A Guide to the Star Wars Universe

In some ways, Bill Slavicsek's 596 page A (as in A-3DO, a droid once owned by the Jedi Knight Andur Sunrider) to Z (ZZ-4Z, yet another droid, this time once Han Solo's mechanical housekeeper, last seen recovering from an attack by Boba Fett) book serves as a "poor man's Star Wars Encyclopedia," since the format is very similar and essentially covers the same territory -- down to the style of the entries -- as Steven J. Sansweet's more expensive and even more outdated (circa 1998) reference book.

The Guide is, obviously, a must-have reference work, and Slavicsek has done an excellent job at compiling all the data from not only the first four filmed Episodes (the cutoff point in this edition for the movies is Episode I: The Phantom Menace) but also every licensed media release, including young reader books (The Glove of Darth Vader), comic books (Tales of the Jedi Knights, the Dark Empire series), and such forgotten (and forgetable) TV offerings as the Droids animated series.

I don't know if there will be an interim Guide published by Ballantine Books before the release of Episode III next year; I had hoped to see a fourth edition this year that would cover Episode II and the New Jedi Order series after Vector Prime. Then again, Sansweet's more expensive Star Wars Encyclopedia has not been updated yet, so I am guessing the next editions of these two wonderful references will be released in a few years.


This book is awesome   January 25, 2004
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

I got this book around the time it came out, and 3 years later it is still the first book I go to for Star Wars look ups. Its biggest problem is that it is dated and cuts off right after Vector Prime, so it is not much help for looking up things in the New Jedi Order. That being said, it is still very valid and apart from the NJO and various newer comic book series, it covers pretty much everything. This book is a must for any serious Star Wars reader, and I highly recommend it as such. I would like to see a new edition with up-to-date material released after Episode III comes out.


Almost complete   December 25, 2003
This book is a very nice work in the Star Wars universe, since it encompass not only the classic Trilogy, but also the new Trilogy and the New Republic facts. The only problems that I see in it are that the entries are very shor in some cases, missing some information and the illustrations are very poor in most of the cases. However, it is a good book for a Star Wars fan.


Excellent reference to the Star Wars Universe   December 6, 2002
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

The Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy is a handy reference for any fan of the books and movies. Because it was published in the year 2000, it came after a wave of new books and a new movie, thus making it up to date up until that time.
While not as complete as the Star Wars Encyclopedia, it has information that SWE did not cover. However, it does not contain the wealth of information that SWE has, and the illistrations are black and white, whereas the Encyclopeida's are color.
The Guide covers new information in the Han Solo Trilogy, the X-Wing series, Episode I: The Phantom Menace, the New Jedi Order (Just Vector Prime) and several other novels.
So, this is just right if you are a fan that likes up to date information.
However,it is already out of date and does not contain everything that is new. There is nothing about the second and third parts of the X-Wing series, nothing beyond Vector Prime and several other books that are already out. Hopefully there'll be a new editon in the near future.