We at STARTREK.COM have enjoyed Pocket Books' "Ships of the Line" calendars these past few years as they are a nice break from the traditional, character-heavy calendars that are more the norm. By taking the "Ships of the Line" concept to its next logical format — the book — Pocket has now given us a product that deserves a place on our bookshelves, rather than being consigned to a junk drawer at the end of the year, or even worse, the trash!

In the new "Ships of the Line" book (out now!) editors Margaret Clark and Doug Drexler have collected works from 29 different artists, both traditional and digital — most of whom have already worked on the calendars — and assembled them across 174 glorious pages. And it's not just anyone submitting artwork for the book. The contributors all have a strong Trek lineage having either worked directly for Star Trek productions, or for the digital effects studios hired by the various shows.

While the appeal of the product is to get immersed in the worlds that are created, my only complaint is that they could have used the longer, landscape-style layout to better effect. There is a bit too much blank page that could be filled with more art. Overall, though, the book is a stirring adventure that traces starships, primarily Starfleet, from their beginnings, with some alien ships scattered about for good measure. It's all here in living color!

[Tim]