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(More customer reviews)Finally a New Essential Guide that can truly be called "Essential!" This may be the best essential guide (only the New Essential Chronology competes with it) written. Dan Wallace (with the aid of Able Pena and Pablo Hidalgo) has gone over every nook and cranny of the Star Wars Expanded Universe, and if there's a droid to be found, a detail to uncover, a story-element to expose, he's done it!
After the disappointing New Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels (which followed the trend of ignoring a lot of early Expanded Universe sources), I thought I was through with the NEG's. The New Essential Chronology changed that and this book has now upped the ante on ALL future Star Wars reference books!
Everything is here. Entire pages are devoted to characters from rare and even out-of-print continuity sources, from old newspaper strips by Russ Manning, to the Droids animated show and spin-off Star Comics series, to Alan Moore's rare stint on Marvel UK's Empire Strikes Weekly (reprinted in Devilworlds) to the requisite but often overlooked pages of Marvel Star Wars (reprinted recently as A Long Time Ago volumes 1-7), L. Neill Smith's brilliant Lando Calrissian trilogy, RPG sources, novels, young readers books, Dark Horse comics; It's all here and much, much more! Not a stone is left unturned from 1977 to 2006, nearly 30 years of continuity has gone into this book that actually succeeds in demonstrating that the much maligned "appliances" of Star Wars are really fascinating creations in their own right, and every bit as intriguing as their human masters.
Wallace handles the text expertly, weaving bits of continuity to form a much stronger and cohesive whole. This is not a guide for techies either, or even just for those who've read every original source out there, but rather it's a book for the average Star Wars reader written with a narrative structure. Far from simply providing the origin and purpose of the droid in question, each entry features fascinating short biographical tales of some of the famous examples that caused either salvation or destruction to the galaxy! Also, there's a history of droids section that details the dawn of their inception to their persecution and abolition at the hands of the Yuuzahn Vong. Also, as an added bonus, the illustrations here are stunningly realized.
This is definitely a guide you don't want to miss and represents the high watermark Star Wars authors can achieve when they combine love of the universe with intelligent, diligent research and a deft hand at fixing the plotholes and connecting the dots. For from these often disparate pieces, some of the great tales emerge. This book is proof of that.
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DIFFERENT KIND OF HEAVY METAL SUPERSTARWhether they're doctors or diplomats, soldiers or secretaries, translators or nightclub waiters, the myriad mechanical marvels known as droids are an indispensable part of what keeps the Star Wars galaxy humming. The varieties and classes of droids are nearly as infinite as their designated specialties. In this updated and expanded nuts-to-bolts survey, each and every droid receives its due–from the simplest drones to the most sophisticated automatons, from heroic protocol model, C-3PO, and his multitasking sidekick, R2-D2, to the insidious Separatist leader General Grievous. Inside you'll discover:• All the newest droids: from The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith to the Knights of the Old Republic video games and the Clone Wars animated TV series, plus the bestselling multinovel series Star Wars: The New Jedi Order–all catalogued here for the first time• Detailed histories and capabilities of nearly one hundred droids along with full-color computer-generated illustrations and schematics of their construction highlights• Special sections, including "A Layperson's Guide to Droids," "Major Manufacturers," and "A Short History of Droids"• An easy reference at your fingertips–each entry is arranged by Droid Type, including medics and scientists, repair units, battle units, and cyborgs–plus special expanded entries for R-series astromechs, the 3PO protocol series, and battle droidsFor the definitive debriefing on droids, there's only one official, authoritative, and absolutely essential technical guide!
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