't understand what this book was trying to do. I thank NetGalley and Pen & Sword for the advance read.

Star Trek: Discovering the TV Series: The Original Series, The Animated Series and The Next Generation by Tom Salinsky

This was an interesting book. I hadn’t seen the Animated Series, but had seen Star Trek in reruns. I remember being appalled at the idea of a remake but The Next Generation became my favorite series and I still watch it regularly. This book had tidbits of behind-the-scenes info that I enjoyed reading about. I didn’t always agree with the ratings the author provided, but even he admitted that if he watched again he might rate it differently based on his mood or other circumstances. The real interesting part was to read his take on the episodes. I enjoyed this book and recommend it.

Thank you to the author, Pen & Sword, and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

I did not enjoy the book. I managed to make it just over a third of the way through before stopping. A few of the episode descriptions were good; but most were bland. There was a little humour and the star ratings were not that off from how I perceived the episode. But I found that the humour wore thin very quickly. I felt that sarcasm was used much too often and overall there was too much time spent on minutiae. The writing did not motivate me to continue reading. Perhaps bigger fans of the franchise will enjoy the book more than I did. Thank you to Netgalley and White Owl for the advance reader copy.

Due to be released in just a few days on the 29th, this is a fantastic stroll through TOS, TAS, and TNG with well written and enjoyable looks at each episode. It's a great trip down memory lane with insightful comments that cut deep into what makes Trek work or in some cases, what doesn't work for Trek. While I wouldn't recommend this to someone that's never seen the three shows before, it's still a good collection for anyone that's seen most of them and wants to see how well their opinions hold up to scrutiny.

A note to the publisher, the Kindle import had some significant but explainable errors with sidebar interviews that would appear in the middle of episode reviews, usually right in the middle of a sentence. I'm not entirely sure if this is a NetGalley issue or a publisher issue, but it's one that I would be happy to work with you to resolve.

Tom Salinsky revisits every episode of four different versions of the legendary sci-fi series here, summarising each in an entertaining and witty way. Sometimes, other people interject with their comments too.
First up, is The Original Series. You know? The Sixties one with Kirk and Spock in? Some real classics, but also much which is less than stellar.
The Animated Series: Seventies cartoon version of the above.
The first films featuring the ageing original crew from the Seventies, Eighties and Nineties. Odd ones bad, even ones good!
The Next Generation series from the Eighties and Nineties featuring Picard and Data etc Probably the best of the start, once it eventually got going. Recommended for anyone into this stuff.