By Dayton Ward

Insight Editions/Titan, out now

The indispensable guide to Starfleet’s Most Feared Martial Art

Back in the dim and distant past, long before Picard or Discovery graced the airwaves, I had the pleasure of editing the official Star Trek Magazine, and working with many of the authors who had contributed novels to the Pocket Books fiction line. (The logic was that they’d written the characters, so chances were they knew rather more about them than some others!) That was my introduction to the humour of Dayton Ward (and his frequent writing partner Kevin Dilmore), and he contributed some less than serious features, such as a Captain Proton episode guide.

His latest book would have fitted right in.

It’s been noted that William Shatner’s fighting style as Captain James T. Kirk has certain… idiosyncrasies, shall we say. Ward’s handy pocket size guide gives you guidance on how to perform such manoeuvres, showing – thanks to Christian Cornia’s fun illustrations – exactly how they seem in practice.

In case that joke should get stale, Ward also presents captain’s personal log entries, which put things in context. Sort of. And there’s a test. Which makes you suddenly realise you should be taking this more seriously…

We’ve had various “lateral” approaches to Star Trek books in recent times – Ward’s own guides to other planets included – and this is one that will definitely put a smile on the face of any Star Trek fan with a sense of humour.

Verdict: All you will ever need to know to emulate one of Starfleet’s finest. 9/10

Paul Simpson

Click here to order Kirk-Fu Manual from Amazon.co.uk