The Wing Commander Confederation Handbook

Lets clear one thing up. This book is canon in regards to the Wing Commander movie. NOT the video games. The two are completely different franchises so if you're looking for some official writings based on the games you will have to look further. On the other hand if you are looking for the same in regards to the movie you hit the jackpot. This book is very comprehensive all things considered. It's even comprehensive enough to make you look at the movie with a different perspective. While this book doesn't really rival other movie-manuals like the Colonial Marines Technical Manual it goes into a LOT more detail than you might expect. You get a comprehensive history written in this book that explains all that Pilgram stuff that was on the movie. It also covers the history of the Kilrathi war as well as the customs of that race. You also get officer profiles of all the major characters in the movie. The technical side of things is okay, but not perfect. You have some decent info on the fighter ships and carriers from both sides of the war, but I wished they went further. For instance there are deck plans for the Tiger's Claw, however it's a VERY basic plan and there's not much information added from there. Also it would be nice to know things like how powerful are the main guns on a Rapier? How effective are meson shields. Stuff like that. What I did like was the fact they put some detail on little things like the combat armor the marines wear and the weapons they used. The one thing that really impresses me on this book is the level of detail that was put into the explanation of the faster than light technology in the movie (jump points and the drives that ships use to access them). This includes the history of the science and technology. For any of you sci-fi science nuts this stuff is really interesting. All in all this is a very worthwhile book. As a matter of fact I recommend reading this book before seeing the movie if you can. The book clears up a lot of things that can be either vague or uninteresting for the layman. This book especially clears up the whole "Pilgrim War" issue they mention in the movie. Pick up this book if you can get it cheap. It would be well worth it.

Yes inded it is. It's a great manual with a lot of facts and scifi- stuff. It has a lot of great illustrations and the art work is god. But there is one thing that bugt me though. Only half the book is in color, the rest is black and white. Not that it matters but I just thought that I would bring it up. Every Sci-fi and Wing Commander fan should have one. The best thing about the book(manual) is that you get the background information on the Pilgrim Conflict from the movie, Theres also included a boarding protocol for marines, and technical information of their weapons and equipment. another thing which can be a little anoying is that theres only technical information about the ships and fighters from the movie. I would have liked them to have included some of the other confed. ships from the 3rd and 4th installment of the CD.rom games. All in All this book is great I wouldn't miss it for the world, there is tons of cool stuff in it which I do not wan't to reveal to spoil your fun. Now, go buy the book. A tip: Buy the movie soundtrack, sit down on your favorite cauch, open a can of soda relax and read the book(manual). Alvin from Denmark

FINALLY! Wing Commander finally gets a technical book like the ones in the Star Wars universe. This book is full of rich detail. The pictures are nice, and the extra's like Jump Point physics and analysis of Pilgrim Brain Wave patterns were very nice. McCubbin did a wonderful job with this book

Although full of incredible images and some fun facts, the handbook is only alright. I was looking for another STAR WARS TECHNICAL MANUAL but I was disappointed by the 'glossy' workmanship inside. Not to say this isn't a good read for WC fans! Many of the areas, like Blair and Maniac's academy forms and the Deck Officer's 21 Rules and Regs is actually quiet fun and Tolwyn's reviews of officers are interesting. A lot of the book could be made better, like the opening interview with Sir Admiral Geoffrey Tolwyn or the layout of the Tiger's Claw. Over all, a disappointing but nessessary book for all WC fans.