Solo: A Star Wars Story The Official Guide

Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary #8

by Pablo Hidalgo

This essential visual guide to Solo: A Star Wars Story explores the world of young Han Solo in unparalleled detail. An authoritative companion to the latest Star Wars movie, Solo: A Star Wars Story The Official Guide features the fascinating planets, vehicles, and aliens that Han Solo encounters on his early adventures. Explore key characters, locations and props in captivating detail with extensive production photography and see the iconic Millennium Falcon as its never been seen before, in an exclusive cross-section artwork by Richard Chasemore.

Genres: Star Wars, Nonfiction, Reference, Film, Art, Media Tie In

128 pages, Hardcover

First published May 25, 2018

Reviews

[Siona Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Flipped through this the other day and it had some pretty interesting behind-the-screens information/easter egg material in it, but it's by no means required reading. Only really recommend for die-hard star wars fans or nerds who want a current coffee table book really.

[Mario · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another solid release by Pablo Hidalgo. While not as big as Rogue One, this one has plenty of visuals and information to ease your doubts away. And as much as the movie itself, it's full of little details that will have old fans like myself grinning like kids with new candy.

If you loved the movie, you need to read this now!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

F's review: I liked how they talked about the Imperials, but I'm not too interested in young Solo's story.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the film and this is a great addition. I *love* how much they covered the background aliens and blink and you'll miss them characters. This is a dense film (in many ways moreso than the other Disney films) and Pablo has done a great job showing that depth here. I could have done with another hundred pages but it is a great look at the background of the film.

[Matthias Noch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mit „Solo – Das offizielle Buch zum Film“ liegt nun das erste deutschsprachige Ergänzungswerk zum Film vor. Verfasst wurde es wie auch bei den letzten Titeln dieser Art von Pablo Hidalgo von der Lucasfilm Story Group. Mit 14,95 € für das gebundene Exemplar ist es auch recht günstig.

Wer jetzt aber einen Verschnitt aus den sonst als Begleitbüchern üblichen „Die illustrierte Enzyklopädie“ und „Schauplätze und Planeten/Raumschiffe“ erwartet wird sehr schnell merken, dass dieses Buch anders ist. Ich bin mir noch nicht ganz sicher, ob ich es gut oder schlecht finde, aber es ist deutlich anders. Die Seiten kommen sehr viel poppiger und kleinteiliger daher; die schlichte Eleganz und der Fokus auf die Objekte wurde zugunsten einer kinderfreundlichen knall-bunten Welt aufgegeben. Und auch inhaltlich hat man andere Schwerpunkte gesetzt. Zum einen sind die Texte entsprechend der Ausrichtung auf Kinder/Jugendliche deutlich kürzer und kindgerechter, zum anderen wird man die großartigen Risszeichnungen der Raumschiffe und Schauplätze sofort bitterlich vermissen. Selbst die Helden kommen recht knapp davon, lediglich dem Millennium Falken widmet man 4 der 118 Seiten.

Aber es ist nicht alles schlecht, denn Hidalgo liefert wieder eine Unzahl von Hintergrund-Informationen rund um all die Personen und Objekte, die man im Film so sieht. Da die handelnden Personen und die Handlung selber nicht besonders erklärungsbedürftig waren, hat er sich um so ausführlicher auf die obskuren Details geworfen. Daran zeigt sich mal wieder, wie detailverliebt man bei LSG ist und die Filme durchkonzipiert. Wie eigentlich immer beschränkt sich Hidalgo bei den Details nicht auf den aktuellen Film, sondern schöpft aus dem Vollen. So erfährt man z.B. endlich auch wie es die Purrgils bewerkstelligen in den Hyperraum zu springen, ganz ohne dass der Motivator ausfällt.

Diese Detailsflut versöhnt mich als Fan wieder etwas mit der Andersartigkeit des Buches und ich gebe ihm 4 von 5 Holocrons.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Publisher Dorling-Kindersley and their authors, especially Pablo Hidalgo, continue to impress me with their "nonfiction" books about the Star Wars universe, revealing details and facts about all the things we see on the screen, but never have time to learn about. While this volume is maybe not as detailed as their Rogue One book--this seems aimed at a slightly younger audience, with a shorter page count and maybe less text--it still fleshes out the world of the story in some fun ways. As always, I enjoy the connections made between various Star Wars stories (for example, the links between coaxium, the hyperspace fuel seen in this film, and the purrgils, hyperspace-traveling creatures from Star Wars Rebels) as well as the detailed stories behind almost each and every character we see in the background. From the hints that Pablo Hidalgo drops about them in this book, I would watch a whole movie or read a whole book about Enfys Nest and the Cloud Riders. The visual elements maintain D-K's usual high standards, with easy to read page layouts and beautifully reproduced photos of characters and hardware. I have always been interested in the little world-building details of the Star Wars world, ever since I collected action figures of all the background characters and droids who never even received names in the movies. Books like these are perfect for detail-junkies like me, and this latest one is a ton of fun.

[Steve Davala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, so I liked the movie a lot. I think because it was such a fitting origin story for some of my favorite SW characters. But reading this book really let me know how DETAILED they made everything. I mean, the sets were amazing, and the props and characters... I just didn't realize it fully until I read this book.
What I thought detracted from things was the number of pages that covered obscure characters. Like about 10 pages of bizarre characters I never saw in the first place when I watched the movie.
I usually like to read about characters like that in some behind the scenes novels. Oh well.

[Sebastian Zavala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much like the classic visual dictionaries, it's another guide full of pictures, interesting information, and tidbits that tell you more about the world of the movie. In this case, though, we've got a more compact edition for the 'Solo' movie; thankfully, that doesn't mean it's a less interesting book. What I DID find funny, though, is that there's a ton of info regarding characters and places you barely see in the film (that may also be related to the dark cinematography, but I digress), a fact that makes some of the pages a bit... boring. Apart from that, though, it's another stellar Star Wars guide from DK.

[Ahdom · Rating 5 out of 5]

DK has the best reference books. I honestly would love to have the entire Star Wars collection and a handful more. This one was no exception as it was full of useful tidbits such as terminology and character bios. These books fill in the gaps that make Star Wars a very tangible world where everything comes together to make a giant tapestry of awesome characters and locations. There is a lot to unpack as it relates to Solo and this book has it all.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun guidebook. The things I enjoyed the most from this one:
- that coaxium was first discovered in internal organs of purrgils
- that Dryden Vos has the crystal skull figurehead of Xim the Despot on display in his ship
- that Lando's first "Chronicle" is about his adventures with the Mindharp of Sharu

Very entertaining, and beautifully designed as always.

[Alfred · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's ok. The other visual dictionaries tell more back story. This kinda of just tells us what's already in the movie. Fun thing is you get to see close up pictures of characters that are only ok for frames in the film.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, Pablo Hidalgo’s guides to a Galaxy far away provide a depth of background material and tie-ins to other material from the Star Wars universe- both old and new. If you want to know more about the characters featured in the new movie, check this book out.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid background material and easter eggs, even for those (me) who weren't huge fans of the movie. That said, with these official guides by Pablo Hidalgo, I think if you're reading it, you're here for it. No one picks this up on a whim.

[Kai Charles(Fiction State Of Mind) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must have for fans of the movie soooo many Easter eggs

[Graham Tomlinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always with these books it is full of background trivia which adds depth to the movie.

[Toph White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun picture book. Like a lot of Star Wars, gives minute detail and backstory on things that you see for a second on the screen.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gives a good overview of places, faces, and equipment without giving away plot points.

[Alexander Pyles · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went through this pretty quickly, not a lot of new new information, but I did enjoy SOLO and this was just fun to go through. It's nice to see the SW universe being fleshed out more and more.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice visual guide to the places, tech, and characters in the movie.

[Punkie · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars
Another amazing guide for the Star Wars universe.😊

[G-E · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un guide très bien illustré sur chaque personnage du film. L’information sur chacun est très brève, mais il est intéressant.