Book Review - The Art of Star Wars: The Acolyte
- The Artbook Collector
- 10 hours ago
- 5 min read
January 29th 2026
After almost 4 years without an artbook for a live-action Star War project, Abrams Books are back to give fans a new entry for their collection with The Art of Star Wars: The Acolyte. Based on the series from Leslye Headland, the book features the art behind the High Republic story and offers those wanting more from its world a chance to get lost in it all over again.
With a publication date of February 3rd 2026, the anticipated return of the artbook series had a lot to live up to following the excellence of previous releases. With a copy now in the collection, I can now give my thoughts on the book, while highlighting what you can expect inside.
Build Quality
Matching the previous tie-in artbooks from Abrams, this comes as a 30cm x 27.5cm hardcover with a dustjacket. The book is well-made as expected, the cover is solid and the binding feels secure for the thick paper it uses. It’s everything you could want from an artbook and so collectors will be happy with the quality found here. The cover seen above is on the dustjacket and comes with a concept piece on the back. Underneath is a wrap-around concept from Gabriel Yeganyan seen below, a reminder to always check under a dustjacket for more great artwork.
Content
The book fits a lot in to its 224 pages, something the series has always been excellent at. Featured are early and more developed pieces for the characters, ships, weapons, locations, keyframes, and more. A huge amount for The Acolyte is covered and that’s great news for fans interested in seeing what didn’t make it to the screen.
You won’t be surprised to know that the artwork inside is incredible throughout. Some of the best artists in the industry work on Star Wars and this book does an excellent job at collecting pieces that showcase their talent. From the lighter tones of the Jedi robes and more sinister look of the Sith costumes, to the streets of Olega and keyframes of The Stranger fight in the forest, the range and details the team showcase are stunning and will be appreciated by anyone that pores over them.
Highlights for me included a storyboard spread seen below of Sol reuniting with Osha, an aspect of a show’s creation that isn’t always highlighted, but its presence here is most welcome with its comic-like art style that expresses emotions wonderfully.
Shown in my early preview article, the costume design work is also a standout, with Mae in Sith clothing and The Stranger’s helmet being standouts. The Sith armour is heavily influenced by medieval designs and gets the spotlight here, an example of what makes these books worth seeing, as what didn’t make it to the screen is just as good as what did. The menacing helmet designs of The Stranger will also draw attention as well, providing a horror aspect to the art inside.
It’s easy to go on and on about favourite parts of this book, as there are so many, including the fun art for the beaver-like Tynnans, and a lot of varied alien, ship, and location concepts that make Star Wars special. The Art of Star War: The Acolyte packs in a lot of spectacular artwork that will leave no fan disappointed.
As well as this, there are a huge number of insights featured through interviews, impressive given how much art is inside. Using text that is smaller than seen in some other books, they did a very good job at sharing a lot of details about the making of the show, as well as notes from artists about their work.
Each chapter starts with text that gets deeper into the production, with a lot of insider details that Star Wars geeks will love, such as the pitch for the show, its Back to the Future Part II codename ‘Paradox’, changing the colours of the Jedi to be more colourful, changes to Coruscant, and more. The notes from artists and show creators for individual images are more than just vague descriptions, they present another layer of engagement, such as mentioning inspirations, lore, artistic approach, and the ideas of the show creators and actors. I found myself reading everything with great interest and it added a lot of value to the book.
Credits
Keeping the positivity going, artists are credited on every page and for every image, which is always the best way to do it. As well as this, as seen below, a spread at the front of the book shares not only the names of the contributors, but their job roles too, putting the spotlight on concept and VFX artists, set decorators, costume designers, and more. This is something that has always been done well by Abrams Books and Lucasfilm, so its continuation is always appreciated.
Use of Space
As you can see in the previews, the team at Abrams did a fantastic job at using the full space of the page to give the art and text room to breathe. The backgrounds are kept blank, which is always effective when the art takes centre stage like it does here, because any background designs or images would only distract and make the pages feel cluttered. Double page spreads benefit from the binding too, as there is little to no image loss in the book, with an example seen below. Keeping it simple, but mixing up the layouts throughout has worked incredibly well, another highlight of this release.
Value
The Art of Star Wars: The Acolyte comes with an RRP of $50/ £37,  which is expected for an artbook of this size and is competitive on the market. For the quality of the book and the content found inside, I think this is a good price point for fans and collectors.
Looking at Amazon as always for consistency, the book is 9% off in the US, a nice reduction for bargain hunters, and a huge 30% off in the UK, which is always heavier on discounts before a book release. These deals come and go, but show that even with the RRP being a fair price, there is still even better value here for people looking to find a deal.
Verdict
The Art of Star Wars: The Acolyte is a superb collection of artwork from some of the best, with insights that add more to captivate fans of the short-lived series. The Acolyte may have ended after just one season, but this is the perfect companion to the show that adds more to the viewing experience, as well as a look at designs that never came to be. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would highly recommend it to those wanting more from a galaxy far, far away!
If you enjoyed the review and would like to order a copy for your own shelf, you can order The Art of Star Wars: The Acolyte here;
