Nearly two weeks ago, DK Publishing released the Star Wars: The High Republic Character Encyclopedia in hardcover form, and now that I’ve had some time to sit with the book, below are my thoughts on this release.
Ever since it first launched in January of 2021, Lucasfilm’s ambitious publishing initiative Star Wars: The High Republic (which is set hundreds of years prior to the events of the Skywalker Saga) has amassed dozens of novels and even more comic books– not to mention VR games, animated series, and other media. And even as someone who is paid to consume and review most if not all of this material, I sometimes have trouble keeping track of who is who and what took place when in this previously uncharted era of the larger Star Wars timeline. That’s why I’m really glad to have received a review copy of DK’s The High Republic Character Encyclopedia by authors Megan Crouse (of Star Wars Insider magazine) and Amy Richau (Star Wars: Timelines). This is a handy guide that is sure to help out a lot of fans as they set out on their High Republic adventures for the first time, or continue along the path of the currently releasing Phase III as it progresses.
The book begins with a touching foreword by Star Wars: The High Republic Show host Krystina Arielle, and then moves on to an introduction that gives readers the basics of what The High Republic is all about. Then there’s a key walking us through how to use the reference book’s information– my one critique is that this could have been simplified a bit, but more on that later. We also get a timeline of the major events that occurred in Phases I and II, and then it’s right on to the main event– the many characters that occupy this storytelling initiative that has flourished for almost three years already. The major characters, like Porter Engle, for example, get a two-page spread, and at the top we’re given details like their pronouns, species, height, allegiance, and first appearance. Here’s where I started to scratch my head a little bit, because the “first appearances” are presented in abbreviated form, and I have to refer back to a chart in the early pages of the book to be reminded what they mean. Instead, the authors could have easily just written out the titles on any given character’s page (as you can see in the included sample pages, there’s plenty of room in that space).
The other minor but still unnecessarily convoluted system of organization is the insignia on the top right of each entry that indicate in which Phase each character appears. These are represented by three insignia of ever-so-slightly different colors, instead of just… well, putting a Roman Numeral I, II, or III there. I think changing those confounding decisions on the editorial level would have improved the book by leaps and bounds, but otherwise I still enjoyed it quite a bit and already consider it invaluable as a resource, considering I spend a significant amount of my time combing through The High Republic content (the alphabetical index on the final page is also quite helpful for those purposes). As far as illustrations go, the book’s gorgeous cover art has been created by renowned painter (and former Disney animator) Phil Noto, while the interior artwork is drawn from a number of sources, including comic-book covers and interiors, concept art, video game screen-captures, and animation designs.
But perhaps the most welcome inclusion in this volume are the nuts-and-bolts character breakdowns on each page, which give us a few paragraphs each to jog our memories as to why these people are important to the story and what they’ve already been through at this point in the ongoing narrative. The High Republic started off strong and has only improved as it’s gone along, but I‘ve heard fans who are hesitant to dive into the series just because of the sheer volume of content it has generated over the past few years since its launch. That problem isn’t solved entirely by the existence of this Character Encyclopedia, but it is alleviated quite a bit knowing that a guide like this in available for those who wish to immerse themselves further in this corner of the ever-expanding Star Wars galaxy.
Star Wars: The High Republic Character Encyclopedia is available now wherever books are sold.