"What is 'canon' in the Star Wars universe?"
"Is this novel 'official?' "
"Did the events in this comic series actually take place?"

    These are tough questions to answer.  The canon question in regards to the Star Wars universe has been debated ever since Marvel began to publish Star Wars comics beyond the scope of the first movie.  Additional controversy was created with the appearance of Alan Dean Foster's Splinter of the Mind's Eye in 1978, originally intended as the basis for a potential low-budget sequel to Star Wars.  But it was Timothy Zahn's 1991 New York Times best-seller Star Wars: Heir to the Empire that made fans ask the question more frequently and earnestly than ever before.  That very year, Lucasfilm Ltd. commissioned Dark Horse Comics and about a dozen popular science fiction novelists contracted by Bantam to continue the Star Wars saga beyond the events told in the third motion picture and final chapter of the Star Wars saga, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.  And in a major coup d'état, Lucasfilm later allowed Dark Horse Comics to add to the Star Wars mythos with adventures taking place five thousand years before the first movie and fourth chapter in the saga, Star Wars: A New Hope.  In 1999, the license to publish Star Wars fiction was granted to Del Rey and the Star Wars saga moved ahead full force.  With this exponential proliferation of Star Wars literature and the increasingly watchful eyes of thousands of true and loyal fans, the canon question has continued to be foremost in many of our minds.
 

Therefore, in our particular case, George Lucas, the author and creator of the Star Wars saga, is the only individual who may define what books, comics, or computer games are authoritative when discussing the Star Wars universe and its characters, places, and events.  According to the premiere issue of the Star Wars Insider, the only works "canonized" have been the movies and their respective screenplays, novelizations, and radio drama adaptations.  So what about novels like Heir to the Empire and The Jedi Academy Trilogy, or comic series such as Dark Empire and X-wing: Rogue Squadron?  Before it's untimely demise and the awarding of the role-playing game (RPG) license by Wizards of the Coast in 2000, West End Games produced an enormous amount of exhaustive source material based on the movies, novels, and comics from which many future authors would eventually "steal" characters, planet, or weapons in order to maintain "official" continuity.  But despite all their effort, the Heir to the Empire Sourcebook still states:

"This and all other products that take place after the events depicted in Return of the Jedi are the author's vision of what may have happened.  The true fate of the heroes and villains of the Star Wars universe remains the exclusive province of George Lucas and Lucasfilm, Ltd."

"... when you read Dark Empire, or any of the other novels, remember that although Lucasfilm has approved them, they are our sequels, not George Lucas's.  If Lucasfilm ever makes films that take place after Return of the Jedi, they will be George Lucas's own creations, probably with no connection to anything we have written."

    Until now, this issue has been rather clear-cut.  If we ignored the arguments of the Star Wars "purists" who consider only the theatrical and television releases, their novelizations, and their radio drama adaptations to be the only true, unadulterated "canon" in existence, we could safely say that—in addition to the aforementioned works, of course—the Del Rey, Bantam, Scholastic, & Boulevard novels, the Dark Horse comics, the West End Games and Wizards of the Coast sourcebooks, and the Archie Goodwin strips constitute the "canoncial" works.  Similarly, all Marvel and Blackthorne comics, the Russ Manning strips, the Droids and Ewoks cartoons, the children's books, Rebel Mission to Ord Mantell, and The Star Wars Holiday Special could be considered "non-canon," or "apocryphal."  However, for some time Lucasfilm has been skirting the canon question and effectively blurring the lines between "truth" and "fiction" in the Star Wars universe.
    In recent years, several things have happened to obscure the line between "non-canon" and "canon."  Firstly, West End Games surprised fans by including references to the House of Tagge, Simon Greyshade, and the planet Aargau—all from the Marvel comic series—in the Han Solo and the Corporate Sector Sourcebook, as well as accepting as "historical" the Nagaí invasion and the subsequent foundation of Marvel's "Alliance of Free Planets" in the The Truce at Bakura Sourcebook.  Most recently, the Shadows of the Empire Sourcebook made mention of Luke and Leia's adventures on Mimban and their confrontation with Captain-Supervisor Grammel from Splinter of the Mind's Eye.  Dark Horse Comics' Crimson Empire trilogy and Jedi Council: Acts of War reintroduced the Marvel planet of Yinchorr to the "official" continuity, due in no small part to Marvel veteran and current Dark Horse co-founder Randy Stradley.  Topps' Star Wars Galaxy Magazine created additional controversy by including gaming supplements based on Shira Brie (aka Lumiya), also from the Marvel series, and Cypher & Phoedris Bos, characters from Rebel Mission to Ord Mantell.  To further confuse the matter, the first X-Wing novel, Rogue Squadron, contained a reference to Throgg, a character from Blackthorne's short-lived Star Wars 3-D comic series.  In addition, Chewie's family, as featured in The Star Wars Holiday Special and The Wookiee Storybook, appear in The Black Fleet Crisis Trilogy and Ann Crispin's new Han Solo Trilogy.  And now that Kashyyyk is accepted as the Wookiee homeworld, this fact raises a nagging canonicity question since the name actually originated in The Star Wars Holiday Special.  Must we now accept a particular medium as an "official" work even if George Lucas disowned it and stated that he'd like all known bootleg copies burned?  To make matters more complicated, Andy Mangels' Essential Guide to Characters and Kevin J. Anderson's and Daniel Wallace's Star Wars: The Essential Chronology reference characters, worlds, and situations from practically all non-canonical sources, ignoring all inconsistencies and contradictions therein.  Mangels' work, in a classic case of historical revisionism, even changes the chronology of events as presented in some stories, particularly the Marvel tales!  And, as if that wasn't enough to reduce even the staunchest Wookiee to tears, Kevin Anderson's The Illustrated Star Wars Universe manages to contradict Mangels' book on several points, especially in its entry on Endor—even though both books are considered "official" by Lucasfilm!
    In fact, current policy seemingly mandates that all stories bearing the name Star Wars are canonical, no matter how disharmonious they might be with other supposedly canonical sources.  In other words, if it was printed, filmed, or recorded, it now happened.  Period.  No questions asked.  Gloss over the five different recorded accounts of Han's Ord Mantell adventure; they all occurred.  Accept that the evacuation of Yavin IV reportedly occurred both a few weeks and a few years after A New Hope; both accounts are accurate.  Overlook how implausible it might be that Luke and Vader battled each other twice before The Empire Strikes Back; battle they did.  Quibble not over the two accounts of Han's infamous "Kessel run," the three accounts of the fate of Bespin, the five accounts of the discovery of Hoth, the three accounts of Luke's and Leia's swimming abilities, the two accounts of the nature of the Kaiburr Crystal, the five accounts of the trio's "first" run-in with Boba Fett, the four accounts of Fett's real identity, or the three accounts of how the plans to the original Death Star were stolen.  They are apparently all part of one storyline now, impossible contradictions and all.
    Considering such, where does this leave the poor, befuddled reader?  If every Star Wars tale is to be part of one universe, then which accounts are the correct ones?  And how far does this go?  Do we also include the numerous video games produced over the years, even though they place the fans themselves inside the story?  Or how about the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-type books, which have multitudes of potential outcomes?  Or the Disney attraction Star Tours, which features R2-D2 and C-3PO as tour guides?  Have the lines become so obscured by blindly including any and all Star Wars stories into one continuity, and by allowing "revisionist" history to change what has come before, that it is now impossible to judge anymore which events in the Star Wars universe actually occured and when?
    Many fans feel that any attempt to include everything as "canon" is doomed to failure.  Others applaud the effort being made to incorporate all the stories put out over the years.  Is it actually possible to weave one coherent history out of all the contradictions?  Possibly ...

   As we have discussed, questions of canon and continuity have become hot topics, given Lucasfilm's apparent willingness to make room in the Star Wars universe for storylines that die-hard fans have decided "never happened."  But such questions actually aren't so new.  There are apparent inconsistencies even within the filmed Star Wars trilogy.  The most famous apparent inconsistency, of course, is that of Luke's parentage.  In A New Hope, Ben tells Luke that Darth Vader betrayed and murdered Luke's father.  In The Empire Strikes Back, Vader tells Luke that he is his father, and Luke is left wondering why Ben hid the truth from him.  In Return of the Jedi, Ben's spirit seeks to justify his apparent lie, explaining that Luke's father died when the evil half of Anakin Skywalker betrayed the good.  What he told Luke was true, he says, "from a certain point of view."
    While George Lucas maintains that he always intended to have Vader be Luke's father, not a few fans and "historians" (see Laurent Bouzereau's Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays) have concluded that the "certain point of view" speech has everything to do with gradual changes made in the Star Wars storyline, and nothing to do with Ben's character.  Ironically, Ben's explanation hints at a way out of the entire canon/continuity minefield ... a way that is logical, satisfying, and that—once accepted—adds a dimension to the many Star Wars stories and makes them even more enjoyable.  Quite simply, each and every Star Wars story is true ... "from a certain point of view."
    What is that "certain point of view"?  Well, we get a big hint right there at the beginning of each Star Wars movie:
 

   Here's a peek at several disputes which are hotly debated by New Republic scholars:  the site and date of Luke Skywalker's and Darth Vader's first saber battle.  Bespin's claim is well-known, but the citizens of lush Circarpous V tell a quite different tale, one of a dark meeting in the long-lost Temple of Pomojema.  To complicate matters, the people of Monastery remember a duel between the two which was fought at the order of the Sacred Circle's high priestess.  This is, however, nothing compared to the dispute over the episode in Han Solo's life popularly known as "The Bounty Hunter of Ord Mantell."  No less than five factions on Ord Mantell claim to tell the definitive account of what happened to convince the Corellian that he'd better quit playing rebel and pay Jabba the Hutt (or is it "Hut"?) what he owed the galactic gangster.  Faced with the various versions of "The Bounty Hunter of Ord Mantell," even the most determined historians simply throw up their hands in surrender.
    Some people prefer to construct their own "canon" by simply picking and choosing what they like.  For example, maybe A New Hope and Splinter of the Mind's Eye are the only real goods.  Or the movies and only the movies.  Or the movies and Dark Empire and nothing else (my personal choice if forced into a corner).  Or each and every novel except The Crystal Star.  Or only the Marvels.  Or nothing but A New Hope, The Star Wars Holiday Special, and the Davids' young adult sextet (God forbid!).  It's up to the individual.   However, if all of the Star Wars stories are approached as legends, the argument about what's canon simply vanishes!
    From our new "certain point of view," we don't have to bend logic to make all the stories fit together.  We also don't have to pass judgment on a given Star Wars story as having "never happened."  Instead, we can try to make the most logical tales "fit" and decide to call the rest "apocryphal," or whatever term we like.  From our new "certain point of view," Star Wars apocrypha is to be enjoyed instead of swept under the rug.  While such stories are considered highly suspect by most New Republic historians, they remain entertaining favorites that have been told and retold for generations and are well worth hearing again.  Who knows?  Perhaps many of those apocryphal tales are known from the holocrons of other Jedi Masters, devout and good students of the Force who teach their students about Luke's quest for the Kaiburr Crystal, his befriending of the Jedi Prince Ken, or his betrayal at the hands of Shira Brie.  Just remember ...

   In addition to the question of canonicity, I have seen a considerable amount of confusion when fans attempt to figure out when a particular piece of literature takes place in the Star Wars chronology.  Likewise, many individuals have asked me which book or comic series they should read next so as not to miss or spoil a single tidbit in the complex chain of events that constitute "official" Star Wars history.  This problem is compounded by the fact that the novels and comics are written and marketed out of chronological order.  I've tried to lessen this confusion by creating The Star Wars Literature Compendium.  This labor of love—over six years in the making—is my humble attempt at putting every piece of Star Wars literature in existence into chronological order and including as much practical information regarding each entry as possible.  Of the many Star Wars authors I've worked with, all of them have agreed that this compendium has been instrumental in putting the merchandising nightmare into perspective when writing their novels and comics.  Hopefully, this document will be just as useful for the typical Star Wars layperson.
    As you may notice when reading the Compendium, I've used the word literature rather loosely, as I have included entries for the movies (both theatrical and televised), animated series, audio books & dramatizations, and story-based computer games.  Each entry specifies the original and/or current medium of the entry, the authors/illustrators, various adaptations (if any), a brief plot summary and/or the dustjacket/cover/intro text (where applicable), and its particular "chrono-setting" in the Star Wars chronology.  And please note that I have stated which "literature" is considered Star Wars apocrypha by the majority of fans.  Although most fans would probably agree with my assessment of a particular work's non-canonicity, this determination, of course, is purely my own opinion.  If you tend to disagree with me on a certain canonicity matter, have literature to add to the list, or have any corrections/modifications for a future update, please e-mail me at [email protected]