by Pablo Hidalgo

Dorling Kindersley Books

A typically detailed introduction to Star Wars Episode VIII, featuring annotated photographs of the movie’s flora and fauna and the revelation of character and planet names.

Forget the annual from your favourite franchises, the book of choice for me over the last three Christmases has been DK’s glorious Visual Dictionary from The Force Awakens, Rogue One and now The Last Jedi. The layout of large format hardback book with cutout character photos is a winning, established formula that the company had been following for years, aided by Pablo Hidalgo’s no-nonsense factual text.

Remember that strange beast that Luke bizarrely milked? It’s a Thala-siren, often found sunning itself on the shores of the island. And those strange bird/fish caretakers are an enclave of the Lanais, distant relatives of the porgs. Not only do you get to see the blink-and-you-missed-them background characters, there’s maps, cross-sections and a tasty layette of the Praetorian Guards’ weapons arsenal.

Verdict: 80 pages of vital Star Wars data. I imagine many Bothans died to bring us this information. 9/10

Nick Joy