Visiting Batuu is not on the cards for many of us this year, but fear not as SyFy Wire shares an exclusive look at the latest book from Cole Horton titled Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge: Traveler’s Guide to Batuu, which takes a deep dive into the galactic adventures (and pleasures) to be found at Galaxy’s Edge.
“We always had in mind that this could be for people who hadn’t yet been to the land and it could also be for people who have been to Galaxy’s Edge,” author Cole Horton (Star Wars: The Visual Encyclopedia) tells SYFY WIRE. “I never anticipated writing it in the context of a pandemic and now, something like this could provide people a way of going to this place, even when all of us are staying home for a while. I think now, knowing where we’ve come, I’m even more excited that this is gonna be out there in the world and hopefully, it provides people a way of experiencing Batuu while we’re all sheltering in place.”
Influenced by travel writer Rick Steves and the detailed RPG books of yesteryear, the Traveler’s Guide to Batuu is told from the point of view of Eloc Throno (a rearranged version of Horton’s name) and his droid companion.
“It’s a way of presenting some information that you would only know if you had been there or spent time in that place, and it was a helpful way of infusing those more personal or those character moments,” Horton explains. “His droid companion would be able to scan and gather more technical information, so the book has blueprints of some of the various ships you might find on your visit and provides a lot of technical information, which, of course, you wouldn’t get just by looking at something.”
Grab a Ronto Wrap and a mug of blue milk before checking out this exclusive map of Black Spire Outpost and surrounding ruins:
Horton also breaks down each location for us below…
Docking Bay 7: “My goal there was to not just be about what you can eat. Because when you visit there, Docking Bay 7 is a quick-service restaurant where you can pick up food. But there’s an amazing connection to The Force Awakens; in that restaurant, the current chef there, it was the chef at Maz Kanata’s castle in The Force Awakens. So, we talk a lot about why is Cookie there and what his approach to cooking is and what sort of shaped him.”
Spaceport: “A goal there was to not only tell you about the Millennium Falcon and Hando and why Hando Anacka has this operation going on there, but also make the spaceport feel bigger. The idea is [that] this is just one part of a larger spaceport and we wanted to provide more information about that place past what you might see on your first visit.”
Oga’s Cantina: “It’s clear that Oga runs the cantina because her name is on it, but what people might not realize is that Oga basically runs all of Black Spire Outpost. We use the cantina as a way of explaining who she is, why she is so powerful, and why guests won’t want to mess with her.”
Read the article in full at SyFy Wire, and we will be reviewing the book at Jedi News soon. You can pre-order Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge: Traveler’s Guide to Batuu now from Amazon.com for delivery on July 21st, 2020.
