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The Illustrated Star Wars Universe

kevin j. anderson ralph mcquarrie

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The ultimate book for every Star Wars(r) fan.

Experience the Star Wars universe as never before in this stunning visual journey that carries you to the farthest reaches—and into the deepest mysteries—of George Lucas's cinematic masterpiece.  Ralph McQuarrie, the legendary main concept artist for all three Star Wars films, and Kevin J. Anderson, the New York Times bestselling Star Wars author, present the ultimate voyage: a vivid and close-up look at the exotic worlds and remarkable inhabitants of the Star Wars universe.

The breathtaking artwork of McQuarrie and Anderson's delightful text are your guide to eight different Star Wars locales.  Here, detailed as never before, are the worlds of Tatooine, the stark desert home planet of Luke Skywalker; Coruscant, the glorious center of the Empire; Dagobah, the swampy world of Yoda; Bespin, site of the famed floating metropolis of Cloud City; Endor, the forest moon sheltering the Ewoks; Hoth, the frozen wasteland and site of a secret Rebel base; Yavin 4, the jungle moon, nearly destroyed by the first Death Star; and Alderaan, Princess Leia's homeworld, cruelly annihilated by the same Death Star.  Each world is lavishly illustrated and described by a qualified expert, including scientists, scouts, soldiers, poets, and even Imperial agents.  The Illustrated Star Wars Universe is an epic achievement, a visionary treat no Star Wars fan will want to miss—and a true collector's item you'll enjoy for years to come.

(r), TM & (c) 1995 Lucasfilm Ltd.
All rights reserved.  Used under authorization.

192 pages, Paperback

First published November 1,1995

This edition

Format
192 pages, Paperback
Published
January 1, 1997 by Bantam
ISBN
9780553506655
ASIN
055350665X
Language
English

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About the author

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kevin j. anderson

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Yes, I have a lot of books, and if this is your first visit to my amazon author page, it can be a little overwhelming. If you are new to my work, let me recommend a few titles as good places to start. I love my Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. series, humorous horror/mysteries, which begin with DEATH WARMED OVER. My steampunk fantasy adventures, CLOCKWORK ANGELS and CLOCKWORK LIVES, written with Neil Peart, legendary drummer from Rush, are two of my very favorite novels ever. And my magnum opus, the science fiction epic The Saga of Seven Suns, begins with HIDDEN EMPIRE. After you've tried those, I hope you'll check out some of my other series.

I have written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and I'm the co-author of the Dune prequels. My original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series and the Nebula Award-nominated Assemblers of Infinity. I have also written several comic books including the Dark Horse Star Wars collection Tales of the Jedi written in collaboration with Tom Veitch, Predator titles (also for Dark Horse), and X-Files titles for Topps.

I serve as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest.

My wife is author Rebecca Moesta. We currently reside near Monument, Colorado.

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Community Reviews

Rating(4.1 / 5.0, 22 votes)
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22 reviews All reviews
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xraaki
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Of all the Star Wars books (excluding graphic novels) I own, this one is perhaps the one I like the most. It truly is an Expanded Universe book that goes heavily into the Star Wars back story. It covers all the main planets (Tatooine, Hoth, Endor, etc.) from the original trilogy and has beautiful pictures that you can't see anywhere else that I know of. Along with the amazing images, a fictional author writes some kind of report on the planet and its environment that is detailed and surprisingly, makes the place come alive. I'm not sure how easy it is to track this book down nowadays, but it is one of the best ones a Star Wars fan can own.
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Noura
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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A welcome surprise 4.5 Stars

Initially I took this for just another Star Wars artbook, but I was happily surprised by this Illustrated guide. Written as an 'In Universe' guidebook it gives various accounts of explorers, chroniclers, anthropologist and diplomats as they give their account of several well-known Star Wars planets. Among them were Tatooine, Coruscant, Dagobah, Hoth, Endor, Bespin, Yavin and Alderaan. Additionally fans of the expanded universe will notice a few hints to the larger Star Wars universe.

The real kicker however is the accompanying artwork of Artist Ralph McQuarrie, made famous by his contributions on the design and visual style of the Original three Star Wars movies. His work is just absolutely gorgeous and well depicted in multiple large scale, full colour pictures.

Summarized: Ralph McQuarrie with stunning art and cool Star Wars detail not easily found anywhere else.
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kelvinz29
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Is it wrong to long for a fictional world so much it makes you want to cry? I'll admit, this book did that to me (especially Alderaan, sob.) Anderson's prose and Ralph McQuarrie's paintings brought the planets featured in the original trilogy to life in glorious, sumptuous detail. It's literal worldbuilding and I loved it.
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Huang-Teizan
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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This book, the "Illustrated Star Wars Universe", is one of the most beautiful books I have ever had the pleasure to read. It is full of pictures of different aspects of several of the important worlds in the Star Wars universe - such as Hoth, Coruscant, Tatooine, Alderaan, Endor - that, when complemented by the text, make this an easily readable and pleasant book.

The text that accompanies the artwork is top-notch in most cases. Although Kevin J.Anderson's work is considered to be of mixed quality by many Star Wars fans, in this book he does an excellent job of writing each planet's account "in-universe", from the perspective of different indviduals (such as a former poet and political activist from Alderaan, a rebel engineer on Hoth, and so forth).

The only weakness in this book is the description of Alderaan. It is described as a world largely composed of flowing grasslands with small seas, contradicting the blue image seen in the movies. This has a relatively harmless origin, dating back to a picture of Yavin 4 misplaced as a photo of Alderaan, and expanded upon in this text.

Regardless of the above, this is an excellent purchase choice for anyone interested in the Star Wars universe, or even just in some beautiful Star Wars artwork.
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Jusadyyd
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Very thorough exploration of the various planets and species in Star Wars filled with wonderful illustrations.
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yemudan
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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really liked it, surprised there were more pages than goodreads said, really submerges you into the realm of the star wars universe.
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ollefrost
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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The blurb nailed it; this is a must have for Star Wars fans.
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