Star Wars Bestiary, Vol. 1: Creatures of the Galaxy

by S.T. Bende, Iris Compiet (illustrator)

Explore the creatures of Star Wars in the first of two books, this one featuring beautiful illustrations of the wondrous non-sentient species from a galaxy far, far away.

From Naboo to Hoth, Tatooine to Kashyyyk, and beyond, Star Wars is packed with otherworldly species and monstrous creatures. Dive into the lives, habitats, and behaviors of the non-sentient inhabitants from across the galaxy through original, detailed illustrations and insightful text, to include wampas, banthas, porgs, the fearsome Mythosaur, and so much more. This is a must-have comprehensive compendium for any Star Wars fan who wants a closer look at the fascinating lifeforms from the beloved franchise.

ALL-NEW Experience Star Wars in a new way through stunning, original artwork from acclaimed artist Iris Compiet (The Dark Crystal The Definitive Guide to the Creatures of Thra, and Bestiary - A Definitive Guide to the Creatures of the Goblin King's Realm), featuring your favorite creatures and their habitats.

DISCOVER CREATURES FROM ACROSS THE This book includes an in-depth look at the myriad species from the Star Wars galaxy and their habitats, covering creatures from the films, shows, comics, novels, and more.

AN IDEAL A perfect gift for the Star Wars fans of all ages!

AN EPIC ADDITION TO YOUR STAR WARS LIBRARY: A gorgeous volume filled with incredible artwork, Star Wars Bestiary, Vol. 1: Non-sentient Species is an exhaustive exploration of the fantastical creatures of this much-loved galaxy.

Genres: Star Wars, Science Fiction, Art, Aliens

208 pages, Hardcover

Published November 5, 2024

About the author

Before finding domestic bliss in suburbia, S.T. Bende lived in Manhattan Beach (where she became overly fond of Peet’s Coffee) and studied Shakespeare in Europe… where she became overly fond of McVitie's cookies.

Her Scandinavian heritage and a very patient Norwegian teacher inspired her YA Norse fantasy series' (Viking Academy, Ære Saga, Elsker Saga, and Alfheim Academy). And her deep love of a galaxy far, far away led to her writing children's books for the Star Wars franchise. As an experienced IP writer, she's written multiple books published by Disney-Lucasfilm Press and its licensees, and looks to expand into additional beloved IP projects.

When she's not creating stories, S.T. dreams of skiing on Jotunheim and Hoth.

Find S.T. on her website (www.stbende.com), her newsletter (http://smarturl.it/BendeNewsletter), or on Twitter @stbende.

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally, another beautiful book about Star Wars creatures. Very nice artwork and there absolutey is something to read. Too bad some animals don't seem to get a proper name and some small errors have slipped through editing (size and weight seem weird from time to time). But overall, this is a great addition with a fine number of creatures from newer production since info on those was often rare.

[Kimberley doruyter · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved it, it's a truely beautiful book,

[Kelsey Love · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy this style of book, although I preferred the Labyrinth and Dark Crystal Bestiaries featuring the same illustrator. A major reason for this is how often the Star Wars edition mentions creatures being present at or somehow involved with the Galaxy's Edge lands at the Disney theme parks. It starts to feel less like an informative book about beasts and more like an advertisement for Disneyland, which really bothered me. The illustrations are gorgeous, though, and overall, I do feel like I learned a lot about the creatures.

[Travis · Rating 2 out of 5]

The beautiful art doesn't compensate for the dull, lackluster writing rife with inconsistent data. On the one hand, there's no truth to any of what is written in this book since these creatures do not exist; but the book is written as though it were a guide to real creatures, so the data it provides should make sense. Things like a quadruped that is about 8 feet tall at the shoulder but weighs barely 40 pounds (the fyrnock) do not make sense, and if the creators can't be bothered to do some fact checking or decent editing, what is the point of going into this level of detail? Because it was not just this one creature, but several, and those are just the ones with such egregiously mismatched size and mass stats that they caught my attention.

The other major problem is two fold, and relates to the origin of these creatures in the larger fictional reality of Star Wars. One part is that many of the creature descriptions read as though they are referencing specific events in the canon in a sort of wink and nudge manner; since I'm not super invested in the cannon-- especially the various TV series extensions-- this feels sort of off-putting, a suggestion that there is some hidden meaning to the description that I'll probably never get. The other part is that most of these creatures go back to props designed only to lend a sense of exotic to a movie backdrop, not a very firm foundation to build a whole fantasy ecology off of. Often a creature's sole (initial) appearance in the canon becomes the central fact about that creature, even when it is more likely to be exceptional behavior in unusual circumstances.

A final issue is the lack of an index, which is especially annoying since some entries will reference other aliens, so one might conceivably want to compare them.

[Joshua Whitehouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

The many worlds of the Star Wars galaxy have so many incredibly unique animals, and this book does an incredible job of showcasing a variety of species, some adorable, others terrifying. While there are some animals that I wished had a bit more exploration into their biology, I was still mostly impressed with the amount of detail with the majority of entries. The Wonderful illustrations by Iris Compiet are the main highlight of this book.

Growing up, The Wildlife of Star Wars with artwork done by Terryl Whitlatch was one of my very favorite Star Wars guide books, and after waiting 20 years for another venture into the nateral world of this universe again, I can say The Star Wars Bestiary fits in as a worthy spiritual successor to that book that has been so near and dear to me for so many years.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahh, from Wampas to Rontos to the elusive Purrgil, Andis San Tekka and B8 have created an ultimate collection of beasts from across the vastness of space. For all creature cartographers out there, this beastiary is certainly the right point to start. Who else could go toe to toe with the likes of the Gorax and survive to tell the tale? Rancor got your tongue? No problem, B8 has your back ready to distract the creature long enough for you to escape. These two make quite the pair and their friendship and professionalism shine through in this first of hopefullt many volumes of their space safaris.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Star Wars creatures SO MUCH! This book is full of wonderful illustrations and great information about these fictional animals.
I really wish that I had been allowed to edit this book, though. There were a couple of egregious typos and other mistakes like saying a nuna is 75 meters tall or categorizing the vulptex as an ice and snow creature or using both "nexu" and "nexus" as the plural for a nexu. If they do a volume 2, someone call me! I live on Batuu; I'm not hard to find.

[Jason Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute stories, great art, good message. Loved it

[Thomas Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love that it draws from all corners of the galaxy (literally)