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 Customer Reviews
Pleasantly fresh and chillingly sinister storytelling, 24 Jun 2008
Quite a few months after finishing the excellent Path of Destruction, I had my fair share of scepticism to Karpyshyn's follow-up and conclusion of the tale of Darth Bane.
Going by the ridiculous cover art, and my having too much experience and awareness of lackluster second parts in storytelling, I feared Karpyshyn could not top or even equal the chilling anti-hero we grew up with in Path of Destruction. Oh, was I wrong.
Without going into the specifics, I'll be safe to say that Darth Bane - the novel and the character - never lets go. One of very few Star Wars novels centered around one of the Great Ancient Sith Lords, it continues the stream of insight into the cold-blooded ways of the Sith Karpyshyn began in the first novel. But that is not this tale's only strength.
In addition to a set of well thought out and highly interesting characters, the novel boasts a certain uniqueness, something fresh. The plentiful - but absolutely nowhere near generic - well-written battles and conflicts all keep you reading the book at top speed, and you might end up holding your breath at a certain few epic heights in the story.
While I'm certain people will find minor annoyances to nickpit at, such as the slightly different way Karpyshyn portrays combat use of the Force, my overall impression is that this is the best Star Wars novel I've read for years (out of many, after NJO's conclusion).
It might be I just have a morbid fascination of the dark side and its uses and users, but I do highly recommend this (and the first Darth Bane novel, if you for some reason skipped it) to any Star Wars fan or person interested in dark storytelling.
Darth Bane - Rule Of Two, 14 Jun 2008
Brilliant, Simply Brilliant.
Path Of Destruction was Amazing, and this is an Exelent Sequal.
The Story continues from where the previous finished.
The Story is very compelling and you get a reall good indepth insight into the world of the Sith. I would recmmend this book to any Starwars fan, providing you read the First book too, otherwise there could be some confusion.
5 Stars, Brilliant read. Well Worth the buy.
Return of the Sith, 07 Mar 2008
This is Drew Karpyshyn's second book in the Darth Bane series and the two are quite honestly the best star wars books you can buy.
I have read much of the new jedi order series and others but these books give an insight in the force that not even the films managed.
The characters are some of the best of any canon star wars material and the books are really just a joy to read and will leave you wanting more!
I would strongly urge any star wars fan especially those sick of constant infighting between jedi to buy these books and get a whole new perspective on the force - you will not be dissapointed!
Dark , powerful stuff !, 13 Feb 2008
If you are a lover of light fluffy insubstantial sci-fi then don't read this dark , violent and at times macabre tale of how the the Sith got up & running again . It is a nice easy read as it only took me a couple of evenings to get through and ends as abruptly as it starts . This book keeps you on the edge of your seat and would be the superb basis for a cartoon type movie . The characters have real depth and the imagery that this brilliant writer constructs is pretty powerful . I already look forward to the next novel in this sinister series and won't say more for fearing of ruining the suprise factor of all the dramatic twists and turns that so impressed me when I read it a few days ago . Amazon.co.uk are doing us customers a great favour by selling this at such a superb discount . If you love great sci-fi books then this is for you !
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Star Wars Legacy Volume 4
Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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*Amazon: £7.51
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Customer Reviews
Pleasantly fresh and chillingly sinister storytelling, 24 Jun 2008
Quite a few months after finishing the excellent Path of Destruction, I had my fair share of scepticism to Karpyshyn's follow-up and conclusion of the tale of Darth Bane.
Going by the ridiculous cover art, and my having too much experience and awareness of lackluster second parts in storytelling, I feared Karpyshyn could not top or even equal the chilling anti-hero we grew up with in Path of Destruction. Oh, was I wrong.
Without going into the specifics, I'll be safe to say that Darth Bane - the novel and the character - never lets go. One of very few Star Wars novels centered around one of the Great Ancient Sith Lords, it continues the stream of insight into the cold-blooded ways of the Sith Karpyshyn began in the first novel. But that is not this tale's only strength.
In addition to a set of well thought out and highly interesting characters, the novel boasts a certain uniqueness, something fresh. The plentiful - but absolutely nowhere near generic - well-written battles and conflicts all keep you reading the book at top speed, and you might end up holding your breath at a certain few epic heights in the story.
While I'm certain people will find minor annoyances to nickpit at, such as the slightly different way Karpyshyn portrays combat use of the Force, my overall impression is that this is the best Star Wars novel I've read for years (out of many, after NJO's conclusion).
It might be I just have a morbid fascination of the dark side and its uses and users, but I do highly recommend this (and the first Darth Bane novel, if you for some reason skipped it) to any Star Wars fan or person interested in dark storytelling.
Darth Bane - Rule Of Two, 14 Jun 2008
Brilliant, Simply Brilliant.
Path Of Destruction was Amazing, and this is an Exelent Sequal.
The Story continues from where the previous finished.
The Story is very compelling and you get a reall good indepth insight into the world of the Sith. I would recmmend this book to any Starwars fan, providing you read the First book too, otherwise there could be some confusion.
5 Stars, Brilliant read. Well Worth the buy.
Return of the Sith, 07 Mar 2008
This is Drew Karpyshyn's second book in the Darth Bane series and the two are quite honestly the best star wars books you can buy.
I have read much of the new jedi order series and others but these books give an insight in the force that not even the films managed.
The characters are some of the best of any canon star wars material and the books are really just a joy to read and will leave you wanting more!
I would strongly urge any star wars fan especially those sick of constant infighting between jedi to buy these books and get a whole new perspective on the force - you will not be dissapointed!
Dark , powerful stuff !, 13 Feb 2008
If you are a lover of light fluffy insubstantial sci-fi then don't read this dark , violent and at times macabre tale of how the the Sith got up & running again . It is a nice easy read as it only took me a couple of evenings to get through and ends as abruptly as it starts . This book keeps you on the edge of your seat and would be the superb basis for a cartoon type movie . The characters have real depth and the imagery that this brilliant writer constructs is pretty powerful . I already look forward to the next novel in this sinister series and won't say more for fearing of ruining the suprise factor of all the dramatic twists and turns that so impressed me when I read it a few days ago . Amazon.co.uk are doing us customers a great favour by selling this at such a superb discount . If you love great sci-fi books then this is for you !
An excellent overview of Star Wars in a gloriously coloured book, 09 Nov 2008
I bought this book on a whim and enjoyed it so much. It's got a lot packed into it, and it's a fairly slim book! I actually bought it same time as The Ultimate Visual Guide to Star Wars by Ryder Windham (the one with Darth Vader on the cover), and to be honest, it's a much better book; because it serves not just as a visual dictionary, but as a visual guide to boot. Well worth buying for any Star Wars lover out there!
My boys spend hours poring over this!, 03 Oct 2008
This has proved a big hit with my boys (aged 8 and 9) and our copy is starting to look battered from too much use! They are into the Star Wars films and PS games, and have found the level of detail in the book to be very informative. However, they are both advanced readers, and while you can enjoy looking at the pictures, there is a lot of text and if your child can't read fluently they will miss out on lots of interesting details.
Great Pictures, Dissappointing Text, 24 Jul 2008
Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary (DK Visual Dictionaries)
The pictures in the book are great. The text leaves much to be desired. The text is hightly repetitious. It is like a different person wrote each page, but didn't read the pages that the others wrote. If your technically oriented, don't read the text, as it is better to believe in the illusion that the things will work rather than to know that they wont. In addition, page 104 of the copy sent by Amazon, the ink had bled in the printing press. Fortunatly the image was only slightly smuged, but the text under the bleed is illegible - but no great loss from my point of view.
If you have no other books on star wars then this one will provide enough information to remind you of the characters so you can talk to you kids about them. If, like us, you want lots of pictures, the book is great. But given the ink bleed on page 104, it is a book you may like to preview in a shop rather than buy on-line as there appears to be a quality control issue for the publisher.
Not So Complete., 09 Feb 2008
With the Classic DK line up of previous books and high standard from them, you would expect the Complete Star Wars Visual Dictionary to be fully laden with information from all the previous books. Alas, this is not the case but it does include the Visual Dictionaries from Episodes 1 to 3 and a shorter version for Episodes 4 to 6 (original Trilogy). Having said that, it does have some extra information on R2D2 and the Sarlacc but misses out on the Y-wings, A and B-Wings as well as the Empire craft but since these are on earlier books it does not matter as much.
It is still great fun to read and to look at and a Star Wars fan will love it and it will get you in the mood to see the films again. I also loved the Cutaway of a Lighsaber and comparing the Lightsabers of Episode 3 and 4 (Obi Wan's and Anakin's with Luke's are the same and should be). I think that the same detail on the Trilogy would have made this more enjoyable but I am a purist in this matter. Even though the latter part has lost some of the information and the earlier is the same, you do get some extra snippets of information that were cut from the film at a later point (Luke watching the battle above his skies of the Blockade Runner being captured by the Imperial Destroyer). The Clone Troops and Stormtroopers info are very good, as well as the Characters but again you will not find out too much about Han Solo, Chewy or the Later life of Obi-Wan (Ben) Kenobi. In this book, you get to see the downfall of the Galactic Republic (it was already falling in Episode 1) to it's downfall and the rise of the Rebel Allience and final fall of the Empire.
If you can't get hold of the originals (or they are too expensive to buy sperately) then buy a copy today.
A must for a Star Wars fan, 09 Feb 2007
This is an essential item for any young (or older)fan of Star Wars. The images are superb quality and the amount of information is exhaustive. A really beautiful addition to any bookshelf and worth every penny spent.
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Customer Reviews
Pleasantly fresh and chillingly sinister storytelling, 24 Jun 2008
Quite a few months after finishing the excellent Path of Destruction, I had my fair share of scepticism to Karpyshyn's follow-up and conclusion of the tale of Darth Bane.
Going by the ridiculous cover art, and my having too much experience and awareness of lackluster second parts in storytelling, I feared Karpyshyn could not top or even equal the chilling anti-hero we grew up with in Path of Destruction. Oh, was I wrong.
Without going into the specifics, I'll be safe to say that Darth Bane - the novel and the character - never lets go. One of very few Star Wars novels centered around one of the Great Ancient Sith Lords, it continues the stream of insight into the cold-blooded ways of the Sith Karpyshyn began in the first novel. But that is not this tale's only strength.
In addition to a set of well thought out and highly interesting characters, the novel boasts a certain uniqueness, something fresh. The plentiful - but absolutely nowhere near generic - well-written battles and conflicts all keep you reading the book at top speed, and you might end up holding your breath at a certain few epic heights in the story.
While I'm certain people will find minor annoyances to nickpit at, such as the slightly different way Karpyshyn portrays combat use of the Force, my overall impression is that this is the best Star Wars novel I've read for years (out of many, after NJO's conclusion).
It might be I just have a morbid fascination of the dark side and its uses and users, but I do highly recommend this (and the first Darth Bane novel, if you for some reason skipped it) to any Star Wars fan or person interested in dark storytelling.
Darth Bane - Rule Of Two, 14 Jun 2008
Brilliant, Simply Brilliant.
Path Of Destruction was Amazing, and this is an Exelent Sequal.
The Story continues from where the previous finished.
The Story is very compelling and you get a reall good indepth insight into the world of the Sith. I would recmmend this book to any Starwars fan, providing you read the First book too, otherwise there could be some confusion.
5 Stars, Brilliant read. Well Worth the buy.
Return of the Sith, 07 Mar 2008
This is Drew Karpyshyn's second book in the Darth Bane series and the two are quite honestly the best star wars books you can buy.
I have read much of the new jedi order series and others but these books give an insight in the force that not even the films managed.
The characters are some of the best of any canon star wars material and the books are really just a joy to read and will leave you wanting more!
I would strongly urge any star wars fan especially those sick of constant infighting between jedi to buy these books and get a whole new perspective on the force - you will not be dissapointed!
Dark , powerful stuff !, 13 Feb 2008
If you are a lover of light fluffy insubstantial sci-fi then don't read this dark , violent and at times macabre tale of how the the Sith got up & running again . It is a nice easy read as it only took me a couple of evenings to get through and ends as abruptly as it starts . This book keeps you on the edge of your seat and would be the superb basis for a cartoon type movie . The characters have real depth and the imagery that this brilliant writer constructs is pretty powerful . I already look forward to the next novel in this sinister series and won't say more for fearing of ruining the suprise factor of all the dramatic twists and turns that so impressed me when I read it a few days ago . Amazon.co.uk are doing us customers a great favour by selling this at such a superb discount . If you love great sci-fi books then this is for you !
An excellent overview of Star Wars in a gloriously coloured book, 09 Nov 2008
I bought this book on a whim and enjoyed it so much. It's got a lot packed into it, and it's a fairly slim book! I actually bought it same time as The Ultimate Visual Guide to Star Wars by Ryder Windham (the one with Darth Vader on the cover), and to be honest, it's a much better book; because it serves not just as a visual dictionary, but as a visual guide to boot. Well worth buying for any Star Wars lover out there!
My boys spend hours poring over this!, 03 Oct 2008
This has proved a big hit with my boys (aged 8 and 9) and our copy is starting to look battered from too much use! They are into the Star Wars films and PS games, and have found the level of detail in the book to be very informative. However, they are both advanced readers, and while you can enjoy looking at the pictures, there is a lot of text and if your child can't read fluently they will miss out on lots of interesting details.
Great Pictures, Dissappointing Text, 24 Jul 2008
Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary (DK Visual Dictionaries)
The pictures in the book are great. The text leaves much to be desired. The text is hightly repetitious. It is like a different person wrote each page, but didn't read the pages that the others wrote. If your technically oriented, don't read the text, as it is better to believe in the illusion that the things will work rather than to know that they wont. In addition, page 104 of the copy sent by Amazon, the ink had bled in the printing press. Fortunatly the image was only slightly smuged, but the text under the bleed is illegible - but no great loss from my point of view.
If you have no other books on star wars then this one will provide enough information to remind you of the characters so you can talk to you kids about them. If, like us, you want lots of pictures, the book is great. But given the ink bleed on page 104, it is a book you may like to preview in a shop rather than buy on-line as there appears to be a quality control issue for the publisher.
Not So Complete., 09 Feb 2008
With the Classic DK line up of previous books and high standard from them, you would expect the Complete Star Wars Visual Dictionary to be fully laden with information from all the previous books. Alas, this is not the case but it does include the Visual Dictionaries from Episodes 1 to 3 and a shorter version for Episodes 4 to 6 (original Trilogy). Having said that, it does have some extra information on R2D2 and the Sarlacc but misses out on the Y-wings, A and B-Wings as well as the Empire craft but since these are on earlier books it does not matter as much.
It is still great fun to read and to look at and a Star Wars fan will love it and it will get you in the mood to see the films again. I also loved the Cutaway of a Lighsaber and comparing the Lightsabers of Episode 3 and 4 (Obi Wan's and Anakin's with Luke's are the same and should be). I think that the same detail on the Trilogy would have made this more enjoyable but I am a purist in this matter. Even though the latter part has lost some of the information and the earlier is the same, you do get some extra snippets of information that were cut from the film at a later point (Luke watching the battle above his skies of the Blockade Runner being captured by the Imperial Destroyer). The Clone Troops and Stormtroopers info are very good, as well as the Characters but again you will not find out too much about Han Solo, Chewy or the Later life of Obi-Wan (Ben) Kenobi. In this book, you get to see the downfall of the Galactic Republic (it was already falling in Episode 1) to it's downfall and the rise of the Rebel Allience and final fall of the Empire.
If you can't get hold of the originals (or they are too expensive to buy sperately) then buy a copy today.
A must for a Star Wars fan, 09 Feb 2007
This is an essential item for any young (or older)fan of Star Wars. The images are superb quality and the amount of information is exhaustive. A really beautiful addition to any bookshelf and worth every penny spent.
And I thought the series couldn't get any better . . . boy, was I wrong!, 21 Oct 2008
Wow. Just . . . wow. This is a hard one to review without giving away too much, especially if you've not read the three previous novels in the series. But I'll take a crack at it.
Karen Traviss hooked me with her first "Republic Commando" book, "Hard Target," showing excellent storytelling, good character development, and intensive research into the fictional universe about which she was writing. Her second book in the series, "Republic Commando: Triple Zero" beautifully developed the characters even further. By the third book, "Republic Commando: True Colors," I was cheering for just about everyone, including the formerly unlikeable Walon Vau. This is now the fourth "Republic Commando" book, and I was poleaxed that I found it EVEN BETTER than the previous novels in the series.
The story starts over fifty years prior to the Battle of Geonosis, where the Mandalorian warrior Munin Skirata adopts a small war-orphan, upon whom he bestows the new name "Kal." The rest of the story skips ahead to the late days of the Clone Wars, up to the issuing of the galaxy-changing and titular Order 66 and slightly beyond, taking in all the consequences of everyone's decisions, taking some shocking twists and turns. And I'm sorry, but I can't possibly go into much more plot detail without spoiling some major surprises both in this book and those in previous instalments.
Suffice it to say that if you've read and liked the previous novels in the series and grown attached to the characters, you will really, REALLY enjoy this book. I hate to use a trite expression, but "Order 66" really IS an emotional roller-coaster. By page eleven, my eyes were welling up a bit. Later on, I found myself laughing with delight as more great characters were brought in, more gallows humour was cracked, and more loose ends were tied up. Either my brain's turning to sentimental mush, or Karen Traviss is one of the finest military fiction writers living. I prefer to think the latter.
I can't possibly imagine a "Star Wars" novel getting better than this, folks. Kandosii!
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Customer Reviews
Pleasantly fresh and chillingly sinister storytelling, 24 Jun 2008
Quite a few months after finishing the excellent Path of Destruction, I had my fair share of scepticism to Karpyshyn's follow-up and conclusion of the tale of Darth Bane.
Going by the ridiculous cover art, and my having too much experience and awareness of lackluster second parts in storytelling, I feared Karpyshyn could not top or even equal the chilling anti-hero we grew up with in Path of Destruction. Oh, was I wrong.
Without going into the specifics, I'll be safe to say that Darth Bane - the novel and the character - never lets go. One of very few Star Wars novels centered around one of the Great Ancient Sith Lords, it continues the stream of insight into the cold-blooded ways of the Sith Karpyshyn began in the first novel. But that is not this tale's only strength.
In addition to a set of well thought out and highly interesting characters, the novel boasts a certain uniqueness, something fresh. The plentiful - but absolutely nowhere near generic - well-written battles and conflicts all keep you reading the book at top speed, and you might end up holding your breath at a certain few epic heights in the story.
While I'm certain people will find minor annoyances to nickpit at, such as the slightly different way Karpyshyn portrays combat use of the Force, my overall impression is that this is the best Star Wars novel I've read for years (out of many, after NJO's conclusion).
It might be I just have a morbid fascination of the dark side and its uses and users, but I do highly recommend this (and the first Darth Bane novel, if you for some reason skipped it) to any Star Wars fan or person interested in dark storytelling.
Darth Bane - Rule Of Two, 14 Jun 2008
Brilliant, Simply Brilliant.
Path Of Destruction was Amazing, and this is an Exelent Sequal.
The Story continues from where the previous finished.
The Story is very compelling and you get a reall good indepth insight into the world of the Sith. I would recmmend this book to any Starwars fan, providing you read the First book too, otherwise there could be some confusion.
5 Stars, Brilliant read. Well Worth the buy.
Return of the Sith, 07 Mar 2008
This is Drew Karpyshyn's second book in the Darth Bane series and the two are quite honestly the best star wars books you can buy.
I have read much of the new jedi order series and others but these books give an insight in the force that not even the films managed.
The characters are some of the best of any canon star wars material and the books are really just a joy to read and will leave you wanting more!
I would strongly urge any star wars fan especially those sick of constant infighting between jedi to buy these books and get a whole new perspective on the force - you will not be dissapointed!
Dark , powerful stuff !, 13 Feb 2008
If you are a lover of light fluffy insubstantial sci-fi then don't read this dark , violent and at times macabre tale of how the the Sith got up & running again . It is a nice easy read as it only took me a couple of evenings to get through and ends as abruptly as it starts . This book keeps you on the edge of your seat and would be the superb basis for a cartoon type movie . The characters have real depth and the imagery that this brilliant writer constructs is pretty powerful . I already look forward to the next novel in this sinister series and won't say more for fearing of ruining the suprise factor of all the dramatic twists and turns that so impressed me when I read it a few days ago . Amazon.co.uk are doing us customers a great favour by selling this at such a superb discount . If you love great sci-fi books then this is for you !
An excellent overview of Star Wars in a gloriously coloured book, 09 Nov 2008
I bought this book on a whim and enjoyed it so much. It's got a lot packed into it, and it's a fairly slim book! I actually bought it same time as The Ultimate Visual Guide to Star Wars by Ryder Windham (the one with Darth Vader on the cover), and to be honest, it's a much better book; because it serves not just as a visual dictionary, but as a visual guide to boot. Well worth buying for any Star Wars lover out there!
My boys spend hours poring over this!, 03 Oct 2008
This has proved a big hit with my boys (aged 8 and 9) and our copy is starting to look battered from too much use! They are into the Star Wars films and PS games, and have found the level of detail in the book to be very informative. However, they are both advanced readers, and while you can enjoy looking at the pictures, there is a lot of text and if your child can't read fluently they will miss out on lots of interesting details.
Great Pictures, Dissappointing Text, 24 Jul 2008
Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary (DK Visual Dictionaries)
The pictures in the book are great. The text leaves much to be desired. The text is hightly repetitious. It is like a different person wrote each page, but didn't read the pages that the others wrote. If your technically oriented, don't read the text, as it is better to believe in the illusion that the things will work rather than to know that they wont. In addition, page 104 of the copy sent by Amazon, the ink had bled in the printing press. Fortunatly the image was only slightly smuged, but the text under the bleed is illegible - but no great loss from my point of view.
If you have no other books on star wars then this one will provide enough information to remind you of the characters so you can talk to you kids about them. If, like us, you want lots of pictures, the book is great. But given the ink bleed on page 104, it is a book you may like to preview in a shop rather than buy on-line as there appears to be a quality control issue for the publisher.
Not So Complete., 09 Feb 2008
With the Classic DK line up of previous books and high standard from them, you would expect the Complete Star Wars Visual Dictionary to be fully laden with information from all the previous books. Alas, this is not the case but it does include the Visual Dictionaries from Episodes 1 to 3 and a shorter version for Episodes 4 to 6 (original Trilogy). Having said that, it does have some extra information on R2D2 and the Sarlacc but misses out on the Y-wings, A and B-Wings as well as the Empire craft but since these are on earlier books it does not matter as much.
It is still great fun to read and to look at and a Star Wars fan will love it and it will get you in the mood to see the films again. I also loved the Cutaway of a Lighsaber and comparing the Lightsabers of Episode 3 and 4 (Obi Wan's and Anakin's with Luke's are the same and should be). I think that the same detail on the Trilogy would have made this more enjoyable but I am a purist in this matter. Even though the latter part has lost some of the information and the earlier is the same, you do get some extra snippets of information that were cut from the film at a later point (Luke watching the battle above his skies of the Blockade Runner being captured by the Imperial Destroyer). The Clone Troops and Stormtroopers info are very good, as well as the Characters but again you will not find out too much about Han Solo, Chewy or the Later life of Obi-Wan (Ben) Kenobi. In this book, you get to see the downfall of the Galactic Republic (it was already falling in Episode 1) to it's downfall and the rise of the Rebel Allience and final fall of the Empire.
If you can't get hold of the originals (or they are too expensive to buy sperately) then buy a copy today.
A must for a Star Wars fan, 09 Feb 2007
This is an essential item for any young (or older)fan of Star Wars. The images are superb quality and the amount of information is exhaustive. A really beautiful addition to any bookshelf and worth every penny spent.
And I thought the series couldn't get any better . . . boy, was I wrong!, 21 Oct 2008
Wow. Just . . . wow. This is a hard one to review without giving away too much, especially if you've not read the three previous novels in the series. But I'll take a crack at it.
Karen Traviss hooked me with her first "Republic Commando" book, "Hard Target," showing excellent storytelling, good character development, and intensive research into the fictional universe about which she was writing. Her second book in the series, "Republic Commando: Triple Zero" beautifully developed the characters even further. By the third book, "Republic Commando: True Colors," I was cheering for just about everyone, including the formerly unlikeable Walon Vau. This is now the fourth "Republic Commando" book, and I was poleaxed that I found it EVEN BETTER than the previous novels in the series.
The story starts over fifty years prior to the Battle of Geonosis, where the Mandalorian warrior Munin Skirata adopts a small war-orphan, upon whom he bestows the new name "Kal." The rest of the story skips ahead to the late days of the Clone Wars, up to the issuing of the galaxy-changing and titular Order 66 and slightly beyond, taking in all the consequences of everyone's decisions, taking some shocking twists and turns. And I'm sorry, but I can't possibly go into much more plot detail without spoiling some major surprises both in this book and those in previous instalments.
Suffice it to say that if you've read and liked the previous novels in the series and grown attached to the characters, you will really, REALLY enjoy this book. I hate to use a trite expression, but "Order 66" really IS an emotional roller-coaster. By page eleven, my eyes were welling up a bit. Later on, I found myself laughing with delight as more great characters were brought in, more gallows humour was cracked, and more loose ends were tied up. Either my brain's turning to sentimental mush, or Karen Traviss is one of the finest military fiction writers living. I prefer to think the latter.
I can't possibly imagine a "Star Wars" novel getting better than this, folks. Kandosii!
Loved it!, 05 Jan 2009
I was given this by my wonderful fiance as my main birthday present, and I love it to pieces!
Call me sad but I was excited to discover what bit of memorabilia would be awaiting me as I turned page after page, with an ear to ear grin.
Like other reviewers here I agree that the actual text isn't in depth, but to be honest isn't meant to be. The whole idea of the Vault is one of the memorabilia, if you want information about the Star Wars universe there are plenty of other books that will do the job.
I honestly felt like an excited kid reading through this, and for the first time in a long time the magic of Star Wars had been brought to life again for me.
Thank you to the authors and others for sharing their collections as reproductions, it somehow made me feel closer to the world of Lucasfilms and Star Wars.
A celebration of popular culture!, 19 Jun 2008
Trashy but brilliant pop culture from the movies that inspired more merchandise from more diverse sources than you could of ever imagined. Sansweet gives us a complete cross section here, plenty of new material for the most hardened fan but fun and accessible for anyone into the bizarre and unusual.
This is the best value book I have ever bought. One turn of the page can maybe send you back to a fast food restaurant in 1977, complete with card novelties, the next to a premier in 1983 London. Complete with press pass! It is truly a marvel!
Unique!
Mixed feelings..., 07 Jan 2008
I'm glad I didn't pay 'full' price for it. It is a nice scrap book of all things Star Wars, but somewhat superficial, though I don't think it was meant to be an in depth coverage, rather a summary of the Star Wars phenomenon. Following is a short list of pros and cons, that describe my experience.
Good things:
- It's big and has a nice layout, looks good on the shelf.
- It was fun to turn the pages for the first time to see what kind of inserts it had (*)
- Fun and easy to read.
(*I got somewhat disapointed though, when I realized what it really contained)
Bad things:
- Not as original as I would have liked, in that CDs contain stuff from Hyperspace on starwars.com that I had heard before, and I've read much of the text in one form or the other.
- Some of the reproductions/inserts are of pour quality, both graphic wise and the actual selection of items. (IMO of course)
- Some of the inserts might have been great collectibles if you had the originals, like Sir Alec Guinness' invitation for a drink during shooting, which is just a simple piece of paper with text on it, but have absolutely no value as a copy. I'm not talking about it in terms of going out and selling it, but the fact that some of the inserts have a feel of being a picture that was cut from a book or a magazine and that makes it lose its value. It's just a fancy gimmic. Why not just leave it in the book as a picture...?
- Why on earth did the reproductions have "reproduction" written on the back of them? (I know the answer, but still...)
- I was hoping to see something worth collecting in it self, like a badge/patch of some sort. (there was a sticker on the last page though, that had some collectability to it. A Star Wars 30th anniversary fabric sticker)
In it's defence I still think the book has great layout and a great design idea, and I realize that it's really expensive to reproduce anything other than printed matter. But I do hope 'that' book will be made someday.
I'm glad I have the book, but would think twice about buying it had I seen it before I bought it. It is a nice addition to my growing collection of Star Wars books, but mostly because it's a novelty and has a popup-book kind of quality/surprice element to it.
Not as good as the reviews, 07 Jan 2008
At first this package looks very promising and quite exciting but on detailed examination it's style over substance. The printed items and the elaborate folio style book they're in look quite good but when you look at them closely many of them are less than dazzling quality but then neither were many of the originals. The basic problem is that the general content of the book and writing style isn't terribly interesting and it seems to me that either Lucasfilm think this is more interesting than it actually is or they've found a way to make a few more quid from stuff they've found in their archives.
Sansweet as an author can be a mixed bag, from 1992's excellent "Star Wars: From Concept to Screen to Collectible" which is a fascinating book to the truly awful "Star Wars Encyclopedia" from 1998 that I found piled high in a remainder bookshop for £2 a go. Lucasfilm really need to start making these books better and more substantial instead of trying to wring the last dollar out of fans - with the saga essentially complete the Star Wars marketing machine is living on borrowed time.
very dull, extremely disapointed, 05 Jan 2008
recieved this as a christmas present, first i thought, wow star wars. then upon reading i realised this book is all about the making of the series and the posters and memoribilia around it. unlike perhaps some others people i couldnt care less about how its made, i like the stories, and everything that happens in the star wars universe. alas this book is very dull, hence selling mine to get something more interesting. unless you are actually interested in seeing blueprints etc for sets or production notes, you'll be very disapointed.
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Star Wars: Death Star
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Customer Reviews
Pleasantly fresh and chillingly sinister storytelling, 24 Jun 2008
Quite a few months after finishing the excellent Path of Destruction, I had my fair share of scepticism to Karpyshyn's follow-up and conclusion of the tale of Darth Bane.
Going by the ridiculous cover art, and my having too much experience and awareness of lackluster second parts in storytelling, I feared Karpyshyn could not top or even equal the chilling anti-hero we grew up with in Path of Destruction. Oh, was I wrong.
Without going into the specifics, I'll be safe to say that Darth Bane - the novel and the character - never lets go. One of very few Star Wars novels centered around one of the Great Ancient Sith Lords, it continues the stream of insight into the cold-blooded ways of the Sith Karpyshyn began in the first novel. But that is not this tale's only strength.
In addition to a set of well thought out and highly interesting characters, the novel boasts a certain uniqueness, something fresh. The plentiful - but absolutely nowhere near generic - well-written battles and conflicts all keep you reading the book at top speed, and you might end up holding your breath at a certain few epic heights in the story.
While I'm certain people will find minor annoyances to nickpit at, such as the slightly different way Karpyshyn portrays combat use of the Force, my overall impression is that this is the best Star Wars novel I've read for years (out of many, after NJO's conclusion).
It might be I just have a morbid fascination of the dark side and its uses and users, but I do highly recommend this (and the first Darth Bane novel, if you for some reason skipped it) to any Star Wars fan or person interested in dark storytelling.
Darth Bane - Rule Of Two, 14 Jun 2008
Brilliant, Simply Brilliant.
Path Of Destruction was Amazing, and this is an Exelent Sequal.
The Story continues from where the previous finished.
The Story is very compelling and you get a reall good indepth insight into the world of the Sith. I would recmmend this book to any Starwars fan, providing you read the First book too, otherwise there could be some confusion.
5 Stars, Brilliant read. Well Worth the buy.
Return of the Sith, 07 Mar 2008
This is Drew Karpyshyn's second book in the Darth Bane series and the two are quite honestly the best star wars books you can buy.
I have read much of the new jedi order series and others but these books give an insight in the force that not even the films managed.
The characters are some of the best of any canon star wars material and the books are really just a joy to read and will leave you wanting more!
I would strongly urge any star wars fan especially those sick of constant infighting between jedi to buy these books and get a whole new perspective on the force - you will not be dissapointed!
Dark , powerful stuff !, 13 Feb 2008
If you are a lover of light fluffy insubstantial sci-fi then don't read this dark , violent and at times macabre tale of how the the Sith got up & running again . It is a nice easy read as it only took me a couple of evenings to get through and ends as abruptly as it starts . This book keeps you on the edge of your seat and would be the superb basis for a cartoon type movie . The characters have real depth and the imagery that this brilliant writer constructs is pretty powerful . I already look forward to the next novel in this sinister series and won't say more for fearing of ruining the suprise factor of all the dramatic twists and turns that so impressed me when I read it a few days ago . Amazon.co.uk are doing us customers a great favour by selling this at such a superb discount . If you love great sci-fi books then this is for you !
An excellent overview of Star Wars in a gloriously coloured book, 09 Nov 2008
I bought this book on a whim and enjoyed it so much. It's got a lot packed into it, and it's a fairly slim book! I actually bought it same time as The Ultimate Visual Guide to Star Wars by Ryder Windham (the one with Darth Vader on the cover), and to be honest, it's a much better book; because it serves not just as a visual dictionary, but as a visual guide to boot. Well worth buying for any Star Wars lover out there!
My boys spend hours poring over this!, 03 Oct 2008
This has proved a big hit with my boys (aged 8 and 9) and our copy is starting to look battered from too much use! They are into the Star Wars films and PS games, and have found the level of detail in the book to be very informative. However, they are both advanced readers, and while you can enjoy looking at the pictures, there is a lot of text and if your child can't read fluently they will miss out on lots of interesting details.
Great Pictures, Dissappointing Text, 24 Jul 2008
Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary (DK Visual Dictionaries)
The pictures in the book are great. The text leaves much to be desired. The text is hightly repetitious. It is like a different person wrote each page, but didn't read the pages that the others wrote. If your technically oriented, don't read the text, as it is better to believe in the illusion that the things will work rather than to know that they wont. In addition, page 104 of the copy sent by Amazon, the ink had bled in the printing press. Fortunatly the image was only slightly smuged, but the text under the bleed is illegible - but no great loss from my point of view.
If you have no other books on star wars then this one will provide enough information to remind you of the characters so you can talk to you kids about them. If, like us, you want lots of pictures, the book is great. But given the ink bleed on page 104, it is a book you may like to preview in a shop rather than buy on-line as there appears to be a quality control issue for the publisher.
Not So Complete., 09 Feb 2008
With the Classic DK line up of previous books and high standard from them, you would expect the Complete Star Wars Visual Dictionary to be fully laden with information from all the previous books. Alas, this is not the case but it does include the Visual Dictionaries from Episodes 1 to 3 and a shorter version for Episodes 4 to 6 (original Trilogy). Having said that, it does have some extra information on R2D2 and the Sarlacc but misses out on the Y-wings, A and B-Wings as well as the Empire craft but since these are on earlier books it does not matter as much.
It is still great fun to read and to look at and a Star Wars fan will love it and it will get you in the mood to see the films again. I also loved the Cutaway of a Lighsaber and comparing the Lightsabers of Episode 3 and 4 (Obi Wan's and Anakin's with Luke's are the same and should be). I think that the same detail on the Trilogy would have made this more enjoyable but I am a purist in this matter. Even though the latter part has lost some of the information and the earlier is the same, you do get some extra snippets of information that were cut from the film at a later point (Luke watching the battle above his skies of the Blockade Runner being captured by the Imperial Destroyer). The Clone Troops and Stormtroopers info are very good, as well as the Characters but again you will not find out too much about Han Solo, Chewy or the Later life of Obi-Wan (Ben) Kenobi. In this book, you get to see the downfall of the Galactic Republic (it was already falling in Episode 1) to it's downfall and the rise of the Rebel Allience and final fall of the Empire.
If you can't get hold of the originals (or they are too expensive to buy sperately) then buy a copy today.
A must for a Star Wars fan, 09 Feb 2007
This is an essential item for any young (or older)fan of Star Wars. The images are superb quality and the amount of information is exhaustive. A really beautiful addition to any bookshelf and worth every penny spent.
And I thought the series couldn't get any better . . . boy, was I wrong!, 21 Oct 2008
Wow. Just . . . wow. This is a hard one to review without giving away too much, especially if you've not read the three previous novels in the series. But I'll take a crack at it.
Karen Traviss hooked me with her first "Republic Commando" book, "Hard Target," showing excellent storytelling, good character development, and intensive research into the fictional universe about which she was writing. Her second book in the series, "Republic Commando: Triple Zero" beautifully developed the characters even further. By the third book, "Republic Commando: True Colors," I was cheering for just about everyone, including the formerly unlikeable Walon Vau. This is now the fourth "Republic Commando" book, and I was poleaxed that I found it EVEN BETTER than the previous novels in the series.
The story starts over fifty years prior to the Battle of Geonosis, where the Mandalorian warrior Munin Skirata adopts a small war-orphan, upon whom he bestows the new name "Kal." The rest of the story skips ahead to the late days of the Clone Wars, up to the issuing of the galaxy-changing and titular Order 66 and slightly beyond, taking in all the consequences of everyone's decisions, taking some shocking twists and turns. And I'm sorry, but I can't possibly go into much more plot detail without spoiling some major surprises both in this book and those in previous instalments.
Suffice it to say that if you've read and liked the previous novels in the series and grown attached to the characters, you will really, REALLY enjoy this book. I hate to use a trite expression, but "Order 66" really IS an emotional roller-coaster. By page eleven, my eyes were welling up a bit. Later on, I found myself laughing with delight as more great characters were brought in, more gallows humour was cracked, and more loose ends were tied up. Either my brain's turning to sentimental mush, or Karen Traviss is one of the finest military fiction writers living. I prefer to think the latter.
I can't possibly imagine a "Star Wars" novel getting better than this, folks. Kandosii!
Loved it!, 05 Jan 2009
I was given this by my wonderful fiance as my main birthday present, and I love it to pieces!
Call me sad but I was excited to discover what bit of memorabilia would be awaiting me as I turned page after page, with an ear to ear grin.
Like other reviewers here I agree that the actual text isn't in depth, but to be honest isn't meant to be. The whole idea of the Vault is one of the memorabilia, if you want information about the Star Wars universe there are plenty of other books that will do the job.
I honestly felt like an excited kid reading through this, and for the first time in a long time the magic of Star Wars had been brought to life again for me.
Thank you to the authors and others for sharing their collections as reproductions, it somehow made me feel closer to the world of Lucasfilms and Star Wars.
A celebration of popular culture!, 19 Jun 2008
Trashy but brilliant pop culture from the movies that inspired more merchandise from more diverse sources than you could of ever imagined. Sansweet gives us a complete cross section here, plenty of new material for the most hardened fan but fun and accessible for anyone into the bizarre and unusual.
This is the best value book I have ever bought. One turn of the page can maybe send you back to a fast food restaurant in 1977, complete with card novelties, the next to a premier in 1983 London. Complete with press pass! It is truly a marvel!
Unique!
Mixed feelings..., 07 Jan 2008
I'm glad I didn't pay 'full' price for it. It is a nice scrap book of all things Star Wars, but somewhat superficial, though I don't think it was meant to be an in depth coverage, rather a summary of the Star Wars phenomenon. Following is a short list of pros and cons, that describe my experience.
Good things:
- It's big and has a nice layout, looks good on the shelf.
- It was fun to turn the pages for the first time to see what kind of inserts it had (*)
- Fun and easy to read.
(*I got somewhat disapointed though, when I realized what it really contained)
Bad things:
- Not as original as I would have liked, in that CDs contain stuff from Hyperspace on starwars.com that I had heard before, and I've read much of the text in one form or the other.
- Some of the reproductions/inserts are of pour quality, both graphic wise and the actual selection of items. (IMO of course)
- Some of the inserts might have been great collectibles if you had the originals, like Sir Alec Guinness' invitation for a drink during shooting, which is just a simple piece of paper with text on it, but have absolutely no value as a copy. I'm not talking about it in terms of going out and selling it, but the fact that some of the inserts have a feel of being a picture that was cut from a book or a magazine and that makes it lose its value. It's just a fancy gimmic. Why not just leave it in the book as a picture...?
- Why on earth did the reproductions have "reproduction" written on the back of them? (I know the answer, but still...)
- I was hoping to see something worth collecting in it self, like a badge/patch of some sort. (there was a sticker on the last page though, that had some collectability to it. A Star Wars 30th anniversary fabric sticker)
In it's defence I still think the book has great layout and a great design idea, and I realize that it's really expensive to reproduce anything other than printed matter. But I do hope 'that' book will be made someday.
I'm glad I have the book, but would think twice about buying it had I seen it before I bought it. It is a nice addition to my growing collection of Star Wars books, but mostly because it's a novelty and has a popup-book kind of quality/surprice element to it.
Not as good as the reviews, 07 Jan 2008
At first this package looks very promising and quite exciting but on detailed examination it's style over substance. The printed items and the elaborate folio style book they're in look quite good but when you look at them closely many of them are less than dazzling quality but then neither were many of the originals. The basic problem is that the general content of the book and writing style isn't terribly interesting and it seems to me that either Lucasfilm think this is more interesting than it actually is or they've found a way to make a few more quid from stuff they've found in their archives.
Sansweet as an author can be a mixed bag, from 1992's excellent "Star Wars: From Concept to Screen to Collectible" which is a fascinating book to the truly awful "Star Wars Encyclopedia" from 1998 that I found piled high in a remainder bookshop for £2 a go. Lucasfilm really need to start making these books better and more substantial instead of trying to wring the last dollar out of fans - with the saga essentially complete the Star Wars marketing machine is living on borrowed time.
very dull, extremely disapointed, 05 Jan 2008
recieved this as a christmas present, first i thought, wow star wars. then upon reading i realised this book is all about the making of the series and the posters and memoribilia around it. unlike perhaps some others people i couldnt care less about how its made, i like the stories, and everything that happens in the star wars universe. alas this book is very dull, hence selling mine to get something more interesting. unless you are actually interested in seeing blueprints etc for sets or production notes, you'll be very disapointed.
Interesting, 11 Dec 2008
I agree with the points made by all other reviewers intellectually, however, this book gave me a feel-good vibe. This was a good, absorbing read that I really enjoyed.
So Disappointing, 27 Jun 2008
Like many I was looking forward to reading a story based around the iconic Death Star - I'm half-way through it and thinking of giving up... dull, characterless, uneventful... shall I go on!
So disappointing!!
Other Star Wars novels (Path of Destruction, Allegiance, etc.) are infinitely more superior - the Jedi Masters of novels compared to the Death Star Bantha droppings!
"Fear will keep local systems in line - fear of this battle station.", 08 Feb 2008
So did anybody who watched the original Star Wars movie wonder about the origin of that massive battle station, the Death Star? Or were you intrigued by the image at the end of Episode III, with it slowly being built in the distance as the new Darth Vader, the Emperor, and Tarkin look out the window? Michael Reaves and Steve Perry have written Death Star, the story of not only the creation of the station, but also the Imperial story behind the first movie, all the way up to the station's destruction. Unfortunately, what they've forgotten to give us are interesting characters to wrap the story around.
While the concept of Death Star is extremely interesting, I have a lot of problems with the execution. Reaves and Perry give us all of these new characters to get involved with, anchoring them with the viewpoints of Tarkin and Vader as well, but they fail to make the new characters very interesting. Of course, they all pair up in various romantic entanglements, and of course none of the Imperial officers we see like what Tarkin and Vader are doing once the Death Star actually starts being used. It would have been nice to have a main character (perhaps not a viewpoint character, but one who is in the same circle as the ones we do get) who actually supports the bad guys. It would have made for some interesting conflict among them. But no, instead we're given a couple of normal military officers who quickly turn once they see the true evil of the Empire.
Because of the overwhelming disinterest I had with the main characters, the building of the station actually is a chore to read. This quickly goes away when Tarkin and Vader are "on screen," as we see just how determined Tarkin is to get the Death Star going. We see his ruthlessness, but we also see a (somewhat, anyway) softer side in his affair with Admiral Daala (I'll give those of you who have a twinge at the thought of Tarkin actually having sex a moment to collect yourselves, but take heart that at least it's all only implied in the book). Vader is sent by the Emperor to help the investigation into a couple of rebel attempts to sabotage the station before it's completed, which sort of explains why he's almost acting as Tarkin's lackey in the first movie. In Death Star, he's willing to let Tarkin's ego take apparent control, but he's ready to step in if necessary.
The book gets most intriguing when the first movie starts. It's almost like getting a behind the scenes look at the events of the movie as we see the thought processes from the Imperial side. It's all very interesting, and these sequences are also the only times the original characters become even remotely interesting as well. The characters start reacting to the events that we've already seen, and realizing what they may have gotten themselves into. The writing of the book also gets a lot more interesting here, as it becomes a bit more action than the more boring set-up at the beginning of the book. Thankfully, none of this continuity gets in the way of the story. I appreciated that.
This book would have been a standout if Reaves and Perry had made their original characters interesting. Instead, it takes the action in Death Star, at least halfway through the book, to make this reader become engaged with them at all. Thus, we get an interesting idea, some cool intertwining with one of the movies, and some cool Vader/Tarkin scenes to tide us over until we get to more boring scenes. This makes an excellent book thoroughly average instead. You won't regret reading it, but it could have been so much better.
David Roy
Most of the Reviews on this page don't match the actual book, 30 Dec 2007
Half of these reviews look like they've been posted in error against the wrong title. This book is dire.
Cashing in for Christmas, 30 Dec 2007
Really Really disappointed, as another reviewer said this could have been and indeed from the blurb is the definitive back story to the Death Star. As pointed out we learn nothing new, indeed the book seems to revolve around solving small continuity errors in A New Hope which nobody normally notices. This wouldn't be so bad but either the editing has been done by a chimp or the authors didn't get their story straight. One chapter the Death Star has an operational crew of the 250,000 the next its described as at least a million a second example is that The Imperial Star Destoryer Devestator becomes a Super Star Destroyer in the chapter intro lines. Normally I'd forgive such continuity errors but the story doesn't compensate in the slightest. This was the first Star Wars book I've read since Stackpoles X-Wing series and boy was I disappointed if I was Zahn I'd be wringing my hands at what Star Wars books have become.
I won't be buying another Star Wars title for sometime.
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Customer Reviews
Pleasantly fresh and chillingly sinister storytelling, 24 Jun 2008
Quite a few months after finishing the excellent Path of Destruction, I had my fair share of scepticism to Karpyshyn's follow-up and conclusion of the tale of Darth Bane.
Going by the ridiculous cover art, and my having too much experience and awareness of lackluster second parts in storytelling, I feared Karpyshyn could not top or even equal the chilling anti-hero we grew up with in Path of Destruction. Oh, was I wrong.
Without going into the specifics, I'll be safe to say that Darth Bane - the novel and the character - never lets go. One of very few Star Wars novels centered around one of the Great Ancient Sith Lords, it continues the stream of insight into the cold-blooded ways of the Sith Karpyshyn began in the first novel. But that is not this tale's only strength.
In addition to a set of well thought out and highly interesting characters, the novel boasts a certain uniqueness, something fresh. The plentiful - but absolutely nowhere near generic - well-written battles and conflicts all keep you reading the book at top speed, and you might end up holding your breath at a certain few epic heights in the story.
While I'm certain people will find minor annoyances to nickpit at, such as the slightly different way Karpyshyn portrays combat use of the Force, my overall impression is that this is the best Star Wars novel I've read for years (out of many, after NJO's conclusion).
It might be I just have a morbid fascination of the dark side and its uses and users, but I do highly recommend this (and the first Darth Bane novel, if you for some reason skipped it) to any Star Wars fan or person interested in dark storytelling.
Darth Bane - Rule Of Two, 14 Jun 2008
Brilliant, Simply Brilliant.
Path Of Destruction was Amazing, and this is an Exelent Sequal.
The Story continues from where the previous finished.
The Story is very compelling and you get a reall good indepth insight into the world of the Sith. I would recmmend this book to any Starwars fan, providing you read the First book too, otherwise there could be some confusion.
5 Stars, Brilliant read. Well Worth the buy.
Return of the Sith, 07 Mar 2008
This is Drew Karpyshyn's second book in the Darth Bane series and the two are quite honestly the best star wars books you can buy.
I have read much of the new jedi order series and others but these books give an insight in the force that not even the films managed.
The characters are some of the best of any canon star wars material and the books are really just a joy to read and will leave you wanting more!
I would strongly urge any star wars fan especially those sick of constant infighting between jedi to buy these books and get a whole new perspective on the force - you will not be dissapointed!
Dark , powerful stuff !, 13 Feb 2008
If you are a lover of light fluffy insubstantial sci-fi then don't read this dark , violent and at times macabre tale of how the the Sith got up & running again . It is a nice easy read as it only took me a couple of evenings to get through and ends as abruptly as it starts . This book keeps you on the edge of your seat and would be the superb basis for a cartoon type movie . The characters have real depth and the imagery that this brilliant writer constructs is pretty powerful . I already look forward to the next novel in this sinister series and won't say more for fearing of ruining the suprise factor of all the dramatic twists and turns that so impressed me when I read it a few days ago . Amazon.co.uk are doing us customers a great favour by selling this at such a superb discount . If you love great sci-fi books then this is for you !
An excellent overview of Star Wars in a gloriously coloured book, 09 Nov 2008
I bought this book on a whim and enjoyed it so much. It's got a lot packed into it, and it's a fairly slim book! I actually bought it same time as The Ultimate Visual Guide to Star Wars by Ryder Windham (the one with Darth Vader on the cover), and to be honest, it's a much better book; because it serves not just as a visual dictionary, but as a visual guide to boot. Well worth buying for any Star Wars lover out there!
My boys spend hours poring over this!, 03 Oct 2008
This has proved a big hit with my boys (aged 8 and 9) and our copy is starting to look battered from too much use! They are into the Star Wars films and PS games, and have found the level of detail in the book to be very informative. However, they are both advanced readers, and while you can enjoy looking at the pictures, there is a lot of text and if your child can't read fluently they will miss out on lots of interesting details.
Great Pictures, Dissappointing Text, 24 Jul 2008
Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary (DK Visual Dictionaries)
The pictures in the book are great. The text leaves much to be desired. The text is hightly repetitious. It is like a different person wrote each page, but didn't read the pages that the others wrote. If your technically oriented, don't read the text, as it is better to believe in the illusion that the things will work rather than to know that they wont. In addition, page 104 of the copy sent by Amazon, the ink had bled in the printing press. Fortunatly the image was only slightly smuged, but the text under the bleed is illegible - but no great loss from my point of view.
If you have no other books on star wars then this one will provide enough information to remind you of the characters so you can talk to you kids about them. If, like us, you want lots of pictures, the book is great. But given the ink bleed on page 104, it is a book you may like to preview in a shop rather than buy on-line as there appears to be a quality control issue for the publisher.
Not So Complete., 09 Feb 2008
With the Classic DK line up of previous books and high standard from them, you would expect the Complete Star Wars Visual Dictionary to be fully laden with information from all the previous books. Alas, this is not the case but it does include the Visual Dictionaries from Episodes 1 to 3 and a shorter version for Episodes 4 to 6 (original Trilogy). Having said that, it does have some extra information on R2D2 and the Sarlacc but misses out on the Y-wings, A and B-Wings as well as the Empire craft but since these are on earlier books it does not matter as much.
It is still great fun to read and to look at and a Star Wars fan will love it and it will get you in the mood to see the films again. I also loved the Cutaway of a Lighsaber and comparing the Lightsabers of Episode 3 and 4 (Obi Wan's and Anakin's with Luke's are the same and should be). I think that the same detail on the Trilogy would have made this more enjoyable but I am a purist in this matter. Even though the latter part has lost some of the information and the earlier is the same, you do get some extra snippets of information that were cut from the film at a later point (Luke watching the battle above his skies of the Blockade Runner being captured by the Imperial Destroyer). The Clone Troops and Stormtroopers info are very good, as well as the Characters but again you will not find out too much about Han Solo, Chewy or the Later life of Obi-Wan (Ben) Kenobi. In this book, you get to see the downfall of the Galactic Republic (it was already falling in Episode 1) to it's downfall and the rise of the Rebel Allience and final fall of the Empire.
If you can't get hold of the originals (or they are too expensive to buy sperately) then buy a copy today.
A must for a Star Wars fan, 09 Feb 2007
This is an essential item for any young (or older)fan of Star Wars. The images are superb quality and the amount of information is exhaustive. A really beautiful addition to any bookshelf and worth every penny spent.
And I thought the series couldn't get any better . . . boy, was I wrong!, 21 Oct 2008
Wow. Just . . . wow. This is a hard one to review without giving away too much, especially if you've not read the three previous novels in the series. But I'll take a crack at it.
Karen Traviss hooked me with her first "Republic Commando" book, "Hard Target," showing excellent storytelling, good character development, and intensive research into the fictional universe about which she was writing. Her second book in the series, "Republic Commando: Triple Zero" beautifully developed the characters even further. By the third book, "Republic Commando: True Colors," I was cheering for just about everyone, including the formerly unlikeable Walon Vau. This is now the fourth "Republic Commando" book, and I was poleaxed that I found it EVEN BETTER than the previous novels in the series.
The story starts over fifty years prior to the Battle of Geonosis, where the Mandalorian warrior Munin Skirata adopts a small war-orphan, upon whom he bestows the new name "Kal." The rest of the story skips ahead to the late days of the Clone Wars, up to the issuing of the galaxy-changing and titular Order 66 and slightly beyond, taking in all the consequences of everyone's decisions, taking some shocking twists and turns. And I'm sorry, but I can't possibly go into much more plot detail without spoiling some major surprises both in this book and those in previous instalments.
Suffice it to say that if you've read and liked the previous novels in the series and grown attached to the characters, you will really, REALLY enjoy this book. I hate to use a trite expression, but "Order 66" really IS an emotional roller-coaster. By page eleven, my eyes were welling up a bit. Later on, I found myself laughing with delight as more great characters were brought in, more gallows humour was cracked, and more loose ends were tied up. Either my brain's turning to sentimental mush, or Karen Traviss is one of the finest military fiction writers living. I prefer to think the latter.
I can't possibly imagine a "Star Wars" novel getting better than this, folks. Kandosii!
Loved it!, 05 Jan 2009
I was given this by my wonderful fiance as my main birthday present, and I love it to pieces!
Call me sad but I was excited to discover what bit of memorabilia would be awaiting me as I turned page after page, with an ear to ear grin.
Like other reviewers here I agree that the actual text isn't in depth, but to be honest isn't meant to be. The whole idea of the Vault is one of the memorabilia, if you want information about the Star Wars universe there are plenty of other books that will do the job.
I honestly felt like an excited kid reading through this, and for the first time in a long time the magic of Star Wars had been brought to life again for me.
Thank you to the authors and others for sharing their collections as reproductions, it somehow made me feel closer to the world of Lucasfilms and Star Wars.
A celebration of popular culture!, 19 Jun 2008
Trashy but brilliant pop culture from the movies that inspired more merchandise from more diverse sources than you could of ever imagined. Sansweet gives us a complete cross section here, plenty of new material for the most hardened fan but fun and accessible for anyone into the bizarre and unusual.
This is the best value book I have ever bought. One turn of the page can maybe send you back to a fast food restaurant in 1977, complete with card novelties, the next to a premier in 1983 London. Complete with press pass! It is truly a marvel!
Unique!
Mixed feelings..., 07 Jan 2008
I'm glad I didn't pay 'full' price for it. It is a nice scrap book of all things Star Wars, but somewhat superficial, though I don't think it was meant to be an in depth coverage, rather a summary of the Star Wars phenomenon. Following is a short list of pros and cons, that describe my experience.
Good things:
- It's big and has a nice layout, looks good on the shelf.
- It was fun to turn the pages for the first time to see what kind of inserts it had (*)
- Fun and easy to read.
(*I got somewhat disapointed though, when I realized what it really contained)
Bad things:
- Not as original as I would have liked, in that CDs contain stuff from Hyperspace on starwars.com that I had heard before, and I've read much of the text in one form or the other.
- Some of the reproductions/inserts are of pour quality, both graphic wise and the actual selection of items. (IMO of course)
- Some of the inserts might have been great collectibles if you had the originals, like Sir Alec Guinness' invitation for a drink during shooting, which is just a simple piece of paper with text on it, but have absolutely no value as a copy. I'm not talking about it in terms of going out and selling it, but the fact that some of the inserts have a feel of being a picture that was cut from a book or a magazine and that makes it lose its value. It's just a fancy gimmic. Why not just leave it in the book as a picture...?
- Why on earth did the reproductions have "reproduction" written on the back of them? (I know the answer, but still...)
- I was hoping to see something worth collecting in it self, like a badge/patch of some sort. (there was a sticker on the last page though, that had some collectability to it. A Star Wars 30th anniversary fabric sticker)
In it's defence I still think the book has great layout and a great design idea, and I realize that it's really expensive to reproduce anything other than printed matter. But I do hope 'that' book will be made someday.
I'm glad I have the book, but would think twice about buying it had I seen it before I bought it. It is a nice addition to my growing collection of Star Wars books, but mostly because it's a novelty and has a popup-book kind of quality/surprice element to it.
Not as good as the reviews, 07 Jan 2008
At first this package looks very promising and quite exciting but on detailed examination it's style over substance. The printed items and the elaborate folio style book they're in look quite good but when you look at them closely many of them are less than dazzling quality but then neither were many of the originals. The basic problem is that the general content of the book and writing style isn't terribly interesting and it seems to me that either Lucasfilm think this is more interesting than it actually is or they've found a way to make a few more quid from stuff they've found in their archives.
Sansweet as an author can be a mixed bag, from 1992's excellent "Star Wars: From Concept to Screen to Collectible" which is a fascinating book to the truly awful "Star Wars Encyclopedia" from 1998 that I found piled high in a remainder bookshop for £2 a go. Lucasfilm really need to start making these books better and more substantial instead of trying to wring the last dollar out of fans - with the saga essentially complete the Star Wars marketing machine is living on borrowed time.
very dull, extremely disapointed, 05 Jan 2008
recieved this as a christmas present, first i thought, wow star wars. then upon reading i realised this book is all about the making of the series and the posters and memoribilia around it. unlike perhaps some others people i couldnt care less about how its made, i like the stories, and everything that happens in the star wars universe. alas this book is very dull, hence selling mine to get something more interesting. unless you are actually interested in seeing blueprints etc for sets or production notes, you'll be very disapointed.
Interesting, 11 Dec 2008
I agree with the points made by all other reviewers intellectually, however, this book gave me a feel-good vibe. This was a good, absorbing read that I really enjoyed.
So Disappointing, 27 Jun 2008
Like many I was looking forward to reading a story based around the iconic Death Star - I'm half-way through it and thinking of giving up... dull, characterless, uneventful... shall I go on!
So disappointing!!
Other Star Wars novels (Path of Destruction, Allegiance, etc.) are infinitely more superior - the Jedi Masters of novels compared to the Death Star Bantha droppings!
"Fear will keep local systems in line - fear of this battle station.", 08 Feb 2008
So did anybody who watched the original Star Wars movie wonder about the origin of that massive battle station, the Death Star? Or were you intrigued by the image at the end of Episode III, with it slowly being built in the distance as the new Darth Vader, the Emperor, and Tarkin look out the window? Michael Reaves and Steve Perry have written Death Star, the story of not only the creation of the station, but also the Imperial story behind the first movie, all the way up to the station's destruction. Unfortunately, what they've forgotten to give us are interesting characters to wrap the story around.
While the concept of Death Star is extremely interesting, I have a lot of problems with the execution. Reaves and Perry give us all of these new characters to get involved with, anchoring them with the viewpoints of Tarkin and Vader as well, but they fail to make the new characters very interesting. Of course, they all pair up in various romantic entanglements, and of course none of the Imperial officers we see like what Tarkin and Vader are doing once the Death Star actually starts being used. It would have been nice to have a main character (perhaps not a viewpoint character, but one who is in the same circle as the ones we do get) who actually supports the bad guys. It would have made for some interesting conflict among them. But no, instead we're given a couple of normal military officers who quickly turn once they see the true evil of the Empire.
Because of the overwhelming disinterest I had with the main characters, the building of the station actually is a chore to read. This quickly goes away when Tarkin and Vader are "on screen," as we see just how determined Tarkin is to get the Death Star going. We see his ruthlessness, but we also see a (somewhat, anyway) softer side in his affair with Admiral Daala (I'll give those of you who have a twinge at the thought of Tarkin actually having sex a moment to collect yourselves, but take heart that at least it's all only implied in the book). Vader is sent by the Emperor to help the investigation into a couple of rebel attempts to sabotage the station before it's completed, which sort of explains why he's almost acting as Tarkin's lackey in the first movie. In Death Star, he's willing to let Tarkin's ego take apparent control, but he's ready to step in if necessary.
The book gets most intriguing when the first movie starts. It's almost like getting a behind the scenes look at the events of the movie as we see the thought processes from the Imperial side. It's all very interesting, and these sequences are also the only times the original characters become even remotely interesting as well. The characters start reacting to the events that we've already seen, and realizing what they may have gotten themselves into. The writing of the book also gets a lot more interesting here, as it becomes a bit more action than the more boring set-up at the beginning of the book. Thankfully, none of this continuity gets in the way of the story. I appreciated that.
This book would have been a standout if Reaves and Perry had made their original characters interesting. Instead, it takes the action in Death Star, at least halfway through the book, to make this reader become engaged with them at all. Thus, we get an interesting idea, some cool intertwining with one of the movies, and some cool Vader/Tarkin scenes to tide us over until we get to more boring scenes. This makes an excellent book thoroughly average instead. You won't regret reading it, but it could have been so much better.
David Roy
Most of the Reviews on this page don't match the actual book, 30 Dec 2007
Half of these reviews look like they've been posted in error against the wrong title. This book is dire.
Cashing in for Christmas, 30 Dec 2007
Really Really disappointed, as another reviewer said this could have been and indeed from the blurb is the definitive back story to the Death Star. As pointed out we learn nothing new, indeed the book seems to revolve around solving small continuity errors in A New Hope which nobody normally notices. This wouldn't be so bad but either the editing has been done by a chimp or the authors didn't get their story straight. One chapter the Death Star has an operational crew of the 250,000 the next its described as at least a million a second example is that The Imperial Star Destoryer Devestator becomes a Super Star Destroyer in the chapter intro lines. Normally I'd forgive such continuity errors but the story doesn't compensate in the slightest. This was the first Star Wars book I've read since Stackpoles X-Wing series and boy was I disappointed if I was Zahn I'd be wringing my hands at what Star Wars books have become.
I won't be buying another Star Wars title for sometime.
The best of the Starbuck series, 10 Jul 2008
The best (and as the title suggests) most bloody of the series. Cornwell depicts one hell of a scrap in this one and leaves us wanting more from young Starbuck. A must for fans of this series.
Over before it Began, 30 Apr 2007
'The Bloody Ground' is the last in the Starbuck chronicles and describes the events that saw the start of the South's retreat. Starbuck's numerous enemies have put him in charge of a group known as the Yellowlegs, due to their cowardness. Starbuck, along with his friend Lucifer, must fight against internal corruption as well as the Northern forces if they are to reach what was to become one of the bloodiest battles of the war in time.
I feel that 'The Bloody Ground' is a well written book that suffers from a couple of large problems. Firstly, the entire second half of the book describes a battle. As a fan of Cornwell I do like reading his battle scenes, but there was far too much here. Also this book was written in 1996 so we can safely assume that Cornwell has given up on writing any more Starbuck novels. However, rather than concluding Starbuck's career we are left with a hint of his future. I found this annoying and too open ended. Despite these flaws the rest of the book is pacey and exciting. It may not be up with the best of the Sharpe novels, but fans of Cornwell should check this out all the same.
Great read!, 16 Dec 2006
I recently re-read The Bloody Ground, the last Starbuck novel before Cornwell abandoned the series to cash in on the tv popularity of Sharpe by reinventing & rehashing the series (is it really almost 10 years!).
I had almost forgotten how much I enjoyed the Starbuck novels....this one is full of twists & turns as we follow Nate & all the various colourful characters that all come to life in the pages of this great read.
If you like Historical fiction...give this series a go!
Shame on Bernard Cornwell for selling out and shafting fans of this series...Sharpe should have been left alone. If you read the original series as I did in the eighties, you won't recognise Sharpe in the new books....it's Sean Bean!
Powerful novel describing the battle of Antietam, 18 Jan 2005
Cornwell captures the thrill, brutality and horror of the American Civil War in this fine novel. The plot is not his most exciting but the characters are well drawn and the narrative moves along. The final third of the book concerns the battle of Antietam - the bloodiest day in American military history. Cornwell does it justice.
Bring 'im back., 23 Mar 2003
In spite of having rather repetitive plot-lines involving sinister types who hate our hero's insides and eventually fall by the way, these novels seem to improve as they go on. The characters, including the sinister, become more rounded. The battles are described with verve as you would expect from this author with not too much wallowing in gore. And yes you can read them at one sitting if you're not careful as they flow quite nicely. The running stories through the books are interesting and it's a great pity that the author seems to have tired of this series and they have petered out.
Perhaps you could give 'Sharpe' a rest Mr. Cornwell and have another crack at Captain Ahab?
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Customer Reviews
Pleasantly fresh and chillingly sinister storytelling, 24 Jun 2008
Quite a few months after finishing the excellent Path of Destruction, I had my fair share of scepticism to Karpyshyn's follow-up and conclusion of the tale of Darth Bane.
Going by the ridiculous cover art, and my having too much experience and awareness of lackluster second parts in storytelling, I feared Karpyshyn could not top or even equal the chilling anti-hero we grew up with in Path of Destruction. Oh, was I wrong.
Without going into the specifics, I'll be safe to say that Darth Bane - the novel and the character - never lets go. One of very few Star Wars novels centered around one of the Great Ancient Sith Lords, it continues the stream of insight into the cold-blooded ways of the Sith Karpyshyn began in the first novel. But that is not this tale's only strength.
In addition to a set of well thought out and highly interesting characters, the novel boasts a certain uniqueness, something fresh. The plentiful - but absolutely nowhere near generic - well-written battles and conflicts all keep you reading the book at top speed, and you might end up holding your breath at a certain few epic heights in the story.
While I'm certain people will find minor annoyances to nickpit at, such as the slightly different way Karpyshyn portrays combat use of the Force, my overall impression is that this is the best Star Wars novel I've read for years (out of many, after NJO's conclusion).
It might be I just have a morbid fascination of the dark side and its uses and users, but I do highly recommend this (and the first Darth Bane novel, if you for some reason skipped it) to any Star Wars fan or person interested in dark storytelling.
Darth Bane - Rule Of Two, 14 Jun 2008
Brilliant, Simply Brilliant.
Path Of Destruction was Amazing, and this is an Exelent Sequal.
The Story continues from where the previous finished.
The Story is very compelling and you get a reall good indepth insight into the world of the Sith. I would recmmend this book to any Starwars fan, providing you read the First book too, otherwise there could be some confusion.
5 Stars, Brilliant read. Well Worth the buy.
Return of the Sith, 07 Mar 2008
This is Drew Karpyshyn's second book in the Darth Bane series and the two are quite honestly the best star wars books you can buy.
I have read much of the new jedi order series and others but these books give an insight in the force that not even the films managed.
The characters are some of the best of any canon star wars material and the books are really just a joy to read and will leave you wanting more!
I would strongly urge any star wars fan especially those sick of constant infighting between jedi to buy these books and get a whole new perspective on the force - you will not be dissapointed!
Dark , powerful stuff !, 13 Feb 2008
If you are a lover of light fluffy insubstantial sci-fi then don't read this dark , violent and at times macabre tale of how the the Sith got up & running again . It is a nice easy read as it only took me a couple of evenings to get through and ends as abruptly as it starts . This book keeps you on the edge of your seat and would be the superb basis for a cartoon type movie . The characters have real depth and the imagery that this brilliant writer constructs is pretty powerful . I already look forward to the next novel in t | | |