Review – Get Reintroduced To Your Favorite Moments and Characters with Star Wars: Who’s Who in the Galaxy
In the tradition of Star Wars: Galaxy of Adventures comes another resource to introduce younger fans to the first eight films in the Skywalker saga. There’s plenty for older fans to love because this is a wonderful visual survey of these films. With a combination of classic moments and characters, this is will be a great addition to anyone looking to add to their collection of great Star Wars art, as well as have a handy field guide to all three trilogies. Let’s take a look inside!
Who’s Who in the Galaxy goes all the way back to the prequel trilogy. The design by Leigh Zieske is very straightforward and quite elegant. This book is obviously targeted for younger fans but they spared nothing on the aesthetic, especially when depicting major scenes from the films. The battle over Coruscant from Revenge of the Sith was one of my favorites but they’re all excellent. The visuals will certainly grab children’s attention and provide incentive for many repeat visits to these pages. I was very impressed at how vibrant these adapted scenes are. The art is very detailed and jumps off the page.
Here’s an example of the character bios. Some are slightly longer than others, but they are effective and characters appear more than once. The biographies are relative to what film they are lifted from. I used Anakin as an example because of his evolution over the three films of the trilogy. His Phantom Menace description and the insignia assigned to it (that of a pod racer) is much different than Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. If these seem vague or potentially confusing, every few pages between the character biographies there is a scene typically expanding on the importance or relevance of a character and their related insignia.
Luke is another good example and check out the changing insignia. The first one associates him with Tatooine and is also used with other characters connected to the desert planet, like Watto and Shmi. Then, in Return of the Jedi, it changes to a Jedi insignia. These little details are fun to track of and a good way to mark the respective journeys of each character.
One detail I thought to be very interesting: The Emperor being referred to as Darth Sidious in the Return of the Jedi section. Remember now, in The Last Jedi Luke also refers to the Emperor by Darth Sidious, which he must’ve learned about after the events of the original trilogy. I’d bet the marketing of The Rise of Skywalker will be using the same designation, as well as the film. Perhaps we won’t be hearing the name Sheev Palpatine very often if Lucasfilm is making an effort to get Sidious into the fan conversations rather than ‘Palpatine’ or ‘The Emperor’. Nothing mind-blowing but I thought it interesting enough to mention.
Just sharing a few of my favorite visuals. The connection between Rey and Kylo is highlighted in a few of these pages. It’s cool to see this and then flip to the throne room fight when their positions are complete opposite. Again, nothing revealing about future plot details, but I found it interesting. Author Ella Patrick must’ve had a lot of fun writing these descriptions and summarizing the different characters.
A few more scenes. Notice the First Order emblem is assigned to Snoke, the Praetorian Guards, and though it’s not pictured – Kylo Ren. I had hoped for some cool, Knights of Ren insignia but I guess we’ll have to wait…for now.
In my opinion, Who’s Who in the Galaxy is an absolute gem and I can’t wait to send a copy to my younger niece who’s become quite a Star Wars fan over the last few years. Author Ella Patrick did an excellent job of distilling the spirit of the saga into these pages and I have no doubt many fans will enjoy it. It’s a great time to be a Star Wars fan!
Star Wars: Who’s Who in the Galaxy will be available at your local bookstores July 16th. It’s available for pre-order now from online retailers. Special thanks to Disney Lucasfilm Press for the advanced copy provided for this review.
Kyle Larson lives in Portland, Oregon. When he's not running trails, he's reading and writing.
