Are the novels actually rubbish? Books vs. Fanfic

Sorta-spoiler, from Liana's post...
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he and Dia go their separate ways. (It isn't in the books, but Allston says their paths diverge and they don't end up together...)

Really? Where'd you read that? That's pretty cool.

Actually, for some of my fanfics (two thus far), I do "director's commentary". it's a separate text file to "accompany" the fanfic, and it works like a "director's commentary" on a DVD. I talk about why I wrote things certain ways, I mention scenes I cut out, and why, and I explain "easter eggs" (characters based off of my friends, references to other EU/fanfic stuff, etc). It's cool, and helps my readers "get into" the fanfic.

 

That's cool, Syntax. The most I've ever given readers was a pronounciation guide. And that was seriously needed. You'd see what I mean if you read even one chapter of my fanfic. But that idea about the director's commentary is a good one! I'm sure I have at least some material for that, since a lot of my story was planned out through notes I passed my friends in high school. Now, to find them. . .

Jae Angel

 

Don't get me wrong here. I don't want anyone to get the impression that I'm a prude or anything-far from it!

No, it's just that sometimes they read more like a really cheesy Harlequin romance novel than a Star Wars one. If you're going to write a love scene-there's a better way to do it than that!

 

Really? Where'd you read that? That's pretty cool.

It's in Allston's FAQ section on his site.

 

Sweet. I'll have to go read that. Thanks, Nichos.

 

Obviously, none of that is official EU "fact" until it appears in a story somewhere


They never split until we see it

 

Oh, and that wasn't Lianna, btw.

We just have the same avatar, it seems.

 

Oh, whoops. My mistake.

 

>>>>>
She had to take care of three children and run a government. Who was there to help her, like they were in the OT? No Chewie, no Han, no Luke. If I were in her position, I think I would not be myself either. It seemed to her sometimes that the Republic and everything she worked so hard to achieve was crumbling. So I think her actions and words are justifiable.
>>>>

I can understand that - but personally I thought when Han went missing she was in character- it was the rest I thought out of character.

People were always saying "you cant do that Leia, coz then this will happen" and explaining what will happen in the senate as if she didnt know the laws herself! I'm sure this was just Kube-M's way of describing to the reader what was happening but it made Leia seem like she didnt know the ins and outs of how the senate worked! Mostly it came from "Benny" and Ackbar.




I still think Han isnt in the books as much as I'd like - the main roles are usually Leia and Luke. I must just notice it more coz I'm always treasuring each bit with Han in it! I havent started reading NJO yet because I'm trying to hold off and spread all the books out so I dont end up having read them all and having to wait for new ones to be written for a while - and I'm trying to read them more or less in order. I have seen a couple that look like they're about Han though, from reading the synopsis, but then so did Corellian trilogy and he wasnt in that as much as I expected.

 

Star Whores

lol - there is a lot of crappy "porn" in the fan fic world! Especially in the X Files, with a load of ridiculous pairings like Mulder and Krycek and even worse somehow, Mulder and Skinner.

Plus in Star wars where you get Leia and Han saying things to eachother that are COMPLETELY out of character! I dont like romance ff much at all - esp. not Ani/Ami. Its the action stories I like!


There is some ACE fan fic out there though, seriously - my favourite site is (predictably) The Corellian Embassy (which is mostly Han stuff) and about 80% is great quality stuff. There's loads of really action-ey stories, violence, adventure. its www.rtis.com/nat/user/golledge/main.htm if anyone fancies it. Fanfix is pretty cool too.

 

Director's commentary? That sounds pretty cool-perhaps I should try that, being that I tend to overanalyze and explain things anyways.

 

Some fanfic is really good and well researched, and definitely worth a read. I prefer the stuff that fits into the existing storyline. I write a bit, and, like Syntax, I always research to get the facts straight, and try and remain true to the characters' conversation styles etc. It's actually quite challenging, and in some ways is more difficult to write than original fiction as you're under more restraints when you have to fit in with an existing structure. I have one full novel set just after Truce at Bakura, plus a lot of filler stories about the pilots, and more recently a series of NJO stories concerning Anakin, Tahiri and Corran. I like a mixture of action and romance, but I always try and stay true to the characters.

 

I prefer fanfiction. It's a lot better than the EU books and the fanfiction writers have a much better grasp of the characters than the professional authors.

 

Yeah, I agree. I mean, who knows better? The people that create the characters and give them their first life, or the people who think they are cool and use them in their own fantasy dreams? Yeah... go fanfic.

"Hump the stump!" -Mace Windu to Obi-Wan, refering to Yoda.

On another note, the EU isn't just novels. Its video games, its comics, is the RPG factoids. Thats what makes this story great to a lot of us, besides the great writting. All of these other EU sources hold as much weight at the novels in my experiance, and justly so.

 

Does anyone agree with me about how the novels have loads of quite dull "filler" bits about unknown pilots on missions and stuff. Its not that the idea is dull - but they're nearly always not very interesting because the characters arent made interesting and its mostly made up of conversation to describe the action, rather than actual action. thats okay when its han and chewie, or luke or leia, imo, but when its indescript eu characters its boring. in BFC (keep referring to that as its the last i read!) I was interested in Plat Mellar as he was given a history, but the others-no.

 

Well, the books have editing... And generally, all the authors have writing talent and/or are over the age of 18. Which is, believe it or not, a plus.

However, I generally perfer fanfic more. There's more freedoom in plots; the writers don't have to stick with canon. Of course, most of it is crap, and you do have to dig to find something decent.

Yes, there are the occupational hazards like Mary Sues (not absent from profic; Bria, anyone?), extremely inane plots, bad crossovers (99% of them), insane charsacterization, 12 year old authors, and, well... the list goes on.

But overall... I like the possibility. I like AU. I like the variety of viewpoints. It's worth it, to find good fanfic.