Actor/writer/blogger Wil Wheaton has just self-published Memories of the Future, Volume 1. Wheaton describes this 138-page book as “From ‘Encounter at Farpoint’ to ‘Datalore’, relive the first half of Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s unintentionally hilarious first season through the eyes, ears and memories of cast member and fan Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher) as he shares his unique perspective in the episode guide you didn’t even know you were dying to read. ENJOY snarky episode recaps! EXPAND your Technobabble vocabulary! AMUSE your friends with quotable dialog! BOLDLY go behind the scenes!”
Wheaton explains the genesis of the book in his introduction: “In August 2006, Brad Hill, an editor at Weblogs, Inc., hired me to write humorous reviews of Star Trek: The Next Generation from my unique point of view as an actor and a fan of the show.” His online reviews were popular with the readers, but stopped when the budget was cut before he’d made it halfway through the first season, and he “decided that putting the entire season into a book wasn’t just a good way to finish the season, it was a moral imperative.” Wheaton also covers discussing the project with “The Trouble with Tribbles” writer David Gerrold, who wasn’t at all supportive of a tell-all book, until Wheaton explained “It’s not a tell-all book. I hate those things. It’s more like you’re flipping through your high school yearbook with your friends.… It’s like ‘Hey! I remember this, and I remember that, and did you know that this funny thing happened there, and… oh god… I can’t believe I thought that was cool…'”
Wheaton also promises that volume 2 will follow, covering “Angel One” to “The Neutral Zone”. He says “During our journey together, we’ll certainly be going where no one has gone before, except those times when we go 20% to the left of where the original series went and talk about stuff a whole bunch without actually doing anything… but that’s part of what makes the first season so much fun to watch, especially knowing how great The Next Generation eventually became.”