Author Analysis: Roger MacBride Allen

Discuss and analyze the authorial skills, pros and cons, etc., of Roger MacBride Allen, author of the ever-more-relevant Corellian Trilogy. No bashing or gushing -- only meaningful, constructive comments.

Previous Author Analyses:
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!

 

Initial notes:


Liked the politics of the Corellian Sector
Selonian culture quite interesting
First hints of Luke/Mara besides TTT
Mara developed as a trader, rather than Jedi.
Leia as a Jedi Knight
Han feeling nostalgic for Corellia
Mothma lecturing Luke (no one ever remembers this one, it'sonly Corran and Mara that lecture him apparently)
Luke as a politician
Lando's wife hunt
Kalaenda, the slightly quirky NRI agent, and her Dartmakers.
Ossilige and the Bakuran fleet.

Bad: The super twins and wonderkind Anakin

 

Additional good points:

So far it seems as if MacBride-Allen is the only EU-author, who knew that a cruiser is a larger ship than a destroyer (as far as naval ships are concerned),

Duchess Marcha of Magistophorus and her nephew.

 

A light cruiser even.
Jeter had a decent grasp on ship terminology at least.

 

I really didn't like how Luke was forced into the story, and there seemed to be a lot of completely pointless parts in the trilogy.

 

I thought RMA's writing was creative and interesting. He had pretty good original characters, used Captison, who hadn't been heard from since TAB, and did some real interesting things, plot-wise. He also had an enjoyably different writing style. However, I do have some problems with him. Frequently, things struck me as non-Star-Warsy. Why did he have wheeled "groundcars" prevalent on Corellia, even though we've never really seen anything of the sort anywhere else? It also sometimes exuded the general feel of "generic sci-fi" instead of "Star Wars space opera/sci-fi/fantasy" that I've gotten from other works like The Bounty Hunter Wars. It also suffered from the lazy continuity of the Bantam era, but that's primarily an editorial flaw. Worst, it was badly overextended -- it should have been one big book or a duology, rather than three skinny books with too much filler. Overall, his writing was new and different in a good way, but not standout by any means.

What I find most interesting is that the LFL team has taken a decent but previously forgettable trilogy and turned it into nearly required reading by bringing so many of its elements into the NJO and LOTF. Can we credit RMA's skill with providing so much story material, or not really?

 

The definition of mediocre. Not good, not bad.

 

Throughout his books I noted overusage of the word "trifle."

Beyond that I think his stuff is pretty good. His work was certainly a source of inspiration for Del Rey and some of their authors. I enjoyed the Drall and his droid, and if memory serves me correctly he was the first one to use the Solo kids in any meaningful capacity (sure KJA used 'em, but.... eh).

 

I have no problem with wheeled ground-cars in StarWars. Not if we have animal-pulled vehicles in TPM or ANH (not to mention Juggernauts/Turbotanks). Blame it on local preferences.

 

I don't have a problem with them per se, but on Corellia? Presented as common, as if Han drove them all the time? It doesn't line up with what we've seen from other sources, in which if you're on a reasonably advanced world, you're driving a speeder.

 

I loved his Selonians, and I hate the current EU trend of trying to turn them into Yet Another Race of Generic Cat-People. Bring back the communal otters, darn it!

 

A trilogy with a core star cast of preteens aimed at post-preteens that was every bit as readable for adults? That one Mothma you can pillow, all right. You got a slow, long-chaptered first book of tedious pacing, but afterwards it was slick surfing all the way. Sal-Solo stands as Star Wars' most credible and best villain todate, possibly always will. Why? I shall tell, you my pretties, as that nutcase in the Asylumn called me, before I got the lot of them to assault Irenicus for me.

Solo's older cousin, thankfully shown on the neat cover front, has undertaken the biggest bluff in his dismal career, and that makes the critter bursting with quality. Not another beautiful villainess or strategic admiral or pompering warlord wannabe. What we have here is an everyday government administrator, hungering for the return of the harmonious Imperial system, seeing his chance to seize power in the galaxy's fattest fraud---a man who likes his drink, likes nonhumans even less, who's dancing events with what little he has.

And this makes Sal-Solo's character even better: an all-or-nothing risk on scant resources and time.

Prose and ongoing intrigue didn't lack, and Ossilege's scene-ending liners stole the book. Good prose and simple but effective structure, the trilogy was a winner.

 

Dracmus rocks. One of the best OCs never to be seen again.

And I fully support Excellence's assessment of Thrackan.

 

I found hs style interesting. His works didn't grab the way Zahn or Allston do, but he made for an interesting villian and a nice turn on the 'superweapon of the week' plot device.

The Leia and Mara teamup was refreshing, too. I wished that more had been done with that.