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The other day, I posted this screenshot from the Star Trek Star Fleet Technical Manual on Instagram.



This map of the Milky Way Galaxy is one of many images in that book, of galactic maps and starship schematics and flags of the Federation's five founding member states and even guides on how to accurately reproduce the TOS uniforms. The PDF I have of the Technical Manual, I carry on my phone as light reading. The physical book, a 1986 printing, I have on my bookshelf.

A quick bit of research suggests that book, written by one Franz Joseph and published in 1975, was actually quite critical in the survival of the Trek franchise. In the mid-1970s, years after the conclusion of the animated series and longer since the end of the television show, the franchise seemed to be dead. Joseph asked Roddenberry if he could put out this reference book, as a service to the fandom. Both were surprised when this book shot up the best-seller lists, making Roddenberry think there might be life in the franchise yet. (http://fanlore.org/wiki/Star_Fleet_Technical_Manual has a not inaccurate fannish take on this.)

What if Joseph decided not to bother himself with making an actual book for the fans? What if Roddenberry did not grant permission for others to develop his work? Could the Star Trek franchise not have made its significant revival in the 1980s without the STSFTM? What would science fiction fandom look like in this setting?
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