A&A The Official Jason Fry Discussion Thread

My thoughts exactly! That was a great post!

 

One thing that has been consistent since 1976 (I'm using the year of the novelization's publication) is Vader's desire for the dark side to rule the galaxy. He contemplates it in the novelization, thinking about how foolish Tarkin, Motti, and Palpatine are. Of course, we now know that Palpatine didn't foolishly trust Vader nor was he oblivious to the power of The Force.

 

Hey, that's why -- even though I never for a second believed it -- I was kind of partial to the "Palpatine is Sidious' clone" hypothesis.

 

Okay, I'll keep that in mind for the future.

Okay. Now that I think about it, the "Lyra [whatever-the-last-name]" alias seems to be unique to your book (didn't see it anywhere else when adding info to Wookieepedia).

It's interesting to hear about how these projects are created.

Wow, and I only noticed it since I was using the book to update a Wookieepedia article. I'd actually wondered if they represented different incidents or something. (IMHO, a mistake of repeated information -- especially if it can be written off as a duplication error in the "original rap sheet" in universe -- is preferable to one where inaccurate information was accidentally inserted.)

Okay. To be totally honest, I never got the idea that Tarkin was angling to use the Death to become Emperor, I never read the original edition of the ANH novelization, an all that, but, then, I came to the movies years after they were made, so I kind of always knew that Vader was the Emperor's number one, and all that. I suspect that that's probably a different experience than what you had. However, the reasoning in that later post is well-presented, and the inclusion in the book works; Tarkin could be considering treachery, he might not, but it still adds to the threat level that the Rebels have to deal with.

Thank you for taking time to reply.

 

Considering how often mention of photo insert from the 1976 novelization is coming up, I thought it would be appropriate for me to dig up the vintage treasure and post what the insert actually said on this issue (the relevant passage has been highlighted by me):

That's pretty clearly spelled out, we gotta admit...

 

I would never have guessed! ;-)

Good to see Sival's alias is alive and well in Canon. Though I've been wondering ... what made you pick "Arhul" as the name to get the in-universe boost from The Kallea Cycle? I know other names were at least on your radar for popularity and high usage (Crix and Firmus, at the least). Did "Arhul" have a particularly nice ring to it, or did it just win a coin toss?

For which I am most grateful! ;-)

And, importantly, the other characters involved, as well.

On Twitter, you wrote that the book was "Fun to do while an interesting challenge for storytelling, presentation, POV and language." That it was! You had to juggle making it feel like a real intelligence document, building narratively towards the Rogue One story, keeping it accessible to the target age group, and keeping it interesting in the process. There's no way to get a perfect score on all of those goals without compromising somewhere, but I think you did the best job possible in scoring high on all of them.

 

Agreed.

 

You got some major kudos from a certain secret group on Facebook for adding some of those obscure characters back into canon! I have the Visual Guide for the movie, but I think I may need to add the Rebel Dossier to the collection. Please feel free to re-canonize anything about Star Tours or the Nagai.

Speaking of keeping things in the canon, after waiting so many years to get a full Red Squadron roster at Yavin in Warfare, I'm really holding out hope that those stay the same even though we met new Reds in Rogue One. Still, I'm sure they must've lost a lot of pilots at Scarif.

 

Oh hi! Starting author's notes for The Weapon of a Jedi. Hope they're of interest....

 

Hmm, the original start does seem like it would have taken too long for Luke to get to Devaron, but I am disappointed we missed out on seeing Herglics. One of my favorite underused species.

 

Very much so, I love author's notes. Can't wait for the rest of them.

(Very funny anecdote about you and Greg Rucka being assigned opposite characters then you felt inclined to. For what it's worth, from the final novel, I wouldn't have guessed you weren't a Luke person.)

 

Really? I didn't see Toprawa anywhere in Rogue One.

 

Hey Jason, so finished Weapon of a Jedi, a few thoughts and critiques, since I bet you get real tired of everyone saying how good the book is.

The basic structure, plot, and characteristics of Luke were great. The stakes weren't too high, and it was mostly a personal journey for Luke scouting for more clues about the Jedi, very cool.

The remote scene was problematic, because Luke went from essentially a scrub who could barely fend off one remote in the film, to going into a trance state where he was continuously blocking, seemingly at full speed, fire from three different remotes for more than three hours. Now, this is a personal taste issue, but I felt that was too much progress, too fast. I realize the point was to get Luke from A: to B: as far as a moderate level of skill that we see in Empire Strikes Back. But it would have been more than enough to show Luke struggling and FINALLY being able to guard two remotes, only for the third to float in. Could have been a funny moment, and illustrate that Luke still has a lot to learn.

The brief and brutal fight with the Imperials was well done, but I did eye-roll a little at Sarco stepping into Luke's guard and not doing "anything" to dodge or block his wild swing. Any experienced fighters knows not to take a wounded enemy lightly. Hindsight is 20/20, but I would have brought back the gimmick from the original Tagge-Luke fight from Marvel. Sarco throws a rock to distract Luke, but as previously established, Luke can *feel* it's a rock, so he cuts it, and continues to pivots to hit Sarco as he steps into range.

So, that's it! An excellent book with a few minor flaws.

 

Part 2 of the author's notes are up....

 

Hmm, regarding the possibility of Luke getting swimming lessons on Tatooine that you refer to in your notes, Luke seemed pretty determined to get into the Imperial Academy and I imagine basic physical skills (like swimming) was probably a requirement in the application. Maybe Fixer got Luke smuggled into a Hutt or Imperial governor's swimming resort on Tatooine somewhere and he got a crash course...

As it was in Splinter of the Mind's Eye, the Legends timeline indicates 2 years had passed since ANH by the time of that story, more than enough time for Luke to get swimming training with the Rebels. Thus, the only Legends continuity error would be Leia swimming earlier in the Marvel comics series, but suddenly being unable to swim in Splinter.

 

jasonfry When you were writing the lever scene, had you been given information on Luke's telekinesis breakthroughs in Heir to the Jedi?


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Part 3 addresses Heir, and some other stuff....

 

The motion comics for WOAJ and Smuggler's Run - done in apparent association with Nestle of all companies - are still one of the most randomly cool things of the new canon.

 

Hmm, it seems the reference to the Tagge fight was there, I just didn't pick up on it.

 

I've just picked up Rogue One Mission Dossier in WHSmith in the U.K. and it appears the name has been changed to Mission Files for the uk market