Customer Reviews

The Essential Guide to Alien Species (Star Wars)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It is about time that this essential guide came out! This is the one I think I have been waiting for the longest (except maybe the Essential Chronology). Most of the time I could care less about the history of Droids or Weapons, but the aliens of the Star Wars universe have always been of interest to me. Finally, here they are in this essential guide. This book was apparently "written" in-universe by Shi'ido anthropologist Hoole - yes, the same Hoole who wrote an entry for the Illustrated Star Wars Universe, and the same Hoole who was a character in the Galaxy of Fear novels. So what do you get?

For each of more than 100 species, you get at least one full page. There is an illustration of a member of the species, a little box giving the planet of origin, average height, and whether or not it is sentient. Then there is a bunch of text outlining the culture and history of the species, and finally a little in-universe anecdote, usually in the form of a journal entry, from someone who has had contact with members of that species. Then, for a bunch of other species that were not important enough to merit a full page, there is an appendix of "other notable species" which each get around a paragraph.

Granted, there are a few illustrations that look a little...off, and a couple that do not correspond with previous illustrations of that species, but overall the art is really good. In fact, that's what I use this book for - visual reference. The notes are nifty, but I got it for the pictures. In addition, there is a long awaited pronunciation guide at the end - THANK YOU! This book covers everything from the common species, to the Chiss, the Yuuzhan Vong, Falleen, even such obscure species as the "Assemblers," of which Ku'dar Mu'bat from the Bounty Hunter Wars was a member.

Definitely buy this book if you like Star Wars. Highly Recommended.

When I first got this book I was completeley skeptical, How could anybody document the whole alien species in the SW Universe? Authors of different SW novels or comics like to keep pushing and inventing weird alien species, species that most of the time are boring, senseless, just a myriad of "pathetic life forms".

The real deal is that the author doesn't really analyze every single alien that has been shown in the Star Wars books, comics, movies, Expanded Universe, etc. This is the most appealing feature of the book, it centers only in the species worth mentioning, and it describes them in a unique manner, full of vivid descriptions, pictures and very interesting information concerning their history and their role in the struggle between the Force and the Dark Side.

Myself, I have seen the movies hundreds of times, so I am quite familiar with the looks of the creatures we get to see in all the Episodes. But my amaze was reserved to the cretures that appear in the novels, creatures that we have to stuff up with our imagination for building some sort of picture on what they look like.

You will surely be surprised by some pictures, specialy the Caamasi, and we also get to see a mayor make over on how bothans look like, a lot less human, and a lot more like the scheming mammals they are supposed to be.

In overall this Essential Guide is worth your money if you are a real Star Wars fan and want to give your imagination a little help on picturing the aliens that appear in every SW novel.

The gentleman in the review below gives this book 3 stars because it's not an exhaustive guide to nitpicky aliens, and he completely misses the point of this book. This is an Essential Guide to aliens, meaning that it is an overview of aliens in the Star Wars universe. It does contain materials from other volumes because it's meant to be a one-stop guide. If he'd read the introduction, he'd see that. And he only needs to read the criteria for including aliens in this book (also in the introduction) to see why many of the nitpicky aliens from Phantom Menace and other movies were not included. Miss Lewis included the three main aliens (Toydarians, Gungans, and Neimoidians) and ignored the rest because they were not pivitol to that story.

This book has many wonderful things in it. It does address the brilliant work of Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson by including the Marvel comics, long ignored by other Star Wars authors. Does it include more Expanded Universe? Sure! But it is my opinion that helping readers know the aliens that appear in the Expanded Universe books and comics is a noble goal! We've seen the creatures in the movies. We all want to know what a Caamasi and a Yuuzhan Vong looks like--because we only read about them. It also gives us a pronounciation guide, something that has been needed for a long time.

Ignore the review below. The dude is a....

...the “Essential Guide to Alien Species” is, by a fair margin, the best of the “Essential Guides” to date, except for maybe “Vehicles & Vessels”. It covers more than 150 aliens and creatures, Amanin to Zeltrons, from Dugs to Verpine, each with a neat little capsule that details some biology, planets, and societies, if any. Each capsule is also accompanied by reports filed by all and sundry, like Luke Skywalker and Boba Fett, about encounters with these creatures. Some races and creatures are really interesting, like the Gand, whome authors like Michael Stackpole have done an excellent job in detailing. While others, like the Gank, are in my opinion, are dead wrong. I and others had always assumed that the ‘gank’ in ‘gank killer’ simply meant ‘bounty’ or ‘trophy’, thus anyone could be a gank killer, like Boba Fett or 4-LOM, but instead they’ve made it a creature.

Every picture that accompanies each entry is wonderful! R.K. Frost, the Illustrator, has done a marvelous job with each. Lines are neat and tight, and given the narrowness of limbs, etc. I am given to wonder if Frost’s usual artwork is a little more akin to the stuff that came out of Hellraiser the art of Brom- the Drovian on pp. 31, has a big-time Cenobite influence to it. Ultimately though, it doesn’t matter, because Frost’s work is superb cover to cover, vastly superior to the cartoony art in the “Essential Guides to Planets & Moons”. The are is clear and clean when it needs to be, dirty and gritty when it needs to be that as well.

I have all of the “Essential Guides”, and every one of them would earn at least 3 stars in a review by me at Amazon-dot-com. This one gets 5, because it’s that good...

possibly the most helpful Star Wars reference in a LOOOONG time. everytime I read a new SW book now, I'll keep this thing handy! there were some species described in various novels that just had lame descriptions of non-movie species (like the Verpines, Drall, and Massassi) making them hard for my creative mind to picture in my head. That problem's gone now, this book cleared it all up, with truly gorgeous drawings of some foul looking creatures. the text is informative too, and I love the "journal entries by Dr. Hoole." this book is teriffic, I HIGHLY recommend EVERYONE pick a copy up. I got it last night, and I'm enthralled with it :)

I think that this book was quite excellent, an I recommend it to anyone who likes Star Wars. I also would like to clear up some things posted by "errorfound482."

Quote: "Yes; it has a lot of interesting creatures, but it ignores a lot of important races. For example, these races are ignored:
- Kaminoans (those long-necked guys from Episode II)
- Yoda's race (come on!)
- Iridonians (Darth Maul)
- all the different races of the Jedi knights (from Episode I)
----- and these are just what I remember off-hand."
Errorfound, you should look before you leap. This book was published in 2001, before Attack of the Clones came out. That is why the Kaminoans were not in it, they were not around yet. George Lucas himself said that Yoda's species are off limit, so that is why they arent included. Darth Maul is an Iridonian Zabrak, not an Iridonian. As to why certain species were not included, space issues. They could not put every last alien in.

Quote: "Also, the book ignores a lot of new information in video games (such as Knights of the Old Republic, where they reveal the Lucas-approved origin of The Sand People/Tuskan Raiders)."
Again Knights of the Old Republic was released after this book, so the information in the game did not exist at the time of publication. Also it's Tusken Raiders, not Tuskan Raiders.

Quote: "I don't understand why they skipped the above races only to put other Episode I races such as the Gungans, annoying flying blue Toydarians, etc."
They put the Gungans and the Toydarians in because they were highly relevant to The Phantom Menace, the most recent movie. They did not put the Zabraks in because of space issues. Also, some people might not find the Toydarians annoying. I think that you should research a book you want atleast a little bit, and not take all reviews at face value. They might be incorrect or you might end up not agreeing with them. Happy reading!

I've read several of the Essential Guides, and I've gotta say that this is not only the most informative of the series that I've read, but also the most entertaining. The book is organized very well, so finding what you're looking for is not difficult, and in each entry, after at least several long paragraphs describing what this particuler species eats, where it lives, breeding habits, etc, there is a short narrative from the point of view of a certain character (ranging anywhere from Luke Skywalker, to Bria Tharen, to Anakin Solo) describing a first hand experience with a member of the specified species. This is the most unique (and hilarious) aspect of the book. However, I would recommend this book mostly to highly experienced, (and highly devoted) Star Wars fans, though that is not to say that those of you who are not so "into it" couldn't pick it up for idle amusement. Anyway, all in all I would say that this book is among the best Star Wars reference books I've read in a while, and one I would recommend to all major Star Wars fans.

Ann Margaret Lewis has captured the essence of Star Wars, with it's plethora of odd, and often loveable aliens in this softcover volume. Although she does not document every species created for the Star Wars universe, she does cover those most heavily featured. And not just from the films: there are species here such as the Zeltrons, Noghri, and Mimbanites, from the Star Wars novels and comics as well.

Each alien is described in detail- their physical appearance, their culture, and their involvement in the rich pseudo-history of Star Wars. And each species listing is accompanied by a detailed illustration. There are also "quoted passages" from members of each species, detailing some fact about themselves, or some important event in their history.

And, finally, it is all done from the point of view of a New Republic anthropoligist, so there is a real vivid feel to the whole book. Whether you're just a casual fan and are dying to know who the "green guy with the long snout" is, or you're into Star Wars role playing, or the writing and publishing of on-line fan fiction, this book is a treasure trove of information, and a must to own.

Of all the "essential guides," the original artwork and the approach to the entries in this one make it the best of the lot - I should know, I have them all. The alien species are described as if they really existed, and the approach to the book is that it was written by a traveling anthropologist rather than from an editor who is just summarizing their appearances in Star Wars movies and books. Each entry also includes a short story or description "written" by familiar and unfamiliar characters in the Star Wars pantheon. Luke Skywalker talks about his friend Windy's bantha, Wedge Antilles relates his experiences with the frustratingly thorough Slussi, and so on. It adds to the book, and makes it much more enjoyable.

The drawings inside the book are superb, the captions match all we have read in novels or watched in movies, and I would definitly choose it as a book for the star wars begginer! I was also glad to see that the Youzhan Vong were written about. I was curios to see what they looked like. The book answered every question I could think of.