A review by Nalini Haynes
A review by Nalini Haynesthe twilight saga: the official illustrated guide is an encyclopaedia of the Twilight series, detailing information about characters, vampires, werewolves and much more. Family trees, ‘factoids’ from the series and covers from the different countries in which Twilight has been released are presented in comprehensive format. As an encyclopaedia this book works well for fans of the series.
I collect art books on various pop culture icons, including Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Dark Crystal, World of Warcraft and more. I expected something similar to those books; significantly larger than novels with beautiful illustrations, working drawings and photographs. The Dark Crystal art book excels, with transparent overlays used to vary underlying drawings. This illustrated guide does not have much in the way of artwork, and what is there does not seem to be from the movies. Many of the drawings are very simple, and could easily feature in children’s picture books. There are far more pages with only text than there are pages with illustrations. There are some drawings that are nice, and the family trees aim to impart information well.
The Twilight Saga: The Illustrated Guide is a book aiming at fans of Twilight only, instead of aiming at collectors like myself.
Previously published in Dark Matter issue 4, July 2011.
