Star Wars: The New Essential Guide to Alien Species

Star Wars: Essential Guides #13

by Ann Margaret Lewis, Helen Keier, Chris Trevas (Illustrator)

Discover who’s who and what’s what in the Star Wars universe with this beautifully illustrated guide–now in full color for the first time.

When it comes to extraterrestrial life-forms, there’s more to science fiction’s most famous galaxy than just Jawas, Wookiees, Ewoks, and Hutts. From the skylanes of Coruscant to the worlds of the Outer Rim, an untold number of species populate those planets far, far away. And if you confuse Gungans with Gamorreans, or don’t know a bantha from a tauntaun, you definitely need the in-depth data that only this revised, expanded, and updated guide can deliver.
This comprehensive overview includes beings from all six of the classic movies–plus the novels, cartoon series, comics, and video games. It’s an even bigger cross section of species than what you’ll find in the Mos Eisley cantina. And each entry, from acklay to Zabrak, from amphibians to vacuum-breathers, features everything you need to know, including

• complete physical description and official designation, so you can tell your sentients from your non-sentients, and your humanoids from your insectoids
• homeworld: from dry and dusty Tatooine, stormy and waterlogged Kamino, to arctic Hoth, and countless other strange and varied worlds
• phonetic pronunciation: Askajian, H’nemthe, Iktotchi, Ssi-ruu, and Xexto/Quermian aren’t as easy to say as they are to, er, spell
• notable appearance: a listing of one of the more significant appearances of each species in the teeming Star Wars storyline

Plus, this brand-new edition includes a glossary of crucial descriptive terms and a completely original, full color illustration for each of more than one hundred individual species. It’s a big galaxy, and someone has to organize it. Count on Star Wars®: The New Essential Guide to Alien Species–and don’t leave your homeworld without it.

Genres: Star Wars, Science Fiction, Reference, Fiction, Art, Aliens

227 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2006

About the author

Ann Margaret Lewis began her writing career writing tie-in children’s books and short stories for DC Comics. She then published two editions of Star Wars: The New Essential Guide to Alien Species for DelRey/Random House. Moving from licensed publishing, Ann began writing science fiction/fantasy, historical fiction, and Sherlock Holmes mysteries. Her first book, Murder in the Vatican: The Church Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes was the Independent Book Publisher’s Award Winner for 2010 and a finalist for the Catholic Arts and Letters Award. She followed that with another Sherlock Holmes novel entitled The Watson Chronicles: A Sherlock Holmes Novel in Stories.

Her latest book, Warrior of the Kizan, is a space opera. And her work has appeared in the anthologies To Be Men (2019) and Luna (release 2020).

Reviews

[Parka · Rating 5 out of 5]

(More pictures at parkablogs.com)

Seems like the book had an earlier edition. Well, this 2006 edition now adds a full-colour illustration for each of the species. The art looks good, and that was what attracted me in the first place.

The book certainly looks quite comprehensive, with coverage for all six Star Wars movies. There's plenty to read and muse about. There are species traits, habitat and sometimes even their pronunciation. It provides the background to better understand the universe.

There are actually 228 pages instead of 240 as listed on Amazon.

Recommended to all Star Wars fans.

[Roth · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. It was very imaginative but lacked uniform detail. For example: they only mention the life span of a few races where they should have done that for all of them... Overall, it was entertaining, just not enough so to justify any more than three stars.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I miss the old Star Wars EU. This book covers all the alien species, including humans, from the Star Wars movies and old EU, and all the cool aliens from the EU and alien lore that was only in the EU makes me wish it was still canon. If this book was remade using only Disney canon, it would feel off. I don’t want to know the lore for Unkar Plutt or Maz Kanata’s species (who Dey?) and whatever lore Disney made up to replace Legends canon wouldn’t be as great or crazy as the old lore. I also loved the art in this book. It inspired me to create various alien creatures as a kid.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I find it weirdly creepy how they include sapient nonhuman races like Togruta and Twi'lek right alongside animals like nexu and bantha. The information is good but ranking everything nonhuman as "animal" makes me uncomfortable.

[Judy Carroll-hornaday · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nods to an amazing writer,. Tough jog but you take a metal for this.
Have your 1st edition. Need it signed. Atlanta. Let me know.
Great author, authentic person. Adore.

[Abraham Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of creature/aliens for Star Wars, both sentient and non sentient alike!

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very well done and informative.

[Darren Vincent · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not the best in this series.

I have read quite a few of the Star Wars informational books and been quite entertained. I thought that this one was going to be another in that series. In actuality, it is my least favorite.

Why? I guess I was hoping to find some well thought out back story or history into some of the characters/species that would make this universe more interesting. What I got was some history of individual species specially tailored to validate one single member of the species being in the Cantina scene when Luke arrives. It is as if there is never an instance in the entire Star Wars universe where a being that was in the Cantina scene was a unique individual that did not make for a good representation of the species. It is a cop-out that shortchanges and stunts what could be wonderfully colorful history for each species.

I don't mean to imply that every species in this book was in the Cantina scene, but I just feel that not everything has to tie into past events or be in the background when Luke was walking by AND happened to play a VERY IMPORTANT function that allowed the rest of the know Star Wars universe to happen as we see it in the movies.

In conclusion, not very interesting. Very repetitive. A missed opportunity.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is effectively what it claims to be; i.e., a guide to alien species in the Star Wars universe. Each major species is given a relatively detailed synopsis, a full color illustration, and a block of essential data on the species. The authors have taken major species, facts, and events from the entire spectrum of Star Wars media including the films, novels, and comics.

The only flaws in the book are several typos and the occasional discrepancy between the illustration and the written description; e.g., the illustration may show four toes when the text specifically says that it has three. Otherwise, this is an excellent guide for Star Wars fans.

[Revan97 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have used Star Wars The New Essential Guide To Alien Species as a resource many times to understand who or what, where and how many characters look like, come from, behave and so forth. In my opinion every illustration is a masterpiece. The info provided is extensive and accurate. However, the reason for the four star rating is the same as why many guides get the same rating from me: This guide is already seriously lacking in its selection of species. Various new beings have been introduced into the expanded universe since the creation of this guide, thus rendering the guide incomplete.

[RumBelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic reference book. Little known alien species and ones we are all familiar with are detailed here. The art is stunning and the information highly interesting. The book details facts about the aliens, their home planets, their customs and more. It is written as a nature guide might be written, which only adds another layer to the narrative.

[Duane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great resource guide for any Star Wars fan. I read it from cover to cover and learned so much. I finally get to see some of the characters I've read so much about. It's a great companion book to have as you read or watch any of the Star Wars genre. I love this book.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great reference for the many different species exhibited in the Star Wars galaxy. Though, I would really like to see an updated version. Since then, there have been a multitude of new species that have been brought up in the novels.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Star Wars: The New Essential Guide to Alien Species (Paperback)
by Ann Margaret Lewis
This book is a great collection of facts and information of the series

[J.M. Brister · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very good resource for Star Wars fans.