Rating: 
Summary: Star Wars (before the prequels) from A wing to Zuggs....
Review: Ever since the first Guide to the Star Wars Universe was published in 1984, there have been many reference books written about the characters, weapons, spacecraft, fauna, flora, and worlds of that "galaxy far, far away...." Raymond Velasco's first Guide had precious little to go on back in '84. Bill Slavicsek was luckier a decade later; the Expanded Universe had grown a bit larger with the new wave of Star Wars-related novels, role-playing game guides, graphic novels, and even young readers' books.But even though Slavicsek's 1994 and 2000 Guides are very well-done, Steven J. Sansweet's huge Star Wars Encyclopedia is a treasure trove of information about the Star Wars saga's details. Following the same format as the Slavicsek "Guides," Sansweet's large and lavishly illustrated one-volume Encyclopedia covers every imaginable topic from the Rebel A-Wing to the Imperial officer known as Zuggs. Because it was published in 1998, precious little information from the current "Prequel Trilogy" appears in this edition of The Star Wars Encyclopedia. Also, the Expanded Universe has gotten larger, so readers who want to find out about topics covered in the New Jedi Order series will be disappointed. Fans will have to wait until 2006 to see the second, updated edition. Still, Sansweet's book is considered to be the best reference work, not only for its thoroughness, but because the author is a vice president at Lucasfilm and is the owner of one of the world's largest private Star Wars collections. He also appears frequently on the "Ask the Jedi Council" forum at www.starwars.com.
Rating: 
Summary: Really crummy...
Review: I am terribly sorry I bought this book. I'm a big fan of George Lucas' Star Wars work, but this is an expensive edition dealing all the novels written on his idea, and doesn't cover anything about Episodes I, II and III. Where is Jar-jar Binks? What about Qi-gon? Nope, not a single line.
I bought this book because I wanted to learn more about the Clone Wars, and about how Luke and Leia were separated when they were kids. There is almost no information about that - on the other hand, there is a lot on Leia and Han Solo's kids!
I hope I can sell this on eBay...
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent *THEN*, Not so hot now....
Review: This was an excellent book when it came out, and just glancing at the other reviews gives you an idea of what the good qualities are- and there are many.
But since then, the prequels have been added to the Star Wars world, the entire NJO series of books has come out, and how many other sources?
If you're looking for a starting place to work on your SW knowledge, this is a great way to go.
If you're looking for a handy reference to everything Star Wars that is as up to date as it can be, well... This book is from 1998. That's *six* years ago.
If this book were to be updated, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. It was excellent when it was new and I had no complaints. Until then, I'll just stick with a borrowed copy for those rare occasions when outdated info might help.
Rating:
Summary: A great Star Wars reference book.
Review: This book is a wonderful reference book for the original Star Wars Trilogy and many of the books. Giving wonderful descriptions , pictures and history of many of the characters in the Star Wars universe. A great book to have at your side when watching the Star Wars movies or reading other Star Wars books.
This will give you a wonderful insight to more of the Star Wars story.
As there's new movies and many additional books having been written about the Star Wars Universe, this needs to be updated. Hopefully this will be done when Episode III is released. I would also reccommend for the die hard Star Wars fan, the book Star Wars Chronicles and the DK Visual Dictionary's. If this book was updated it would be a 5+ stars, however being out of date, it's still a wonderful book at 4.5 stars.
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