The LEGO Adventure Book Vol. 2 Review and Giveaway

Just over a year ago, one of the first reviews I did on here was for the first volume of The LEGO Adventure Book. That book covered Cars, Castles, Dinosaurs, and more. This time around, volume 2 covers Spaceships, Pirates, Dragons, and more. Technically, it doesn't say Volume 2 on the cover, but the publisher (and sponsor of the giveaway), No Starch Press, calls it that on the book's homepage.

Do you like those books/articles that show pictures of completed LEGO models with step-by-step instructions on how to build them? If so, this book is for you. It provides pictures of 100 models with step-by-step instructions for nearly 40 of them. 

The book is broken down into eleven chapters, with plenty of material to keep your average fan busy for hours if not days or weeks on end.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Back to the Idea Lab
Chapter 2: Victorious Vipers
Chapter 3: Service with a Smile
Chapter 4: A Ferry Nice Build
Chapter 5: Castaway's Cove
Chapter 6: The Tudors
Chapter 7: On Set: STAR CLUTCH
Chapter 8: Destruction Zone
Chapter 9: A Veritable Fortress
Chapter 10: Brick Friends
Chapter 11: A LEGO Legend Calls.

For the pictures w/o step-by-step instructions like Raiders Reef, shown above, you have little scenes/models that can give you ideas. I definitely didn't have the monkey in the last diagram, but I really like the way the water is setup with the little white caps. I might have to use that idea elsewhere.

The better pages are those that are part of the step-by-step instructions, like for the fortress built here. Apart from needing 104 of one particular shape, the steps provide sufficient information on how to put together the fortress.

Like the last volume of the book, each chapter is color coded and specific to an expert builder. So all the brick friends, for instance, are from builder Yvonne Doyle. The build instructions are consistent between chapters and not specific to the "voice" of any specific expert.

The biggest problem I've run into when testing out the builds is lack of bricks. I never have enough of the fancy / uniquely shaped bricks. And if I have the brick's shape, I don't have enough of the different colors. I can't imagine what Megan Rothrock's place looks like with all the bricks she must have to do a book like this.

I love the book and my six (soon to be seven) year old son is at the point where he can actually build some of the models. The biggest complaint is just the patience to find the bricks to make the models. Even if we have all the bricks somewhere, there is no way he'd have the patience to find the 465 pieces necessary to complete the Fortress for instance, and that is one of the smaller pieces.
  And now for the giveaway. This is open to US residents 18+ and ends on January 19th at 11:59 pm EST. The winner will receive their own copy of The LEGO Adventure Book Vol. 2.

Entry-Form

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned product for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received. All opinions stated are my own and may differ from yours. See my disclosure policy for more information.