Enrique Guerrero, book consultant for Lucasfilm, mainly during the New Jedi Order series, and co-writer (with Abel G. Peña) of “The 20 Greatest Expanded Universe Moments”, an article published in Star Wars Insider #83, was extremely kind to offer me an interview. You may congratulate him in a comment, since he’s finished his first major creation ever, of course, co-authored with his wife… a child!

-Thanks for accepting this virtual interview, Enrique. Please tell us something about yourself. Also, why and when did you became a Star Wars fan?

Thanks Mario! This is actually quite flattering for me – but it’s always great to hear from fans who are as passionate about Star Wars as I am! What can I say! I first saw Star Wars when I was 7 years old back in 1977 and I was hooked ever since – my parents and my older brothers fed my interest in Star Wars by giving me lots and lots of toys and comic books way back then. Even as a little kid, I just loved the look of the Star Wars universe, and I was deeply fascinated with the Force, the Jedi & the Sith. Best of all – Star Wars just continued to feed my imagination even to this day!

When I was in college, Dark Empire and Tim Zahn’s Thrawn Trilogy had come out – and again, I was bit by the Star Wars bug. However, after I graduated law school, I just dove right back in into everything and anything in Star Wars literature. Fortunately, I was living in San Diego, CA, at the time and they had an excellent Star Wars fan base down there! Lance Worth, who had an awesome Star Wars store in Chula Vista, San Diego, set me up with tons of material to read up on! It was a great time to be a Star Wars fan!

-What was your involvement in the development of the New Jedi Order series?

I wasn’t part of the initial team to work on the NJO. I had been interviewed for an editor position prior to the development of the NJO and invited to work with LFL in a different capacity – but at that time, I had already started planning to quit my job with San Diego District Attorney’s office and relocate to a different area of California to practice law. I finally accepted an assignment with LFL months prior to the release of Vector Prime and continued to work as a free lance journalist with LFL for about 6 years.

As for the NJO, I was a member of a team that worked on the manuscripts for the entire series and the maintance of the NJO Bible, which was used to keep track of the entire storyline. The NJO Bible contained everything you could think of in terms of monitoring the entire story arc – it was kinda of a “pocket essential guide to the NJO” covering plot, characters, vehicles, droids, ships, cultures, language, government structures, maps, etc.

I was also assigned a variety of research projects to help flush out the different storytelling elements of Star Wars – across all eras – which again, could be almost anything depending on the project – i.e., approximately how many capital ships would be in the Imperial Remnant at the time of the YV invasion in year 4 of the NJO? The research project could be as open ended and broad as that Remnant naval question – or – something completely more narrow and specific.

-How did you get the opportunity to write Star Wars material?

In the big picture, this was a fluke. I was already working as a licensed attorney in Southern California when I met Lucy Wilson, who was then the Vice President of Publishing for LFL. Ms. Wilson already knew that I had a ridiculous amount of Star Wars knowledge and that I had a great interest in how LFL worked with their various licensees. A year after interviewing for an open editor position, Ms. Wilson thought I would be a welcome addition to working on the NJO and it was through her invitation to work for LFL that I met a lot of the great folks at LFL, Del Rey, Bantam, Dark Horse, Scholastic – including editors, writers, illustrators, etc. The opportunities to write Star Wars material came with the in house experience of working directly for LFL.

-In order to compile the 20 greatest moments of Expanded Universe you must have read a lot of novels and comics. What story arcs do you enjoy the most? And which ones you feel you had to endure as if compiling information for a boring homework?

I am an avid reader. And I have a huge Star Wars library that LFL helped build. I can’t say that I’ve read “all the Star Wars stories” published, but it would be a very small percentage of the fan base that has read more! This was a fun piece to work on if simply because it is always fun to work with Abel Pena. We actually had a working list of 40-50 moments that we narrowed down to 20 that we could agree on. It never felt like a “boring homework assignment.” If anything, it was challenging. The problem we had, was that it was a subjective list – and if we could come up with 40-50 moments, not including the LucasArts games, then we knew that there would be lots of fans that were going to disagree with our 20 moments. We were just as excited to hear from the fans who were going to disagree as we were to hear from the fans who “mostly” agreed!

The two story arcs that had the most impact on me were: (1) The Freedon Nadd Uprising/Dark Lords of the Sith/The Sith War/Redemption of Ulic Qel-Droma (Dark Horse Comics); and (2) The Thrawn Trilogy (Bantam). They were both Epic, Tragic, and loaded with engaging characters that you cared about. To this day, I just can’t get enough of those storylines!

-Do you have any particular favorite that didn’t make the 20 moments?

I have a few – but two come immediately to mind. One was scene from Kevin Anderson’s Dark Saber where Rogue Admiral Daala kills all the Deep Core Imperial Warlords for essentially putting themselves above the Empire – which I did write the entry for. The other was a silly one from Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s The New Rebellion where R2-D2 leads a droid rebellion; again, in the big picture, it is becoming more and more rare that we see either R2 or C3PO take a primary character role in a Star Wars novel and I thought Ms. Rusch did a fantastic job with R2 in her book.

-The 20 moments article was published in 2005, with the end of the New Jedi Order story arc still fresh in the mind of the readers. What about now? Which events depicted in the recent novels, such as the Legacy of the Force series, or comics, like Legacy, do you think would fit in a new list?

There are several new moments that should get consideration for being the Twenty Most Memorable Moments. And I certainly don’t want to spoil anything for readers – but among those that I would immediately consider: Luke vs. Lomi Plo in The Swarm War; Lumiya & Alema Rar vs. Tresina Lobi in Tempest; and Jacen Solo’s actions against Nelani Dinn in Betrayal. However, Darth Krayt’s past revealed in the Legacy comics threw me for a loop – and I just can’t say enough about anything Karen Traviss does with her Republic novels and/or her stories on Boba Fett! Simply outstanding work by Karen!

-Would you write more Star Wars articles or even fiction for magazines or the website?

I hope to. And I plan to. There are still lots of areas of Star Wars that fascinate me – and I figure I can’t be the only one to appreciate those particular areas, right? With luck, you’ll read more from me in the near future!

-Do you have non-Star Wars related projects?

Again, another work in progress – but I’m working on a fairy tale involving a Mexican boy in a modern day setting. It’s a young adult oriented novel.

-What’s your relationship with other authors like Abel Peña? Is there a “community” of authors? Are you part of the Latin vanguard of Star Wars writers?

There’s a group of us that have been friends since the mid-1990′s – and even more within that group that date back to the early days of AOL message boards. Abel is one of my close friends and we usually talk, even if only by e-mails, on a weekly basis. I’ve never looked at myself a part of a “Latin vanguard of Star Wars writers.” I’m a passionate fan of the Star Wars universe and through my work with LFL, it has opened to the door to meeting lots of cool people in the industry who have become close friends. Most of us are writers, actors, film-makers and/or artists so our real life experiences cross over in lots of areas which also helps build that sense of community that exists amongst us.

-In your opinion what’s the reason for the success of the Expanded Universe?

It’s a rich universe. And there are so many working elements to Star Wars that it is tough to pin down to an easy answer. Star Wars is a character driven universe. It’s easy to be passionate about one or more of the main characters in any era. The world creation aspects continue to feul the imagination. The sense of history that crosses all eras creates a comfort level and familiarity that we can all relate to. The stories often take an Epic Myth approach. Whether you’re watching, reading or playing – the feel of the Star Wars universe is cinematic. It’s a wonderful setting to revisit again and again.

-Do you speak Spanish? Have you visited Mexico or any other Latinamerican country recently?

My parents are both from Jalisco, Michoacan. The rule of their house is that you can only speak Spanish inside the house (although I’ve noticed the grandkids tend to get away with breaking this rule from time to time!). So I’ve grown up speaking Spanish and English.

My wife and I went to the Maya Riviera about two years ago and traveled for week visiting Maya Ruins. We intend to visit the Pacific Coast of Mexico within the next year – but – my sister-in-law is trying to found up “entire family” to make a huge trip to Quintana Roo soon. I’ve never been south of Mexico.

And now the fan questions.

-Andres Matesanz from Mexico City accepts that New Jedi Order tried to shed some light on new characters like Jaina and Jacen Solo, or give a new comeback to old timers like Corran Horn. But why is Luke Skywalker described as a wimp who can’t decide what to do with the Jedi Order or how to help the galaxy at large? Why does he think fighting and defending conquered worlds would be causal to the Dark Side? Instead of figthing like Clone Wars Jedi, he establishes his “refugee river”.

I didn’t see Luke portrayed as a wimp. I thought Luke was trying to be a leader of an Order that had become spread out, unused to having to answer to a central authority, and unclear on how to live by the Jedi Code. If anything, I thought Jacen was portrayed as an annoying wimp, at least until Matt Stover got his hands on him in Traitor. In NJO, we probably see Luke through the actions of Anakin Solo. Anakin, at that point in time, is the Order’s Greatest Knight and an extension of Luke Skywalker (even though in reality, nobody’s greater than Luke!) To get a better understanding of Luke in that time period, you have to dive right into Troy Denning’s Dark Nest Trilogy which is an “NJO Coda”, even though it is not officially considered NJO.

I also think that when you read Karen Traviss Republic books, especially through the eyes of her Jedi characters, you see why Luke was probably more right than wrong in how he tried to deal with the Yuuzhan Vong Invasion.

Ultimately, for the NJO, the Hero’s Journey was going to apply to Jacen Solo – and – it was Jacen’s decision making – which isn’t necessarily through acts of aggression – that was going to determine the Jedi Order’s survival and the fate of the galaxy. In that sense – we see less and less of the Luke Skywalker that I’m sure we all wanted to see.

As for the Great River, we only really see it come into play in Greg Keyes work and some random articles and role-playing game pieces. The Great River, although there, is part of Luke’s plans and actions, by dispatching Jedi Knights on various intelligence gathering missions and sorties throughout the Invasion Corridor. The problem here is those events are all “off-screen” for now, until someone can come along and tell the fans what the Jedi were specifically doing by utilizing the Great River.

-Alonso Vilches from Mexico City asks what was the easiest and hardest parts of coordinating the whole New Jedi Order project? Also, what ideas, situations or characters were last minute additions to the original plot? We know that Lucasfilm will not allow for a “Vader revival story”, or that tragic deaths for main movie characters like Chewbacca are sparse, but is there any restriction for the “retirement” of old vehicles, like the Millenium Falcon? Surely technology must have improved in order to fight new threats like the Yuuzhan Vong.

My answer is going to be somewhat generic. The easy part is that the NJO was fun! And working on outline-to-outline, manuscript-to-manuscript, was a blast!!!! The tough part is that there was multiple projects in effect at the same time and lots of elements to coordinate on a massive scale. That can be tough any writer and/or editor to coordinate. All of the major details were known from day one, particularly with the critical events of each hardcover and the highlight events of each year. All of the primary characters (and several of the secondary characters) had a characterization arc. That in mind, writers write and if they came up with great ideas they were often welcome to incorporate it into the big picture of the NJO. Keep in mind, that the overall storyline is still just a skeleton plot for the entire NJO – you have to let the creative process of the writers in particular work things out and contribute and improve as well. As for your question on “retirement restriction” of old vehicles, that would have to be fielded by Sue Rostoni, Leland Chee, or someone else at LFL.

-José Arturo García from Mexico City asks how were the books assigned to authors? By chance, or the authors chose the parts of the New Jedi Order story that fit their style? Which one of the authors had the hardest part to follow Lucasfilm regulations? How were the Yuuzhan Vong developed and how was it decided that they would had biotechnology and weren’t detected by the Force? Were following series, such as Dark Nest and Legacy of the Force, included in a larger scheme, or they were imagined after the conclusion of the New Jedi Order story arc?

This is a question for Sue Rostoni at LFL and Shelly Shapiro at Del Rey – so I’m respectfully not going to answer it.

As I mentioned in a prior answer, the Dark Nest Trilogy is somewhat of an NJO Coda, wrapping up NJO issues involving the evolution of the Jedi Order and the evolution of characters like Luke Skywalker as a “Jedi Grand Master” and Leia Organa Solo as a “Jedi Knight.” Fortunately, the Dark Nest Trilogy also provided the thematic foundation for what was to come in Legacy of the Force, especially by giving readers an idea of what was to come by giving us unique insights into Jacen Solo’s thoughts and actions which you could see even then were dangerously outside the guidelines of the Jedi Code.

-12 parsecs from Monterrey asks if Jacen’s fall to the Dark Side had been discussed during the New Jedi Order series? Why were some characters left off, such as Danni Quee or Droma? What is the explanation for the Roman name “Praetorite” in the Praetorite Vong? Who decided that it was to be Chewie the main movie character that died in the series?

Jacen’s fall to the Dark Side was always an element of the NJO but more as an effect of the war on the Jedi and then heightened given the unorthodox training of Vergere. However, the danger of the Dark Side was more obvious with Jaina Solo who was handling the tragedy of the war in a more visible manner. Both of Jacen and Jaina’s destinies, within the framework of the NJO itself (and NOT Legacy of the Force) were known throughout the work on the NJO.

Had Danni Quee continued her training as a Jedi Knight, which appears to have been abandoned after Mike Stackpole’s NJO books, we might have seen more of her throughout NJO and again in Legacy of the Force. Otherwise, Danni’s character is not really necessary for Legacy. Any other usefullness of Danni Quee in those books was eliminated by Jacen’s reconciled relationship with Tenel Ka that we see in the Dark Nest Trilogy. Ultimately, I don’t think Jacen having a girl friend was a critical detail going into year 5 of the NJO.

I also don’t see a usefulness for including Droma beyond Han working out his issues over the loss of Chewie in the NJO. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the Droma character, but once Han overcame his grief and became the Roguish Han from the New Republic days, and once Leia stepped into the role of co-pilot, there really wasn’t any need to have Droma hanging around. Plus, none of the galaxy intelligence networks, whether Bothan, Smuggler’s Alliance, Mandalorian, Imperial, etc. etc. – was critical enough to have “a face” for those networks featured throughout the rest of the series.

I’m assuming “Praetorite” was a Bob Salvatore specific thing. He also uses that word in his excellent “Crimson Shadow” fantasy books, which I recommend to everyone for it’s lighthearted action fantasy and great humor. The point of the Praetorite Vong was that they were an “Expeditionary Yuuzhan Vong Task Force” that was supposed to only set up a beach head for the arrival of the next stage of the Invasion. However, in their arrogance and in their desire to rise up the Yuuzhan Vong ranks even quicker (in Overlord Shimrra’s eyes, in the Warmaster’s eyes, and in the Gods’ eyes), they stepped outside their orders and advanced on Sernpidal leaving the Yuuzhan Vong to alter their Invasion plans and to task Supreme Commander Shedao Shai with showing to the rest of the Yuuzhan Vong that the Gods were in fact “with them.” Behind the scenes, there are rivalries between the Warrior Caste Domains and sometimes, some Domains want the glory for themselves and/or to take the glory away from other Domains. We saw glimpes of these rivalries play out in Stackpole’s books dealing with Domain Shai and Domain Lian.

As for “who” made the Chewie decision/suggestion – even if I knew I wouldn’t tell you! That was a committee decision that ultimately needed the approval of George Lucas himself!

Thanks Everybody! I had a lot of fun!!!!!!