A Guide to the Star Wars Universe, 3rd edition


by Bill Slavicsek

Flipping through the browning books on my bookshelf, I found this long buried guide to that galaxy far far away, reminding me of my long lost interest in Star Wars. A Guide to the Star Wars Universe is a must have for die-hard fans like me in an era when internet is not as pervasive, and you just wanted to know a little bit more about that character or planet which you just read off the latest Star Wars novel.

The guide is organized like an encyclopedia, with articles on characters, organizations, planets and even artifacts and events. All the articles are arranged according to alphabetical order, allowing the reader to refer to his favorite scoundrel easily. The articles are all summarized according to published works on the Star Wars universe, which included novels, comics, radio programs, role-playing books, and of course, the movies. Since the guide is published in the year 2000, only the first of the prequel trilogy, The Phantom Menace, is included, as well as the first of the New Jedi Order series novel - Vector Prime. The illustrations in the guide is quite limited but still helpful.

Since Star Wars is a fictional universe developed around published works of novels and other literature, it has included in the footnote of each article where the item of interest existed. For instance, Garm Bel Iblis, the famed general who only existed in the Expanded Universe and not in the movies, is listed to make an appearance in works like Dark Force Rising and The Last Command.
In this era where internet makes searches and information accessibility easier than ever before, a guide like this one is definitely too unwieldy for users. A click on an interactive hyperlink is all that is needed now in Star Wars wiki, and most information is updated as soon as new items is introduced into the universe. This goes to show how easily publications can be obsoleted by the internet and Web 2.0.

Although the Star Wars universe is still expanding, a guide like this is still quite useful when you are reading the older novels, although I prefer to interactive Wikipedia over it. No harm in getting this guide to adorn your bookshelf though as it will fit snugly into the collection of Star Wars material you own.





Popular posts from this blog

The Voyages of the Dragon Wynd - The Shallows (Book 1 of Flag of Bones)

Image
by Elle Pepper Note: This is a book review based on a free copy from the author. Many thanks go to the author for this generosity. When I got hold of this novella, I was expecting a swashbuckling story about a pirate's adventure on sea, maybe not something of the magnitude of Pirates of the Caribbean , but at least with a story which I could relate to a pirate. Unfortunately, the only thing I could relate to those scoundrels at sea was the fact that the protagonist and his crew were pirates. The Story of the Dragon Wynd The summary of the story was thus: Jalen Shenn, captain of the ship Dragon Wynd , was constantly persecuted by the Empire, even prosecuted for made up crimes which he did not commit, all for the reason that he was carrying his family's name. He was betrayed by his most trusted crewman while serving under the blue flag of Freehold, and his wife was caught and never to be seen again. Plagued by the relentless persecution of the Empire, th
Read more

7th Bookfest 2012 @ Malaysia (第七届海外华文书市)

Image
If you are not aware of it, then it is still not too late now!! The 7th Bookfest @ Malaysia coorganised by POPULAR and Sin Chew Jit Poh is now running its course from 18 Aug (Sat) - 26 Aug 2012 (Sun) at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC). The annual book exposition is deemed the largest in the region, with similar Bookfest expositions held in Singapore and Hong Kong. English and Chinese books from local authors as well as foreign authors are featured in the exposition for all to feast themselves on. Leading publishers from the East (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan) and the West (UK, USA, Canada) as well as local regions (Malaysia, Singapore) all showcase their latest titles for all to choose from. Unfortunately though, there is a RM2.50 entry fee but this is not required for students under 18 or senior citizens over 60. More information could be obtained through Bookfest's official website below. With such a big area to get lost in, the official website provided a f
Read more

Calvin and Hobbes - Weirdos from Another Planet!

Image
by Bill Watterson Ever read the comic in pullout section of the newspaper? If you did, then Calvin and Hobbes will not be total strangers to you. The humorous comic which ran in boxes of four or sometimes luxuriously filling up half of the page had been featured in most comic sections for as far as I can read, and had been the company of most readers of newspaper. There are a few compilations of Calvin and Hobbes comics and Weirdos from Another Planet! is one of them. The Collection Collecting some of the printed comics in 1988 and running at near 300 pages long, Weirdos from Another Planet! will be a worthy pastime to spend your evening at, laughing at the ironic but humorous actions and conversations of the kid with hairstyle that defies gravity in the company of his make believe stuffy tiger. In his world, his stuffy tiger Hobbes was as real as the person next to him, and most of Calvin's comical action were did in concert with Hobbes.
Read more