A&A The Official Walter Jon Williams Discussion Thread

The real reason that Vergere doesnt tell Luke anything about Anakin or Obi-Wan is because they came to Zonama Sekot after Vergere had been gone for a year,vergere had no way of knowing exactly which jedi the Jedi Council sent to Zonama Sekot to look for her,as for her not mentioning Anakin Skywalker to Luke thats never stated at all, for all we know Jacen and Vergere both mentioned him in their reports to NRI and Luke and it just wasnt mentioned in the book itself.

Walter John Williams book was awesome,although vergere doesnt seem to agree with Magister that evil is an illusion,she seems to follow her own improved view of the Potentium using her own experiences and the original followers beliefs combined.

I have a few questions for Mr.Williams myself:
1.Is Onimi actually the true Supreme Overlord and he is using Shimrra as a puppet ruler?this idea is being debated in the Literature board so i wanted to ask the man himself.

2.Are the Yuuzhan Vong preparing to invade either the Imperial Remnant or the Unknown Regions?the reason i ask is because they've started a new path of conquest there on the galactic map.

 

Mateo, you're right that there's no way Vergere would know about Anakin and Obi-Wan going to Zonama Sekot to look for her. However, Vergere told Jacen in Traitor she saw Anakin only once from a distance. And she and Obi-Wan were in Cloak of Deception, so I saw she knew Obi-Wan quite well.

 

A few questions after I finished reading it:

1) What inspired you to create the Anx Jedi Madurrin? Did you know about the speculation that one of the unnamed original twelve students of the Jedi academy was an Anx?

2) Is the fact that you made Tresina Lobi a Chevin (with a snout), instead of a Chev (a near human) as she had been portrayed in previous books, just a glitch, or was she supposed to be a Chevin the whole time? Here's a link to a fan discussion on the topic.

Tresina Lobi (minor DW spoilers)

 

Is it hard answering all of these questions?

Elaborate on the Republic-class Cruiser? Is it some small ship or closer in size to MonCal ship. What kind of capabilities does it have?

Also, I was close on my theory on how the decisive battle would take place. I said around Centerpoint because of the dense population of planets and Centerpoints interdiction field's ability to trap enemies. Cool, eh?

 

I have some spoiler questions when you get a chance...

DW Spoilers



















Did you know of Tenel Ka's heartfelt love for Jacen (revealed in Dark Journey) prior to writing DW and submitting the final version? It seemed like this was glanced over all too conveniently.

In Dark Journey, Tenel Ka mentioned more than once how much she loved Jacen. And from her POV, she could hardly bear the thought of never seeing Jacen ever again.

The Jedi reception seemed like the perfect opportunity to reacquaint these two after an almost-kiss from SbS, after the reader feels Jacen's "death" first from Tenel Ka's perspective and after she reveals how much she loves Jacen.

Secondly, who robes Jacen at the knighting ceremony? The text notes which pair of Council members robes every Jedi EXCEPT for Jacen? Was this intentional on your part?
























End of DW Spoilers

 

Jedi Ben, I ought to point out that Anakin was built up. Not just in Edge of Victory, but since NJO began.

But it wasn't Denning who chopped him, as you said.

No author sane or insane would have dared axed our beloved Ani. Don't forget, this series is planned by higher powers, like Del Rey editors, who answer to LucasFilm, or whatever it is. Some authors are just following directions.

Nevertheless, briging him back at this late stage is somewhat pointless. Even if Anakin somehow returns in a body to save the day, he's been dead (by the time NJO finishes) for nearly two years, and other characters have been doing all the work. Further more, "how" he resurrects is vitally important to give him credibility.

 

Mr. Williams: I suppose Nom Anor DOES have important deceitful stuff to do in the future (perhaps it is he who will betray some of the deepest Vong secrets to NR officials simply out of spite?) I still might have liked to see him lose a limb/extremity . . . maybe his other eye, though.

It was nice to know that I was right about some of the political changes that the new Chief of State wants to employ, not the least of which is the introduction of Federalism. It'll be interesting to see how Cal's push for a new constitution is received. I can't imagine people like Pwoe and Rodan won't have fun things to say on the subject. "Cal Omas is a human supremicist and wants to establish himself as the next emperor to avenge Alderaan".

I was ALSO hoping to see Vergere reveal some important facts about Anakin Skywalker . . . namely how he was considered The Chosen One who would bring balance to the Force. Were you unauthorized to do that for the reason that someone else will be taking on that role?

 

Did you come up with the idea of Alpha Red, or was it the powers greater than you (ie Del Ray, LFL)?

 

Yes, KansasNavy, it's hard answering these questions. Bear in mind as you read my posts that I finished this book over a year ago, and my own memories of DW are probably less clear than yours. I've been involved with a very complex multi-book project since, and all =those= characters and their interrelationships have filled up much of the space in my RAM that was once taken up by NJO.

If you write in something as involved and complex as NJO, there are certain things you do that are mandatory, certain things that are forbidden, and certain things that are left up to you.

One of the things that I suspect is NOT allowed would be a discussion of Anakin Skywalker and his role as the Chosen One. That's all reserved for the current set of movies and the books built around them. (Or so I assume. This assumption was so strong that I never considered the issue in any other light.)

Certain things that I was required to do involved Vergere's transmission to Luke and others of her own view of the Force and the Vong, the formation of a new pro-Jedi government, the creation of a Jedi Council, as well as Dif Scaur's involvement with the Chiss and the creation of the anti-Vong weapon.

Certain things required special permission. Jacen's using a particular Force-based weapon in the final chapters. Vergere's, um, reappearance in the scene immediately following.

Yeah, I have a dim memory from many months ago that the ship was originally the Lusankya.

The Anx Jedi Madurrin was a last-minute replacement--- I had a Melodie Jedi in that role originally but was told she'd been killed in one of the books . Someone at Lucasfilm suggested an Anx. So Darth-Kevin's theory about the twelve original Jedi may be right.

The confusion between Chev and Chevin may be mine, but I rather think it may be in the NJO bible I was given. There's definitely an "oops," there, however. Somewhere.

Sorry if I missed something in the Jacen/Tenel Ka relationship. My impression was that their relationship was in the past. STAR BY STAR, for example, didn't really indicate any special feelings for one another.

The problem with writing an epic with a cast of thousands is that some people necessarily get shorter shrift than others.

I can't get into spoilers regarding Onimi or Nom Anor or Shimrra. Don't wqnt to spoil things for future writers.

If I screwed up on the Tahiri thing, then I was either misinformed, or I misinterpreted something someone told me. In any case, Kre'fey's would have put a Jedi in charge of a squadron anyway. And Tahiri, because she's being very conscienscious at this stage of her career, would have said yes.

Anakin's death was a part of NJO from the beginning, and all writers knew what was planned for him. George Lucas approved the story line personally. Anakin was deliberately built up, but in a certain way. There was an important element that Anakin missed, and it cost him.

I don't think it's a bad thing to mislead the reader, so long as it's done fairly. It's like writing a good mystery: the reader has to have seen all the clues, but the clues achieve significance only when the detective reveals their true nature. I know that the writers took special care with the Anakin story, and I know it was done fairly.

 

Excellence,

Yes, Anakin was built up from the beginning but I would still maintain that it was only in EOV that he became liked by large numbers of fans. This is due to the fact that Keyes characterised him the way he did.

Walterjon,

Appreciate the reply, can't help but think a number of Anakin fans may take issue with the question of how fairly it was done though. However, on that note, I'll hand this point over to dp4m and the Ani-fans!

Jedi Ben

 

<sigh>... I was gonna just let it be, but Jedi Ben wants me to take up the mantle. <assume mantle>

Anakin's death was a part of NJO from the beginning, and all writers knew what was planned for him. George Lucas approved the story line personally. Anakin was deliberately built up, but in a certain way. There was an important element that Anakin missed, and it cost him.

I don't think it's a bad thing to mislead the reader, so long as it's done fairly. It's like writing a good mystery: the reader has to have seen all the clues, but the clues achieve significance only when the detective reveals their true nature. I know that the writers took special care with the Anakin story, and I know it was done fairly.

This, quite frankly, is bulldinkies. It's quite the one thing to intentionally mislead readers over the course of a book (as I've said -- it's good stuff). Your analogy, as pointed out, of a mystery writer is poorly compared as mysteries are usually self-contained stories. A mystery writer can play with their audience because, SURPRISE, everything's wrapped up by the end of the book. It's quite ANOTHER thing, on the other hand, to intentionally mislead readers over the course of 19 (14 to this point, right?) books. After one book of being toyed with, I may not read another book by that mystery writer and I'm down $7 or $25, which is not a huge deal. After 14 books, I'm down like $170 which is unconscionable if part of the "bible" for the series is "Hey, let's intentionally mislead readers."

And, lest you think my ire stems from "the Anakin Solo debacle," that's not exactly it, per se. Del Rey has taken it upon iself to try and integrate as many facets of the EU as possible -- which is a WONDERFUL thing. However -- the death, and now implied non-rebirth, of Anakin Solo destroys all for which you have fought and suffered. Part of the greatness of Star Wars (despite a couple of blips along the way) is the continuity of the storyline which all leads into what I call "the internal consistency of the GFFA." This has existed for 25+ years now. Yet with two apparently hastily edited novels to replace Knightfall, in order to build up Anakin Solo to make it that much more of a tragedy, this is now a false consistency. And what is that consistency:

Every Jedi vision or prophecy by/about a main character will come true in some fashion.

Every. Single. One. Even the Emperor's vision of what would happen at the Second Death Star came true to a certain point. The only one that hadn't come true YET was the one about Luke having more than one child from "The Courtship of Princess Leia," and there's still plenty of time for that to occur. The Prophecy of the One, Yoda's visions, the Emperor's... everything came true TO SOME POINT. And yet... we have in Edge of Victory a prophecy of Anakin by Ikrit that now can't possibly come true. We have Luke touching the unborn Anakin Solo in his mother's womb through the Force and declaring that Anakin Solo will be the most powerful of the new Jedi. We have Luke being granted a Force vision of all THREE of Leia's children, grown as adults, leading the Jedi.

Sadly, the circle is now broken. The consistency is violated. As is my trust.

 

can you say anything regarding the fate of raynar thul in star by star. Most assume he is dead as he was taken in the ship with the dark jedi after they left myrkr.
Thanks.

 

I was not going to post a reply here for the simple effect of not overwhelming the community here with Anakin Solo fans, but in the light of Mr. Williams' most recent post, I find that it is impossible for me to stand idle.

I cannot, in any way agree with you that his build-up and subsequential death was handled fairly (I do know that this decision was not up to Mr. Williams, but in the absense of the possiblity of effectively contacting the editors at Del Rey, I will post my comments here). It is my opinion that the EU of Star Wars has an equal amount of "untouchables" as do the original movies, by the fans' desire if not by contract. Anakin Solo has been a very popular character from the outset of the expanded universe. He has appearances in, to my count, four series, one novel and many comic books--including one series dedicated near-exclusively to him. He was endeared to the vast majority of the Star Wars fans, and he became a favorite character to many of them, including myself. His death was set up in a way that it was unnecessary and cheap. Hopes in the character were dashed and many plotlines were left unresolved. In a way, his death has cheapened what Star Wars literature means to me. I will try to not be as extreme as I am on other discussions, but suffice to say that Del Rey's immagination of Anakin Solo's character's worth has made me angry, to say the least.

 

If he is dead & gone, then the author SbS has screwed up. If the cocoon, that came seemingly from no where, the glow, the fact that they always used words like ''gone'' rather than ''dead'' in the narration, had no point, then it was not a clever red herring, it was a bad writing.

Or perhaps it wasn't. Perhaps it was some kind of stab-in-the-back marketing stategy by Del Rey, a few little nuggets of hope to keep the hardcore Anakin Solo fans coming back book after book after BOOK just in case there was some chance of his surviving.

I'm not much of an Anakin fan myself, I must admit, but I did like him, & I really hated Jacen. It just seems a waste.

A serious question to the authors: Why do you think Del Rey insists on denying its fanbase? We pay them for their books, they slap us in the face. The EU is just a cash in, it's not like it's some big, artistic vision that has to keep true to itself, or anything like that, so, honestly, why don't they just give us what we want? Is it so unreasonable?

 

Why did he die. The authors posting on this forum keep insinuating that it was a thing that Anakin was missing something that he made a real error but I can't see how he was any more reckless than any of his classmates on that fateful mission, but he had to bite the dust. Was there any tactical advantage in his death or was it just to kill a couple of Voxyn? Why did Anakin die from killing relatively few Vong while Ganner decimated an army? Don't tell me thatit was because of Ganner's new insights or the fact that he was only guarding a doorway rather than being surrounded. It just seems like none of this adds up, like it's contrived. What did the solo twins have, what did Anakin not have, that has Jaina and Jacen alive and well? Especially when Anakin had the most promise. I just seems like Anakin will drift into the anals of history as a guy who didn't do much never did as much as he could have and was dead from the day he was born, that his destiny was too hard for him to carry and he failed. But I can't beleive that,..as Vergere asked Jacen in Traitor, was this Anakin's best end or his worst?

 

What characters should we watch with interest (besides the Skywalker-Solo clan) in the next year of NJO books?

 

Jedi Alman, Terranix, Maverick I don't think it's really the place here or frankly Mr. Williams to deal with the issue of Anakin Solo's death or the distaste that it has caused in many fans mouth. This is a thread that he has generously chosen to patronize with his answers.

Frankly if you want to know the answer to the question I suggest you write instead Troy Denning which is at least a much more relavent post in this forum to this question....and even he I suspect didn't have much say from these words in what was involved in Anakin Solo being offed.

He lived to adulthood as probably Luke reckoned it, he destroyed the Voxyn, he was a leader of the Jedi. The prophecy came true and I don't think he's comming back.

It was meant to show the realism of the wars desperation and effect the character's personalities greatly of the NEW Jedi Order as the Old Heroes had been affected by Chewbacca I'm sure. Like Tara on Buffy, of course fans of Anakin don't get that and all they see is a senseless waste. That's your opinion as a reader of their ability to tell a good story (That Poor Melodie is my point! Why kill the mermaid girl?!). Since this is Mister WIlliam's thread please send rebuttals to my words via private message, I will answer them as best I can.

So overall Mister Williams how did you enjoy your Star Wars experience?

 

Mr. Williams,

I enjoyed Destiny's Way immensely. I felt it was one of the top two books in the NJO series (the other being Rebel Stand, a paperback).

You seemed to have great insight into the characters' minds and characteristics, especially Luke, whom many fans feel has been mistreated and mischaracterized in the series. The way you handled Luke as the top Jedi master fit in with the way I've always envisioned his role from after the original films.

Han's mocking of the Imperials now ranks as one of my favorite humor scenes in literature: Nostril of Palpatine!

I read the details on Vergere's background with great interest. Were those details you were allowed to create, or did Del Ray give you an outline for that. It was one of the most intriguing details of the novel since she not only has been a mysterious character in NJO, but was a member of the old Jedi Order as well.

Anyway, thank you for the great read. I look forward to looking for more of your books at the store, despite the scarcity of them I've noted from this thread.

--Jason/Southernjedi

 

Walter, if you wrote Destiny's Way about a year ago... is it logical to state that The Unifying Force could be written as we speak!?!

 

Hey, kids!!!

Wow . . . more heated debate. I'm not gonna join, however, I will put in my vote for taking it to a more relevent thread. Anakin was already gone by the time Walter Jon got involved with the series. If you want to ask the DelRey peeps themselves (which is my reccomendation), send me a private message and I'll give you an e-mail address you can send to. No doubt they've had innumerable comments like yours sent to them already, and are prepared to answer them as completely as is possible.


Back to DW . . . It's good to see Luke being a, well, LEADER again. It's even better to see he and Kyp somewhat getting along. D Yay!!!

 

The fact is though Charlemagne is that it is Walterjon himself who, through his honesty, has given us a new insight into what I will dub 'The Anakin Affair'. Therefore, in terms of fans posting in response to the information divulged by Walterjon, this is the place for such posts. Plus, none of the posts I've seen have accused Walterjon of being responsible for TAF, he has simply given us info that was not known before.

dp4m, you didn't HAVE to take up the mantle, I simply reckoned I ought to hand over to those who are genuinely incensed or irked by it. It's the politics and philosophy I've had it in for in NJO and that's why I like DW as much as I do, someONE is finally showing some GOOD politics! Past time!

Jedi Ben

 

Charlemagne's correct. This isn't an Anakin Solo thread, it's a Walter Jon Williams thread. If you want to talk about him or his work, then by all means do so. Let's get back on track.

 

Yeah, I'm glad the Imperials were treated as a former enemy instead of a whole new ally like in Ruin. Good look of Bastion, too.

So...what's the scoop on the Republic-class Cruiser?

EDIT: And do you find my new signature witty?

 

Yea give us a better detail of what the republic class crusier looks like. Maybe we could start on developing some renderings of them

 

I don't like a Republic Cruiser.

Isn't that what the diplomatic ship was called in Phantom Menace that flew Jinn and Kenobi? Same name, different type.

It is also the easy way to class a warship. You have Republic Star Destroyers, and now Cruisers. How about a Republic Frigate.

Thirdly, it makes it painfully hard to use it in sentences, doesn't it? For example, a Carrack light cruiser. You can say Carrack or cruiser. But with a Republic Cruiser, you can't just say Republic. It's too confusing as either a ship or the actual (New) Republic.

This is all commonsense talk, though. Without the book I don't know of there's more description for the book.

And yes, Gatherer, I agree. NJO is planned out a year before. Either the last of the Heretic books are nearing completion, or at least Keyes' untiltied is being done.