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©2020, Chris Cold; "Ooradryl" -What's the behind-the-scenes history of the Encounters duology? "Cult Encounters of the Star Wars Universe" and “Supernatural Encounters of the Star Wars Universe” were originally intended to be published as articles in Star Wars Gamer magazine, as followups to "The University of Sanbra Guide to Intelligent Life: The Marvel Series" in Star Wars Gamer (2000), an in-universe article Rich Handley (my co-author of Cult Encounters) and I wrote for the first issue of the magazine, with illustrations by Joe Corroney. Although Rich and I received the greenlight from Lucasfilm, only “Cult Encounters” was far enough along when Star Wars Gamer ended in 2002. They were later conceptually reworked as "Cult Encounters: Excerpts from the Last Days of Arhul Hextrophon" and Supernatural Encounters: The Trial and Transformation of Arhul Hextrophon, novellas that had been intended for publication on the Star Wars Hyperspace service, a Lucasfilm exclusive content initiative for which several articles, novellas, and short stories had been commissioned, such as Rich Handley's “Lando Calrissian: Idiot's Array” in 2008. The framework of Supernatural Encounters was first written at the end of 2007. Pablo Hidalgo, an old colleague from my West End Games (and SWFA) days, who was then in charge of the Star Wars site, approved it for publication on Hyperspace. I signed a licensing agreement and a tax form and proceeded. A work of this nature--involving the ancient past--required a lot of work, research, and editing to make sure everything was right, and I was given the time time to continue working on the manuscript until it was put on the schedule. Work on Supernatural Encounters was yet ongoing when, in 2010, it was abruptly announced that the new management at LFL were discontinuing Hyperspace. Since CE and SE were never cancelled, it was hoped that they would find a new home elsewhere and I continued working on the manuscript. In the interim, concepts from the Encounters duology were incorporated into other works by my colleagues. Ampotem Za was added in the 2007 Hyperspace article “Aliens of the Empire,” by Abel G. Peña and Rich Handley. The Rozzum and Typhojem found their way into the Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide and Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side, by Dan Wallace. Then, in late 2015, Rich Handley and I approached Lucasfilm regarding the Encounters duology, as they had expressed interest in publishing the works on the new Star Wars Blog. Matt Martin (of the Lucasfilm Story Group, who then ran the site) and Dan Brooks (who ran the Blog) approved the works for publication, with the plan being to publish them in parts due to the length of Supernatural Encounters. I suggested an alternative means: posting them on my personal website as Abel G. Peña had done with SkyeWalkers, which had been published earlier that year. They could then be linked to or embedded in the Blog. They approved this and my plan to further edit the works over the coming months to ensure they were up-to-date. With no response from them in 2017, I posted Cult Encounters on the site, followed by a beta version of Supernatural Encounters the year after to gauge whether there was enough interest to continue editing and hiring illustrators. As there was, I continued. While I haven't heard anything from LFL in recent years, it's no secret that their focus has shifted away from the pre-2014 EU, which is their prerogative, just as mine is to get the story out to the public, which this site has done with all unpublished Star Wars works. -Is Supernatural Encounters licensed? Yes; I filled out the requisite legal documents (a CA-587 form, which is called a Non-Resident Withholding Allocation Worksheet and W-9 tax form) when the stories were first approved for publication by Pablo Hidalgo, the same licensing process I went through for my previous contributions to the Expanded Universe. There isn't any Lucasfilm licensing process beyond this. The 2008 and 2013 emails between me and Lucasfilm which attest to the veracity of this can be read here. What material is restored in the "extended edition?" Why was it cut? For the beta version released online, I had cut out swathes of material that I felt needed more time, development, and which might conflict with Star Wars: The Old Republic. I have since restored numerous vignettes, history, and continuity pertaining to the Sith, the Mecrosa, the Sorcerers of Tund, the Sorcerers of Rhand, forgotten wars such as the Qaldyon Reckoning, and lore cut from the Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide as well as content from Abel's unpublished “Vader's Legacy.” There is a lot of additional revisions and improvements to dialogue and characterization, as well as things normal for the editing process and to ensure continuity with pre-existing works. In addition, full-color illustrations by the amazing Chris Cold and Guillaume Ducos have been provided. The plan to continue editing the work further was understood and approved, and is typical of online Star Wars publications (such as my colleagues' stories on Hyperspace and the Wizards of the Coast website). I consider the new edition to be the definitive version. -Will Supernatural Encounters be printed? Until LFL says otherwise, it will not be sold commercially or in bookstores, though contributors at a certain level have received physical copies. While Del Rey is aware of the work, the physical copy was a non-profit work offered as a perk so that dedicated collectors can have something on their shelves; Supernatural Encounters exists as a free PDF to the public. -How did you become involved in Star Wars? What was your involvement before Supernatural Encounters? I first got involved via West End Games thanks to Bill Smith, who invited me to write an RPGA for the Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game (my first credit appeared in the Star Wars Gamemaster Screen, Revised Edition; 1996). I went on to contribute to the Star Wars Insider by Titan Magazines and Star Wars Gamer by Wizards of the Coast (who gained the license for Star Wars role-playing material after WEG went belly-up). My timeline was solicited and submitted to West End Games and Dark Horse Comics. Rich and I wrote introductions for the reprinted Marvel series (with an illustration by Robin Pronovost), and provided Dark Horse with all the rare material published in the Wild Space omnibus. Other projects came and went. Abel G. Peña, Rich Handley, and I began work on Star Wars: The Essential Reader's Companion, which went to Pablo. You win some, you lose some... Most recently, aside from my work on the Encounters duology, I've worked on several non-fiction Star Wars essays for Sequart Books, A More Civilized Age: Exploring the Star Wars Expanded Universe, A Galaxy Far, Far Away: Exploring Star Wars Comics and A Long Time Ago: Exploring the Star Wars Cinematic Universe. -Who else worked on the Encounters duology? There are many amazing proofreaders and contributors to thank. Rich Handley co-wrote Cult Encounters with me. Edward Dodds, my editor and go-to Sith historian, Ryan "Sinrebirth" Shepherd, my editor and former contributor to The Essential Atlas and The Essential Guide to Warfare, Kyle Rawlings, Patrick Maes, Corey Carter, and proofreaders Harry Thornton, Robert Newnham, Greg Mitchell, Luke Van Horn, Matt Wilkins, Derek Stevens, and Abel G. Peña. -What is the future of Supernatural Encounters? After the publication of the extended edition, I am still hoping for republication on the Star Wars Blog for visibility purposes, but other than that, I'm just grateful fans got to finally see the work. Beyond that, there is a lot coming down the pike, including a full-cast audio-drama, soundtrack, Atlas Appendix, Alien Guide, and more! -Will Supernatural Encounters lore appear on Wookieepedia? That's for the fans to decide. As far as I'm aware, many had already begun chronicling lore on Wookieepedia, although I believe it's current leaders have taken the stance that the work is "cancelled" (which it never was) or "unlicensed" (which isn't accurate either) and have labeled it as such. I'm not involved with any of that, though I did forward my emails with Lucasfilm executives to the administrators so as to help the folks at Wookieepedia properly categorize the work. They appear to have disregarded it. -Is Supernatural Encounters canon? That's a tricky question since canon means something quite different now than when I wrote the work. Matt Martin understood the work to be "Legends" and approved it for publication as such, although I had incorporated some elements of lore from newer material since SE puts forth what I call a "One Canon: Three Universes" approach, which accommodates every stripe of fan. It was intended to be an Expanded Universe work, and due to being both Lucasfilm-licensed and approved for publication via my website, I believe it would have been categorized as C-canon in the old classification system, although how that applies to post-Disney works of the old Expanded Universe (particularly those which have been published somewhat unconventionally such as SkyeWalkers and Supernatural Encounters) is unclear to me, and as I'm not Keeper of the Holocron, I can't state things regarding canonicity authoritatively.
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It is said in times past that the Whills—that mysterious race referred to (in the very first Star Wars book in 1976) but never seen—had the ability to mentally transmit the events of their realm to those of us in the Primary Universe who were receptive and willing to tell such tales so that we might learn by their example, and yet be entertained in our own world at war. George Lucas was primary vessel for those tales, the first of many… Supernatural Encounters came to me fully formed in November 2007, when it poured out over the course of a few days, a dense, lengthy dissertation on metaphysical subjects, esoteric races, and obscure histories, with subjects ranging from time dilations and realm distinction to ontology, cosmogony, and theology, all embedded in the tale of Arhul Hextrophon and his droid’s search for the origin of life in the Star Wars galaxy. Their quest matched my own, as I too set out to find the truth amongst the many myths and fables that have been revealed over the long years of the EU's existence. Twelve years after this story was first submitted, twenty after the idea was first conceived, the full account of their journey can at last be revealed. I recommend first reading “The Keeper’s World,” “Tilotny Throws a Shape” and “The Pandora Effect” from the Marvel UK stories in order to get some context, and the newspaper strip, "Gambler's World." [Note: You can find them in the Marvel UK Omnibus, or The Complete Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 3, or the Epic Collection: The Original Marvel Years Vol 3, or Star Wars Omnibus: Wild Space Volume 1 (by Dark Horse], and the Star Wars Newspaper Comics Vol 1 (by IDW) or The Newspaper Strips Vol 1 (by Marvel). It also draws on material found across the EU, including the RPG adventures, "Otherspace" and "The Darkstryder Campaign," the Ewoks films and animated series, and much more. Cult Encounters immediately precedes this story. The frame story of Supernatural Encounters occurs after the Dark Nest series and before the Legacy of the Force series.
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Corey Carter's Supernatural Encounters Atlas |
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Note: Page numbers are from the online edition
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Joe Bongiorno is the creator of the Star Wars Expanded Universe Timeline (www.starwarstimeline.net), which publishes lost stories in the universe begun by George Lucas. He is the author of the eight-volume series Black Sabbath: The Illustrated Lyrics. Joe also runs a small-press publishing company called the Royal Publisher of Oz (www.theroyalpublisherofoz.com) and is the creator of the Royal Timeline of Oz (www.oztimeline.net) and the X-Files Chronology (www.xfilestimeline.net). Joe has co-edited the Cyberpunk Nexus: Exploring the Blade Runner Universe, and has written essays on science-fiction and fantasy for several Sequart Books anthologies, Wizard of the Coast’s Star Wars Gamer magazine, short stories for Oziana magazine, and has contributed material to West End Games, Star Wars Insider, and Dark Horse Comics. Joe currently lives in an ever-expanding library on Long Island where he caters to the demands of five cats and two dogs. Thanks to George Lucas for encouraging others to expand his universe, for hiring a team to oversee it, and for supporting their efforts for 35 years! Thanks as well to the early contributors of the Expanded Universe, from Roy Thomas, Archie Goodwin, and Alan Moore, to the writers of West End Games. Upon these early works was this story built. Special thanks to my proofreaders and editors without whom this story would be far poorer: Corey Carter Edward Dodds Neil Farnum Patrick Maes Marcus Mebes Greg Mitchell Robert Newnham Kyle Rawlings Ryan "Sinrebirth" Shepherd Michael Steinberg Derek Stevens Harry Thornton Luke Van Horn Matt Wilkins
Thanks to my French, Spanish, and Russian language translators Alban Leloup Mario Alberto Escamilla Alexander Vinogradov Thanks as well to Rich Handley for his work on Cult Encounters, the Marvel Aliens in Gamer #1, and his friendship over the years. Abel G. Pena for his insight and friendship (and Waru!), Pablo Hidalgo for the initial opportunity, Matt Martin, Dan Brooks, Wookieepedia, the guys over at the Jedi Council Forums, and all the amazing contributors who supported this book over the years!! Arhul Hextrophon—Nick Joseph—Signature Offer Nick Joseph, who played Arhul Hextrophon in Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope, is signing book plates for Supernatural Encounters. He first posted this on Facebook and we're including it here.
"If you would like your book signed please contact me on Facebook or
Nick Joseph Autograph Shop or scifisignersunited.weebly.com. |
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Note: Any unpublished or out-of-print Star Wars story will be taken down if/when officially released/reprinted |
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& Cult Encounters
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Lightsider
Tom Veitch's unpublished, previously lost bridge story between Dark Empires I and II |
| Star Wars RPG Magazines
Dynamic (growing) list of digital Star Wars RPG magazines |
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Star Wars Missions books
The complete twenty book series from the OOP Scholastic series from 1997-1999 |
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Episode I Adventures
The complete 15 book series from OOP Scholastic series from 1999-2000 |
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The Dread
Pirate Xim & The Treasure of Darth Hevel
The follow-up to the Godform Assumption of StarCrow the Wise |
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Droids ReAnimated: Parts 1 & 2
Commentaries by Rich Handley & Abel Pena |
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Heart of the Jedi
Kenneth Flint's unpublished, previously lost Bantam novel |
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Abel G. Peña's
Skyewalkers
Initially intended for Hyperspace, this novel and short story are available exclusively here |
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Adventures in Hyperspace #3
The unpublished third book in Ryder Windham's Han Solo series (with an outline of the 4th) |
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Star Wars Junior Books
The complete twelve book series from the OOP Scholastic series from 1999-2000 |
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Dig Magazine
Rare archaeology magazine containing "The Lost City of Tatooine" |
 Complete four issues of the Coruscant Holo Net from the UK and US Clone Wars Magazines |
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Death Troopers
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The Clone Wars Titan Magazine
Star Wars Magazine
The hard-to-find Clone Wars, Rebels, and Star Wars magazine comics |
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The Godform Assumption of
StarCrow the Wise
Michael Brennan's tale of ancient evil told in the style of Milton |
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Interviews with Star Wars EU Authors
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Clone Wars: Way of the Warrior
OOP personalized Penguin books |
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Translated Spanish Droids & Ewoks Comics
For the history of this series, go here
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Translated Droids & Ewoks Storybooks
For a history of the Plaza Joven series, go here |
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Droids 1988 Video-Game Prologue |
 Online articles from 2004–2012 removed from the official website's Hyperspace, Starwars.com and Star Wars Blog. |
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Rookies: No Turning Back
Removed webstrips that take place between Episodes IV and V |
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The unpublished Adventure Journal #16 The unpublished Adventure Journal #17 The unpublished Adventure Journal #18
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Fate of the Jedi: Imprint
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A Hunter's Fate: Greedo's Tale
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Clone Wars Webcomics Seasons 1-3
Removed webstrips that take place during TCW |
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Evasive Action series
Removed webstrips that take place in the weeks leading up to Revenge of the Sith. Includes:
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Hungarian Han Solo Books
English translations coming soon!
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Sourcebooks, supplements & RPG Adventures
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Lost Prelude to Rebellion webcomic
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| More to come! |
