Hey Jabba: can you draw me a map to Tatooine?

Nothing makes me happier than seeing a simple picture clarify a complex issue. This is especially true if the issue is one critical to the cohesion of society. Like understanding health care. Or like finding a good bar in the Dagobah System. 

Authors Dan Wallace and Jason Fry have taken three years to help us with that second, and it looks like it was worth the wait. Their brand new masterwork is called STAR WARS: THE ESSENTIAL ATLAS and it looks spectacular.

The best part for me isn't necessarily the beautifully rendered color maps (although they do look like something we could pour over for hours); what I'm most excited to see are the original "back of the napkin" sketches.

In the words of author Jason Fry:

In December 2006 I sat down at my desk, pulled a sheet of paper out of my printer, and started to draw. Using a blue ballpoint pen, I roughed out the approximate borders of Hutt Space, then added dots for the region's star systems that had appeared on maps: Here were Sriluur and Klatooine, there were Kessel and Honoghr, farther down were Toydaria, Nal Hutta, and Ylesia. There were eleven in all. Hutt Space looked awfully empty.

I put down the pen and picked up a pencil.

Here is a detail of Jason's original drawing of "Hutt space":

 

And here is the whole thing: (click to enlarge)

Why do I like the hand-drawn versions so much? Because I love to see someone's thinking made visible. Like grandma said, "It's the thought that counts."

Comments

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i like this part of the post!!!!you're an environment-conscious traveler equipped with an iPhone or an iPod Touch, you now have an option to download and consult local maps loaded with noteworthy green features, such as farmers' markets, bike lanes, and green buildings. Now available from the iPhone app store, these green maps come from Green Map System, an organization that promotes "inclusive participation in sustainable community development worldwide, using mapmaking as our medium."

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one of the best if not the best series that has been, that purpose by God! I plead fan number 1 of the saga de star war ...

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[Chelsea]

wow im sending this to all of my Geek friends:-)
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[ff]

"It's the thought that counts."说的很好++

[Robert Brown]

It may be "The Official Guide to the Complete Galaxy", but the cover lacks those comforting words, "Don't Panic".