A GUIDE TO WEAPONS OF THE FORCE

An elegant weapon, for a more civilized age—> lightsabers.  Ever since Luke Skywalker was handed over the traditional weapon of a Jedi knight that his father had wielded before him by Obi-Wan Kenobi in 1977's original Star Wars movie, people across the planet have dreamed of going on an adventure in a galaxy far, far away brandishing one of these fantastic laser swords.  Now you can learn all about the inner workings of these fictional weapons and the individualized stylings of a number of blades utilized by a variety of characters in the films A New Hope through The Last Jedi by reading the book STAR WARS LIGHTSABERS: A GUIDE TO WEAPONS OF THE FORCE by Pablo Hidalgo.

Hidalgo, who is employed with Lucasfilm as part of its Star Wars Story Group (which monitors consistency of the franchise's content and story throughout print, television, toys, movies, video game and other mediums where the brand may be featured) delves into the lightsabers' place in Star Wars canon within this book.  It starts off with a section that provides the anatomy of a lightsaber and a description of how they are built. He also explores facts, trivia and myths regarding these iconic sci-fi weapons.

Next he highlights famous, and not so famous, Star Wars characters that have wielded lightsabers including Jedi ranging from Agen Kolar to Yoda as well as Sith adversaries such as Count Dooku, Kylo Ren and of course Darth Vader. Read through more than 20 profiles that highlight a variety of Jedi and Sith from the Star Wars galaxy and showcases each of their personalized lightsabers. You'll also learn the secret of why the Jedi lightsaber blades can be a variety of colors like blue, green and purple while the Sith's are illuminated in blood red. Get the answer to how Jedi younglings were able to train with lightsabers without cutting their arms off or the children otherwise hurting themselves or others. Lots of interesting insights to be found in Star Wars Lightsabers: A Guide to Weapons of the Force.

Each of the two-page character profiles that make up a big chunk of the book features a close-up view of the Jedi or Sith's one-of-a-kind lightsaber hilt and a picture of it being used on-screen in a Star Wars film.  Each of the pages in these profiles also are filled with detailed statistics, insights, and facts about the lightsaber and its user. There is also a special profile on the lightsaber that started it all -- the Skywalker Lightsaber -- which has been used by Anakin, Darth Vader, Luke, Finn and Rey during the Star Wars saga.

This 68 page hardcover book includes 80 illustrations and pictures from the Lucasfilm archives.  In addition to being used to help describe how light sabers work and highlight the variety of ones used in the Star Wars films, images are also prominently incorporated in sections that outline lightsaber fighting techniques and notable duels from the movies. Learn how lightsabers can deflect bolts from blaster guns and where the Obi-Wan Kenobi versus Darth Vader confrontation on the Death Star ranks in memorable lightsaber battles.

My son and daughter were captivated by this book and have used it to proclaim themselves the masters of Star Wars trivia among their friends.  I really enjoy expanding upon the details of sci-fi movies looking over concept art, blueprints and informational guidebooks that enhance the cinematic experience so this was a great book for me to read too. Because it did such a fine job of immersing both my kids' as well as my own imagination within a galaxy far, far away, Star Wars Lightsabers: A Guide to Weapons of the Force has earned A Geek Daddy nod of approval.  This is a book any Star Wars fan will thoroughly enjoy!

For more information about this book or to purchase one, please visit www.quartoknows.com