Lit Best Guides/Manuals, Etc.

What are some of the better "Guides" or etc?

I have "The New Essential Chronology" - what are some of the other good ones? I heard The Atlas one was good. Any others?

 

So just those 3? And nothing else? I read Legacy (up to [and including Vector] and then stopped) and I didn't care for Legacy really much at all.

 

I'll echo the recommendations for The Essential Atlas and The Essential Guide to Warfare. You say you didn't like Legacy. Did you like KOTOR? If so, the Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide is excellent. Other recommendations: Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force; The Unknown Regions; Galaxy of Intrigue; Book of Sith; The Old Republic Encyclopedia.

 

I have a few of the old WOTC campaign guides, like their Sith one and their Tatooine one. I read the Jedi vs. Sith one (library).

Any other recommendations?

 

The Dorling Kindersley line of Cross-Sections and Inside the Worlds of... books are great and filled with info and detailed drawings.

Seconding the Atlas and Warfare guides.

 

Is the new Readers book any good?

 

It has some neat illustrations but little in the way of new/elucidating material.

Atlas (and Atlas supplements) and Warfare all the way. I'd also throw in The Jedi Path.

 

What are the Atlas supplements?

 

Jason Fry did an Atlas supplement focusing on Xim the Despot and the Tion Cluster, and John Jackson Miller did one on the Grumani/Spumani sector to tie into the Knight Errant comic/novel. They were originally posted on Hyperspace, but I think that they have been reposted on the Star Wars official blog somehow. JohnJacksonMiller would know more than I would.

 

Not an actual guide, but Wookieepedia is the best Star Wars wiki out there, as well as one of the best in Wikia's network.
starwars.wikia.com

 

Appreciate the kind words. All of the Atlas supplements remain available at starwars.com/atlas, with more coming soon.

 

Outside of those obvious mentions I feel like mentioning both the Imperial Source Book and the Dark Empire Source Book as containing an amazing amount of cool stuff.

Maybe not what the OP had in mind as they are out of print and such, but awesome reads none the less.

 

Really depends on what you are looking for. Though when it comes to general guides to SW go for the Chronology, Guide to Characters and the Atlas.

 

Let's see... what do I have on my bookshelf, currently? Guide to Characters, Alien Species, Vehicles and Vessels, Weapons and Technology, Chronology, Atlas, Warfare, Planets and Moons if you're into the older guides, and then there's the RPG sourcebooks... Currently I have Creatures of the Galaxy and Alien Anthology on my bookshelf.

It really depends on what all you're looking for. And while I am a Wookieepedian and support any plugging of the Wook, we all got our information from somewhere. Thus, we all have amassed rather large collections of guides in some form or another. While Wookieepedia is great to get the basic gist, if you want more detail, get the guides listed in the sources of your favorite articles.

 

The WEG guides are definitely worth seeking out. As an author, I reach for the Dark Empire Sourcebook, Han Solo and the Corporate Sector Sourcebook, Imperial Sourcebook, Rebel Alliance Sourcebook and Platt's Smugglers Guide quite a bit.

 

The Imperial Sourcebook is still my favorite resource, and it's been ages since I bought the 1st edition.

I really, really love The Essential Atlas, not only because it's thorough or detailed (and it is) but because it also manages to bring back some of the sense of wonder to the Star Wars galaxy.

 

I love the Thrawn Trilogy Source Books as well just because they slightly expand upon that Trilogy and the characters within it.

 

Cracken's Threat Dossier.

 

Thrawn Trilogy Sourcebook is also great, and don't forget the unparalleled Galaxy Guide 9: Fragments from the Rim.
The various Cracken's books are good too- Rebel Field Guide, Rebel Agents, Wanted by Cracken. Cracken's Threat Dossier is actually the poorest of the books with his name on it.