Publishers Weekly
08/25/2014
As deputy editor at news website Mashable, Taylor brings a genuine love of pop and nerd culture to this comprehensive retrospective on one of the 20th century's most popular film series. The book takes a scholarly look at Star Wars, yet remains accessible. Readers digging through chapters on science fantasy, independent filmmakers, and legal maneuvering will also discover delightful tales of Taylor's own experiences visiting the world's largest Star Wars museum and witnessing a Navajo tribe's introduction to the movies. Though, at times, these asides interrupt the chronology of Taylor's history, they're intriguing and never out of place. Taylor has compiled an impressive collection of background research and insider info that any fan would be glad to own. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
"Exhaustive.... those of us more casually in tune with the Force will find more than a few tasty nuggets."―Wall Street Journal
"Insanely microresearched and breezily written."―New York Times Book Review
"An excellent look at the genesis of Star Wars.... [Taylor's] put together a volume that's honest and interesting—and one that's completely reignited my passion for Star Wars."―io9
"An unconventional approach that serves to bring a spark of life that might otherwise go missing from a straightforward commercial or cinematic look at Star Wars."―Washington Post
"Even obsessives will likely find much that's news to them ... worthy of being savored ... amusing ... reveals what a huge role serendipity played in Star Wars."―New York Post
"Delivers a payload of information... you will find intense emotions in its observations of a battle for autonomy within corporate cinema, and to the public that swoons for Lucas' products."―San Francisco Chronicle
"An immensely readable look at the worldwide impact of the Star Wars saga over the decades."―McClatchy
"Taylor brings a genuine love of pop and nerd culture to this comprehensive retrospective on one of the 20th century's most popular film series.... Taylor has compiled an impressive collection of background research and insider info that any fan would be glad to own."―Publishers Weekly
"Taylor's fan-boy enthusiasm coupled with his inviting narrative style make this a fun and informative read for sf enthusiasts, media studies and marketing students, film industry professionals, and aspiring Jedi Knights."―Library Journal
"It's impossible to imagine a Star Wars fan who wouldn't love this book.... It really is hard to imagine a book about Star Wars being any more comprehensive than this one. It's full of information and insight and analysis, and it's so engagingly written that it's a pure joy to read.... There are plenty of books about Star Wars, but very few of them are essential reading. This one goes directly to the top of the pile."―Booklist (starred review)
Library Journal - Audio
02/01/2015
Journalist Taylor delivers a deep dive into Star Wars—including the films, the fandom, and the merchandizing—ahead of the release of Episode VII, in December 2015. He presents a trivia-filled history of the creation of the movies as well as charming digressions into the wackier corners of fandom, including a legion of philanthropists who dress as Storm Troopers and a memorabilia "rancho" in California. Even nonfans will be interested in how Star Wars—particularly its merchandising and fan culture—forever changed the entertainment industry. Narrator Nick Podehl's breathless enthusiasm matches the fan-boy tone of the book. VERDICT This work belongs in all audiobook collections. ["A fun and informative read for sf enthusiasts, media studies and marketing students, film industry professionals, and aspiring Jedi Knights," read the review of the Basic hc, LJ 9/15/14.]—Mark Swails, Johnson Cty. Community Coll., Overland Park, KS
Library Journal
09/15/2014
When American filmmaker George Lucas set out to create a space fantasy for the big screen nearly 40 years ago, he never dreamed that Star Wars would become a beloved global phenomenon and one of the most profitable entertainment franchises today. Taylor (deputy editor, mashable.com) explores how the movie, its sequels and prequels, toys and merchandise, and the "expanded universe" of books, comics, video games, and role-playing organizations became infused into our cultural lexicon. Through extensive interviews, in-depth analysis, and exhaustive research, Taylor sheds light on Lucas's life, the entertainment business, and the influences the movie has had on society. Star Wars, with its groundbreaking visual effects, not only changed the way movies are made but the way people experience them—its myth-based storytelling and the immersive fandom that sprang up in the decades following the film's debut were both departures from movies of the past. VERDICT Taylor's fan-boy enthusiasm coupled with his inviting narrative style make this a fun and informative read for sf enthusiasts, media studies and marketing students, film industry professionals, and aspiring Jedi Knights. [See "Books That Buzzed at BEA," Prepub Alert, 6/2/14.—Ed.]—Donna Marie Smith, Palm Beach Cty. Lib. Syst., FL
DECEMBER 2014 - AudioFile
Taylor provides a rich and exciting history of the Star Wars franchise—from the early personal and professional lives of director George Lucas to the implications of the forthcoming Star Wars film in 2015. Nick Podehl brings so much excitement to his narration that it’s hard not to suspect that he too is a Star Wars fan—though, in reality, he’s capturing Taylor’s tone quite well. He has a bit of a rasp to his voice, which is otherwise gentle in its projection. He handles the quotes well, sometimes generating the delivery styles of Lucas and other people or series characters. Taylor’s book covers a range of topics relating to the Star Wars narrative as well as its history and place within popular culture. L.E. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2014-08-11
Help us, Obi-wan: There's a Star Wars sequel looming, and it may just feature—shudder—Jar Jar Binks.If you're a real fan of the Star Wars series, observes Mashable deputy editor Taylor, then you're likely a hater, whether of Jar Jar or of "the whiny delivery of Mark Hamill" or of those damnably cute Ewoks. George Lucas has given us plenty to hate, though the spectacle of a young, bikini-clad Carrie Fisher lashed to the post is probably not one of those things, even if, in that garb, she's been turned into a doll for sale to the perverted and the innocent-minded alike. More to the point, as Taylor notes in his opening pages, there's scarcely a corner of the world that isn't aware at least dimly of Star Wars; one of the series has even been dubbed into Navajo in time for one of the last of the old-time Code Talkers to see it before moving on to another galaxy. Taylor's book feels occasionally like an assemblage of oddments and statistics, but mostly he stays right on track in charting how Star Wars moved from film to meme to near universal standard cultural referent. (Say, "I'm your father" in a James Earl Jones voice in just about any language, and the audience will get it.) Better than that is the author's account of the origins of the series and his look at what Star Wars has wrought over the last four decades, including a true revolution in many aspects of filmmaking. If Lucas had died in the car crash he suffered in 1962, Taylor notes, then among other things, Hollywood would be "without much of a special effects industry." A smart, engaging book for the completist that only suffers from being a touch too complete; it could have lost 100 pages easily. Still, welcome reading for fans of Star Wars—or, for that matter, of THX 1138.
