ES:  Well, hello, boyos. Welcome to Echo Station, and thanks for granting us an interview. First, I'm curious to know how -- and especially *why* -- each of you got involved in a project that had to have required a massive amount of research, despite your history of writing in the Star Wars universe. Weren't you the least bit daunted by the idea of putting together a chronology for such a huge continuity, knowing that whatever you came up with would probably not satisfy everybody?

KJA: Well, I got asked to do it years and years ago, when there were far fewer titles to worry about (and I was writing half of them). But as the release date for Episode 1 got pushed back farther and farther, the publishers scrambled to fill the gaps with more books. Consequently, the CHRONOLOGY release date was also delayed and delayed, because they wanted a comprehensive book (it felt kinda like trying to stay motionless in a rubber raft in the middle of whitewater rapids!).

Before long, the project obviously grew beyond the point where I could handle it myself and I needed someone else to shoulder the burden. I had known Dan through the SW fan community (I think I even suggested his name when Lucasfilm was looking for someone to write their Essential Guide to Planets because he had written a fannish document that was very similar). He proved to be exactly the sort of person I needed to keep all the details straight.

DW: It was a daunting task but it was also a satisfying one. One of the complaints about the 1990's era of Star Wars novels was that despite the fact that they all tied in to one another, they were published out of order. When writing the CHRONOLOGY we were able to place each story in its proper spot and compare it to the stories set immediately before and immediately after (even though they may have been separated by many years of "real world" publishing time). What we found was that the puzzle pieces fit together remarkably well. If there were gaps we filled them in, and if there were loose ends we tried to tie them up.

ES: What sources did you use for your research? Did George Lucas give you any direct help?

KJA: No direct help from George (he was busy making this little movie, see...). Obviously, the sources were the original novels and comics, etc. We wanted to place everything in context, not give a blow-by-blow summary of every single event ever written in the SW universe. A lot of things just weren't "significant" enough in the grand scheme of the New Republic to warrant inclusion in the history.

ES: Given the necessarily incomplete information you had to work with (huge gaps of history that will only be revealed in Episodes II and III for example), why is this book appearing now?

KJA: The book is a work in progress, as stated in the introduction. This is supposed to be the preliminary document released by a New Republic historical team, with more chapters to be added later.

DW: I doubt there will ever be a point at which the Star Wars saga is "complete." Every year sees the introduction of many new novels, comics, and other projects, not to mention the films. The only way you could ever have an "up to date" guide, one that covered EVERY new source, would be if Lucasfilm wasn't publishing stories anymore, which would only happen if there were no fans who wanted to read them, which in turn would mean that there'd be no one who would want to read this hypothetical up-to-date guide. So you've got to cut guides and encyclopedias a little slack. This is "the story so far." Any new stories are a treat, not a problem. I can't wait to see the outcomes of two major eras of Star Wars history -- the prequels and the New Jedi Order saga.

ES: I realize you couldn't include everything, but how was the decision made what to ignore? I mean, you've got the Davids books in there (which are universally despised), as well as Galaxy of Fear (except for #12?), but you leave off the Jedi Apprentice series which is my favorite. Did you include stuff from the RPG?

KJA: Jedi Apprentice wasn't even written or conceived when we delivered the final MS for the CHRONOLOGY! We were trying to at least mention a lot of the pieces so that it wouldn't be obvious that they were cut out of the "canon" (oh, how we all hate that word). Once something is approved and published, Lucasfilm is very reluctant to come out and say "this is not canon, we renounce it." Therefore, even the Davids' books are included, though not in any great detail. Other items were very peripheral and did not need to be included in any "history" book.

DW: Don't be too quick to dismiss anything as "universally despised." A quick scan of amazon.com shows that the books you mentioned have their fans and detractors, just like all Star Wars fiction projects. You might have a mental list of the perfect sources, and it might be great, but that's Toryn Farr's list -- another fan would come up with another list. This is why Lucasfilm can't possibly be a referee among hundreds of thousands of Expanded Universe fans when it comes down to matters of personal taste.

Kevin and I had a different mandate, which was to cover all the events of the Star Wars universe from a history book perspective. Therefore if it chronicled important events in the lives of the main heroes, or if it detailed an era of history that wasn't covered anywhere else, we included it. If it dealt with peripheral characters and situations such as the Ewok TV movies, we left it out.

No slight was meant against Jude Watson's excellent Jedi Apprentice series. Logistically, however, we just couldn't cover it. As Kevin mentions, there is a much longer lead time required for the preparation of a guidebook with special layout and art than there is for a standard paperback.

RPG material was used often as a reference tool. The Pentastar Alignment mentioned in the "Imperial Fragmentation" section, for instance, was originally an RPG creation from the Star Wars Adventure Journal.

ES: What was the most difficult part of putting this book together for you?

KJA: Keeping it all organized! The fact-checking was also tough.

DW: The scope was difficult. At first we were flying blind, not really knowing how long each section should be or where the breaks should go. At first we weren't going to cover Episode One at all (remember I was brought on board in 1996 and Kevin had been working even before that), then we did a short summary of Episode One, then we threw that out and wrote a full-blown exploration of the movie on a par with the other three films. We were tinkering with the final product right up to the deadline.

ES: Now that it's out there, how satisfied are you with the results? Is there anything you'd do differently if you could?

KJA: My original idea was to have it be much larger, with a novel-style frame story about Luke Skywalker creating his own holocron to record all the known history. He would go from place to place and interview the main players. I think that would have made for much more interesting reading, but space constraints cut that out.

DW: I'm quite happy with the way it turned out. Bill Hughes, whom I'd worked with before on the ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO DROIDS, did a great job with the art. Some of his pieces are stunners, and I love his Lando-sans-mustache portrait.

ES: Which Star Wars project of yours is your personal favorite? Which was the most fun/interesting to you personally?

KJA: For me, my favorite is DARKSABER -- I had thought it would be my last SW novel, so I poured my heart and soul into it. Lucasfilm (and the fans) loved the book, and therefore I got plenty of other assignments. As for most fun, I really enjoyed working with Ralph McQuarrie on THE ILLUSTRATED STAR WARS UNIVERSE. That was a dream come true.

DW: For me, projects get more fun as they move along, and consequently I have shifting favorites once things get finished and put in the public eye. Right now my favorite is probably the CHRONOLOGY and I expect it to be supplanted as favorite as soon as a new project is released. For the fun/interesting factor, however, I cherish my copy of the ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO PLANETS AND MOONS written in Polish.

ES: Okay, just for fun: How old were you when you saw Star Wars for the first time, and how did the experience affect you?

KJA: I was a freshman in High School (13?), and I went into the theater knowing nothing more than that it was a science fiction movie. I was blown away and saw it half a dozen more times in the theatre. Back then I was just trying to get a short story published anywhere, so I never never dreamed I would be working on later incarnations of STAR WARS.

DW: I was still in grade school, and didn't even know it was a science fiction movie -- I thought it was a war movie. I was predictably blown away -- most kids my age were -- and entered a childhood phase of R2-D2 iron-ons and Hammerhead action figures. Exactly twenty-one years later I attended a summit at Skywalker Ranch where I read the Episode One script a year before the movie was due to come out, and I found myself wandering around the Ranch thinking, "I can't believe this."

ES: What upcoming projects of yours should we be looking for in the coming year?

KJA: My main effort right now is in writing three prequels to Frank Herbert's DUNE, written with Brian Herbert. The first one, HOUSE ATREIDES, came out last fall to almost universal rave reviews; it hit all the bestseller lists and was just voted "book of the year" by the Science Fiction Book Club. My next one, HOUSE HARKONNEN, comes out in October. I am also relaunching the FANTASTIC VOYAGE series with a new novel, MICROCOSM, that comes out next spring, bringing a new team of microscopic explorers into wonderful adventures. Out right now are two "background" novels for the new film TITAN A.E., laying down the stories of the main characters before you meet them in the film.

DW: I've been working hard on an Episode One project for Del Rey that will tell you everything you want to know about everything from the film. More on this as Del Rey announces it. It's been great fun exploring the backgrounds and underpinnings of the Episode One universe.

ES: Cool! If I threaten to use the handy thumbscrews that came with my standard-issue "interviewer's toolkit," would you tell me more?

DW: Your mind tricks won't work on me.

Miscellaneous Matters ...

ES: Dan, I understand you were already an "expert" about Star Wars planets when you were asked to write your first Essential Guide. How did that work? Were you "discovered" off the Internet?

DW: That's true. Just as a fan, I had compiled a list of Star Wars planets -- first for my own reference, and then to post in file libraries and ftp archives before the dawn of the World Wide Web. As Kevin mentioned, he helped bring the document to the attention of Lucasfilm at which point I was asked to submit a list of published writing credits and compose a sample article of their choosing, which was a 4000 word piece on the planet Hoth. I was bowled over when I ultimately landed the assignment for the ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO PLANETS AND MOONS. The final version of the original file is still available to view at www.jimfisher.net/planet. I still get e-mail about it, though I haven't touched it in many years.

ES: Kevin, I heard you and Rebecca are involved with Titan AE. Tell me about that.

KJA: I had worked with the Fox licensing people before on my X-FILES novels, and I had worked with the editor before on all the Young Jedi Knights novels. Both of them really wanted us to do the TITAN books. We read the script, saw a rough cut of the movie, and had lots of room to play. I think SW fans will truly love this film -- it has the same heartfelt love of science fiction as SW does.

ES: Dan, tell me about the Star Wars Masterpiece Editions you've worked on. I see there's a new one featuring Aurra Sing in the works -- is that going to be yours as well?

DW: The new Masterpiece is entitled AURRA SING: DAWN OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS and from what I've seen so far, it should be a knockout. Josh Ling is returning to write the collectibles section, but I am not involved with this project. Instead, the fiction sections will be written by my good friend Ryder Windham who will reveal a lot of things you never knew about Aurra.

ES: But what about your own writing? Have you published anything besides Star Wars stuff? There seem to be an awful lot of Daniel Wallaces listed on amazon.com ... perhaps you have a degree in medicine? [g]

DW: Yeah, I know what you mean. No, I didn't write "Making Sense of Fibromyalgia" or "Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament." I sometimes wonder if these other Daniel Wallaces have run the same search and said "geez, why does
'C-3PO: Tales of the Golden Droid' keep popping up ..."

ES: Kevin, I noticed Dark Horse is FINALLY coming out with a trade paperback of the Jedi Academy: Leviathan series of comics. What took them so long?

KJA: You're asking me? I thought they weren't going to do it at all until I got a call asking for a brief quote and description. I'm very glad they are bringing it out. I had hoped to keep that comic series going, but Dark Horse decided to cut back their SW comics line drastically (Jedi Academy wasn't the only casualty; the popular X-Wing series and the Tales of the Jedi also were shelved).

ES: Dan, in a chat with us last year you stated: "The SW character I would most like to be is Lando. The SW character who is most like me in real life is Threepio." Care to elaborate?

DW: Wouldn't everyone like to be Lando? Charming, suave, sophisticated, with impeccable taste in wine, women, and clothing. Unfortunately many of us are more like Threepio. Not that that's a bad thing, since Threepio is the most remarkably "real" robot in sci-fi. But if I were ever in a situation where people were shooting lasers at me, I'd haul my butt out of the firefight pronto.

ES: Kevin, if you had to defend Kyp Durron in a court of law for his actions in the Jedi Academy books, what reasons could you give why he shouldn't be fed to the Sarlacc? [g]

KJA: Uh, I thought I did defend him in a court of law in CHAMPIONS OF THE FORCE... Anyway, the Sarlacc isn't nasty enough to keep anybody down for long -- look at Boba Fett!

ES: Well, thanks guys. Good luck with the writing, and I guess we'll be seeing you both on the Star Wars booklist again real soon.

Daniel Wallace chatted with EchoStation back in January of 1999 and August of 1999. Kevin spoke with us way back in 1995 about the Jedi Academy Trilogy and chatted with us in December of 1998. To find out more, visit Kevin and Rebecca's official website.

Kevin J. Anderson has written a total of 54 novels, comics, short stories, and other Star Wars works for Lucasfilm, and is best known for his Jedi Academy trilogy and the Young Jedi Knights series (with his wife Rebecca Moesta). He is also the international best-selling author of three X-Files novels and a new trilogy, with Brian Herbert, that is a prequel to Frank Herbert's classic Dune. In 1998 he also set the Guinness World Record for "Largest Single-Author Book Signing in History."

Daniel Wallace plans mass-media communication strategies for one of the world's largest advertising agencies. He is the author or co-author of numerous Star Wars projects, including Episode I What's What, C-3PO, Tales of the Golden Droid, and two previous entries in the Star Wars Essential Guide series: Planets and Moons and Droids. He lives in the Detroit area with his wife, two sons, and a minor menagerie.

(Toryn Farr knew everything about Star Wars back in 1977 thanks to Starlog Magazine. She's been trying to keep her know-it-all reputation ever since. During the 90 minutes per day her preschooler is napping, Toryn attempts to run an internet design business and write fantasy fiction.)

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