The team at DK have a reassuring knack of knocking out high-quality Star Wars releases that pull back the curtain on the film and TV series, giving us a closer look at the characters, worlds and vehicles of the saga. Star Wars Encyclopedia of Starfighters and Other Vehicles is another one of those books, and this release gives concise but very relevant information of the vast armada of Star Wars vehicles from across the four-decade history of the saga.
For such a physically small book – unusual for DK, which usually releases over-sized coffee table books – this is absolutely loaded with content. Author Landry Q. Walker takes us on a tour of these iconic vehicles, from air vehicles to land craft, water vessels to spacecraft, with over 200 modes of transport listed and detailed. We have all the classic ships from the original trilogy, the vast armada of vessels from the prequels, as well as craft from The Clone Wars animated series which did such a great job of expanding on the second trilogy. Star Wars Rebels vehicles are in here, along with the latest films The Force Awakens, Rogue One, and The Last Jedi.
Each vehicle is given plenty of information. The Data File details the type of vehicle, the manufacturer, its speed in kph and mph, the model and then its dimensions. Old school gamers will be pleased to see that the hyperdrive class is still listed, as well as the weapons compliment.
We then get box outs giving the story behind the vehicles, information on such topics as key characteristics, info on special attributes, specific missions that the ships excelled in and stories that they have featured in across the saga. There are some inconsistencies of detail compared to other canon releases – for example, the Build The Millennium Falcon partwork listed the Turtle Tanker as being built by Rothana Heavy Engineering and Desando Dynamics, while Encyclopedia of Starfighters and Other Vehicles has it built by Corellia Mining Corporation, but this is a small criticism as the book is a handy book to grab for readers who enjoy such details, gamers who want quick and easy access to basic ship information and writers who need the concise facts quickly.
DK release a lot of books, and collections like this, bringing together vessels from across the saga, are both useful and logical. Let’s hope DK follow this release up with similar books looking at both characters and the worlds of the Star Wars galaxy, with a similar amount of pertinent information. At the right price point – this book retails at £12.99 – it could prove to be another best-selling series for the company.
STAR WARS: ENCYCLOPEDIA OF STARFIGHTERS AND OTHER VEHICLES / AUTHOR: LANDRY Q. WALKER / PUBLISHER: DK CHILDREN / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
