It appears that they got an early look at part 1 of Vector (which may or may not be coming out on Wednesday; we’ll let you know at 5pm.) Their review isn’t too detailed beyond what we’ve seen from the preview, but the description of Mandalorians as “zombie-like aliens” did get a bit of a chuckle from me.
Book Review: The Star Wars Vault
I love the experience of opening up the year’s big Star Wars coffee table book. This one’s quite the experience.
The Star Wars Vault, by Stephen J. Sansweet and Peter Vilmur, is The Star Wars Scrapbook on steroids.
Book Review: A Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy
I just love Halloween in the stores. The Halloween decorations are put on clearance. The Thanksgiving stuff is on sale. And the Christmas decorations are fresh on the shelves.
It’s also the time when we get the year’s batch of Star Wars gift books. Y’know, the ones that are just a little more expensive and, thus, in a wonderful price range for someone looking to get you something special.
One of those books is A Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy by Matthew Reinhart.
Get out your thesaurus, because screaming out “Cool!” for all the times you’re wowed by this book will take the shine off that word.
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Book Review: The Art of Ralph McQuarrie
After a bit of haggling with FedEx, I finally got my copy of The Art of Ralph McQuarrie.
Wow. I never realized how much breadth of talent Ralph McQuarrie has. Sure, he created some of the most iconic images in Star Wars. Sure, he clearly has a great understanding of design. But I just never realized.
Book Review: The Making of Star Wars
I have to start this review with a caveat that I have not yet managed to finish reading this book. It’s fairly monstrous and there’s a lot to read. Plus, I keep getting distracted by all the pretty pictures.
Having said all that, I feel like I’m far enough along to give at least a relatively-informed review.
Bottom line: I’d recommend getting this book if you hold any love for the original movie. It’s a lot of fun.
Book Review: You can draw Star Wars
So Bonnie Burton (of StarWars.com fame) put together her first Star Wars book (although not her first book) on how to draw Star Wars called You Can Draw Star Wars. It’s from a series called “You can draw…”. So I decided to see if the claim held true.
Y’see. I can’t draw. I’m fairly limited to stick fingers or flowers. (Really ugly flowers.) So I pulled together a couple of friends (some of whom have actual talent) to see if we could follow along with the instructions.
I’m pleased to say that despite ignoring all the real artistic instruction included in the book, we were able to dive in and attempt Yoda. And even though mine came out looking like a wax figure left too close to the fire, you could honestly say that all of our attempts looked like Yoda.
Even if you’re not into drawing, the book is a pleasant read for the various facts and thoughts about Star Wars art. You’ll need to be diligent in finding it on the bookstore shelves, though. The drawing sections of most bookstores are usually a bit of a mess and it took me and two sales people to figure out where her book was. But it was worth it!
Quick take: RePern of the Jedi
I saw Eragon yesterday. Owwie. Short review, not all that spoilery (IMO) under the cut.
The Club Jade review of Sculpting a Galaxy
Okay. I have to own up to my own Star Wars bias: I skip all the documentaries that involve models or special effects. (I know. I’m a betrayal to my own geekdom.)
So when Insight Editions (the folks who made the gorgeous Dressing a Galaxy, last year) announced a book about the models? I was a bit torn.
Sure. I collect all the books. But I was going for the Limited Edition one. And the price is not cheap. However, I can finally admit to having fallen to the model side of The Force by saying that it is totally worth spending obscene amounts of money to pick up the Limited Edition of: Sculpting a Galaxy: Inside the Star Wars Model Shop.
Totally worth it.
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Review: Star Wars Chronicles: The Prequels
It’s that wonderful time of the year when Lucasfilm’s licensees try to give us as much as possible to offer our friends and families to get us for the holidays.
The latest offering from the holiday collection is Star Wars Chronicles: The Prequels, by our friends Stephen J. Sansweet and Pablo Hidalgo of Lucasfilm.
At a price tag of $150, this is probably an item for your more generous relatives. But it is certainly a fantastic book.
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Review: TFN Podcast on Upcoming Book Releases
Let me say this is my first podcast, and only third (I think) venture into the world of fan audio. But with the latest version of iTunes, getting a podcast has become a no-brainer, so I thought I’d give it a try.
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