American Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers (American Horticultural Society)

Ultimate Star Wars is a great book that will appeal of fans of all ages and interest levels. One of the authors, Ryder Windham, has worked on many great Star Wars books previously and does a great job compiling detailed information about the movies and their components. In his introduction, he begins with an interesting point: think of Ewoks, or Lobot, or the Slave I. These are never mentioned by name in the films, yet most casual fans are aware of them and know their names. That means they somehow absorbed that information from another source - perhaps the internet, a video game, a novel, an animated series, or maybe even an encyclopedia like this. The book is organized by topics - the first half of the book is Characters and Creatures, and then the second half of the book covers things like Locations, Technology, and Vehicles. Appearing at various points throughout the encyclopedia are "Key Events" (the Duel on Mustafar, Training on Dagobah, etc.) The book is full of detail... each major character gets a biography, important events which they were involved, and sometimes other tidbits of info such as their wardrobe, their weapons, etc. Important characters like Princess Leia and Obi-Wan Kenobi get a full 2-page spread, while smaller characters like Poggle the Lesser or Jek Porkins only get a fraction of a page. But its the inclusion of these small characters and creatures (who may only be on screen for a few seconds) that make the encyclopedia useful and comprehensive. Each section also includes a "timeline" and a "behind the scenes". So for example, the section on vehicles will have a Vehicle Timeline that covers the major events in the saga involving ships and transports - the Boonta Eve podrace, the Battle of Yavin (which destroyed the Death Star), etc. Then there will be a behind the scenes page that shows an AT-AT miniature, an early TIE fighter and X-Wing concept sketch, etc. For those wondering what canon is used for the encyclopedia, it seems to be the six Star Wars films as well as the Clone Wars and Rebels TV series. In looking through the book, I could not find any included subjects that were strictly EU and did not appear in the films/animated series. I should also mention that the book includes a nice foreword by Anthony Daniels, who briefly discusses the complexity of the saga and admits that despite his involvement in the saga over 30 years even he doesn't know all the facts. Overall, this is a highly-recommended product. The casual Star Wars fan will likely learn a lot; and even the most die-hard fans should learn something obscure that they did not know before. For a high-res image gallery, visit my blog: movieartbook.com/2015/04/ultimate-star-wars-book-review.html You can also see my HD unboxing/flip-through here: youtube.com/watch?v=VcjBp5Nip3o Thanks for reading, I hope this review was helpful!

Ultimate Star Wars is an encyclopedia packed full of Star Wars information from all of the known canon material so far. This includes all six films and The Clone Wars and Rebels television shows. None of the Legends material is covered since the goal of this book is to get the reader up to speed on all the relevent, canonical material before the onslaught of new stories is about to hit. The book is divided into sections covering, Characters and Creatures, Planets/Locations, Technology, and Vehicles all presented in chronological order. Interwoven throughout the sections are also iconic events such as the Duel on Mustafar, Training on Dagobah, etc. Since the book casts its net so wide, it is able to cover pretty much everything in the saga, although the level of information provided may not be as detailed as in past ultimate guides. They do however bring everything together into one volume so the trade-off is worth more often than not. The pictures are nice and crisp, providing great detail for some of the most obscure characters, but I sometimes wondered why some of the key characters had the pictures chosen that they had. In the end though, there are enough pictures of the important characters in the key events that it makes little difference. My favorite parts of the book actually had to do with the technology section because there are lots of detailed, close-up images of blasters lightsabers and droids that provide great detail to the design and construction. The vehicles section is similar in the level of detail with the pictures. This book is a very nice companion guide for any fan of the Star Wars saga. There are enough pieces of new information that even the most die-hard fan will find something new to discover. It is also a great reference book for those wanting to know definitively what is part of the new Star Wars canon.

This book would be a great gift for either a new or established SW fan. I have almost all of DK Publishing's Star Wars books and this one does not disappoint. The layout and design are innovative and interesting. Facts and photos on every page bring the SW Saga to life. As a long-time fan, there wasn't a ton of "brand new" information here for me, but there were enough "wow, I didn't realize that" moments to make me feel like I was learning new things about the Saga. I think this book might be geared for introducing new fans or getting casual fans up-to-speed in advance of The Force Awakens in December 2015. In that, this book succeeds admirably. Get it!

Before every one freaks out and starts going on about getting rid of the Expanded Universe from Star Wars, I have to say I am a huge fan of the Expanded Universe and that does not detract from the review of this book. Its a great book, full of screen shots from the films and little tidbits of information, some concept art and pretty much every major and minor character in movies 1-6, The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels as well as ships and technologies. It however does not contain anything from the Expanded Universe, so if you are looking for the Yuuzong Vong they are not here. With that being said it is a great book but with limited information from each character as well the actual canon non comic books/books that gave more character develop is null and void now so some of it is listed as "hearsay" and what not. It is a great coffee table book for any Star Wars fan and is a fun read. Quite large as well, I was surprised with the size of the book and the quality. I strongly recommend it

Our 6 year old son and 8 year old daughter got this book for Christmas and have been so enraptured by it that they are now Star Wars experts. The details and back stories and pictures are fantastic and have led to hours of imaginative play, comic book writing and unique Lego creations. Not only did this book enrich and back up the movies but it unlocked a whole universe of ideas and Star Wars entertainment. Basically it pushed our kids off the cliff of Star Wars obsession that they were teetering on. They are full blown fanatics now and know way more than we do about every character. Even our 4 year old who hasn't seen the movies has been hearing the book read to her so many times she can tell you Darth Vader's origin and family tree. I would have given it 5 stars FOR SURE if the binding hadn't broken and split. Super sad because it happened fast and the kids are disappointed.

This isn't a novel, it's a "pretend Star Wars is real and then draw a bunch of diagrams that show how everything 'works'" kind of fake-encylopedia. That said, it's nearly perfect in this role. My kids and I have read and re-read many of these entries. Popping it open is like jumping into the Wikipedia of a galaxy far, far away. Whatever page you hit is likely to look great, contains something very interesting, and reference a half-dozen other cool stuff elsewhere in the book. It's a great resource for anyone into Star Wars fandom, RPG's, comics, or similarly lore-thick approach to Star Wars. It likely has no practical, real world application, but is a great world-bible and springboard for SW-flavored imaginations.

This is the best all-around book about Star Wars that I have ever seen. It covers everything and, unlike some books, gives Jar Jar Binks the full credit he deserves. Jar Jar is the key to the entire Star Wars franchise. He's the lucky charm. Without him, everything would have ended in Episode 1. At least this book recognizes his role. Of course, even a thick book like this doesn't catch everything. The authors neglected to mention how Jar Jar is a featured bird in Angry Birds, Star Wars II. My two Star Wars friends (Randy and Kyle) both hate Jar Jar but they keep wanting to borrow this book from me. I'm making them say the words "Jar Jar Binks is a real hero" before I let them read it. I'm not sure it helps but perhaps it will sink in one day.

This is a good book and the first true guide under the canon. Listen people, face the music, the old EU is legends, no longer current just like GL. That's why he sold this to Disney. They can do whatever they want Still very good book with canon chock full of info. Those that want to whine and complain go back to theforce.net forums and be negative. For the rest buy the book truly worth it. Give it 5 out of 5

Desordenado, caótico en los contenidos, papel muy fino, imágenes desenfocadas, pequeñas para lo que se espera de un libro de estas características. Promete la portada, pero nada más. Hay libros muchísimo mejores por ese precio, y de mejor contenido y maquetación.

Großartiges Fanbuch! Starke Bilder und klasse Infos! Kann man absolut in Reichweite liegenlassen, da man immer wieder reinschauen will. Super

Excelente obra que detalla personajes y su procedencia así como la relación entre estos, detalla personajes que es probable que ni te diste cuenta dónde aparecen o salieron y la importancia de estos dentro de la historia, el diseño del libro es de lujo, con una buena cantidad de referencias visuales acompañadas de texto que te hace entender perfecto de quien o de que se está hablando. Se tardo un poco en llegar, la pasta venía sucia con un raspón y ligeramente doblada de abajo.

Questo è un libro che un vero fan di Star Wars non può farsi sfuggire. C'è di tutto: personaggi dei film, delle serie The Clone Wars e Star Wars Rebels e accenni a quelli dei fumetti, tutti i veicoli, le creature, le armi, i pianeti, le guerre e gli eventi in ordine cronologico. L'unica pecca, a mio parere, è la scelta di inserire Rebels, in quanto ancora incompleto (è aggiornato fino alla prima stagione circa).

Excelente produto recomendo aos fãs de Star Wars, em inglês.