Sequart Releases A Long Time Ago: Exploring the Star Wars Cinematic Universe

Sequart Organization is proud to announce the publication of A Long Time Ago: Exploring the Star Wars Cinematic Universe, edited by Rich Handley and Joseph F. Berenato.

In 1977, the cinematic world was changed forever, thanks to a science-fantasy film about a farm boy, a princess, a wizard, a cyborg, two smugglers, and a pair of robots. Written and directed by the creative genius behind American Graffiti and THX-1138, George Lucas’s Star Wars — in essence, The Wizard of Oz meets The Odyssey meets Lord of the Rings, but in space — was a visual and audio extravaganza like nothing anyone had seen before. And going to the movies would never be the same again.

The movie ushered in two (soon to be three) film trilogies and numerous television shows, making the franchise one of the most successful of all time. Star Wars mesmerized audience-goers young and old with its state-of-the-art special effects and resonant soundtrack, and made “May the Force be with you” a permanent household phrase.

A Long Time Ago: Exploring the Star Wars Cinematic Universe examines the entire Star Wars saga on the large and small screens. From theatrical films to TV movies, from cartoons and commercials to variety shows and video-based amusement-park rides, the mythos continues to keep audiences glued to their seats. This anthology features insightful, analytical essays about the franchise’s long history from popular film historians, novelists, bloggers, and subject-matter experts, exploring why the films proved so immediately popular, where the movies and TV shows have succeeded and faltered, and why we all keep going back a long time ago to that galaxy far, far away.

The book runs 354 pages. It features a foreword by former Star Wars Insider editor Scott Chernoff. Essayists include Star Wars Expanded Universe authors Keith DeCandido, Kevin Dilmore, Rich Handley, and Dayton Ward, as well as Star Wars fan-site creators Joe Bongiorno and Nathan Butler. Other essayists include Joseph F. Berenato, Jean-Francois Boivin, Julian Darius, Ian Dawe, Zaki Hasan, Rocko Jerome, Alex Newborn, David Pipgras, Matthew Sunrich, Lou Tambone, and Steven H. Wilson.

This is the first of three books on Star Wars; the second will cover Star Wars comics, and the third will cover the Expanded Universe. The line-up for those books includes Lucasfilm’s Charles Lippincott and fan-favorite Star Wars authors John Ostrander, Tim Zahn, and Ryder Windham.

This is Sequart’s fourth book on science fiction, after this year’s The Sacred Scrolls: Comics on the Planet of the Apes, last year’s New Life and New Civilizations: Exploring Star Trek Comics, and 2013′s The Weirdest Sci-Fi Comic Ever Made: Understanding Jack Kirby’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.

A Long Time Ago: Exploring the Star Wars Cinematic Universe is available in print and on Kindle. (Just a reminder: you don’t need a Kindle device to read Kindle-formatted books; you can download a free Kindle reader for most computers, phones, and tablets.) Find out more on the book’s official page or its Facebook page.