AUTHOR: MATT JONES / PUBLISHER: DK / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
While on the face of it the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – The Galactic Guide is a book written for kids, helping them navigate the worlds and characters of the ninth Skywalker Saga episode, it’s also a book that holds far more pertinent information than many would give it credit for. In fact, a browse through the pages of the book reveals some very cool information.
Kicking off we rejoin the story as the Resistance set up base on Ajan Kloss, a location Leia has earmarked for decades as a potential base, and rolling through the book reveals even more handy info. Were you aware that R2-D2 kept a copy of the Death Star plans in his system (impressive, remember the efforts it took to send the pans in Rogue One?) or that Rose is now in charge of the Resistance’s engineers, working out ways to beat the technology of the First Order (it’s not shown in the film, but the idea of Lightspeed skipping is hers). We learn that the TIE Whisper is the newest hyperdrive capable TIE in the First Order fleet, and that the scene where Ren takes the Sith Wayfinder is actually inside Vader’s Castle on Mustafar.
Again, it’s a kids book, but for casual readers, there are some great images and snippets of info, and for more seasoned readers and followers of Star Wars there’s enough in here to prompt further investigation. Another example – one of the previously believed oddities of the Star Wars galaxy map was why the Unknown Regions lay unexplored. It always felt like the galaxy’s major stories happened in the other regions of the map, and that the Unknown Regions were simply that – unknown and unexplored. Here we learn that the Sith Wayfinder wasn’t just a way to Google Maps your way to Exegol, but is also required to travel through the Unknown Regions, presumably because it’s filled with the same special anomalies we see at the start of the film.
We’re introduced to the Sith fleet – like the First Order, maintaining the silhouettes of the Imperial, and before them, Republic fleet – and even find confirmation that Lando was a loving father before his daughter was kidnapped by the First Order and made to serve. Speaking of which, Jannah was a member of Company 77 (got to love the real-world nods; Company 77 for 1977, the Aki-Aki Festival of the Ancestors being held every 42 years, etc) and lived on Kef Bir, which was named by the Ewoks on the neighbouring Forest Moon.
An excellent release from DK, and one well worth buying for older fans as the post-Skywalker Saga era begins.
