Author Archive: John Rivers
How To Speak Astromech With BB-8: A Communication Manual I.M Rollin and illustrated JAKe (book review).
‘How To Speak Astromech With BB-8: A Communications Manual’ is a follow-up to the ‘How To Speak’ books on R2D2 and Wookies, previously published by Chronicle Books and written and illustrated by JAKe, an artist who has not only worked on ‘Star Wars’ but also properties such as Titan Comics’ ‘Doctor Who’ series. Presented in […]
The Art Of Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker by Phil Szostak, foreword by Doug Chiang (book review).
I’ll be honest, readers, I’ve put off reviewing ‘The Art Of The Rise of Skywalker’ ever since I emerged, blinking into the sunlight a year ago from a trip to the cinema (remember those?) and felt an overwhelming sense of disappointment. ‘Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker’ (2019), JJ Abrams’ final part of the Skywalker […]
Star Wars: The Jedi Mind – Secrets From The Force For Balance And Peace by Amy Ratcliffe and illustrations by Christina Chung (book review).
‘Mindfulness’, a recent term designed to cover a range of meditation and breathing techniques is big business, worth now at least $1bn. The proliferation of books, apps and online content has exploded in recent years and whereas older texts such as ‘The Tao Of Pooh’ (1982), Benjamin Hoff’s exploration of Taoism seen through the lens […]
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (book review).
‘Piranesi’ by Susanna Clarke, the long-awaited follow-up novel to 2004’s fantasy epic ‘Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell’ has finally arrived and is very much worth the wait. It is a haunting mystery with a winsome hero that creates a very compelling read. The set-up is deceptively simple. Piranesi has always lived in the House. This […]
The Moviemaking Magic of Star Wars: Ships + Battles by Landry Walker (book review).
In episode 2 of ‘The Mandalorian’, now streaming on Disney Plus in the UK, our eponymous hero finds his spacecraft disassembled, cannibalised and generally wrecked. The scene reminds viewers of one of the great features of the ‘Star Wars’ universe, the physical and mechanical nature of its spaceships. It’s on this subject and how creative’s […]
Industrial Light & Magic Presents Making ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story by Rob Bredow, Foreword by Ron Howard (book review).
‘Solo’ the story of how smuggler Han Solo and best friend Chewbacca got together and attempted a couple of heists was an odd movie in some ways. It arrived five months after the divisive yet brilliant ‘The Last Jedi’, wracked with stories of production issues, on-set acting coaching and the removal of original directors Phil […]
Women Of The Galaxy by Amy Ratcliffe, foreword by Kathleen Kennedy (book review).
‘Women Of The Galaxy’ by Amy Ratcliffe is a timely and welcome book celebrating the female characters who have entertained and enthralled us throughout the ‘Star Wars’ saga. It provides an in-depth look, both in story terms and behind-the-scenes, of the women who have stood up to the Dark Side or in some cases, fully […]
The Military Science Of Star Wars by George Beahm (book review).
When I first saw the title of this book, I did a double-take: ‘The Military Science Of Star Wars’ by George Beahm. The what now? ‘Star Wars’ is a fantasy, it doesn’t even stretch to becoming Science Fiction often, a Campbell and Tolkien rip-off that tapped into a cultural need when the world needed it […]
The Moviemaking Magic Of Star Wars: Creatures And Aliens by Mark Salisbury (book review).
Growing-up watching ‘Star Wars’, I was often amazed at the quality of the creature-making and mask work that the series had. Don’t get me wrong, I was equally fascinated by the work of, for example John Friedlander on ‘Doctor Who’, but ‘Star Wars’ had an extra-special something. This is something that is presented in a […]
The Art Of Solo: A Star Wars Story by Phil Szostak (book review).
With the dust having settled on ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ and the franchise’s own fandom becoming entangled in a Sarlacc pit of self-loathing that has reportedly caused Disney and Lucasfilm to review the next planned movies, how refreshing it is to lose oneself in one another of Abrams’ excellent examinations of the movies’ production […]
