Author Analysis: L. Neil Smith

Analyze and discuss Smith's strengths and weaknesses as a writer. No bashing or gushing.

Previous Author Analyses:
Jeremy Barlow
Dan Wallace
Alan Dean Foster
Paul and Hollace Davids
James Luceno
Daniel Keys Moran
Elaine Cunningham
R. A. Salvatore
Sean Williams and Shane Dix
Greg Bear
Kathy Tyers
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!

 

No offense, but I have no idea who he is.

 

He wrote the Lando Adventures trilogy.

 

I want to read his libertarian utopia novels.

 

From what I remember I enjoyed the AoLC trilogy, but I think I'd have to go for a re-read before I go for any detailed analysis

 

Not too bad, but suffer the same complaint as I had for the Han Solo books at the time - the hero effectively leaves the "Star Wars galaxy" (not literally, of course) and has adventures in some other place.
With the EU in place (esp. the long Centrality article in Gamer), they're goofy fun. Lando's personality seems to be pretty on the spot.

 

I enjoyed the Lando Adventures. They were a little odd, but I think I liked them all the more for it.

 

Goofs like mentioning a planet full of Dinosaurs can be excused, as there was no EU or continuity back then.

I haven't read the books in years, but I enjoyed them as a thirteen-year-old. Mindharp of Sharu especially.

 

I love those. They don't leave the galaxy, they go to another part of it that we haven't seen (something I wished happened more often).

The Lando adventures were funky. Therefore I like them. The Oswaft were a really cool idea.

 

That sounds pretty wild. Libertarian utopia, huh? Just so long as it doesn't have Waywa Fybot.

 

I have a better appreciation for them now. Back then, though, it was obvious the writers were instructed to keep as far away from the movies as possible. In retrospect, this was a good idea but at the time I wanted something more in touch with the universe of ANH.

Nowadays, I'd like some sort of visit back to the Centrality!

 

I enjoyed the books for the most part, though he brought out the libertarianism club a bit too often. I also would like to see a return to the Centrality at some point.

 

He had some good ideas, a lot of originality, but my main problem is that at many times it doesn't feel like Star Wars. I realize that things weren't quite so tight back then, but surely it's not too much to realize that multi-mustached technicolor bartenders might not be such a good idea. It felt a little too much like generic sci-fi and not like Star Wars. That said, he had a fun writing style, did a great job of capturing Lando's character, and came up with lots of fun, wacky stuff. Not a bad writer, just let the trippiness and the Earth-references get out of hand sometimes.

 

To me, most of the early EU like SotME, the Han/Lando books, and the Marvels that I've read all seem Star Warsy, just different. But I recently read the Russ Manning strips and they really felt like generic 70's sci-fi with a few Star Wars elements thrown in, whereas the other stuff, at worst, felt like Star Wars with some generic 70's sci-fi bits.

 

I really miss the early EU stuff, like these novels and the Marvel Comic series. They were fun and not at all "relevant" to current events or "ripped from the headlines". They were grand adventures unburdened by 30 years of continuity

 

Well put, JediLaw - they were, above all, fun. I was rereading them this week; while they're not exactly the best literature, and I often find myself wondering just what Gepta's rank in the 'Navy' actually is, there was immense potential to them. It would be interesting to revisit Tund sometime; I'd imagine it'd be a planet perfect for development, toxic wasteland that it was..!

 

Ahh...now you've reminded me of who he is, and now I want to read his SW stuff. I hadn't made the connection until you posted that.

 

His novels are kind of the opposite - the Centrality is a libertarian dystopia, a world where an honest man can't get ahead because of the taxation and regulation of the government. Still, he only dwells on that a little bit in the scheme of things before moving on to Lando and Vuffi Raa having wacky adventures you'd see no where else in Star Wars.