There is an inherent problem with publishing any book that claims to be the “complete” or in this case “ultimate” reference book about Star Wars, especially at this juncture in history with the saga experiencing a renaissance.
In less than a hundred days a whole new film will be in cinemas when The Force Awakens opens on 18 December.
The Disney animated show, set between Episodes III and IV, Rebels starts its second season this autumn and with the recent realigning of Star Wars canon via the newly released book Aftermath (set straight after Episode VI) alongside Marvel comics which tells the canon story of events between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, the Star Wars saga is ever evolving. Perhaps the publishers of this book should have named it Volume 1.
So what we have here is the ultimate guide to date. Check back in a few years when as well as a new trilogy we’ll also have the anthology films together with all the literary spin offs that will incur.
As a life-long Star Wars fan it’s not been easy to let go of what once was considered canon and is now referred to as “Legacy” stories, not from any emotional attachment but through the intricate cherry-picking of information that stays canon. With this book approved by Disney and Lucasfilm I think it’s safe to say everything within should be considered official Star Wars canon. And there is an awful lot of canon to digest.
Packaged in a hard card sleeve, this large coffee table book runs to over three hundred pages with 99% of them featuring colour photographs. It’s split into various sections – characters and creatures, locations, technology and vehicles – detailing everything you wanted to know about not only the original and prequel trilogies, but also The Clone Wars series and the first season of Rebels.
If, like myself, you’ve been with Star Wars since the late 1970s then you’ll find few surprises amongst the book’s many pictures; many you’ll have seen before though occasionally you will turn a page and find something you haven’t. Even if you have seen them before they look great when splashed across a double glossy page.
Each entry in the book contains information presented in a variety of forms, walk on characters tend to get a single paragraph or two while Anakin Skywalker’s entry runs to three or four pages covering his entire life.
All of the entries appear chronologically and the book has an easy to reference timeline guide as to where exactly in the saga you are when this character, spaceship or planet appears. As a reference book for everything that’s appeared across the film and TV shows to date it is complete and the canon that I read regarding the cantina’s occupants back in the 1980s still stands today as canon; consistency of that ilk I applaud.
I question though how many times I have to read the same story again and again. Example: Cloud City has its own two-page spread, but is mentioned at least nine times in different sections of the book; how many times do you need to know that Vader and Luke battled there?
Additionally there are interspersed “behind the scenes” pages featuring photos and pictures which I’ve seen in a variety of publications over the years and includes publicity shots from the build up to The Force Awakens. There’s a good index at the back of the book and it comes packaged with two black and white prints from Empire that are worthy of framing and hanging on the wall; Harrison Ford relaxing between takes being my personal favorite.
Is it worth the £35 price tag? Physically the book is worth every penny, it’s lavish and well put together. As a lifelong fan of Star Wars there wasn’t much in here I didn’t already know or have seen. The Clone Wars and Rebels entries were very interesting as that information was all new to me, but not enough to warrant spending the money.
Younger readers will thoroughly enjoy the book though as it brings together forty year old information with fresh-from-the-television text (I really like The Inquisitor’s double ended sabre, it’s such a shame he fell to his death at the end of Season 1 of Rebels).
Would I buy a second volume if it were produced? Yes, I would if the same care and detail was put into that as was put into this.
Published on 1 September 2015 by DK.
What do you think of the book? Let us know below…