Customer Reviews

Star Wars Encyclopedia

5 star:		(69)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

If you're a big geekin' fanboy who needs to occasionally bone up on your general knowledge of that "Galaxy Far, Far Away", then the Star Wars Encyclopedia is the best A-to-Z quick reference guide to get. Not only does this giant tome cover subjects from the original trilogy, it also includes tidbits of info from the various Dark Horse comic books, the novels (including the Timothy Zahn trilogy), the Droids and Ewoks cartoon shows, and even the Ewoks TV movies and the infamous `Star Wars Holiday Special'! There's all sorts of characters, weaponry, ships, equipment, planets, and much more between the covers! It's also a wonderful resource that'll help put an end to many of those knockdown-dragout Star Wars fanboy arguments you're always having with your buds! Well, maybe not that Greedo-firing-first debacle in `Star Wars: The Special Edition', but you can't have everything! Also included: a quick-reference timeline so you can see which when each particular story- be it a movie, comic-book story arc, novel, or otherwise- happened in relation to the `first' Star Wars flick, which is designated point zero in the timeline.

Although it's fairly pricey, the book is printed on semi-slick paper, and includes full-color photos & illustrations. Because of these two things, and other stuff that makes this trade-size tome a higher-quality Star Wars book than usual, I think it's more than worth the asking price!

`Late

Ever since the first Guide to the Star Wars Universe was published in 1984, there have been many reference books written about the characters, weapons, spacecraft, fauna, flora, and worlds of that "galaxy far, far away...." Raymond Velasco's first Guide had precious little to go on back in '84. Bill Slavicsek was luckier a decade later; the Expanded Universe had grown a bit larger with the new wave of Star Wars-related novels, role-playing game guides, graphic novels, and even young readers' books.

But even though Slavicsek's 1994 and 2000 Guides are very well-done, Steven J. Sansweet's huge Star Wars Encyclopedia is a treasure trove of information about the Star Wars saga's details. Following the same format as the Slavicsek "Guides," Sansweet's large and lavishly illustrated one-volume Encyclopedia covers every imaginable topic from the Rebel A-Wing to the Imperial officer known as Zuggs.

Because it was published in 1998, precious little information from the current "Prequel Trilogy" appears in this edition of The Star Wars Encyclopedia. Also, the Expanded Universe has gotten larger, so readers who want to find out about topics covered in the New Jedi Order series will be disappointed. Fans will have to wait until 2006 to see the second, updated edition.

Still, Sansweet's book is considered to be the best reference work, not only for its thoroughness, but because the author is a vice president at Lucasfilm and is the owner of one of the world's largest private Star Wars collections. He also appears frequently on the "Ask the Jedi Council" forum at www.starwars.com.

This volume describes and depicts the various aspects of the Star Wars EU (Extended Universe - movies, books, comics, card games, computer games, etc.). Any fan of Star Wars, whether a movie buff or EU fanatic will enjoy the comprehensive coverage of topics from alien species to specific character biographies, from objects to planets, history to spacecraft. Each entry is referenced to the various sources that include it, whether it be from a specific movie, book, comic, etc.

On the positive side, the Star Wars Encyclopedia is filled with interesting information, stills from the original Star Wars trilogy films, illustrations from various artists, and a nice timeline of events at the beginning. On the negative, this book was published in 1998. It is therefore missing references to most of the interesting aspects of Episodes I, II, and III (ep. III not released at the time of this review) as well as any Extended Universe material since published. I hope that a second edition will be forthcoming following the release of Episode III.

** Additional information for the serious Star Wars geek:

I purchased this book in order to prepare myself for the upcoming release of Star Wars Galaxies, the massively multiplayer online game that is going to be released later. As that game "occurs" during the period of the original trilogy, much of the information needed to familiarize oneself with the environment is present within this work. However, since the game creators are using material from the entire EU, and since so much material has been released since 1998; I was a bit disappointed by the information that is not included (no fault of the author).

I got this book a few days ago and I think it is great. It is a perfect source of information for those who don't know very much about Star Wars or just aren't sure about something. This is the book I go to if I'm not sure about something. If for some reason you can't find what your looking for in this book the I would recomend one of the guides such as the guide to Planets and Moons, Vehicles and Vessels, Characters, Weapons and Technology, Droids or one of the versions to the Star Wars Universe.

Except for the fact of missing references to the prequels, but with so many people complaining of their (minor) inferiorities who's arguing? The undying classic trilogy is brought in splendid life with characters, droids, creatures, monsters, and technologies from A to Z.

Whether it's the history of the Skywalkers, Jabba the Hutt, droids, Imperial Commanders, Super Class Warships, alien species, or monsters from all sorts of galaxies - this book is the source of information bringing the evolution of how they came to be in each film. Given it was published in 1998 it gave audiences an even wetter appetite to view the trilogy in full splendor and understand how all of it came to be a story.

Stephen Sansweet, who also wrote earlier books of STAR WARS collectibles ranging from toys to audio cassettes gives classic depth to the classic trilogy. It's heavy and rich with information, so this is a must for any true fan. By the way, George Lucas, we can't wait until September 21, 2004 for the release of the trilogy on DVD! Even more so for EPISODE 3 in May 2005! MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!

A very complete textual condensation, in thousands of entries, of probably every piece of important knowledge from the novels, comics and films. Although illustrations are included for many entries (there are multiple pictures on every page), I believe a truly comprehensive encyclopedia should include, for example, maps of locations of important star systems in the Galaxy and diagrams of spaceships, and so forth. I was looking forward to technical materials like this to be found in the book, and so I was a little disappointed. There is no question: they missed some great opportunities for additional pictorial information.

(There is a reason for the book's shortcomings: the Star Wars franchise doesn't want one single commercial item to be so comprehensive that it does away with the need for any of the plethora of other titles available. Instead you'll need to buy some of the other books to see the kind of info I feel the encyclopedia should have included. But, then, whoever said Lucas was dumb?)

As such, for an Encyclopedia it falls short of what could have been. However because of quality of information that *is* there - every single entry is highly readable - I rate this GOOD (3 stars). And be forewarned: being a few years old, it comes without any of the material from the latest trilogy.

Since the dawn of George Lucas' Star Wars Universe back in 1977, there have been numerous attempts to document some, if not all, aspects of that universe. Despite some fine efforts, all of the attempts to chronicle its vast and intricate details have felt somewhat incomplete. Perhaps editor Steven Sansweet felt the same way, for he has managed to develop what is simply the most comphrensive record of all things Star Wars. From the major characters and technology like Darth Vader and the Death Star to most minor detail in a comic rendering like the Knobby White Spider, Sansweet covers all the bases. Every piece of literature about the Star Wars Universe (including sanctioned and unsanctioned novels, comics, Adventure Journals, Customizable Card Game) are documented in this reference piece. The true beauty of the encyclopedia is not just its completeness, but also its ability to help the reader cross-reference all the listings. In parentheses as a footnote to every entry in the book, there is an acronym that indicates the source of the character, technology, or story. A key in the index of the book explains what each acronym stands for. Given the date of the encyclopedia's release, it obviously does not include material written after early 1998 (I strongly suspect that once Episode III has been released and the New Jedi Order Novel series has completed that a new edition will be released). I have owned the "Star Wars Encyclopedia" for almost 4 years now, and I still find myself referring to it for minute details about books I have read. Other times, I just sit down and browse through to see if I can find anything new. That is the mark of a truly fine reference document.

This ia an overall good compilation of almost every star wars book, novel, movie, show, etc. It is very complete although the latest stuff is missing (but of course it was written before the new Star Wars Era). It has a couple of contradictions and confusions, but only hard core fans can actually recognize them. For the amateur it is a very good reference guide, and for the hard core fans it is just a great addition to the collection.

i found the content great especially for it being the original trilogy and comic books as well as the mini movies. it was also suprising that it was current up to the modified episodes of 4-6.

The Star Wars Encyclopedia is a must for any SW fan out there. Inside, it details the places, people, aliens, technology and much more, all drawn from the numerous books, movies, comics, video games and anything else that is out there. It brings it all together in one, nice easy volume to look it all up in. It includes color pictures and diagrams among other things, and is all alphabeticalized for easy referense. It certainly comes in handy when you're reading a book and find that you MIGHT know this character, but not sure from where. This book'll tell you.
There is one major problem with this book however. It was written in 1997 and published in 1998, and since that period of time, there has been many more books and a movie out since then, and there is no reference to them. This includes The Phantom Menace, X-Wing Series Two, The Thrawn Duo, the New Jedi Order and a couple other stand-a-lones. But, that happens with any reference book and is still very helpful nonetheless.