Rating: 
Summary: Better than the first one
Review: First of all, this book is beautiful. There are pretty borders and colors everywhere, and the pages are shiny. For each ship they have an exquisite original pictureContent-wise, the book is awesome. While it lacks the superb page-long schematics of the first book, it has a smaller, simplified version that's only a little less useful. There's a box where they tell the statistics for the ship, including the length, manufacturer, affiliation, and the speed in air, space, and hyperspace. There's also a cool quote for each vehicle. There are a lot of all-new vehicles, including all of the minor vehicles from Episodes I and II, some Vong starships, and a few important others. Of course, they had to cut some ships out, but only minor, unimportant ones, such as the Ssi-Ruuvi ships from The Truce at Bakura, the Scimatar assault bomber, the Lancer frigate, and the Carrack Cruiser. On the other hand, every single ship they cut out is in the back, given a couple sentences. Also in the back are dozens of other minor vehicles. Contrary to what you might hear, they DID include the sandcrawler. Rounding out the book is a graph of all of the vehicle speeds, a comprehensive Layman's guide to technology, and a major manufacturer's section. The manufacturer's section has logos for each group, even the completely unimportant ones they don't write about. All in all, an awesome book, the best one yet.
Rating:
Summary: Better than the first one
Review: First of all, this book is beautiful. There are pretty borders and colors everywhere, and the pages are shiny. For each ship they have an exquisite original picture Content-wise, the book is awesome. While it lacks the superb page-long schematics of the first book, it has a smaller, simplified version that's only a little less useful. There's a box where they tell the statistics for the ship, including the length, manufacturer, affiliation, and the speed in air, space, and hyperspace. There's also a cool quote for each vehicle. There are a lot of all-new vehicles, including all of the minor vehicles from Episodes I and II, some Vong starships, and a few important others. Of course, they had to cut some ships out, but only minor, unimportant ones, such as the Ssi-Ruuvi ships from The Truce at Bakura, the Scimatar assault bomber, the Lancer frigate, and the Carrack Cruiser. On the other hand, every single ship they cut out is in the back, given a couple sentences. Also in the back are dozens of other minor vehicles. Contrary to what you might hear, they DID include the sandcrawler. Rounding out the book is a graph of all of the vehicle speeds, a comprehensive Layman's guide to technology, and a major manufacturer's section. The manufacturer's section has logos for each group, even the completely unimportant ones they don't write about. All in all, an awesome book, the best one yet.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty, but Otherwise Average
Review: I was quite excited upon learning that an update was in the works for one of my favorite Star Wars books of all time. The original Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels was (and still largely is) a one-of-a-kind work. Prior to that, most of the ships of the expanded universe appeared only in printed text- not illustrations. Doug Chiang and Troy Vigil really added life to the ships of the Star Wars universe. The New Essential Guide is something less than new. The full color illustrations are the best part of it- especially those that depict vessels not shown in the previous work. Additionally, there's some background on vehicle manufacturers, famous battles, and comparisons between vessel sublight and hyperspace speed. Other than this, however, the book falls short of its previous incarnation. The schematics largely tell you things you could have inferred just by looking at the picture (The ship has a hull?! No way!) and the text is watered down for a younger audience. There's not as many hard facts or numbers, including no comparison at all of shield or hull strength (something I, a long-time SW space sim player, was hoping for). There is a simple explanation of the basic technologies at the start, appropriately titled 'A Layperson's Guide to Technology.' It seems the author and publishers aren't aware that most kids nowadays are more familiar with technical jargon than adults. Aside from these minor complaints, there is one major issue I have with this book. That is, only a handful of new ships are shown, and most of these are from the prequels. Frankly, other books like the Incredible Cross Sections series have covered these vehicles better than the Essential Guide could hope to. There's also the issue of beating a dead horse. If you don't know what an X-wing looks like by now, you probably won't be buying this book. Why recap material that's been published a dozen times already? There's a whole load of new ships in the New Jedi Order series alone (i.e. the Bothan Assault Frigate, Star Defender, Ranger Gunship). Why not present those? The New Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels does have some cool features, but aside from the updated color illustrations, it is less than 'new' and hardly 'essential.' I would recommend the original Essential Guide over this one, and advise those that already own it to check out other guides first.
Rating:
Summary: A Brilliant collection of art & inventive space hardware...
Review: I was sent this book from Random House completely unsolicited and at first I didn't think that I would even crack it open at all -- but out of sheer boredom one day I picked it up and I was absolutely stunned at the incredible amount of work that went into making this collection as realistic as possible. The artwork is as top notch as you can get and the research that Mr. Blackman has devoted to each ship is very apparent. Everything from the obscure to the obvious is detailed within the pages of this tome. My personal favorite would be the Outrider used by Dash Rendar in 'The Shadows of the Empire'. A sort of stream-lined souped up version of the Millennium Falcon, it certainly looks very Star Wars and the commentary behind it all is comprehensive. Are you a fan of Pod Racing? You'll find 'em all in here. How 'bout the Super Star Destroyer Executor? In here as well. Or maybe you would like to know the top speed of the Jawa Sandcrawler -- all answered in here. Ever hear of the V-Wing? Do you know the technical specs on Boba Fett's Slave I, the weapons capability of Talon Karrde's luxury smuggling ship? You will after reading this book. It's all laid out in easy-to-read format. The attention to detail is incredible. I also enjoyed comparing the X-Wing with the Y and B-Wing fighters up close. Sure it's all fiction, but it takes one step closer to reality within these pages. My son has been drooling over this book ever since I brought it home and I finally had to give it up for a few days so he could comb over each page for what seemed like hours until his thirst for Star Wars info had been quenched. If you are looking for a fictional Star Wars story, this is NOT what you are looking for...instead this is a fictional collection of ships and vessels you will find in the Star Wars movies (including Attack of the Clones & the most recently released New Jedi Order novels) and how they stack up next to each other. Some of the more creative and clever looking ships are out of the novels rather than the movies, and personally I think that the ships from the original 3 movies are way more impressive than anything shown so far in Episodes I & II. Let me be honest: if you are a fan of all things Star Wars, you should have this book. If you'd rather read a book featuring Han, Leia and Luke, pick something else. Keep this in mind, but it's hard not to be impressed with the HUGE amount of work that went into even the tiniest of details in this book. Very well done.
Rating:
Summary: Tho Cool!
Review: I was thrilled to receive this book for Christmas; but, they could have included so much more. While there were plenty of new entries for episodes I and II, I like the previous reviewer felt they rehashed a lot of old material. Without checking the actual page count, I'd guess half the entries were (near) duplications from the books predecessor. On a positive note, the majority of those ships featured new pictures, at unique angles. Still, I have to wonder why they didn't cover solely new ships (referring to any minor redesign updates in the back notes), especially those of recent novelizations. I could go into detail, but the "Disappointing..." review covered the meat of my complaint quite adequately. As far as the prequels are concerned, their contributions either look too smooth, or frumpy (of course, not the fault of the artists who worked on the book). The new stuff just isn't grandiose or awe-inspiring, like the vessels of the original trilogy. The high points: Color was, in the majority of cases, a welcome addition. Designer / manufacturer backgrounds were informative (even if the logos were cheesy). The hyperspace / sublight chart was great for ship comparisons. Brief notes (in the back) concerning specific ships were helpful. And, lastly, the fleet battle scenarios, though vague, were a nice bonus. Overall, I'd say this book deserves 3 1/2 stars - could have been better, yet still worth the price.
Rating:
Summary: See also "Disappointing..."
Review: I was thrilled to receive this book for Christmas; but, they could have included so much more. While there were plenty of new entries for episodes I and II, I like the previous reviewer felt they rehashed a lot of old material. Without checking the actual page count, I'd guess half the entries were (near) duplications from the books predecessor. On a positive note, the majority of those ships featured new pictures, at unique angles. Still, I have to wonder why they didn't cover solely new ships (referring to any minor redesign updates in the back notes), especially those of recent novelizations. I could go into detail, but the "Disappointing..." review covered the meat of my complaint quite adequately. As far as the prequels are concerned, their contributions either look too smooth, or frumpy (of course, not the fault of the artists who worked on the book). The new stuff just isn't grandiose or awe-inspiring, like the vessels of the original trilogy. The high points: Color was, in the majority of cases, a welcome addition. Designer / manufacturer backgrounds were informative (even if the logos were cheesy). The hyperspace / sublight chart was great for ship comparisons. Brief notes (in the back) concerning specific ships were helpful. And, lastly, the fleet battle scenarios, though vague, were a nice bonus. Overall, I'd say this book deserves 3 1/2 stars - could have been better, yet still worth the price.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing...
Review: Lately, the Essential Guides have all been very good and informative, The Essential Chronology and The New Essential Guide to Characters being probably the best. The older guides were also generally satisfying. But unfortunately this book is a real let-down. I've been eagerly waiting for a new vehicles guide for years, and the high quaility of each successive Guide only made the wait more tantalizing. The new look of the Essential Guides, starting with the new charcters guide by Daniel Wallace was excellent. The book was full of not only full color illustrations, but useful, new information. Dan Wallace seems the perfect writer for this job. And to the New Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels... Some good, some avarage quality pictures, and that's about all. Lots of very important vehicles and ships were omitted, while page after page was wasted with already well known things, such as the Sandcrawler, Luke's landspeeder, snowspeeder, Virago, etc. Where are the important vehicles newly introduced, such as the Bothan Assault Cruiser, all the New Class New Republic capital ships and various other new ships from the EU? Where is the Pulsar Skate? Why mention Hound's Tooth and IG-2000 again, rather than this time around including the Mist Hunter and Punishing One?(not that they are very important ships) The existing entries are also bland and empty. Apparently Haden Blackman got lazy and added almost no new information. The Naboo ships still lack names. Almost no history and background to the vehicles. There are some funny quotes from the peoples of the galaxy about those ships, but that's about all, and some of the quotes are pretty stupid. The Star Destroyer entry is terrible, all the SD types stashed into two pages. Likewise for the Mon Calamari cruisers. No details about all the new X-wing classes, such as the XJ and XJ3 models; they are only briefly mentioned. One wonders where the hell is their third proton torpedo launcher... It seems we'll never know. Haden Blackman's writing style is also pretty dry, it seems he copied most of his information from the old vehicles guide and Incredible Cross-Sections books. And I wonder who edited this book, or if any editors were involved at all. The book is full of typos and mistakes. In the small(and inadequate) schematics below each page, a lot of the numerics were wrong or didn't correspond to the said item. In the Interdictor entry, it says the New Republic ''confiscated the remainin Interdictors after Thrawn's defeat.'' What nonsense. A-wing's affiliation is Galactic Empire(!), and at the end of the BTL-S3 Y-wing entry, almost as an afterthought it's added that ''there is also a two-seater version''. Well, BTL-S3 is THE two seater version! And so on, so on... My advice; look at the pretty pictures in this book, and then put it back on the bookshelf. Not worth the money, get yourselves a copy of the old Essential Guide to Vehicles&Vessels if you don't already have it.
Rating: 
Summary: A great compendium tarnished by key ships omitted
Review: The New Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels has been eagerly awaited by countless fans, and at $60 Aust dollars, a hefty swallow without Amazon's cheaper alternative. With scores of potential new entries from the prequel movies and dozens of books since the first guide, colour and better spec info add value over the previous EGVV, with a wealth of new and unexpected ships to find out. The first guide featured an outline schematic and pencilled illustration of each ship or vehicle. The NEGVV has each entry in full colour and textured detail that wonderfully brings them to three-dimensional life. Not all entries have optimal camera angles, and some weren't positioned too well at all. A single standardised view looking down at each ship would have afforded better detail and more to look at. The entry specs was a welcome improvement over the sparse information the first guide had. Knowing the length of a ship is what these guides are all about, but when applicable, even the height was added. Good stuff. Some quotes were creative, others just bland, while the max speed was initially confusing, as the "G" at the end looks very much like a number, seemingly adding an extra digit to the speed! The NEGVV finally names the Chiss clawcraft and Republic Cruiser, which does have you wondering why no one has bothered to give them a simple name till now. The guide features a short summary on what looks like every SW manufacturer in the galaxy, complete with their own individual insignia. A nice touch, though Kuat's is reminiscent of Zelda's Triforce because it is. Important ships systems and functions are also explained, in case you aren't aware what turbolasers, navcomputers and hyperdrive are. The inclusion of a speed and hyperdrive rating bar was commendable, which is always pertinent for the true fanatic. The battle maps were useless. Most buyers are movie fans who already know the major battles of the movies, and a flat map doesn't present anything new. But hype only excites so far, and beneath the shine and sparkle lurk enough small but serious mistakes to grease a Hutt uphill that have cost this NEGVV the quality it could have had. Only the most popular and used ships are given entries, so where was the Bothan Assault Cruiser? Its absence was the biggest disappointment of all. A single entry collectively describing the new warships of the Black Fleet Trilogy would have been nice. The A-wing was not developed by the Empire, it's doubtful that the Techno Union's starship would be unarmed, the TIE Defender's tractor beam was still omitted, as was the weapons complement of the Super Star Destroyer, only that it has "over a thousand weapons", and why the hell the Naboo N-1 fighter still has no name is criminal. The XJ3 X-wing with all its new modifications over the original was ignored, and the Naboo Royal Cruisers have no name, as if a monarch would not name their own royal flagship. Still no Golan battle station or Floating Fortress. The Vong warships of the NJO series has hardly been given any detail in 19 books, and just like their one-dimensional people, here too there is no detail. Readers rarely know how long they are and their armament, but that doesn't change here. The Vong have just four entires, all of them just as light in detail and depth as the books. Many more Vong ships are found in the appendix, equally obscure. The coralskipper was glossed over. If the dovin basal gravity creature controls both propulsion and shielding, how many grav holes can it generate? The fighter has just a single gun? Why no mention of its communications deficiency? Or its unique way of being flown? Or how everything allegedly becomes transparent to the pilot? Overall, this is still one slick present and well worth getting by any legal or otherwise means. An enjoyable read, just one that could have been sharpened better.
Rating:
Summary: WOW! The Best Yet
Review: This book has high-definition, full color illustrations. There is even a data base for each aircraft. I have all the Essential Guides, and this guide has the best descriptions of aircrafts and the battles in the Star Wars Universe. There are even hyper drive and sublight speed classification charts. The book is full of quotes from characters -these are fun to read.
Rating:
Summary: WOW! The Best Yet
Review: This book has high-definition, full color illustrations. There is even a data base for each aircraft. I have all the Essential Guides, and this guide has the best descriptions of aircrafts and the battles in the Star Wars Universe. There are even hyper drive and sublight speed classification charts. The book is full of quotes from characters -these are fun to read.
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