With Star Wars: Rogue One just around the corner, fans are beginning to wonder how the Galaxy Far, Far Away translates from the era of The Revenge of the Sith to that of A New Hope. Rogue One takes place just before the events of that first film, and will introduce viewers to an entirely new cast of characters. To help set the stage for the film, Lucasfilm turned to veteran Star Wars author James Luceno to write Catalyst, the first novel that will tie in to the events of Rogue One.
Catalyst takes place shortly after the events of Revenge of the Sith. The Empire has begun work on a massive project known as the Death Star in order to assert its control over the galaxy; one of the leaders of the project, Orson Krennic, recruits an old friend, Galen Erso, to help with its completion. While Erso believes that his work will be used to help people, Krennic has other ideas, and the scientist unwittingly finds himself a pawn in a much larger conflict.
We recently spoke with Luceno by email about his work on the book, and where it falls in the Star Wars universe.
Your next novel Catalyst is a tie-in to the upcoming Rogue One film. You’ve written several novels that tie directly in with upcoming films (such as Cloak of Deception and Labyrinth of Evil): how was writing Catalyst different from these books? How was it the same?
Star Wars films start with the proverbial bang. An exotic setting is established, a few lines of dialogue are exchanged, and the action begins. Assaulted by blaster fire and strobing explosions, we’re not inclined to wonder about the backstory, whatever concatenation of events brought us to this particular deadly moment. Besides, we know that before too long we’ll get just enough exposition to satisfy our curiosity about what came before. The formula isn’t tampered within Rogue One. But for those in search of added detail, the full story, there’s Catalyst.