Carlos Palomar is best known to sci-fi fans for his work on the Star Wars Encyclopaedia series, a collector set of 90 individual books that cover the world of Star Wars. We caught up with Carlos to find out more.
Who is the new Official Star Wars Encyclopaedia for?
If you’d love to walk into the Moss Eisley Cantina while the band is playing that tune. Or if you’d like to leave Tatooine jumping into the hyperspace, this is for you. We like fantasy stories and we want to know more. This collection is a discovery on every page. Not books to be read cover to cover. You can open any of these books randomly and you will get something new, a surprise, a deeper knowledge that will make you enjoy Star Wars even more.
How long did it take you to produce the books?
More than 2 years. Behind these volumes there is a team of around 25 people only in De Agostini. There are some other people involved at Lucasfilm (and whose participation is essential for this unique project). We have different roles and different responsibilities (from the story group to the writers of graphic designers), but with one thing in common: we are true Star Wars fans.
What was the most interesting element of this job?
We discovered something new every single day. We tried to go deep in details and sometimes we debated about some details never defined before. Or (even better) things that will come but can’t be told yet. It is in those moments when you discover the greatness of sharing. You enjoy Star Wars twice when you share it.
We are critical, there are things we don’t like, there are things we would change, but at the end of the day we love the Dark side, we would love to be a part of the Starfleet crew, and we dream of having our own droid. Don’t you?
What was the most difficult?
Hmmmm, this is a tricky question. We have put a whole universe in the pages of these volumes! Nothing has been easy. The first challenge was differentiating lore from Legends content.
Then we had to face the challenge of how to organize the tons of information. But perhaps the biggest challenge was making all of that engaging and exciting.
And I must say that we have succeeded!
What’s your earliest memory of Star Wars?
At the cinema! The best way to enter this universe. With “A New Hope”. I was a kid and didn’t know what movie I was going to see.
That was a magical moment!! That film remained etched in our memory. It changed us as spectators.
We left the cinema fighting with imaginary lightsabres and Williams’ music still playing in our heads.
What’s your favourite Star Wars fact that not a lot of people know?
Knowledge about Star Wars is very different. Everyone thinks they know Star Wars because it is a very powerful brand.
But when you scratch the surface you realized they know Darth Vader but they don’t know what a kyber crystal is. How many things are they missing?
This Encyclopedia has revealed many things to me that I did not know, but the most interesting thing is realizing that there are thousands of things yet to be discovered. Thousands of stories that are yet to be explained. For instance, what is the backstory of Darth Bane (a legendary Sith Lord)?
Why do we need a book on the shelf when Wookie-pedia exists?
Why go to the movies if YouTube already exists? Why cook at home if you can go to a restaurant? They are not exclusive. The books go beyond a quick reference.
Every time I look for something in the Encyclopedia I can’t stop reading more and more pages. This is a different experience and I encourage you to discover it.
How hard is it to get into this sort lore-keeping?
In the real world, History is often confused with Legends and Myths. When George Lucas created a Universe, it’s not a figure of speech. Star Wars is so big that the imagination has free reign to create and invent. And that’s fine, it enriches the imaginary. However, we had to work closely with the Story group at Lucasfilm, reviewing and identifying gaps or mistakes. If you’re not sure if something is legend, check here for information. This is History.
With the world of Star Wars ever expanding, how do you keep up?
Star Wars is constantly expanding. We update the content as much as possible, but always with verified information. In the Encyclopedia you will find Mando and Grogu (for instance) but how much information do we have about Din Djarin? Surely some surprises await us. There will be future storytelling ramifications. We have to be patient and wait.
What other pulp sci-fi are you into?
Some months ago I went back to Flash Gordon comics. And it is impossible not to find echoes in Star Wars. I like Doc Savage too. When we talk about Star Wars and sci-fi some other titles come to my mind (beyond pulp): Space Odyssey (Arthur C Clark) , Foundation (Isaac Asimov) or Bradbury and his Martian Chronicles…
How much does Star Wars owe to its pulp origins, now that it has decades of it’s own lore to draw on?
There would be no Star Wars without those origins. There is the seed that will later become this saga. In this there are also areas of truth and areas of legend. In any case, it takes a special talent to pick up the previous tradition and bring it to the height of the Star Wars universe.
The Star Wars™ Encyclopedia can be found via Fanhome.
