May The Fourth Be With You and DK in 2015

There’s little doubt that 2015 is going to be the biggest year in Star Wars history since the Revenge of the Sith hit theatres back in 2005. Star Wars: The Force Awakens had tongues wagging as it went on to amass 88 million YouTube Views in just a few days. It’s a spectacular trailer, so it really does make sense.

Admit it, don’t you get goose bumps every time you watch it? How can we not be excited to see what happens in the bold new Star Wars universe that’s being created?

Of course, how do you keep track of what’s new and part of the canon and what has become part of “legend”, as it were> Unsurprisingly, DK, masters of the coffee table pop culture book, have put together Ultimate Star Wars, a gorgeous hardcover that compiled every piece of story and character that is part of the new and official continuity.

At Biff Bam Pop, we make no bones about being in love with DK’s titles. They’re perfect for both the older geek and the kids just learning about the Force, Ewoks, who shot first and way more. Ultimate Star Wars is no exception. The book was a hot property at Star Wars Celebration a few weeks ago, since it was on sale early. The smart thing about the title that authors Patrica Barr, Adam Bray, Daniel Wallace and Ryder Windham have done is set the book up in chronological order – that means, you know where things fall not only with the only original trilogy and prequels, but with both The Clone Wars and Rebels, the two recent pieces of Star Wars animation that made the transition to official canon.

Read about the battles during Episode II and then find out who certain characters are. Wondering how Obi-Wan and Yoda managed to gain a form of immortality? It’s there. Tech talk, key moments and behind the scenes discussions – there, there and there, in beautiful colour and accessible language. Ultimate Star Wars is the sort of book you want to have in your hands when you’re rewatching the films to get prepped for The Force Awakens.

Another new DK book that just hit shelves is perfect for my daughter. You may remember last year I wrote about her for May The Fourth as well. I’d say over the last twelve months she’s become an even bigger Star Wars fan, but it’s still all about the Lego version of the series for her. She loves the video game for her iPad and we’re often watching the Lego Star Wars movies (her favourite line of all time is when a young Han Solo says to Yoda, “I tried to tell you, YoYo.” Having a running joke with a four year old is awesome). So this year, we spent some time combing through the brand new updated and expanded Lego Star Wars Character Encyclopedia.

This series is always quite fascinating for the somewhat movie Lego Star Wars fan, simply because one really has no idea just how many mini figures Lego has created from the universe. Flipping through page after page of characters, I often found myself thinking either “Who is that?” or “They a made a figure out of them?” It’s a little intimidating to try and read, but it’s a lot of fun. I handed the book to my daughter at one point and simply said, “Tell me a few of your favourite pages”. You never know what you’re going to get with kids generally and with mine specifically, but as she flipped through the pages, she pointed out R2-D2, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Sebulba and Yoda. Those all made sense to be – they’re familiar and she’s always loved both R2 and Yoda. Her final pick though was a strange one – Gasgano.

I know! Who?

Turns out Gasgano was a pod racer in Episode I. For some reason, in this book, he stood out to my kid. Weird and strange, just like the world of Star Wars itself.

As mentioned at the beginning, this is a big year for Star Wars, which makes this May The Fourth the biggest in the history of the worldwide day of Star Wars Celebration, at least in my mind. Come bed time tonight, I know what we’ll be reading, as we once again think about a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.