The latest Art of Star Wars book takes fans on a journey behind the scenes of The Acolyte that’ll leave you wanting more.
The Art of Star Wars: The Acolyte
Written By: Kristin Baver
Published By: Abrams Books
Release Date: February 3, 2026
Purchase [Affiliate]: https://amzn.to/4a4ACnd
Some of my favorite Star Wars reference books out of the modern era, have been Abrams’ Art of tomes. More than simply showing off impressive pieces of work that offer insight into how the movies/shows developed their visual language, these have effectively served as our only real “making of” information as well. As such, I was thrilled when they announced The Acolyte was getting the treatment, as there’s a whole lot about that show I was desperate to know more about.
From taking place in an all new time period, featuring all new characters and visuals, down to the kind of story it was telling (both as a Martial Artist and Sith fan), there’s a lot of great stuff to be explored here. Now, I’m not here to relitigate the merits—or problems—with The Acolyte the show. I think my feelings on that are fairly clear by this point. Instead, let’s keep the focus on the Art of book itself and save all those other arguments for the wall.
I don’t know if it’s the subject matter (I enjoyed Acolyte more than the average bear) or how flowing the writing is…but this is easily the quickest I’ve read an Abrams Art of book. Kristin Baver’s relaxed style of writing makes going cover to cover a breeze. She’s able to make the information provided feel more like you’re having casual conversations rather than the clinical approach typically used for reference books.
It’s impressive in how quickly it can suck you in. For me, I tend to take the coffee book table approach to these things first. Just flipping through, finding the art/sections that catch my eye most and then reading the snippets of text associated with them. While I definitely did some of that, once I started at the beginning, I found myself compelled to read it cover to cover. I found myself unwilling to skip ahead, lest I miss some interesting bit of information.
This is not the norm for me with these kinds of books, and I’m chalking it up, mainly to the way Baver lays out the information and conveys it to the reader. And yes, there are plenty of interesting details about how this show came together. There are tidbits on the initial pitch, how things evolved during the scripting phase, casting, and even a look ahead to what might have been.
In this way, it goes well beyond a typical “art” book while still offering a look at the gorgeous art pieces. Seriously, the work done on The Acolyte have given me some of my favorite Star Wars concept art pieces ever. Seriously, there’s tons of gorgeous work to dazzle your eyeballs, and plenty of designs I hope end up making to the screen one day.
It’s just…cool. I know, that sounds silly and isn’t the most thought-provoking recommendation. But it’s the truth. So much of the design work, even the final product, in The Acolyte boils down to simply looking awesome. As such, it makes picking up this Art of book a whole lot of fun. No matter what page you flip to (and the extra long/wide framing of the pages allows for detailed spreads) you’ll find something neat. Something you will want to learn more about.
At the end of the day, that’s what you want out of these kind of reference books. Between the impressive, easy-breezy writing style, excellent insights provided through from the various interviews, and stunning artwork, there’s a lot to love out of this one. Even if you weren’t too “woohoo” on the show itself, it’s a resource still worth checking out. This is definitely among my favorite Art of books we’ve gotten.
The Art of Star Wars: The Acolyte is available now both online and wherever books are sold!
