Sometimes, a project is special enough that everyone should be talking about it. Women of the Galaxy is one of those projects.
Out today from Chronicle Books, Women of the Galaxy by Amy Ratcliffe with art by Alice X. Zhang, Amy Beth Christenson, Annie Stoll, Annie Wu, Christina Chung, Cryssy Cheung, Eli Baumgartner, Elsa Charretier, Geneva Bowers, Jennifer Aberin Johnson, Jen Bartel, Jenny Parks, Karen Hallion, Little Corvus, Sara Alfageeh, Sara Kipin, Sarah Wilkinson, and Viv Tanner, profiles 75 of the female characters in a galaxy far, far away from the stars of the saga like Leia and Rey to more minor ones like Kneesaa and Norra Wexley. The book might not be packed full with revelations but everyone’s bound to learn at least something about one of these characters as they read. From start to finish, Women of the Galaxy is a pure delight.
Let’s be incredibly clear about one point before we go any further: this book is for everybody and we mean everybody. Both adults and kids alike will find something to appreciate about Women of the Galaxy and if you erroneously assume the premise means it’s just for girls, you’re perhaps one of those who would most benefit from purchasing the book and learning something from it. Much like Star Wars, this book and the wonderful female characters of the galaxy are for everyone.
Each character profile ranges in length from two pages to eight and every character gets at least one brand new piece of art to accompany the profile with more prominent characters receiving several. A defining quote or brief descriptor falls between the character’s name in English and its Aurebesh translation. Ratcliffe hasn’t written encyclopedia entries for each character and given their entire life history. Instead, she’s distilled each down to some of their most important moments and gotten to the heart of the character. The profiles are peppered with quotes from people fundamental to the creation of the characters such as the actors, writers, editors, and producers and recognize the real world effect many of these women have had upon fans.
The artwork alone would be reason enough to pick up this book. All of the featured artists are either women or non-binary and their styles were clearly taken into account when distributing assignments. Annie Stoll (who previously illustrated Sabine: My Rebel Sketchbook) is an ideal choice to draw Enfys Nest whereas Karen Hallion’s portrait of General Organa is perfection. My personal favorites are Annie Wu’s Doctor Aphra, Eli Baumgartner’s Jas Emari and Padmé Amidala, and Alice X. Zhang’s Val but it was difficult to narrow down the list. Every piece in this book will speak to someone. Having 18 different artists contribute helps it stand out from other books of this sort. (Although this is definitely the only book just like this one.)
Women of the Galaxy truly showcases female character from all across the Star Wars galaxy including the films, tv shows, books, comics, and video games. We even get the first official artwork of book characters like Jas Emari, Everi Charlis, and Kyrsta Agate. It’s also the first time we truly see Phasma without her helmet, back during her Parnassos days. It’s a sign that we live in an excellent era of Star Wars that this book could have easily been double the length and still not featured all of the cool ladies in the galaxy. Culling down the list to a mere 75 couldn’t have been an easy task. However, I did find myself wishing more book characters had been featured so a broader audience could meet them. All told, that’s a minor quibble and who knows? Maybe we’ll get an expanded edition one day…
Women of the Galaxy is a beautifully compiled celebration of a book that’s a must have for every Star Wars fan. This is one of those books I can see myself picking up often in the future to page through and discover a new appreciation for a character or one of the portraits. Buy this book for yourself and maybe for a friend too. They’ll thank you later.
