Star Wars - The Force Awakens - Visual Dictionary by Pablo Hidalgo (Dorling Kindersley)

A gigantic smorgasbord of all things Star Wars in a big satisfying illustration-packed book? WANT!
So have you seen it yet? Do you want to know what all the spoilers are?

I'm kidding - I wouldn't do that to you and thankfully even if you're holding out for the DVD or Blu Ray release and avoiding the movie at the cinema, you can still get the inside track with a book that is A) utterly brilliant and full of amazing info and B) doesn't spoil a single element of the movie that you won't have already seen in the trailers.

Now that's a neat trick. Dorling Kindersley's amazing "Star Wars - The Force Awakens - The Visual Dictionary" follows their previous volumes covering the classic movies and - er - "those ones we don't talk about" by delivering a true feast for the eyes, introducing you to nearly all of the key characters, spacecraft, robots and technology you'll see in the film.

I say nearly all, because Pablo Hidalgo has obviously thought things through and tactfully avoided certain elements that would ruin the film for you (if you're somehow lucky enough to have avoided chumps on the internet who couldn't keep the major plot points under their hat, the big twerps!)

"The Visual Dictionary" introduces (or should I say reintroduces) us to the Star Wars Universe, showing us the key locations and planets that you'll see in the new movie before jumping right in at the deep end and showing off the key players who are drawn into the new mythos.

Stormtroopers. Does that armour chafe around the knees? Find out here!

As a doodle and design freak, I couldn't get enough of the attention to detail here - even though some of the made-up names for materials and elements do grate a bit (what the heck is a "Bloggin" and why would I want to light my lamp with one?)

Amazingly for something related to the Star Wars Merchandising machine, the book even has Rey in it!

Rey - The key character in the movie (so why leave her out of the toys and other stuff Disney, you dumkopfs!)

We're huge Star Wars geeks and fans, and although Charlotte has watched the original trilogy and two of the later episodes. Revenge of the Sith (Cheers Richy) was just a bit too much for young eyes IMHO) she hasn't seen the new movie yet (it's a 12A, she's 7) but loved vicariously seeing all the cool stuff that's packed into the film in this book form.

Rey is the key character in "The Force Awakens" but we can't resist this nasty dark fellah either!

As you'd expect from a DK book, it reeks of quality from cover to cover and will turn you from a newbie padwan into a fully fledged Star Wars expert as you work your way through it. Utterly scintillating stuff (and very reasonably priced too!)

Charlotte's favourite bit: Duh, of course she loves Rey and loved reading all about her and her amazing skills. Why oh why Disney aren't making more Rey stuff is completely beyond me but thankfully she features heavily in this fab book

Daddy's favourite bit: I can't resist the New Order tech, it's just brilliantly designed - and of course Kylo Ren is a total badass dude. A real visual treat from start to finish and also a great reference book for drawing and painting your own Star Wars-ey creations.

(Self purchased)

"Star Wars - The Force Awakens - The Visual Dictionary"

Written by Pablo Hidalgo

Published by Dorling Kindersley

Publication Date (Hardback): 18th December 2015