My Journey into a galaxy far, far away...

“These are your first steps.”

When I was still in Primary School (as we call it in Australia; ‘elementary’ or ‘grammar’ school for those who prefer it) my best friend at the time first introduced me to Star Wars. He loved the films, had the visual dictionaries, read the novels and I tried to get him to teach me a number of things about it.

As much as I liked it, perhaps after time I have realised that part of my love for Star Wars wasn’t so much the films, as it was playing in our respective back yards, wielding cricket wickets as lightsabers. Where my buddy often chose to be Luke Skywalker, Kyle Katarn, or Corran Horn, I chose to be Han Solo... with a lightsaber.

During our friendship I learned a little more about Star Wars, reading the aforementioned Visual Dictionaries, listening to my friend talk about the contents of the books, watching my friend play Dark Forces, and begging my parents to let me get some action figures.

Enter The Phantom Menace, first figure I bought; Jar Jar and Maul! I devoured that film and still adore it to this day. The DVD was played countless times at my house. To a point where I have likely seen it more than any other film. So while he was switched on enough to read Vector Prime, I found the Jedi Apprentice books a little more my speed.

Jump forward the year I spend in the UK, where amongst a box of toys left for us in our temporary home, was a Scout Trooper. My very first Star Wars action figure. Almost a year later, on a little return home holiday in New York and Washington DC, I found a Power of the Force Grand Moff Tarkin figure.

At the time I’d completely forgotten who he was, for it had been some time since I saw the films, but I was determined to grow my action figure collection.

As the years went by, my friendship with he who introduced me to this wonderful galaxy faded. But as our friendship dwindled, my love of Star Wars grew.

In High School I knew absolutely nobody at my new school, choosing to go to a school where my Dad was a teacher under the tantalising notion of free rides and daily McDonald’s thickshakes (which were not delivered upon).

Thankfully it was in my first week there where I met a new Master, my eyes lit up when he said he knew Star Wars, having a number of other people snort, chortle, and eye roll when I mentioned it to them beforehand. But in this moment a grand friendship was born.

Over the years, my friend was heavily into reading the books, I would ask the occasional question, but reading was something I always struggled with. So we would watch all the DVDs we could get our hands on including Caravan of Courage, and reading all teh books the library had to offer (the first three Young Jedi Knights books)

As High School continued, my interests expanded and with a lack of Star Wars content to sink my teeth into, it fell to the wayside somewhat.

Many more years passed and though it lay dormant in the back of my mind, hidden amongst The Lord of the Rings, Tarantino, DC and Marvel comics, Muppets and Disney, Star Wars continued to occupy a special place within my very soul, waiting for it’s moment to strike.

During this time, I believe somewhere after the first run of The Clone Wars 3D Animated series, I was told I needed to watch it, did so, loved it. Yet even then, the tsunami of fandom that would consume me had not yet reached more than a ripple. This ripple expanded out into Shadows of the Empire, the Han Solo Trilogy and a few other stories centers around Han Solo in the EU.

Enter Disney. Say what you will about Disney and their treatment of Star Wars, but I will always be thankful to the acquisition of Lucasfilm, for it started something I will never turn back from.

When the announcement got made and that there would be a new Canon I realised this was my time. I could get in on something from the very beginning, starting now I would get all the books and other original stories as they came out and keep on top of it.

Shortly thereafter, going through something of an identify crisis, I drastically decided to get a tattoo. Han Solo, I decided, would be a greatly important figure to immortalise on my flesh. After all, it was watching Star Wars that made me really take not of what acting was, which has since lead to almost everything that brings me joy now. So even if my love of Star Wars fades, Han Solo represents something more than that.

Even more shortly after that, I met my absolutely stunningly intelligent, wildly understanding and incomparably supportive partner. And get this... she’d never seen a Star Wars movie.

My excitement to show her something I loved was palpable, what with The Force Awakens about to his screens across the world. Alas, though she sat through the Original Trilogy and half of The Phantom Menace, it was not for her.

Since then however, she has supported me in my obsession.

The time had some to take stock of my life and figure out what was truly important. Away went 90% of the things I had acquired over the ten to fifteen years prior. Make way for a new era. An Era of Star Wars. Long may it reign.

With my collection of Canon books and comics expanding, so too did my action figure collection. The Black Series figures stood proudly on my shelf for a good number of years until I decided to upgrade near the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

So too did my interest in the novels extend into the old Expanded Universe. For what was I to do when I became completely up to date with the Canon material? So continued the acquisition of as many Star Wars EU novels, junior reads, comics and games as I could get my hands on.

Since then I have started up an Instagram page to share my love of Star Wars with people other than my partner, had an on-again-off-again-on-again-break-for-a-while-back-on-again-hopefully relationship with a podcast, and only very recently delved into the world of blogging.

I love sharing my thoughts and love for Star Wars in any way that I can. I am super excited to see what comes next.

May the Force be with you.