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THE DEFINITIVE WORD ON STAR WARS FICTION
The legendary motion picture Star Wars has spawned two big-screen sequels and three prequels—and decades of bestselling fiction. From the original movie tie-in novel through the monumental Fate of the Jedi series, legions of devoted readers have helped expand science fiction’s most celebrated film saga into a page-turning print sensation. Now, for the first time, a comprehensive overview of these sweeping Star Wars adventures is presented in one beautifully illustrated volume.
Star Wars: The Essential Reader’s Companion spans the entire galaxy of published Star Wars fiction—movie novelizations, original stand alone and series novels, short stories, eBook novellas, young adult titles, and comics—and features:
• a concise synopsis of each story, including key characters and planets
• exclusive behind-the-scenes facts and anecdotes about authors, plot and character development, continuity notes, and significance in the Star Wars Expanded Universe
• details on which novels are linked to Star Wars comic books from Dark Horse and Marvel
• a chronological listing of titles, spanning the 25,000-year history of the Star Wars universe and placing each story in its proper context
• more than one hundred full-color original paintings throughout by some of fans’ favorite artists
Whether skimming through fateful eras from the Old Republic to the New Jedi Order; delving deep into the ancient history of the Lost Tribe of the Sith or the tumultuous Clone Wars; crossing paths—and lightsabers—with Dark Lords such as Plagueis or Bane, Sidious or Vader; helming the Millennium Falcon with Han Solo; or mastering the Force with Luke Skywalker, this one-of-a-kind, one-stop reference is a must for fans looking to maximize their knowledge of the sprawling Star Wars Expanded Universe.
Skuldren
Posted October 2, 2012
Quite simply, Star Wars: The Essential Reader’s Companion is the essential guide to Star Wars books. Readers get a full look at the expanse of Star Wars literature across 496 pages of book summaries, beautiful artwork, and additional info. The book covers all of the adult Star Wars novels, most of the young adult novels and short stories, as well as side notes on some of the important comics and video games.
The book is broken down into eight eras. Each era includes a introduction and is followed by summaries for all of the books and short stories. Each entry includes info for timeline placement, worlds visited, major characters, author, cover artist, publication history, and a summary of the story. Many of the entries also include an endnote which varies from entry to entry. Some share information about how the project came to be, fun notes about the authors, hurdles that the story encountered, alternate story ideas proposed in the outline stages, and any continuity conflicts.
One of the cool things I liked about The Essential Reader’s Companion was that each entry included not only a list of all the worlds visited, but coordinates that will work with The Essential Atlas. On one hand it creates a continuity between the guides, and on the other, it makes finding the planets a heck of alot easier.
Another cool thing was the endnotes for each summary. My favorites were the ones that included alternate storylines that weren’t used. For instance in Fate of the Jedi: Invincible, Troy Denning proposed having Jacen flow-walk back in time to meet Anakin in order to distract Jaina during their duel. The event would’ve backfired though, enabling Anakin to swap bodies with Jacen. Jacen would have then been trapped in Anakin’s body right before the Yuuzhan Vong killed him. Anakin would have ended up in Jacen’s body, thus getting a second chance on life. As a huge Anakin Solo fan, I can’t help but think how awesome that would have been.
Little insights like that made The Essential Reader’s Companion fun to scour through.
There is also a ton of new art. Before each era, there is a gallery of character portraits by Brian Rood done in a watercolor style. The faces on the characters are very realistic. Most of the portraits portray characters readers have never seen before. However that can be good and bad in itself. Some people might not like the look of some characters because it might not mesh with the image they formed in their minds while reading about them. Personally, I really loved the character portraits. I thought they looked great and I always enjoy seeing a canon image of the characters.
The Essential Reader’s Companion certainly nailed what it sought out to do and more. I’ll admit that I’m no expert on the exhaustive archive of Star Wars literature, but this book covers a lot of material. While sites like Wookieepedia are nice, sometimes they fail to accurately or effectively summarize the events of a book. The Essential Reader’s Companion does that and then some. Furthermore, the new artwork is gorgeous and is the icing on the cake. You might not want to read it cover-to-cover, but as a reference book, The Essential Reader’s Companion serves a role I did not realize was missing. If you have a library of Star Wars books, you’d be remiss to not have this as the cornerstone of your collection.
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.butchBM
Posted November 13, 2012
Great book with a couple problems: I had the ESSENTIAL READER'S COMPANION on my nook tablet. It has some errors. I noticed errors in chapters 3 and 4 and also the names under the pics in chapter 1 are wrong. I have called and asked twice for them to be fixed and as of yet they have not.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Ann_W
Posted November 2, 2012
What a great idea! Put together a reference book that discusses all sorts of Star Wars books (and there are plenty to discuss). As a huge Star Wars fan since the beginning, I own quite a lot of Star Wars books, including some kids' books and graphic novels. I don't have everything there is to have, though, and it's nice that there is a book that will tell me what some of those other books are about. It also covers some books I wasn't even aware of. The book has new illustrations, and I appreciate those, too. This book is a lot of fun to browse through. If you're looking for information on some Star Wars book, it's definitely the place to go. I discovered this book at "Star Wars Reads" day--the perfect day to learn about this great addition to my Star Wars library.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Jedivan
Posted February 8, 2013
This companion is for the Star Wars fan who wants to start reading the books published in George Lucas' universe, or for the long-time reader who wants a quick refresher on when certain books and stories occured. The book includes a chronology and a brief synopsis of each book in the Star Wars canon. There are also some notes on when books intersect with comic adaptations. Finally, there are illustrations of events depicted in some books. I would personally have liked a few more illustrations, but this guide is indeed essential for those who want to navigate the books and novelizations that flesh out the Star Wars Universe.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 16, 2013
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Overview
THE DEFINITIVE WORD ON STAR WARS FICTION
The legendary motion picture Star Wars has spawned two big-screen sequels and three prequels—and decades of bestselling fiction. From the original movie tie-in novel through the monumental Fate of the Jedi series, legions of devoted readers have helped expand science fiction’s most celebrated film saga into a page-turning print ...