The "New Essential Chronology" is a book from the "Essentail Guide" series and follow the "Essential Chronolgy" from 2000 to. On 238 pages glossy paper this chronology of the Star Wars universe with an overview of more than 100,000 years of galactic history. The authors Daniel Wallace and Kevin J. Anderson vouch for the good quality and the high information content of the texts. Wallace undoubtedly one of the most prolific writers of the EU, but go several dozen reference books, including many "Essential Guides", short stories and articles from "insiders" and "Gamer" on his account - the most recent example is the "Essential Atlas". Equally eager was Anderson, whose talents seem to be wide-ranging, it is not only the author of numerous novels (including "The Jedi Academy" trilogy and "Young Jedi Knights") and comic books (eg, "The Golden Age of the Sith ") but also on several short stories (and their anthologies) and two other reference books involved. The illustrators Mark Chiarello, Tommy Lee Edwards ("Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force", "Coruscant and the Core Wordls" and others) and John Van Fleet (several novel cover, inter alia, to "The Last of the Jedi", "Darth Bane - Rule of Two "and" Pledge of Allegiance ") are to my knowledge, however, rather more unknown faces in the EU. After a short preface reports the "New Essential Chronology" of the events and people that shaped the fate of the galaxy over the millennia. Starting with the empire of the Rakata and the establishment of the Old Republic 25 thousand years before the Battle of Yavin, which is used as a reference point, the reader learns everything about the stories of Darth Revan and Darth Sidious, of Bastila Shan to Obi-Wan Kenobi, of the Old Republic to the Galactic Alliance and gets an insight into the diversity of those far, far away galaxy, which we all love so until the book finally ends with the Swarm War 36 years after the destruction of the first Death Star. The problem is, unfortunately, that the chronology with the passage of time naturally has to have more and more gaps, they can not have "known" still unaware of the events that have appeared in the novels etc., comics, series after its release. So goes the book (thankfully) still suggests assisted by the "The Clone Wars" officially overtook the course of the Clone Wars in which Anakin just before Episode III knighted and therefore it also includes any information about rows as "guardians of power" and "Fate of the Jedi" or comics as the "Legacy" series. This is unfortunate, but quite normal. Regardless of the content itself, the texts are easy to understand written in English in a factual narrative mode which makes fluent reading possible without making the reading of the original sources unnecessary. In accordance with its function as a reference chronology is clearly structured and so one does not have to quickly find a particular piece of information long search. The only real weakness is the somehow strange illustrations for me. On the one hand, the stylistic differences between the three illustrators more than clear on the other hand I would have personally liked a little more based on a realistic picture and less blurred images style. Too bad it's not true, but the main focus is on the lyrics, but it's worth a mention me.
Conclusion:
As a reference tool, the "New Essential Chronology" is set every Star Wars fan to the heart, because the texts are well written and very clear structure. Nevertheless, you should definitely keep in mind that the book with age loses its relevance, and therefore I hope in the near future on a chronology of the third generation - then perhaps with a few small quotes as offered by the "Essential Atlas".
