Jedi vs. Sith: Star Wars: The Essential Guide to the Force

by Ryder Windham

Book Overview

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO THE ABSOLUTE POWER AT THE HEART OF THE STAR WARS GALAXY The Force, in the immortal words of Obi-Wan Kenobi, "surrounds us, it penetrates us, it binds the galaxy together." The fortunate few who are able to tap into this extraordinary power have studied and cultivated the full spectrum of its potential-either embracing its virtuous qualities or succumbing to its evil temptations. The Jedi seek to bring peace and enlightenment...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345493346
• ISBN13: 9780345493347
• Release Date: November 2007
• Publisher: Random House Worlds
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 2.14 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 8.5" x 10.8"

Customer Reviews

Not What I expected but Still Loved It

Like most of the people who bought this book I thought it was as it said a guide to the Force. Really its a guide to the Force users the Sith, the Jedi, the Dark Side, the Light Side, the abilities, holograms and the Chosen One. Yet it so good that I can't be disappointed that it wasn't what I thought. I enjoyed reading the Jedi and Sith "holograms" as they left their own views on events and things. Naturally the Sith are more amusing since they won't devolge too much infomation until you prove yourself and bring them a dead body which they really encourage...and Palpatine's views on things. I couldn't help but think of thinking of Obi Wan's saying of different points of view which you defiently see in the Jedi and Sith's different interpetations of things. I liked learning of the different techniques, abilities and the Forms of the Jedi. Luke's recording on his own journey on the dark side. I also enjoyed Leia's recordings on learning about her father, mother and their marriage. I also liked the story Pooja (Padme's niece) of her two meetings of Anakin. Althought I'm still hoping for a complete book on Luke and Leia learning of their mother, Anakin and Padme's relationship and their Naboo relatives this was a nice and unexpected surprise. The pictures were beautifully done.

Essential Purchase ;P

This book is necessary for all fans. It's like.. the Star Wars Bible! It's a canon in-universe source as well! ------ Wookieepedia Page - http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Jedi_vs._Sith:_The_Essential_Guide_to_the_Force ------ So Basically This is a Historical (in-universe) Text. It is written by Tionne Solusar in the year 40 A.B.Y; for those who do not know she is a Jedi Historian. Her subject is to explain the conflict between the Jedi and the Sith from it's beginnings to as far as she can tell (40aby, but another takes over in the end to tell the Legacy comics stuff which is RAD). She is a Historian first and a Jedi second she says basically and she takes a neutral stance on the facts. There are also, First-Hand Accounts from characters. Like just straight-up transcripts of Holocrons. There's things like Mace Windu explaining Vaapad, Luke Skywalker expressing his views on the Dark Side and the mistakes he made during his training (Episode V), Dooku giving an account of pretty much everything he did becoming a Sith and his views on the force. [some of these have completely changed the way I view parts of the movies] Part 1 is an incredible timeline, and the basic history of everything from the 100yrs Darkness, the Great Hyperspace War etc up to Luke Skywalker's Duel with Lumiya. Part 2 is about the Jedi. You get things like Cin Drallig's actual classes (from a recording), Descriptions of Force-Abilities, all the different lightside views on the force, Lightsaber Combat etc. That's all I'll go into for more info check out the Wookieepedia Page The best part is the Index in the back. If you aren't convinced you need this book. Go to Borders or whatever read the Intro by Tionne Solusar and lookup some favorite characters in the index to see how many pages they are on cause they really crammed almost everything into this. Oh and the art is just.... Incredible. When I got mine I spent 2 hours just looking at the pictures alone.. It's amazing

Worth the art and then some

I'm a long-time Star Wars collector with a definite focus on Jedi/Sith and the Force. This is a great resource for anyone looking for the history of both the Jedi and the Sith, as well as a detailed overview of the Force itself. The in-universe perspective told from several authors' points of view is well-written and very true to the characters' established personnas. The art is extremely good, with lots of great pictures detailing most of the important events in Star Wars history. I'm not an art-first person, but this book easily blows one away with it's incredible pics. If you're a causal Star Wars fan who always wanted to know more about the Jedi, the Sith, and the Force, this is for you. As a GM, I'm getting this as a Holiday gift for my entire group. I feel it's that useful for my players to have as a reference.

The illustrations alone are worth it!

The "Essential Guide" series to the Star Wars universe has (perhaps surprisingly) never had a book devoted entirely to the "Force". And this one does not disappoint! The attempt at an "in-universe" historical style (supposedly, the "author" is a Jedi in the New Jedi Order) makes it immersive and fun to read. The information deals with a wide variety of Force-related subjects that any Star Wars fan would be interested in: from the origins and history of the Jedi and Sith orders to the construction of lightsabers and Jedi martial arts. The only thing that I personally felt to be missing is a more "scientific" or "physical" explanation of the Force and its workings (like in-universe scientific theories on how the Force is produced and how it interacts with regular matter and energy), but that might have conflicted with the "historian's perspective" that it adopts instead. Despite any shortcomings in the text itself, however, the illustrations alone make it worth the complete 5 stars! They are simply breathtaking... and the amount of time and sweat put into them by the artists must have been staggering. It's strange to say it, but it feels more like an art book than a dry listing of Star Wars lore! Any Star Wars fan would love these wonderful works of art!

Like viewing a Jedi holocron

I've been looking for a SW book like this for awhile, and glad it arrived. Grabbed this book last night, and wasn't able to put it down. It gives great historical background on important events in Jedi and Sith histories to the more current LOTF storyline. Illustrations were great, and commentary interspersed throughout was good.