Category: LEGO Books (Page 33 of 37)

The Art of LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Programming Press Release

August 26, 2014 / Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

Earlier today, No Starch Press sent us a press release for The Art of LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Programming. You can also pre-order the book on Amazon. Check out the press release below:

The Art of LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Programming—New from No Starch Press

New book unlocks the power of the LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 programming language

San Francisco, CA, August 26, 2014—The LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 system makes it easy for anyone to build and control robots. LEGO’s block-based and colorful EV3 programming language is great for first-timers, but it has more powerful features than its user-friendly interface might suggest.

In the upcoming book The Art of LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3 Programming (No Starch Press, $34.95, 276 pp., Sept 2014, ISBN 9781593275686), software engineer Terry Griffin offers a beginner-friendly, in-depth guide to the EV3 language. An update to Griffin’s highly regarded Art of LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT-G Programming, this new book teaches readers the basic building blocks and then launches into more sophisticated programs. Readers begin by writing functions that control their robots’ movement, sensors, and sounds and then move on to programming more complex behaviors that allow their robots to follow lines, detect objects, and navigate mazes.
According to No Starch Press founder Bill Pollock, “The EV3 programming language is remarkably approachable but also surprisingly deep. Griffin’s new book will show any serious EV3 programmer how to unlock the real power of EV3. Competitive MINDSTORMERs will love this book.”

In The Art of LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Programming, readers learn how to:

Make robots react to different environments

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The Art of LEGO Design Book Review

August 11, 2014 / Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

Whether you’re a younger fan of LEGO who just got your very first set or an AFOL who has so many sets that you don’t know what to do with them, you’ve probably had thoughts on building something on your own using parts that you already own. If you’re like me and you have builder’s block, you look online for some inspiration from sites like on Flickr or MOCpages. You’ve probably seen some things that make you wonder how the builders created them. This is where a book by No Starch Press called The Art of LEGO Design: Creative Ways to Build Amazing Models by Jordan Scwartz comes in.

Jordan, aka Sir Nadroj, was a LEGO Product Designer in Billund who was on the LEGO Creator/Creator Expert team and has worked on sets like the Palace Cinema. He has since moved on pursue his studies but LEGO is still a big part in his life and he has won numerous awards for his creations.

The preface goes through the history of LEGO as many book tend to do to an extent. The introduction section gives you an insight on how this book can be of value to you. If you’re looking for step-by-step instructions on how to build things, then this book may not be for you. This book is geared more towards giving advice and ideas on how to build your own creations.

The first chapter goes over the basic things like colors, shapes, and sizes of your desired creation. It also talks about … Continue

LEGO Space: Building the Future Book Review

August 2, 2014 / Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

I recently received a copy of LEGO Space: Building the Future by Peter Reid and Tim Goddard from No Starch Press. Over the past week, I had a chance to read it and I literally couldn’t put it down. Although I don’t know Peter and Tim personally, I’ve been familiar with their contributions to the LEGO community including Peter’s recently released LEGO Ideas Exo Suit (21109). LEGO Space: Building the Future is a very nice hard cover book that consists of 216 fully illustrated pages which retails for $24.95.

LEGO Space: Building the Future is not your ordinary book that showcases just models of spaceships but it is a story that pays tribute to many of the LEGO Space themes like Classic Space, Blacktron, Ice Planet, and Space Police with a wide variety of different kinds of builds. The book is written in past tense as if was a history of events that happened from the early days of space exploration to the colonization of the moon to reaching first contact with another species and beyond. All the themes mentioned above and are nicely represented and their roles are thoroughly explained throughout the book.

The first part of the book begins with an overview of actual space travel from the launch of Russia’s Sputnik, to Neil Armstrong landing and stepping on the moon, to the NASA Curiosity Rover exploring Mars. During this chapter, there are some LEGO builds to represent these events.

Not only are you just reading the story, you can also build … Continue

LEGO Ninjago: The Visual Dictionary Minifigure Revealed

July 21, 2014 / Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

A few months ago, we reported that there will be some new books from Dorling Kindersley and one of these books is the LEGO Ninjago: The Visual Dictionary. Like with many LEGO DK books, there will be an exclusive minifigure included with the book. Unfortunately with this book, there will not be any new exclusive minifigures but one that is already out in a set. As you can see below, the limited edition minifigure that is included is Zane Rebooted which is already in the Destructoid (70726) set.

With DK, we usually see minifigures that we haven’t seen before like Emperor Palpatine in LEGO Star Wars: The Dark Side and Luke Skywalker in LEGO Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary: Updated and Expanded, even though we’ve seen him before but he has updated printing. But with Zane, he’s the exact same one that was in a set so it’s sort of a head-scratcher as to why this minifigure was chosen. I would’ve been happy with even the Brown Ninja.

The LEGO Ninjago: The Visual Dictionary is set to be released on September 15th but you can pre-order the book now on Amazon.

**Via Brickset**

Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

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LEGO DK Publishing at San Diego Comic Con 2014

July 12, 2014 / Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

DK Publishing will be coming to San Diego Comic Con 2014 and Jason Fry, author of the LEGO Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary: Updated and Expanded, will be there for some book signings and giveaways. He will at the DK Star Wars Booth #2913G in the LucasFilm pavilion on Friday, July 25 from 1-2pm and Saturday, July 26 from 11-12pm and from what I remember, he will have some of his trading cards to give away to attendees as well. Be prepared for a crowd near the booth since it’s right there with all the Star Wars props and people wanting to take pictures with it.

Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

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Incredible LEGO Technic by Sariel Available for Pre-Order

June 29, 2014 / Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

Paweł “Sariel Kmieć has been hard at work this year to release his second book, Incredible LEGO Technic: Cars, Trucks, Robots, and More! For this book, Sariel with the help of Blakbird from Technicopedia has brought together a number of people in the LEGO community who specializes with Technic to produce a book of some of their best work.

Incredible LEGO Technic includes 74 models filled with photos, details, facts, and specs of not just cars and trucks, but planes and mechs as well. Many of the builds also includes see-through renders by Blakbird so you can see the inner workings of the vehicles. In addition to the details of the builds, you also get an in-depth look at the builders themselves which includes:

2LegoOrNot2Lego, Amida, andrea Grazi, Barman, Brunojj, Crowkillers, Designer Han, Dirk Klijn, Dmac, Drakmin, Edwin Korstanje, Efferman, Eric Trax, Francisco Hartley, Gyuta, Jennifer Clark, Jerac, Jurgen Kroopshoop, Klaupacius, Konajra, Lasse Deleuran, M_longer, Madoca, Mahj, Makorol, Marat, Nathanael Kuipers, Nico71, Oryx Chen, RoscoPC, Sariel, Senator Chinchilla, Sheepo, Spiderbrick, Splat, Thirdwigg, and ZED

As mentioned before, Incredible LEGO Technic is the second book that Sariel has released with the first being his very popular The Unofficial LEGO Technic Builder’s Guide. You can now pre-order the 280 page book from No Starch Press for $29.95 and it will be available in October.

Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

When you make a purchase or, sometimes, carry out some other action as direct result of clicking on a link at The Brick Fan, we will receive a small

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DK Officially Reveals Emperor Palpatine Minifigure for LEGO Star Wars: The Dark Side

June 25, 2014 / Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

DK has finally revealed the official Emperor Palpatine minifigure that is exclusive for the LEGO Star Wars: The Dark Side book on their Facebook Page. It wasn’t a big secret if you’ve been following our site since we’ve been reporting on it for quite a while now. LEGO Star Wars: The Dark Side will be available in August but you can pre-order the book now on Amazon.

Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

When you make a purchase or, sometimes, carry out some other action as direct result of clicking on a link at The Brick Fan, we will receive a small commission.

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