A&A The Official Matthew Woodring Stover Discussion Thread

Matthew Woodring Stover is author of the New Jedi Order paperback, 'Traitor'. He is well known for the gritty novel 'Hero's Die'.

Iron Dawn (1997)
Jericho Moon (1998)
Heroes Die (The Acts of Caine: Act of Violence) (1998)
Blade of Tyshalle (The Acts of Caine: Act of War) (2001)
The Real Flash Gordon (2001) (unpublished)
Traitor (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order) (2002)
Shatterpoint (Star Wars: A Clone Wars Novel) (2003)
Caine Black Knife (The Acts of Caine: Act of Atonement) (2005)
Star Wars: Episode III (based on the screenplay by George Lucas) (2005)
Dead Man's Heart (The Acts of Caine: Act of Remembrance (assuming Caine survives CBK))
Bran Mak Morn novel? (". . .a new Bran Mak Morn novel. And I would only make this exception because I might be writing it myself." 1/6/04)
Barra & Co. trilogy?
More Overworld novels?

Discuss Matthew's novels and aspects of his writing in this thread. You never know, Matthew might drop by from time to time!

 

Yay! Matt Stover! My favorite author, and he's getting NOT ONE BUT TWO Star Wars books. For more info, check out:

The OFFICIAL Traitor Thread!

The Official Matt Stover Thread from lit. In this one the author himself has made a few appearances.

 

Quickly becoming one of my favorites as well.

Almost finished with Blade, and can't wait for Traitor.

 

His books are:

Iron Dawn, published by Roc in 1998 with a really crappy cover. It's a pretty good book.

Jericho Moon, published by Roc in 1999 with an even crappier cover, but it's a great book, in some ways his best.

Heroes Die, published in 1999 by Del Rey. His best known book and in many ways his best book. A must-read.

Blade of Tyshalle, published in 2001 by Del Rey. Another great book. It's soon to be available in cheaper mass-market as well.

Legends: Tales from the Eternal Archives is an anthology which contains one of Matt's stories. It's hard to find, so get it if you can.

Traitor, the 13th book of The New Jedi Order...

You can also find another of his short stories, Br'er Robert, at the Fantastic Metropolis website. Just follow the link.

After Traitor, he's got a prequel-era SW Hardcover coming out, following which is another Caine novel currently called CAINE BLACK KNIFE.

He's also written another novel, THE REAL FLASH GORDON, which for idiot reasons gone over in his other thread never got published.

 

So many official author threads, so little time!

I actually have increased expectations which have me in a quandry about Traitor now that I'm quite certain that Jacen will be the "main" focus of the novel.

I dislike the character of Jacen, and I feel he's been a poor excuse for a character, a Jedi and a "person." I think the authors who have written him, have written/captured his character well, so it's no knock against past Jacen authors. But, I just feel that this thing they've captured/written just hasn't done it for me. I simply don't care for this character at all.

Now, my dilemna - I am greatly looking forward to reading a Matt Stover SW novel. Matt's one of the better sci-fi authors to come around in a long, long time and has quickly become one of my favorite authors based on his Heroes Die and Blade of Tyshalle (it's been tough to find the other novels ).

So, at least in my case as a fan, here's my mission for Matt Stover and Traitor - if Traitor is indeed a "Jacen" novel, then you've got your work cut out for you with this fan. I have high hopes you can accomplish it though!

 

Stover's known for his violence and grittiness, I'm wondering how well and to what affect that will fit in already with the already gritty and violent NJO.

 

I guy know for grittiness and violence writing in a violent, gritty series! [face_shocked] He's already said there won't be explicit, horrible gore like in his Caine books...

 

Right, and I-Poodoo if you're going to do that kind of story, you might as well get the best there is at it. That's where Stover comes in. Yes, I'd say Stover is in that category, perhaps sharing the honor with few others.

It's like if you want some good Chicago-style pizza and you have the choice of going to Dominoes or Gino's East (or Pizzeria Uno), you'll go to Gino's East. Well, Stover is the Gino's East of the publishing world.

 

Obviously, Jacen as the supposed focus of Traitor only heightens and intensifies my anticipation.

I think I'm caught up in a Traitor frenzy much like one of Caine's climactic moments as seen from the zoo-like atmosphere back on Earth.

But here's a question. Other than JediNet's vague cues, do we even know officially if this paperback "focuses" on Jacen?

 

Notice that three of four of MWS's books focus on The Hero vs. God and god's minions...

 

I will reading Heroes Die in the next couple weeks, so I will be avoiding this thread just in case I am inadvertenly spoiled.


Great job, TG, and Ill check out the threads progress once Im done with Heroes Die.

 

So far, I believe Stover has kept quiet on the identity of the main character. Still, all indications seem to be that it's Jacen.

I'm about 200 pages into BoT. Enjoyable book, so far.

 

I said...
"now that I'm quite certain that Jacen will be the 'main' focus of the novel."

I should have added, that this is merely speculation and not based on any factual information. I will be pleasantly surprised if such is not the case, just as I am certain that Vergere may be spoiled somewhat if it isn't.

The joys of pulling something out of one's arse.

 

Well, let's look at what we think we know: Vergere is said to be the title's Traitor. We know the book is about a young Jedi learning what it means to be a Jedi on Coruscant. How many Jedi, let alone young ones, do you think will be running around on Coruscant now?

 

The fact that the summary refuses to identify the Jedi suggests that Del Rey is not allowing the name of the character to be released yet. They probably want to keep fans wondering if Jacen survived Dark Journey for the next few months.

 

My thoughts exactly, Dev.



Uhm, yeah, if Jacen does not turn out to be TRAITOR's focus, I'll be a bit discouraged. But certainly not enough to let it stop my anxious anticipation of Stover's remarkable writing style and intensity applied to a Star Wars context.



More than once in the past, I believe Matt mentions his interest and intrigue in the subject matter of Traitor:

I can't speak about my worldview vis. Good and Evil in the context of Star Wars yet. Wait till TRAITOR is out. Then we'll talk. Just remember that this is George Lucas's universe, and everyone in it is expected to play by his rules.

and the central conflict is as intense as anything I've ever written. [regarding TRAITOR]

Things that make you go... hrrmmmmm....

 

Ya know, not that I like to set my expectations too high . . . but when I hear Matt Stover writes "kick @$$" books - I tend to believe it! I like the way Matt writes!!!

I'm looking forward to Traitor and I really hope we do see that Flash Gordon novel some day!!!

Continued luck to you Mr. Stover - given your gift for writing, I hope as many of us as possible can "hear your voice" - and thus continually experience what awesome story-telling is all about!

Sincerely,

Ana V

 

You can count me in as being one of Stover's biggest fans. Heroes Die and Blade of Tyshalle are two of the best books I've ever read. I encourage all Star Wars fans to read his books although you might need your parents permission if you're under 15. I expect Traitor to be the best EU book released this year and one of the best books in the NJO series at least. How's that for high expectations?

 

Heh, MWS is one of my favorite authors. I read "Hero's Die" last year and Blade during the summer. Great books.


I teach literature for high schoolers and middle schoolers ,so, yeah, I wouldn't read it outloud to your parents.


They're great books though, I just got done reading, "Jericho Moon" and "Iron Dawn."



EDIT: Does Matt have a web-site?

 

IAmTheDarkside - thanks for posting all the links to Matt Stover's books!!

 

I just got HD last week... I still got a few Return of the King chapters to read, and then I'll start reading it !

 

PX, you start HD yet?

 

Recently finished Blade of Tyshalle. An entrancing and mind-blowing characterization to say the least. From all the characters.


Looking forward to any follow-up's that Matt may have up his sleeve!

 

He said he wanted to open up the "Overworld" to other authors, because its a huge place and his books only focus on one city.

 

Really.

That would be neat.