We’ve been waiting for this one: the Guide to the Crystal Gems has finally come, and there’s good news and bad news.
The good news is that the book looks gorgeous, and there are some nifty factoids about the Crystal Gems in it. The bad news is that it is basically stuff we already knew or could easily have figured out. The second dose of good news is that the stuff we want to see will now definitely be revealed to us in an episode, not in a peripheral.
The guide is liberally illustrated with screenshots from the show, framed as photos, and has profiles for every Gem we’ve seen on the show (including fusions, except for Sardonyx).
It starts off with a brief mention of the rebellion, then full-page writeups for Amethyst, Garnet, and Pearl. The idea of gem monsters on Earth and the arrival of the homeworld Gems each get a paragraph, then it’s on to the character bios.
Steven, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl each get full writeups with a profile, a long paragraph describing them, some more paragraphs related to things specific to them, and sections named “Fearsome Foes” and “Memorable Moments” that showcase their fighting prowess and… well, memorable moments respectively.
Rose Quartz gets a very similar treatment with a profile and many pages talking about her, but since she’s in the show’s history and so has no photos to showcase she doesn’t get Fearsome Foes or Memorable Moments sections.
Lapis Lazuli, Peridot, and Jasper each get a profile; Opal, Sugilite, Alexandrite, Malachite, and Stevonnie each get a profile and a paragraph writeup. Most of the book is written from Steven’s voice, but Garnet is responsible for telling us about the fusions, as well as the idea of fusion.
It’s heavy on pictures and light on text, but at $10 MSRP it looks like a good buy, especially for a younger fan.
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