First off, apologies to DK for truncating the title but Star Wars Encyclopedia of Starfighters And Other Vehicles is a bit of a mouthful, and SWEOSAOV sounds like something that a Scandinavian pharmacist might prescribe for chapped lips.


With the intro out of the way now is a good opportunity to discover what this title is about, and who better to do so than DK themselves:

"The definitive guide to the vehicles from a galaxy far, far away... Learn all about your favorite Star Wars(TM) vehicles, from the A-wing to the Y-wing.

Don't know your X-wing from your Y-wing? Not sure what type of craft Slave I is? Look no further than the Star Wars Encyclopedia of Starfighters and Other Vehicles. From the swamps of Kashyyyk to the deserts of Jakku, from inner-city Coruscant to the vastness of hyperspace, this new Star Wars book will show you the right craft for the job. This handy guide is full of fun facts and intriguing information, guaranteed to enthrall fans for hours on end.

This encyclopedia features more than 200 weird and wonderful vehicles from the world of Star Wars, including ships and vehicles from the entire saga of movies as well as the television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels. One vehicle is explored in detail on each page, so there's something new even for die-hard fans. All the technology behind the vehicles such as repulsorlift craft and hyperspeed is fully explored."

In all aspects this book is actually the reverse of its chunky title - its compact form is a step away from the usual Visual Dictionary-sized books DK is known for, the contents pack far more punch than you'd expect and the price is in pocket money (well, maybe lawn mowing money) range.

Spanning the full range of the Star Wars timeline this title covers the SEALS (being sea, air, land and space) of spacefighters, walkers, speeders, transports, capital ships plus a whole bunch of modes of motion that I wasn't aware of. Unsurprisingly nearly 65% of the book is staunchly in the space category. After all they aren't known as Terrestrial Wars are they?

Starting with The Phantom Menace, running through both TV series, Rogue One and right up to the most recent episode - with a big jump over Solo - there's a vast amount of easily accessed and absorbed information that will appeal to the casual and ardent Star Wars fan.

And while the thought of wading through data files providing information on class, type, manufacturer, model and other technical details might sound yawn inducing, the layout and presentation of the book's matter is done so in an engaging and eye-catching format. So much so that you'll find yourself wading through the pages, hunting out tidbits of information that had previouslyescaped your attention. In fact my first gasp of realisation came when I was skimming through the contents and discovered that both the TIE Striker and TIE Reaper are air - and not space - craft. But for the life of me I still can't figure out why the Quadjumper is still getting page space.


You'll be forgiven for thinking that there is a certain amount of regurgitation, because there is only a certain amount that can be said about the X-Wings, Star Destroyers and 74-Z speeder bikes but with the franchise constanly evolving and new fans being brought into the fold on a daily basis, books like these do have a place in the pantheon of Star Wars literature.


My advice is find a reason to buy this book. If you can't find one - and I'd be surprised that a fan of Star Wars isn't inventive enough to come up with an excuse to part with $16.99 - then get one just to support DK who have been providing us with high standard illustrated reference publications, through times lean and fat, since 1997.

Many thanks to DK Australia for sharing a copy with us. You can read our sister site's review at TheForce.net, and tap into the wider galaxy of Star Warspublishing through our Jedi Journals podcast, which is available monthly.