Author Analysis: Kathy Tyers

Analyze and discuss her writing style, strengths and weaknesses, etc, without bashing or gushing.

Previous Author Analyses:
Darko Macan
Vonda McIntyre
Walter Jon Williams
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Roger MacBride Allen
John Ostrander
Steve Perry
Brian Daley
Barbara Hambly
Dave Wolverton
Troy Denning
Ann C. Crispin
K. W. Jeter
Sean Stewart
Haden Blackman
Greg Keyes
Michael Stackpole
Kevin J. Anderson
Matthew Stover
Michael Reaves
Aaron Allston

Go at it!

 

My knowledge of her writing begins and ends with 2 SW books, so I'm inadequateky experienced to comment much. Bakura was okay for an average read, nothing extraordinary, nothing outright horrible.

Regarding BP, crack an egg on my head and I'll omlette it for you . . . say, half a minute.

 

Kathy is one of the very few authors that actually wrote Luke well. Not only did he have brains, but he used them and she did pretty good with Mara too. So I thank her for that. If it wasn't for her Luke wouldn't have Ben at all or any sort of Legacy.

 

She had the opportunity to really show us how the Rebels, Imperials, and galaxy at large reacted to the death of Palpatine. Instead she gave us deinonychus's that turned people into spaceships. And then she disproved the idea that the hardcovers were the important entries in the NJO. Let's just say I'm not a fan.

 

I bet she has a Mara outfit at home and posters of Mark Hamill. J/K!



She was too pro (Luke and Mara and their almost embarrassing) lust scenes. I didn't like it much. I don't care for including of the thoughts of the person, I find it distracting. Esp Mara's thoughts. She's such a stuck up arrogant person. I like Mara much better when a non fangirl or boy writes her. She's much cooler in the newer books except for Jacen fixation.

Mainly. I thought Jacen was a flake. But then, Jacen IS a flake. What do you expect. I never liked Jacen. Luke should have punished more in childhood. He should have taken all his pets and freed them or made him hold Lifeboy soap in his mouth for lousy jokes.
I didn't like the way she wrote the Solo family. She didn't do a very good job in that regard.

Maybe I am letting myself be influenced here. I read around the fanboards that Tyers ruined the pacing by writing about Luke and Mara and not about some other characters. Is that accurate? Then some other book was cancelled because she didn't develop the story enough. I guess something must have happened because they never asked her back.

 

Kathy will always have my highest regards for the years she spent posting in this very forum and the respect and camaraderie that she showed the fans here.

I thought Truce at Bakura was fine book. Kathy introduced a unique antagonist into the EU and touched on subjects that would have been at the forefront immediately after RotJ: Luke coming into his own as a Jedi and Leia facing her heritage.

IMHO, Balance Point was one of the more climactic installations in the NJO and the interpersonal relationships between characters were handled exceptionally well, especially Luke/Mara and Leia/Jaina.

Of her short stories, I?ve only read Tinian on Trial from Tales from the Empire, but I thought it was a strong, well-constructed short. She has a talent for writing page-turning drama without descending into melodrama.

 

Interesting. I didn't find anything "climatic" in Balance Point, Trace. The book was almost three-quarters boredom, filled with forgettable filler characters, a finale you knew by midbook, in an environment so restrictive it constrained your entire visual creativity and description. The target world was conquered with overwhelming numbers, not via strategy, and Anor was Agents of Chaos repeated.

The Kalarba moon going to drop like Sernpidal was offhand in description, like such phenomena is all in a day's work. The showdown with Lah was over in a page---a boy tossed an appliance, and out a window Lah went. That was it. Many fans have issues with Organa Solo wailing like some timid kitten too. It was the book that confirmed too, screaming Vong don't stun well.

So, not only are they taller, longer lived and heavier than humans, they also can't get stunned the same way. Why not make their bodies force fields and be done with it?

No, Balance Point was not well written, not at all, and the transparent ending was the biggest cheat for readers.

 

It's been a while since I read BP, but Bakura was excellent. Still one of my favorites. If things hadn't worked out with Mara, Gaeriel would have made a fine Mrs. Skywalker...

 

The Ssi-ruuk were creative. Gaeriel was a good OC who had original aspect -- not only did she have a religion, but it thought Jedi were bad, and for a good reason. She also gave us Ben Skywalker, which is enough to praise her for there. On the other hand, her books were never particularly exicting, which isn't good. She's a competent enough writer, but hasn't done much to stand out. On general principal I wouldn't object to having her back to write again, but we have so many authors who are not just good but great that it would seem like a waste.

 

She wrote that?

 

Her books may have been unexciting, but I really enjoyed the character she created for the Adventure Journal, Tinian I'att.

 

I felt cheated by the "bait-and-switch" of TAB. We are set up with the premise of seeing the Rebel Alliance in the aftermath of Endor, and instead we're whisked away to a far-off planet where they enjoy an adventure that easily could've been placed in a few issues of the old Marvel Comics series - before or after Endor. The "historic" first treaty between the Alliance and the Empire (never mind that it was broken almost immediately or that the Imperial representative was from a far-off backwater) and Leia coming to terms with her father didn't make up for it.

I didn't have any issues with her in Balance Point. Most of the apparent flaws were of the NJO series as a whole.

 

It was Kathy Tyers and her Truce at Bakura that renewed my interest in SW after a long hiatus. I very much enjoyed her characterizations.

I am grateful to her for lobbying Del Rey and LFL to allow her to give Luke and Mara a child. If it weren't for her, Luke would probably never have been given any children. Ben was the one positive that came out of the NJO, and he was the best surprise of Betrayal. I just hope he isn't ruined in future LotF books.

 

TAB was one of my first Star Wars books (mainly because of the Ssi-ruuvi entries in the EGTVV). I liked it a lot at the time but looking back years later saw more flaws. However, I did like the description of Bakura and I always liked Gaeriel.

Balance Point is probably one of the better NJO books. It actually connects well with the books preceding it; unlike most NJO, instead of a few general references, it mentions even minor events and characters from the earlier five.

 

So the exciting adventures of Randa and a few gargoyle Vor was interesting reading, in an artificial environment that made visual creative description all but extinct?

 

I seem to remember quite enjoying BP the first time around when I got it from the library. I've just bought it for £1 so will reread it and see what I think second time.
I liked Tinian on trial in Tales of the Empire although I thought there was better in that book.
Truce at Bakura - meh.

 

I think BP was my first NJO book- I really loved the Luke/Mara scenes and the interaction between Mara and Jaina. And as CoW said, Luke and Mara found out they were going to be parents.

ToB was...well, I guess I'm just not a fan of life-energy sucking reptiles

 

Kathy Tyers is, in a word, awesome. TAB, BP, and her Firebird books all have prominent places on my bookshelf.

Also, no one has characterized Luke and Mara better than her. When comparing TAB and BP to Bloodlines, I've realized that Kathy would have flourished in Karen's settings . . . and made everything so much better.

 

That was Kathy's idea? Wow! I didn't even know.

And knowing is half the battle! G. I. JOOOOEEEEE!!!

Anyway --- I'm actually a big fan of Kathy Tyers, for various reasons. A lot of people say that Balance Point is a poor excuse for a hardcover, but I think that a lot of that is general disapproval of single-planet books. Single-planet books are harder to write well than multi-planet books, and tend to make up for exciting space battles and action sequences with good writing and characterization, as Tyers generally does. I thought that she did an excellent job writing the beginnings of Han & Leia mending their relationship, as well as Luke & Mara taking theirs to the next level (pregnancy). Relationships between Luke & Mara with the Solo children were also done excellently (notably, Mara & Jaina as they escaped from under all those rocks). The book was also a beautiful transition from Jedi Eclipse, in regards to Han & Droma, SELCORE, and several other elements, too --- which must have been no small feat, considering that the two books came out on the same day!

I also think that she deserves applause for not making Balance Point a sequel to Truce. So many SW authors, when returning to the EU, bring back the characters and situations from their previous works (Zahn, Allston, Denning, Stackpole --- which isn't always a bad thing, mind you), but Balance Point had nothing to do with Truce. No Ssi-Ruuk, no Bakura, nuffin'.

It's been four and a half years since I read Tales of the Bounty Hunters, so I can't really comment on Bossk's tale... I seem to remember liking it, though.

Also, Tyers is the first SW author I've ever seen use the phrase "Gung Ho".

 

Truce at Bakura was good, but not as a book set 1 day after Endor. I was hoping we would see how the galaxy at large reacted to the Empire's defeat. If it had been set later in the timeline, I would have enjoyed it way more.

 

I recently finished The Truce at Bakura a few days ago. First full EU novel I've read since Betrayal raped my eyes, and I have to say I was plesently surprised. I didn't remember caring for Balance Point that much, but I doubt even Hemingway or the Bard could make that part of the NJO interesting.

The whole point of Truce at Bakura dealt with the death of Palpatine, but she choose to show it on a more personal level. The concept of a planet being doomed due to the Rebel victory is a brilliant one. The majority of the novels show Rebel liberation as "yes, death to the Empire!" People clamoring for realism should forget the faux realism of the current EU and look back at this. Shame that this idea was not used again.

Also have to say the biggest joy I got from reading TAB was being reminded that there was a time when EU novels were actually edited. The scens showed in TAB actually pushed the narrative forward instead of the excess fat in Dark Rendezvous and countless other novels. Simply put TAB was constructed in a much more professional manner.

I might pick up Balance Point again to see if my opinion of it has changed. As it is Truce at Bakura is one of the better EU novels I've read in a while.