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So I was recently reading through my West End Games Star Wars RPG 1e books, as they were on my mind following the Mandalorian finale and several conversations here at The Pub, and I noted something interesting. The Star Wars sourcebook has a bibliography of sorts, what essentially amounts to the sources of "canon" at the time of it's writing:
So, obviously there's the original trilogy of films, and then the novelizations of the original trilogy. But what's interesting is there is also six novels, three Han Solo-themed, and three Lando-themed. I've never heard of any of the novels before, and have no idea if they are still in print or still considered canon or were lost with the EU. The Han Solo books were apparently being written before the trilogy was even completed. The various sketch books are pretty typical behind-the-scenes publications, but I am curious what Velasco's "A Guide to the Star Wars Universe" contained - if it was just limited to info from the films or it expanded on certain subjects at the author's liberty like David Day's Tolkien encyclopedia or the Dune Encyclopedia.
What's almost as interesting as what is included is what is not included, though. Splinter of the Mind's Eye is right out. Naturally, no mention of the Holiday special. But there's other significant omissions. The 1st edition of the Star Wars RPG came out in 1987, so after both Ewok films (Caravan of Courage in 1984, and Battle for Endor in 1985), no mention of the Droids or Ewoks animated series (1985), and the long-running Star Wars comicbook series is also absent.
So, obviously there's the original trilogy of films, and then the novelizations of the original trilogy. But what's interesting is there is also six novels, three Han Solo-themed, and three Lando-themed. I've never heard of any of the novels before, and have no idea if they are still in print or still considered canon or were lost with the EU. The Han Solo books were apparently being written before the trilogy was even completed. The various sketch books are pretty typical behind-the-scenes publications, but I am curious what Velasco's "A Guide to the Star Wars Universe" contained - if it was just limited to info from the films or it expanded on certain subjects at the author's liberty like David Day's Tolkien encyclopedia or the Dune Encyclopedia.
What's almost as interesting as what is included is what is not included, though. Splinter of the Mind's Eye is right out. Naturally, no mention of the Holiday special. But there's other significant omissions. The 1st edition of the Star Wars RPG came out in 1987, so after both Ewok films (Caravan of Courage in 1984, and Battle for Endor in 1985), no mention of the Droids or Ewoks animated series (1985), and the long-running Star Wars comicbook series is also absent.