Star Wars -
The Magic of Myth
by Mary Henderson

Published by Bantam Publishing

Scott's Rating:   2.5 out of 4

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This is the companion book that goes along with the exhibit of costumes, props, models, and paintings from the Smithsonian. There are a few pictures of those items, but the main focus of the book is comparison between mythology and Star Wars, as the title says. It also draws analogies between Star Wars and westerns, World War II, religion, and the old Flash Gordon serials. There are tons of photos of mythological paintings and other works alongside Star Wars items.

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Scott:

    This book is absolutely beautiful. The photos of the costumes are very nice. The publishers were also considerate enough to make a paperback and a hardback version at the same time. I like that a lot. Also, here at TheForce.Net, people are always writing us asking where they can find writings on comparisons between religion, mythology, and Star Wars. This is the book they have been waiting for. This book will make a lot of people happy.

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Scott:

    Your level of enjoyment out of this novel will greatly depend on your expectations when buying it. I went in expecting it to be full of full page color photos of the props and costumes. While they are in there, they make up about 1/4 of the photos. The book is 200 pages of comparisons between Star Wars and mythology. While interesting, that's not what I was looking for. Therefore, I was rather disappointed. This book has very little to do with the Smithsonian exhibit, IMO. It's probably no substitute for those of us who can't make it to Washington. Frankly, that's what I was hoping for. Kind of a tour book from the exhibit. This mythology book is not worth the $50 I paid for it. I should have gone for the paperback. Bummer for me.

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Scott:

    I paid $50 bucks for this?! Gasp!

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