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FAQ - Frequently Asked
Questions |
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Star
Wars Books & Comics is a guide to over 800 official books, comics and
short stories from the Star Wars galaxy.
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General questions:
These are general questions regarding Star Wars
and the meanings of various terminology used by Star Wars fans.
Character questions:
These questions refer to major events and
situations that have happened to various characters, especially the
main characters from the original film trilogy: Luke, Leia, Han and
Chewbacca; in the course of hundreds of published stories (note that
as of 25th April 2014 most of these events are now classed as
Legends).
Book questions:
These questions refer to specific book or comic
stories.
Site questions:
These questions refer to Star Wars Books & Comics (www.swbooks.net):
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Answers to general
questions:
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Where
should I begin reading Star Wars books?
With over 800 novels, comics and short stories published so far it
can be a daunting task for a newcomer to the world of Star Wars
books to know where to begin reading. That is why Star Wars
Books & Comics have published their own guide to
where
to begin reading Star Wars Legends books.
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What
is the Lucasfilm Story Group?
The Lucasfilm Story Group (aka Story Team), founded in 2013 soon after Disney
purchased Lucasfilm, is a small group tasked of maintaining
canon across all newly published Star Wars
stories. On
25th April 2014
the group abolished the previous
canonical hierarchy system and created a single
canon level.
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What
does Expanded Universe (EU) mean?
(Updated: 13th May 2014)
As a consequence of Lucasfilm Story Group's announcement
of
25th April 2014
all Expanded Universe material has been rebranded as
Star Wars
Legends.
Prior to the Story Group announcement, Expanded
Universe (usually abbreviated to EU) refered to all officially
licensed material including, but not limited to, books, comics,
short stories and video games, that continued the Star
Wars story beyond the six movies: The Phantom Menace, Attack
of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, A New Hope, The
Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi; with a sense
of continuity. That is, events that occur in Expanded Universe
material do not, on the whole, contradict events that have occurred
in the films or in other EU material. Where a deliberate contradiction occurs, those
materials are not considered part of the Expanded Universe and as
such their events never occurred, for example the Infinities
comic story adaptation of A New Hope cannot be classed as a part
of the Expanded Universe because the events portrayed in that
particular story are derived from the premise that Luke Skywalker
failed to destroy the Death Star at the battle of Yavin, a clear
contradiction with the events portrayed in A New Hope.
(related topic: What does canon mean?)
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What
does canon mean? (Updated: 13th May
2014)
Canon is the term used to define one story's importance in
relation to another story. As per the Lucasfilm
Story Group's announcement
of
25th April 2014 there is now only one canonical
level within the Star Wars universe: approved
Lucasfilm Story Group stories, irrespective of format, are all
of the same level of importance. No longer would one format be
considered to be more important than another format. All future
material, approved by the Lucasfilm Story Group,
would be canon and be part of the new
official Star Wars continuity.
As of
25th April 2014 approved Lucasfilm Story Group
stories were:
- Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace - 2011 blu-ray edition and
its novelisation (in so far
as much where the novel story aligns to that seen on-screen);
- Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones - 2011 blu-ray edition and
its novelisation (in so far
as much where the novel story aligns to that seen on-screen);
- Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - 2011 blu-ray edition and
its novelisation (in so far
as much where the novel story aligns to that seen on-screen);
- Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope - 2011 blu-ray edition and
its novelisation (in so far
as much where the novel story aligns to that seen on-screen);
- Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back - 2011 blu-ray edition and
its novelisation (in so far
as much where the novel story aligns to that seen on-screen);
- Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi - 2011 blu-ray edition and
its novelisation (in so far
as much where the novel story aligns to that seen on-screen);
- Star
Wars: Episodes VII thru IX (aka the Sequel Trilogy) - upcoming
movies;
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie and its
novelisation (in so far as much where the novel
story aligns to that seen on-screen);
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated TV series:
Seasons 1 thru 5 plus "The Lost Missions"
(aka Season 6);
- Star Wars: Darth
Maul: Son of Dathomir - 4-issue comic book series
from Dark Horse Comics;
- Star Wars Rebels - animated TV series;
- Star Wars: A New Dawn,
Star Wars: Tarkin, Star Wars: Heir to the
Jedi and Star Wars: Lords of the Sith - novels
from Del Rey (as announced
here).
Prior to
the Story Group announcement, canon within Star Wars was used to
delineate a story's importance in relation to the films, i.e. the higher up the level, the more important the events depicted
by the story are. The former levels of canon (for novels, books, comics
and stories) were:
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G-canon:
George (Lucas) level canon - events or characters created by George
Lucas himself, i.e. the six Star Wars films. This is the highest level of canon and put simply
if any event or character in a lower level contradicts events or
characters in this level, or vice versa, then events or
characters in this level take precedence, i.e. there can be no
contradiction of events or characters witnessed in this level
and at the same time events or characters in this level can not
be relegated to another level.
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T-canon:
Television level canon - events or characters created by companies
directly affiliated with George Lucas, e.g. The Clone Wars TV
series produced by Lucasfilm Animation and the forthcoming
Star Wars Rebels TV series.
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C-canon:
Continuity level canon - events or characters depicted by non-directly
affiliated Lucas sources, such as books publishers Bantam and
Del Rey and comics publisher Dark Horse Comics. Almost every
novel and story published is classified as C-canon, with the
exceptions of those pre-designated as N-canon (see below), and
material published pre-1991 which is classified S-canon.
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S-canon:
Secondary level canon - in most cases this contains books and comics
produced pre-1991 (that is not already G-canon) such as the
Marvel comic series. For events or characters in this level to
be reclassified, they must be referenced in a C-canon event or
by a C-canon character, e.g. the character Luminya, who first
appeared in Marvel comics but was later used in the Legacy
of the Force series, is now classified as C-canon.
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N-canon:
Non-canon (aka Infinities) -
specifically events or characters that contradict events or
characters in any other level. This level includes issues #1 to
#20 of Dark Horse Comics' Tales
series (available as Star Wars Tales: Volumes 1 thru 5)
and other non-continuity material.
While Star Wars Books & Comics does
distinguish between Story Group approved
stories (those stories that belong to canon) and
Legends stories (those stories that
do not have canon status), we also propose that every story should
be enjoyed for its own merits whether it be a recently published
novel or a thirty year-old comic story.
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What
does retcon mean?
Retcon is an acronym for retroactive continuity,
that is attempting to establish a correlation between two or more
sources that may have inadvertently contradicted each other; this is
not the same as non-continuity or n-canon events, a simple writing
mistake has occurred and a solution or patch is devised to resolve
the contradiction. As an example imagine the contradiction suggested
when one character details their plans to take over the galaxy in
Book 1, but Comic 1 (set years before Book 1) witnesses this
character being killed; how can the contradiction be resolved?
Obviously nor Book 1 nor Comic 1 can be rewritten, so using other
publishing sources such as StarWars.com's Databank or Star
Wars Insider magazine or reference books, retcon stories are created that resolve
such dilemmas.
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What
does ABY and BBY mean?
These are abbreviations for After the Battle
of Yavin (ABY) and Before the Battle
of Yavin (BBY), the Battle of Yavin being the
events witnessed in the first Star Wars film made, i.e. Star
Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and the destruction of the Death
Star. All events within the Star Wars universe are described as
occurring either before or after the Battle of Yavin. Other variants
of these abbreviations include ASW4 and BSW4 meaning After
Star Wars [Episode] 4 and Before
Star Wars [Episode] 4.
For clarity, and where possible, Star Wars Books & Comics does
not use
abbreviations without at least defining them on the same page.
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What
is the best way to value/sell my Star Wars
books/comics collection?
The single most important piece of advice we can offer is that value or worth is determined by the buyer, ie an
item is only as valuable as what someone is willing to pay for it,
not what the seller expects it is worth.
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I
have a great idea for/have written a Star Wars book/comic story, who
can I contact?
It is important to understand that
no Star Wars
publisher will accept unsolicited scripts or story ideas, no matter
how good you think your story/concept is. All Star Wars publishers
use established authors, writers and artists and it is the publisher
who will contract the author/writer/artist.
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back to
questions |
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Answers to character
questions:
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When
did Han and Leia get married?
(Updated: 13th May 2016)
According to
Aftermath: Life Debt, Han and Leia got married on the forest
moon of Endor immediately after the Battle of Endor.
In the Legends
universe, Han and leia tied the knot 8 years after the Battle of Yavin as
portrayed in the novel The
Courtship of Princess Leia (1994) by Dave Wolverton.
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When
were Han and Leia's kid(s) born?
(Updated: 13th March 2017)
In Aftermath:
Empire's End, Leia gave birth to her son, Ben, shortly after the
Battle of Jakku, about 5 years after Episode IV: A New Hope.
In
the Legends universe, Han and Leia had three children. The eldest
were twins Jacen
and Jaina, both born 9 years after the Battle of Yavin, as depicted
in The Last Command
(1993) by Timothy Zahn. Then 10 years after the Battle of Yavin,
Anakin was born, named after his grandfather, as seen in Dark
Empire II (1994-1995) by Tom Veitch. Unfortunately he
died while only a teenager.
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When
did Luke fall to the Dark Side?
(Updated: 13th May 2014)
In the Legends universe, Luke Skywalker fell to the Dark Side 10 years after the Battle
of Yavin in an attempt to defeat the "reborn"
Emperor of Dark Empire
(1991-1992) by Tom Veitch. Luke was returned to the Light by the
intervention of his sister Leia.
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When
did Luke get married?
(Updated: 13th May 2014)
In the Legends universe, during the events of Vision
of the Future (1998) by Timothy Zahn, 19 years after the Battle
of Yavin, Luke proposed to Mara Jade and their wedding was captured
in Union (1999) by Michael A.
Stackpole.
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When
was Luke's son born?
(Updated: 13th May 2014)
In the Legends universe, Luke and Mara Jade-Skywalker were blessed with a son, Ben (named
after Luke's mentor Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi) 26 years after
the Battle of Yavin during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of The New Jedi
Order in Edge of Victory II: Rebirth
(2001) by Greg Keyes.
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When
did Chewbacca die?
(Updated: 13th May 2014)
In the Legends universe, Chewbacca, Han Solo's life-long friend and co-pilot, died 25
years after the Battle of Yavin saving the life of Han's
youngest son Anakin in Vector
Prime (1999) by R. A. Salvatore.
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When
was the Emperor "reborn"?
(Updated: 13th May 2014)
In the Legends universe, this was during the time when Luke Skywalker fell
to the Dark Side. (as portrayed in Dark
Empire (1991-1992) by Tom Veitch). It was discovered that
Emperor Palpatine was still alive, albeit as a clone. Palpatine had
established a secret cloning facility that enabled himself to be
"reborn" whenever he liked. Luke Skywalker eventually
killed the last clone of Palpatine and destroyed the cloning
facility 10 years after the Battle of Yavin.
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When
did Anakin Solo die?
(Updated: 13th May 2014)
In the Legends universe, Anakin Solo, the youngest of Han and Leia's
children, died 27 years after the Battle of Yavin in Star
by Star (2001) by Troy Denning during a mission to destroy the
nest of the Yuuzhan Vong's Jedi hunter-killer creatures, the Voxyn.
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When
did Mara Jade die?
(Updated: 13th May 2014)
In the Legends universe, Mara Jade, wife of Luke Skywalker and mother
of Ben Skywalker, was killed approximately 40 years after the
Battle of Yavin by her nephew Jacen Solo, who had fallen to the Dark
Side, in Sacrifice (2007) by
Karen Traviss.
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What
relation is Cade Skywalker to Luke?
(Updated: 13th May 2014)
Cade Skywalker, descendent of Luke Skywalker and the protagonist
of John Ostrander's Legacy
comic series, was born about 135 years after Luke (and Leia) were
born. Cade was born about 116 years after the Battle of Yavin and
this places them around five generations apart. However, given that
Luke's own son, Ben, was born when Luke was
himself in his mid-forties the number of descedents is closer to
just four generations. This would mean that Luke is either Cade's
great-great-grandfather (four generations) or his
great-great-great-grandfather (five generations).
Ostrander
does reveal that Cade's father was Kol Skywalker, a Jedi Master who
died early in his story, but did not reveal Kol's antecedents.
Thus, and taking the four generation gap as the most probable, we
are left with just two unknown generations of Luke Skywalker's
lineage - namely Ben's child(ren) and Kol's parents, ie Cade's
great-grandparents and grandparents respectively, and at present,
this is unlikely to be revealed soon.
As of
25th April 2014
this event is classed as Legends.
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When
and how did Luke, Leia and Han die?
(Updated: 30th December 2019)
A major component for the premise for
Legacy, Dark Horse Comics'
comic series set 137 years after the Battle of Yavin, is that the
heroes of the Original Trilogy: Luke, Leia and Han are dead. However
the series creater, John Ostrander, never detailed in his story when
and indeed how they died - rather there is the assumption given the
series' chronological placement it would be highly unlikely that any
of our heroes would be alive during this era: after all, Luke and Leia would be
around 156 years-old while Han would be over 170! Ever since
Legacy's first issue was published in 2006 there has been continous
fan speculation has to when and how Luke, Leia and Han died - some
even requesting that their favourite author be allowed to pen such a
story - but it seems highly unlikely that such a story would ever be
written/published - unless the recently announced planned sequel
trilogy, Episodes 7 thru 9, were to detail these events.
We
suggest that if you accept that Legacy's timeframe explains the
"why" they are dead, there really is no need to ask the
"when" and "how".
As of
25th April 2014
these events are classed as Legends.
In the
new official continuity Han is killed in
Episode VII: The Force Awakens (slain by his own son, Ben);
Luke dies in Episode VIII: The Last Jedi ; and Leia passes
away in Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (both Luke and Leia
becoming one
with the Force).
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How did Captain
Phasma survive the destruction of Starkiller Base in The Force
Awakens?
The 2017 comic story
Captain Phasma tells how the chrome-plated First Order
stormtrooper captain survives the destruction of Starkiller Base in
Episode VII: The Force Awakens.
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back to
questions |
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Answers to book
questions:
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Will
there be any more Tales from... collections?
It is unlikely that there will be any more Tales from...
compilation novels such as Tales
from the Empire because these particular books did not sell that
well.
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Where
are Knights of the Old Republic: Volume 5, Dark Times: Volume 3;
Rebellion: Volume 4; and Legacy: Volume 6 graphic novels?
Readers and collectors of these comic book series graphic novel
adaptations may discover that their graphic novel collections for
any of these series witnesses a numeric jump in Volume numbers with
an apparent missing Volume. This is due to the nature of the Star
Wars: Vector story arc that crossed over all four of these
series to the point that the Vector storyline constitutes
each of these 'missing' Volumes. However rather than publish each of
the comic books series related Vector story separately as Knights
of the Old Republic: Volume 5, Dark Times: Volume 3 etc,
publisher Dark Horse Comics have collated the complete Vector
story arc into two separate graphic novels: Vector:
Volume 1 and Vector:
Volume 2. This is because the Dark Times and Rebellion
arcs of the Vector storyline were each told in just two
issues, not enough by themselves to warrant individual graphic novel
releases. Thus Vector:
Volume 1 constitutes both Knights of the Old Republic:
Volume 5 and Dark Times: Volume 3; while Vector:
Volume 2 is also Rebellion: Volume 4 and Legacy:
Volume 6.
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What
is the difference between a graphic novel, trade paperback (TPB) and
graphic novella?
The terms graphic novel and trade paperback (also known by its
acronym, TPB) refer to the same item. Although the terms are
interchangeable where possible Star Wars Books & Comics will
use the term graphic novel rather than trade paperback.
To increase readership of comic book stories, comic publishers will
often collate several issues of a comic book series (usually around
six issues depending on the number of pages each comic book
contains) that form a cohesive story arc or two or more
self-contained stories from the comic series' overall storyline into
a graphic novel. Thus, as the average comic book series can consist
of 50 or more comic books, then around 8 graphic novels are
published for that series (normally known as Volumes, i.e. Volume 1,
Volume 2, etc). This allows comic story readers the option of either
purchasing individual comic books or waiting until the graphic novel
is released. However, not all comic book issues are reprinted in a
graphic novel, hence Dark Horse Comics' ongoing Omnibus
Editions which endeavours to reprint those comic stories that
have never been printed in a graphic novel as well as out-of-print
and hard-to-find graphic novels. A standard graphic novel is the
same size as its comic book cousin at around 7" x 10"
(170mm x 260mm) and contains just over 100 pages - note that an Omnibus
Edition graphic novel is slightly smaller at 6" x 9"
(150mm x 230mm) but will contain several hundred pages.
A graphic novella is a graphic novel that contains one standalone
story that has not been previously available in comic book form
(although some may contain more than one story such as Clone
Wars Adventures). A graphic novella is smaller at just 5¼"
x 7½" (130mm x 190mm) and normally only has about 80 pages.
Graphic novella stories are designed to be "parent
friendly" with stories suitable for children (see our
Guide
to Children's Books for some suggestions and recommendations).
Prices for graphic novels reflect the number of pages: thus the most
expensive are Omnibus
Editions, while the cheapest are graphic
novellas.
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back to
questions |
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What
is Star Wars Books & Comics' spoiler policy?
Star Wars Books & Comics' spoiler policy is that all for all major
book and comic stories not yet published, and where a story summary,
synopsis, review or discussion may divulge significant plot points,
a warning similar to the one below will be placed on that story's
listing page:
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!! SPOILER
WARNING !!
This synopsis contains possible plot spoilers |
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This
warning will remain in situ for at least six months after the
story's publication.
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What
is Star Wars Books & Comics' canon policy?
(Updated: 13th March 2016)
While Star Wars Books & Comics does
distinguish between Story Group approved
stories (those stories that have a canonical status) and
Legends stories (those stories that
do not have canonical status), we also propose that every story should be enjoyed for
its own merits whether it be a recently published novel or a forty
year-old comic story.
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back to
questions |
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