Category: LEGO Books (Page 31 of 36)

Upcoming LEGO Books from No Starch Press

September 19, 2014 / Allen "Tormentalous" Tran / 0 Comments

There are a couple of new LEGO books coming out from No Starch Press in the next few months which I look forward to reviewing.

Art of the Brick is a book that showcases the work of Nathan Sawaya including going behind-the-scenes to see how he has made the creations. Nathan is a world-renowned artist and The Art of the Brick takes us into how he uses LEGO bricks as an art form.

Steampunk LEGO by Guy Himber is a book that I am very interested in reading. This book will showcase a number LEGO artists who has created Steampunk-type builds from cities to pirate ships to robots.

The LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Idea Book takes a look a many different ways to build mechanisms with LEGO MINDSTORMES EV3 (31313). Each build will have a list of parts needed and colorful photos so you can easily build it yourself.

Beautiful LEGO 2: Dark by Mike Doyle continues off where the first Beautiful LEGO left off. Dark takes a look at LEGO builds that are categoried as “dark” which includes sci-fi to scary builds. There are also dark humor builds in the book as well.

Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

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The LEGO Neighborhood Book Review

September 17, 2014 / Allen "Tormentalous" Tran / 0 Comments

We’ve recently received a new book to review from No Starch Press called The LEGO Neighborhood Book: Build Your Own Town! by Brian and Jason Lyles. Brian runs Brick City Depot where he publishes instructions for LEGO modular buildings and if it sounds familiar, you’ve probably seen an ad to their site on our right sidebar beneath the categories.

No Starch Press is known for their AFOL-centric books such as LEGO Space: Building the Future and The Art of LEGO Design which we’ve also reviewed before. The LEGO Neighborhood Book is geared towards people who build LEGO cities with modular buildings. It contains 204 pages and retails for $19.95 but you can get it cheaper at various retailers like Amazon. The book has a high quality softback cover and the images in the book are very nice which is what we’ve come to expect from No Starch.

Since the highly popular LEGO Modular buildings were released back in 2007 with the Cafe Corner (10182) which have continued with eight more Modular sets, LEGO fans have been creating their own MOCs of the buildings to grow their city The LEGO Neighborhood Book is basically split into two halves. The first half of the book contains six chapters and it takes a look at some of the foundations of what a modular building consists of.

The first chapter gives you an introduction to the standards of a modular building like the base size and the depth and height. This is what the authors call the “Cafe Corner” … Continue

BrickJournal Magazine on Sale at TwoMorrows Publishing

September 16, 2014 / Allen "Tormentalous" Tran / 0 Comments

TwoMorrows Publishing is having a “Brick to School Sale” and every back issue of BrickJournal is 50% off. Another sale they are having is the BrickJournal subscriptions are 15%. These offers are valid for print copies of the magazine until the end of September so you have about two weeks left to get in on the deals.

BrickJournal is a magazine which showcases many different aspects of the LEGO community including events, builders, MOCs, as well as how-to articles by many builders in the community. The magazine is edited by our good friend Joe Meno.

If you haven’t checked out BrickJournal before, this may be a good time to purchase it especially when you can get two copies of the magazine for the price of one.

Allen "Tormentalous" Tran

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Blocks Magazine Will be Available at US Barnes & Noble Stores

September 5, 2014 / Allen "Tormentalous" Tran / 0 Comments

The highly popular Blocks LEGO magazine which was first released a few months ago in the UK will now make its way to the US. They have just announced on their Facebook Page that Barnes and Noble stores will be stocking the magazine.

Before, we could purchase online and ship it over here but at pretty expensive shipping costs. Now that we can purchase the magazine locally, we don’t have to worry about that. Also, the first issue has been sold out at a majority of the stores in the UK so clearly there is a market for the magazine. Whether or not it will be the same here for the US remains to be seen but I look forward to reading it if I can find a copy.

There’s still no word yet on when Blocks magazine will be available at Barnes & Noble or how much it will go for at this time. More details as they come.

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.

We partner with Rakuten Advertising, who may collect personal information when you interact with our site. The collection and use

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LEGO Star Wars: The Dark Side Now Available on Amazon

August 29, 2014 / Allen "Tormentalous" Tran / 0 Comments

The new LEGO Star Wars: The Dark Side book by DK Publishing is now available for purchase on Amazon. Technically, the release date was September 1st but Amazon has decided to take orders a few days early. Also included with the book is the exclusive Emperor Palpatine minifigure. As of this post, the price is $11.04 which is 35% off the list price and is eligible for Prime shipping.

Journey to the dark side of a galaxy far, far away and meet the LEGO® Star Wars minifigure members of the ruthless Imperial Army in LEGO Star Wars: The Dark Side!

Witness Darth Vader battling Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker, meet the Sith and all of Darth Vader’s minifigure subjects, and explore the Death Star and all of the Sith starships. Turn the pages to find facts and information about your favorite LEGO Star Wars minifigures and vehicles from the dark side in action-packed situations and discover everything there is to know about the legendary Darth Vader.

With new and exciting photography and an evil exclusive minifigure, LEGO Star Wars: The Dark Side will have you questioning on which side your allegiances lie.

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.

The Brick Fan is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and

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The Art of LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Programming Press Release

August 26, 2014 / Allen "Tormentalous" Tran / 0 Comments

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 / 0 Comments

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