The Essential Guide to Droids (Star Wars)
Some of the coolest personalities inStar Wars--both big parts and bit players--aren't really persons at all. They're droids. From the comedic duo of R2-D2 and C-3PO to the beeping, gonking peanut gallery in the belly of the Sandcrawler, you can tell that Lucas loved his droids. In fact, asEssential Guideauthor Daniel Wallace wisely points out,A New Hopeopens not with a princess or a Jedi, but with the bickering R2 and 3PO. Wallace shares that affection, and inThe Essential Guide to Droids, he lovingly describes a hundred of the hardest working bots in the galaxy, drawing from theStar Warsmovies, novels, and comics. (As Wallace puts it, "We like to think we covered all the cool ones.")Every droid you remember (or maybe just recognize) is here, from R2 and 3PO to the syringe-packing interrogator orbs on the Death Star to the eyeball-on-a-stick security drone that minds Jabba's front door. Each entry lists the unit's specs and history (and sometimes even marketing strategy), and a technical blueprint points out all the features. (How else would you find the retractable paralysis cord on the cone-headed bounty hunter IG-88?) With its droids of all callings, from medical to military and protocol to processing, thisEssential Guideis a tour anySWfan will love.--Paul Hughes