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The Illustrated Star Wars Universe
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.
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.
208 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1995
15 people are currently reading
575 people want to read
About the author
Kevin J. Anderson
1,033 books3,110 followersYes, 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.
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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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
February 7, 2017
Okay so what do you do while you wait for your computer to repair itself - in my case grab a book and read.
This book has been sitting on my shelf for a while now - yes this is one of those titles I picked up over the years as it was going cheap but never really got round to reading it (its scary how many books I own that fall in to that category) Anyway having seen references to the book - but with a different cover - I thought I should give it a go.
Now one of the reluctancies for reading this is that there are SO many Star Wars books out there and only so much original material. When that runs out (or I wonder if the author cannot think of anything more and the publisher cannot afford any more) they start to recycle. This may come in the form of artwork, or storylines or even characters.
And this is where I start to lose interest - I think its not limited to star wars at all just that the sheer numbers draw attention to it. After all Ralph McQuarrie only did so many pieces - you are bound to find some repetition.
But not here - which I will admit surprised me. The book focuses on 8 of the most famous worlds from the original trilogy. You have here reused concept work along with brand new pieces. Although you can quickly guess which piece comes from where you dont really mind as they do work very well together. The text also is interesting and holds your interest.
Now with the ever increasing number of films being realised there is a constant stream of new information and I guess this book needs to be updated otherwise it will become quickly outdated (for example there is a chapter on Bespin the Cloud City. Now we are soon to see the Han Solo standalone film and I am sure Bespin will feature in it at some point but who knows).
However as a piece of sheer nostalgia its great (it even has that old book smell to it when you open the pages, how satisfying is that).
This book has been sitting on my shelf for a while now - yes this is one of those titles I picked up over the years as it was going cheap but never really got round to reading it (its scary how many books I own that fall in to that category) Anyway having seen references to the book - but with a different cover - I thought I should give it a go.
Now one of the reluctancies for reading this is that there are SO many Star Wars books out there and only so much original material. When that runs out (or I wonder if the author cannot think of anything more and the publisher cannot afford any more) they start to recycle. This may come in the form of artwork, or storylines or even characters.
And this is where I start to lose interest - I think its not limited to star wars at all just that the sheer numbers draw attention to it. After all Ralph McQuarrie only did so many pieces - you are bound to find some repetition.
But not here - which I will admit surprised me. The book focuses on 8 of the most famous worlds from the original trilogy. You have here reused concept work along with brand new pieces. Although you can quickly guess which piece comes from where you dont really mind as they do work very well together. The text also is interesting and holds your interest.
Now with the ever increasing number of films being realised there is a constant stream of new information and I guess this book needs to be updated otherwise it will become quickly outdated (for example there is a chapter on Bespin the Cloud City. Now we are soon to see the Han Solo standalone film and I am sure Bespin will feature in it at some point but who knows).
However as a piece of sheer nostalgia its great (it even has that old book smell to it when you open the pages, how satisfying is that).
December 4, 2012
(More pictures at parkablogs.com)
The Illustrated Star Wars Universe is written like a travel journal, with beautiful concept paintings from Ralph McQuarrie.
Eight planets are featured, namely Tatooine, Coruscant, Dagobah, Hoth, Endor, Bespin, Yavin and Alderaan.
Each journal entry is written from the perspective of a Star Wars character. It's a nice touch providing that on-the-ground feeling. They talk about the inhabitant's culture, way of life, traditions, planet's climate and creatures. There are interesting stories sometimes, for example in the paragraph below, which is supposedly written by Senior Anthropologist Hoole:
Tuskens make no distinction between males and females, and only the clan elders keep records of the sexes, so that they can arrange marriages. (As one can imagine, some rather embarrassing mistakes have been made, unfortunately.)
Much of the art work has appeared on other Star Wars books, notably the "art of" series. So there's really nothing much new here except for the writeup.
This book is for the must-know-it-all Star Wars fan, or as the book says, the true collector.
July 7, 2015
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.
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.
June 4, 2012
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.
February 17, 2014
If you loved the Star Wars movies, this is a must have book for you! It takes you to many places lime Tatooine, the Death Star, Alderaan and so much more. The illustrations are amazing, the descriptions from Kevin J Anderson take you to these worlds in a way the movies couldn't do! You will find yourself looking through these pages again and again!
April 5, 2012
This is the definitive Star Wars art book. Filled with master Ralph McQuarrie's inspiring paintings and coupled with Anderson's excellent prose, this is one that any Star Wars fan should have on their shelf. Seriously, if you own just one Star Wars book, make sure this is it.
January 29, 2022
I never grew up with any less than 6 Star Wars movies so reading this book as a child, I didn’t realize it was written in the interim between the trilogies. This book of Ralph McQuarrie’s concept art for the original trilogy was actually published in 1995, before Phantom Menace— significance I failed to grasp as a kid. This type of book could easily just be a vessel for McQuarrie’s gorgeous concept art, but instead it’s paired with gorgeous prose from Kevin J. Anderson, which is why this book existed so vividly in my memories all these years, and is what compelled me to order another copy.
This book covers the 6 locales visited in the original trilogy: Tatooine, Dagobah, Hoth, The Forest Moon of Endor, The Cloud City over Bespin, and Yavin 4. Additionally, it features Alderaan, which was not shown except for its destruction from afar, and Coruscant, which was probably concept art for The Phantom Menace! Every section is written as an in-universe travelogue. Tatooine is by a shapeshifting anthropologist, Coruscant by the Emperor’s propagandist. Anderson takes measures to ensure copious amounts of verisimilitude, but this sometimes got annoying. For example, the Endor section was “by” an Imperial scout with a lot of disdain for Ewoks and the RotJ foreshadowing was a little too on-the-nose.
But despite a few too many references to the movies, you don’t have to watch them to “get it”. If from previous reviews you think I hate worldbuilding, this is worldbuilding done right, different than Disney Wars because not everything is a reference to something else. This book stands on its own as an imaginative description of alien ecologies and cultures, somewhat like Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities. It’s good worldbuilding because it’s slice of life in the strictest sense, considering matters of lesser consequence like cuisine, art and culture. There is no cohesive story, but one of my favorite anecdotes is a poetic fable in the Hoth section about two ore-mining robots dismantling each other for their ores.
Since they basically cover all the planets that are visited in the old trilogy, there’s a necessary element of familiarity, because those movies were filmed in the pre-CGI era so Lucas et al. obviously had to seek out real-life (but still very exotic!) locations to film at. The culture parts are stronger than the speculative biology which isn’t quite as believable, so the best sections were the more populated planets: Tatooine, Coruscant, Bespin, and Alderaan.
My most vivid memories of this book from childhood were the Alderaan section, which makes it sound like an eco-friendly artist commune like Santa Fe, NM. For some reason, the idea of floating aimless hotels has stuck with me over the years. Small but believable details of little consequence like this are what makes this book.
This book covers the 6 locales visited in the original trilogy: Tatooine, Dagobah, Hoth, The Forest Moon of Endor, The Cloud City over Bespin, and Yavin 4. Additionally, it features Alderaan, which was not shown except for its destruction from afar, and Coruscant, which was probably concept art for The Phantom Menace! Every section is written as an in-universe travelogue. Tatooine is by a shapeshifting anthropologist, Coruscant by the Emperor’s propagandist. Anderson takes measures to ensure copious amounts of verisimilitude, but this sometimes got annoying. For example, the Endor section was “by” an Imperial scout with a lot of disdain for Ewoks and the RotJ foreshadowing was a little too on-the-nose.
But despite a few too many references to the movies, you don’t have to watch them to “get it”. If from previous reviews you think I hate worldbuilding, this is worldbuilding done right, different than Disney Wars because not everything is a reference to something else. This book stands on its own as an imaginative description of alien ecologies and cultures, somewhat like Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities. It’s good worldbuilding because it’s slice of life in the strictest sense, considering matters of lesser consequence like cuisine, art and culture. There is no cohesive story, but one of my favorite anecdotes is a poetic fable in the Hoth section about two ore-mining robots dismantling each other for their ores.
Since they basically cover all the planets that are visited in the old trilogy, there’s a necessary element of familiarity, because those movies were filmed in the pre-CGI era so Lucas et al. obviously had to seek out real-life (but still very exotic!) locations to film at. The culture parts are stronger than the speculative biology which isn’t quite as believable, so the best sections were the more populated planets: Tatooine, Coruscant, Bespin, and Alderaan.
My most vivid memories of this book from childhood were the Alderaan section, which makes it sound like an eco-friendly artist commune like Santa Fe, NM. For some reason, the idea of floating aimless hotels has stuck with me over the years. Small but believable details of little consequence like this are what makes this book.
August 23, 2020
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.
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.
October 7, 2017
YAYAYAYAYAY Omigod I love the illustrations!!!! SO SO SO REALISTIC AND "STAR-WAR-ISH!!" :D All these pictures and omigod....I'm in love. <3
November 18, 2018
Absolutely beautiful and so rich in texture and world-building.
October 21, 2023
Very thorough exploration of the various planets and species in Star Wars filled with wonderful illustrations.
December 10, 2018
This book is great.
May 31, 2022
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.
October 26, 2022
Not a reference book so much as an experiment in short fiction. Reams of Ralph McQuarrie concept art are recontextualized to serve as the springboard for fictive writings in a variety of genres: the Dagobah chapter is the diary of a scientist on a doomed research expedition to that treacherously damp planet, the delightfully satirical Coruscant chapter reads like a travel brochure offering biased information with a definite pro-Imperial slant for offworld tourists, and so on.
In 1995, when this book was released, there were no new Star Wars movies on the horizon, and so Lucasfilm had to get crafty if they wanted to push out a little profit. These McQuarrie paintings were not new by any means (most of them must have been around twenty years old) but I don't chalk up their reproduction in this book as crass commercialism since the book is of such a good, large-format quality, and since they share the page with inventive new writing of a legitimately good quality.
If you must own a Star Wars book, this is a great one.
In 1995, when this book was released, there were no new Star Wars movies on the horizon, and so Lucasfilm had to get crafty if they wanted to push out a little profit. These McQuarrie paintings were not new by any means (most of them must have been around twenty years old) but I don't chalk up their reproduction in this book as crass commercialism since the book is of such a good, large-format quality, and since they share the page with inventive new writing of a legitimately good quality.
If you must own a Star Wars book, this is a great one.
July 27, 2011
Good book. The illustrations are beautiful and it is very well written. Great read for science fiction and star wars fans.
May 1, 2015
good book about star wars.
October 3, 2013
awesome concept art by Ralph McQuarrie
September 28, 2015
really liked it, surprised there were more pages than goodreads said, really submerges you into the realm of the star wars universe.
September 18, 2018
2nd time reading this, it's a little sloppy but there is so much Ralph McQuarie illustrations, it's ridiculous.For the die hard's.
March 11, 2012
Christmas 2008 - parents
February 25, 2016
Good book!
June 2, 2016
The blurb nailed it; this is a must have for Star Wars fans.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews