Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology (Paperback)

~ (Author), David Nakabayashi (Author), Troy Vigil (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Star Wars has cool guns. Whether it's the BlasTech DL-44 heavy blaster that Han Solo favors or the classic Stormtrooper sidearm, the Imperial E-11, almost every fan has their favorite. Of course, Star Wars had other cool weapons, too: everybody, at one time or another, has pretended to wave a lightsaber around while making Dopplered "WA-ow" noises. But in the movies, you don't always get a close look at what everybody's packing. That's where Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology comes in.

From Leia's wimpy "sporting" blaster to the Death Star-mounted super-laser, the Essential Guide covers it all, with meticulously labeled schematics and detail-packed descriptions. (Don't be surprised if you find yourself at Radio Shack later, looking for a "crystal lens assembly" or a "high energy flux aperture" to finish building your lightsaber.) And the book doesn't cover just weapons: when you've had enough of thermal detonators and gaffi sticks, you can check out Boba Fett's jet pack or a Marksman-H combat remote, just like the one Luke used to practice with his lightsaber on the Millenium Falcon. With weapons and technology from all the movies and many of the Star Wars novels and comics, this guide is sure to have a few of your favorites--maybe you'll even find a new one. --Paul Hughes

Product Description

CHOOSE YOUR WEAPON!

If your opponent pulls out a Stokhli Spray Stick, you pull a Heavy Blaster Pistol. That's the way you defend yourself in the Star Wars Universe!

And these are the high-tech weapons found in that famous galaxy long ago and far away. Arm yourself with this comprehensive guide covering everything from the smallest Palm Shooter to the most massive Laser Cannon in the Imperial arsenal.

• Discover what separates Luke Skywalker's Lightsaber from Darth Vader's energy blade
  
• Master the workings of Chewbacca's Wookiee Bowcaster
  
• Find out the secret behind a Jawa's trusty Ionization Gun
  
• Match the might of a TIE Fighter Ion Cannon against X-Wing Proton Torpedoes
  

You'll discover detailed data on every key weapon in the Star Wars universe--from the movies to the books and beyond, including the development and history of each weapon.

DESCRIPTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS FOR EVERY ENTRY!

So don't get caught on the wrong end of a Disruptor or a Ryyk Kerarthorr blade--before your next mission, know the essentials!

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey; 1 edition (November 4, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345414136
• ISBN-13: 978-0345414137
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #708,542 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good source of information, June 29, 2001

By	Matthew J. Rowland (Lees Summit, MO United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Another hit in this series, this essential guide offers you information about the weapons and technology in Star Wars. Most of it is Canon, some of it is not. However, any fan of Star Wars Information and such should not be without this book. It is replete with information and knowledge.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Guns! Guns! Guns! Oh, and some other stuff, too!, May 28, 2001

By	Mark Hills "Nobody gets me, I'm the wind, baby!" (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I really enjoy the Del Rey Star Wars "Essential Guides...", they are for the most part well written and generally well conceived by authors who genuinely love Star Wars. Bill Smith's work on "The Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology" is a fun tech book on everything from blasters and lightsabers to ground based turbo laser batteries, vaporators, comlinks and sensor jamming technology. The book also lists the corporations that produce the equipment people use in day to day life. I find that this tends to add a sense of realism, since no one uses entirely generic items that are provided free of charge to everyone...like on Star Trek.

The book is also well detailed with lots of art, both three-dimensional sketches and line drawings, accompany the text that describes each object. Often, in the case of unique items, Magwit's Mystifying Hoop, explain who used it and why. Unfortunately, if teleportation is so common that performers can use it in their stage acts, why isn't proliferated every where else in Star Wars? Mostly, the art is quite good, though I found a few of the personal weapons to be gimicky and/or poorly conceived of and drawn. Other than this is a great reference for Star Wars fans who might be tired of being buried under meaningless Treknobabble.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Entertainment, May 7, 2000

By	Obi-Shawn Kenobi "obishawnkenobi" (Orange, CaliforniA) - See all my reviews

This was an excellent book. I found it entertaining and that's usually why I buy these types of books. They take a lot of their information from different SW novels, which sometimes bothers me. But I DO like this book. It kept my attention so that's good. Star Wars rocks...