The Essential Reader's Companion (Star Wars) (Star Wars: Essential Guides) Paperback – October 2, 2012

Excuse me while I wipe the drool off of my keyboard. Ah, there we go. I went into Barnes & Noble at the beginning of October this year just to see what was out. I saw that they were advertising Star Wars reader week or something, and this book caught my eye. Immediately went inside and tried to find it. Not in stock (typical) even though it had come out the day before. So, what to do? Go home and order it from Amazon, of course.I am, without reservation, a HUGE Star Wars fan. I have been reading the books since I was in the 4th grade. It's been fun (and depressing in some cases) watching these characters age across the books. While I don't read anything set before Return of the Jedi--I already know what happens to everyone in those books ultimately, so there's no suspense for me--I have read nearly everything set after Return of the Jedi. The only books I haven't read are the Tales series, the Boba Fett books, and Shadow of Mindor. That's over eighty books now, and sadly my brain cannot remember everything that I've read. Even now, I'm reading X-Wing Mercy kill and I find myself digging through this companion book to refresh my memory on characters who haven't been mentioned in years. Much more handy and fast than skimming through the old books.So let's get to it: As the books says, it covers ALL the Star Wars books that have been written so far. Sadly, with the release of Crucible next year, it will no longer be up to date, but what is there is plenty. What I really enjoy is that, at the end of some of the book summaries, there are notes. They are behind-the-scenes stories about how the book was written, what ideas went into the story, what ideas were taken out, how one book links to another. These have proven to be both entertaining and enlightening.(SPOILERS TO FOLLOW, so read at your own risk. Again, SPOILERS!!!!!!)Entertaining because of stories such as how, originally, Jacen Solo was supposed to flow walk during his finale fight with Jaina in an attempt to change the past and in doing so, he would actually change places with Anakin Solo, thus making it Jacen who died in the Vong War and Anakin being flung into the future in Jacen's body. Enlightening because, without this book, I would have had no idea who the Sith Lord was that helps Luke finally kill Abeloth, or that an episode from The Clone Wars is what inspired Abeloth's origins.(SPOILERS END)My favorite thing about this book though is the art. While several characters are featured on the cover of books, or in concept art, many are often only describe on paper. I enjoy imagining what these characters look like, but sometimes it's nice to see the official version. And this book delivers. Tenel Ka (my favorite and hopefully in Kotobukiya's statue plans) is shown standing with her classmates on Yavin 4. Allana Solo, dressed as Amelia, is finally pictures with her pet, Anji. Jaina and her fellow Jedi are shown defending the temple from Mandos. Mara Jade is shown as a dancer in Jabba's throne room, and then again later fighting a Yuuzhan Vong. Ship, who I thought for the longest time was simply a silver orb, is finally given an official picture when he comes to Vestera's rescue. Naturally, there's a picture of Luke and Mara getting married, but there's also one of them working together trying to cut their way out of a flooding chamber. And who knew that Daala no longer has red hair, but grey? I apparently missed that in the books. It was amazing seeing some of these key scenes from the books finally visualized, and it makes me wish that there was a book solely devoted to pictures.The summaries of the books are just that: summaries. They are meant to be a recap of the major events of the books, not a complete retelling. An example is the X-Wing series. Many members of Rogue and Wraith squadrons die across those books, but thess summaries do not list them by name. It just says things like, "Many Rogues die," or "losing two Wraiths". Because these characters are not main MAIN characters, they are not named. While slightly disappointing--I want very detailed summaries--I can understand this approach. If that much detail was given to each book, this companion guide would probably have to come in volumes.I highly recommend this book for any reader of Star Wars. If you're a hardcore reader like myself, this book is required by Star Wars law to be in your collection. If it's not, I'm afraid I must ask that you hand in you Star Wars fan card and lightsaber on the way out. No, seriously, I'll take a lightsaber. I've always wanted one of those.

I love the Essential Reader's Companion,I absolutely recommend you read this if you wan't to get into the vast ocean that is The Expanded Universe(AKA Legends now a days). Prior to purchasing this companion,I only read 10 novels in the Expanded Universe 6 of the 10 novels are the novelizations of the 6 films,3 of which are the scholastic biographies of Luke,Obi Wan,and Anakin,and lastly,the Last of the Jedi #2 Dark Warning.But before I can get to reviewing the contents of the book,I must first review the package. The packaging is very excellent,and when I unpacked the book,the book was in perfect condition. No pages were damaged,nothing was bent and it has that always satisfying new book smell. Now that that's out of the way,lets get to the product. The Essential Reader's companion only covers the EU novels and short stories(and likes to point out notable comics and games) but asides from that,this timeline is very good and I feel that it is essential(no pun intended) to get this reference book. The companion gives a brief summary of the Novel/Short Story being told with trivia about the story and publication history along with other information like where it takes place in the timeline,what locations they visit,and who are the characters in the story. There is also some really beautiful art that highlights various events in the EU. Lastly,the companion does not cover every EU short story and novel,the companion covers every novel/short story until 2012,so stories like Crucible(Chronologically the last novel in the EU) are not covered in the companion. With that said,I hope you enjoy the companion and have a good day :)

Whether you've resolved to celebrate May the 4th by reading you're first Star Wars EU novel or you've been an avid Star Wars EU reader since 1976 (or whenever you've discovered Star Wars) this is the book to have at your fingertips for tips on where to start.Star Wars: The Essential Reader's Companion arranges every novel and short story (it excludes other types of media-with the exception of a few "spotlights" on select comics) based on galactic chronology instead of publication history. It starts it's eight chapters with Tales of Ancient Jedi and Sith, Height of the Republic, The Clone Wars, The Dark Times, The Galactic Civil War, The New Republic, The New Jedi Order and Legacy with illustrations by various artists scattered throughout. The Companion is also useful in refreshing one's memory of previously read books and will pique one's interest in books they haven't read read yet.I myself am a long term EU reader as long as I have been a Star Warrior. But the hardest novels to read are the ones where no characters from the movies make an appearance-i.e. the Old Republic. I purchased a copy of "Star Wars: Knight Errant" because I had read the graphic novels but this printed novel is an all-new story and I was only familiar with three characters. "Knight Errant" was a difficult read-at first.With the "Essential Reader's Companion", all the books and short stories cataloged displays the cover art, the author, the cover artist, publication date, timeline placement, where the story takes place, cast of characters and, finally, a detailed (but not too detailed) summary. Needless to say my confusion with "Knight Errant" was abated. I might consider reading "Red Harvest" next.Let "Star Wars: The Essential Reader's Companion" guide you in your journey through the ever expanding galaxy. Happy Reading.