Ultimate Star Wars is a canon reference book written by Ryder Windham, Tricia Barr, Adam Bray, and Daniel Wallace, including a foreword by actor Anthony Daniels, who plays C-3PO in various forms of Star Wars media. The book was released by Dorling Kindersley on April 28, 2015, and on September 1, 2015, a special edition with frame images, props, and behind-the-scenes shots of the cast and crew of Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens, as well as two behind-the-scenes prints, was released. The reference book features info on characters, locations, weapons, and vehicles pulled from various corners of Star Wars canon.
In October of 2019, an updated edition of the book, which featured info from Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi, Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker, and Star Wars Resistance, was released.
Publisher's summary[]
First edition[]
Become an expert on the Star Wars galaxy!
Ultimate Star Wars® is an in-depth visual feast exploring the characters and storylines from the Star Wars galaxy. This is a beautifully illustrated guide that is structured chronologically and packed full of information about key characters and storylines from the Star Wars movie saga, The Clone Wars, and Rebels. The perfect primer before Episode VII is released, Ultimate Star Wars will get old and new fans caught up and knowledgeable on all things Star Wars.[1]
Special edition[]
Your ultimate guide to the Star Wars™ universe
Open this ultimate visual feast and explore the iconic characters and storylines from the Star Wars galaxy. Beautifully illustrated, Ultimate Star Wars is packed with information about every single character from Mace Windu to Darth Maul through detailed analyses of their stories throughout the saga.
Explore the Star Wars universe in chronological order to follow the whole story or dive in and out to relive your favourite moments, key battles and iconic characters. A must-have for Star Wars fans, Ultimate Star Wars will enhance your knowledge of the characters and storylines before the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Including characters from the Star Wars movie saga, Star Wars Rebels and the Clone Wars, this is the only guide that explores the entire Star Wars universe in such detail.
Includes concept art, wire frame images, props and behind-the-scenes shots of cast and crew from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, plus two beautiful behind-the-scenes prints.[6]
Continuity[]
- Adi Gallia's homeworld is listed as Tholoth. However, both Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know and Star Wars Character Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded listed her homeworld as Coruscant.[7][8]
- AQ-series battle droids are incorrectly stated to be droid tanks (p. 247).
- The Elders are stated to have been extinct natives of Naboo when Rise of the Separatists later stated that they were offworld colonists.[9]
- The dewback's figure is translated into nine meters, despite the species' Databank entry translating it as being two.[10]
- Even Piell's species and homeworld are erroneously given as Zabrak and Nar Shaddaa respectively (p. 58), repeating what appears in the adjacent entry for Eeth Koth. This has been corrected in later editions.
- Gor, General Grievous's pet, is stated to have been the killer of Nahdar Vebb, when it was actually Grievous himself who killed Vebb, as seen in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode "Lair of Grievous."[11]
- Slave I is incorrectly referred to as Clone 1 on two occasions.
- TIE/ln space superiority starfighters built on Lothal are incorrectly said to be different from regular models due to shorter wings (p. 294).
- Kendal Ozzel's first name was misspelled as "Kendel," which Lucasfilm Story Group's Pablo Hidalgo confirmed to be a typo.[12] Likewise, Wullf Yularen's first name was misspelled as "Wulff."
- Wedge Antilles is incorrectly credited with stealing the Lambda-class T-4a shuttle Tydirium (p. 298).
- Dathomir and the whole Quelli sector are incorrectly placed in the Mid Rim instead of the Outer Rim Territories.
- The Mos Espa Grand Arena and its outskirts are indicated to be at the junction of Xelric Draw and the Northern Dune Sea, while Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know placed it on the edge of the Western Dune Sea.[7]
- Scipio is stated to be located at the Core Worlds instead of the Outer Rim Territories. According to Jason Fry, this was an editing mistake.[13]
- The book claims Luke Skywalker gave Lor San Tekka the fragment of the Map to Skywalker, but this is incorrect.[14]
Media[]
Editions[]
- ISBN 1465436014; Dorling Kindersley, April 28, 2015, 320-page hardcover
- ISBN 0241007909; Dorling Kindersley, September 1, 2015, 320-page hardcover special edition
- ISBN 9780241245101; 2015; Dorling Kindersley Limited; UK hardcover, The Book People Ltd edition[15]
Cover gallery[]
Final cover
Solicitation cover
Special edition cover
Appearances[]
By type
| Characters | Organisms | Droid models | Events | Locations |
| Organizations and titles | Sentient species | Vehicles and vessels | Weapons and technology | Miscellanea |
Characters
Organisms
|
|
Droid models
|
|
Events
Locations
Organizations and titles
Sentient species
|
|
Vehicles and vessels
Weapons and technology
Miscellanea
Sources[]
SWCA: One Big Story – Star Wars Canon Panel Liveblog on StarWars.com (backup link)
"Blaster" — Star Wars Insider 157- Ultimate Star Wars: Research, Writing, and Revelations on StarWars.com (backup link)
- A Truly Ultimate Star Wars Book on StarWars.com (backup link)
- Ultimate Star Wars and the Writer's Journey on StarWars.com (backup link)
- SDCC 2015: Star Wars Publishing Panel Liveblog on StarWars.com (backup link)
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 DK, Summer 2015 (PDF) on booksellers.penguin.com (archived from the original on December 21, 2016)
- ↑ Tricia Talks "Empire Day" on Rebels Declassified on triciabarr.com (November 20, 2014) (archived from the original on November 13, 2017)
- ↑
J. W. Rinzler (@jwrinzler) on Twitter: "Cover reveal, new big book from DK, pub date: May." (backup link)
- ↑
Ultimate Star Wars on Amazon.com (backup link)
- ↑ Ultimate Star Wars on Amazon.com (backup link)
- ↑
Ultimate Star Wars on Dorling Kindersley's official website (backup link)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know
- ↑ Star Wars Character Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded
- ↑ Rise of the Separatists
- ↑
Dewback in the Databank (backup link)
- ↑
Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Lair of Grievous"
- ↑ Pablo Hidalgo (@pablohidalgo) on Twitter: "@LelalMekha It should be Kendal. Unfortunately, I think this stubborn typo made it's way into the Character Encyclopedia too." (screenshot)
- ↑
Wookieepedia, the Star Wars wiki on the Jedi Council Forums (Literature board; posted by jasonfry on 1/8/2016, 2:05pm; accessed January 8, 2016): "To better fit the storytelling. Scipio was placed in the Core when nothing was known about it other than that it was the homeworld of Rush Clovis. A Core placement seemed to fit based on that, though it wasn't much to go on. When Clone Wars gave us stories actually set on Scipio, we saw that it was a critical IGBC world with a significant Muun presence, so it was moved to a location in the ORT near Muunilinst. Which makes *far* more sense than the Core. This change was actually made for Ultimate Star Wars -- note it says Scipio is in Albarrio sector, which is in the ORT. The region wasn't changed because of an editing mistake." (screenshot)
- ↑ Pablo Hidalgo (@pablohidalgo) on Twitter: "It was a mistake in Ultimate SW. Not sure if it was repeated. He never gave Lor the map. Lor helped Luke find Ahch-To, though." (screenshot)
- ↑ Ultimate Star Wars, The Book People Ltd edition
External links[]
- Ultimate Star Wars on Dorling Kindersley's official website (backup link) (US edition)
- Ultimate Star Wars on Dorling Kindersley's official website (backup link) (UK edition)