The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia by Stephen J. Sansweet

Description

THE DEFINITIVE REFERENCE GUIDE TO A SPACE FANTASY PHENOMENON

The Star Wars universe, much like our own, is constantly expanding. In the ten years since the publication of the Star Wars Encyclopedia, a lot has happened in that galaxy far, far away: four new feature films, a host of official original novels, comics, video games, and more. Now, thirty years of information on all things Star Wars–ranging from science and technology to history and geography, culture and biography to ecology and cosmology–has been supplemented with an entire decade’s worth of all-new material. Abundantly illustrated with full-color artwork and photos, and now in a new three-volume edition to accommodate its wealth of detailed entries, the Star Wars Encyclopedia encompasses the full measure of George Lucas’s creation.

Here’s just a sampling of what’s inside:
• character portraits of both the renowned (Luke Skywalker, Queen Amidala, Darth Vader) and the obscure (Tnun Bdu, Tycho Celchu, Bib Fortuna)
• the natives and customs of planets as diverse as Tatooine and Hoth, Dagobah and Kashyyyk
• the rituals, secrets, and traditions of Jedi Knights and Sith Lords
• a timeline of major events in Star Wars history, from the Clone Wars and the inception of the Empire to the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker and the invasion of the monstrous Yuuzhan Vong

Scrupulously researched and written by leading authorities Stephen J. Sansweet, Pablo Hidalgo, Bob Vitas, and Daniel Wallace, this landmark work is the must-have centerpiece of every Star Wars library.

Editorial Review

Amazon Best of the Month, December 2008: Updated for the first time in 10 years, The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia is the closest fans will come to having access to the great Holocron from the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Housed in a sturdy slipcase, the illustrated, three-volume hardcover set holds an A-Z overview of all things Star Wars–from the original trilogy and the prequels to the expanded universe of novels, comics, cartoons, and video games. Most entries on the three-column pages garner a few sentences while core characters and fan favorites like the family Fett spill over to multiple pages of data. As fans know, nearly everyone who appeared onscreen in the films has gone on to receive an entire backstory, but even die-hard fans will delight in the discoveries found on every page. Random, Magic 8 Ball-style browsing brought up head-scratchers like Malarian Alliance, Traest Kre'fey, Rybet, Lieutenant Colf, Guun Han Saresh, bruise-leech crawler, and Ion Alley. And did you know that the bug-eyed alien “dog” in Jabba's palace on Tatooine had a name–“Bubo”–and was in fact a spy and an assassin? According to Yoda, “size matters not,” but this 10-pound box set will make a welcome addition to the serious Star Wars fan's bookshelf. –Brad Thomas Parsons