Three best Star Wars Writers

Brain Daley, Archie Goodwin, and A.C. Crispin

 

1)Zahn
2)Stackpole
3)Allston

X-Wing rules, Thrawn couldn't swim.

 

1. Stackpole
2. Zahn
3. Allston

 

I'd say:
Zahn
Stackpole
Reeves

 

1. Watson
2. Wolverson
3. Stackpole
4. Salvatore

I know I am only suppose to do 3, but I like
3 & 4 almost as much, Stackpole just slightly better.

 

Denning

Crispin

Stackpole

 

1. Zahn
He started it all (after Lucas of course !)
but the Chiss .. the Katana fleet .. Karrde (that's an awesome character .. it's a pity you don't hear about him much).. Shada .. the Noghri ..
Man this guy really groups it all

2. Allston
It's nice to hear about some non-Jedi adventures. And besides I like his tongue'n'cheek way of writing

3. tie between
K.W. Jeter -
I LOVE FETT ! and Jeter did a great job showing how ruthless this bounty hunter really is. the only thing that sorta got to me was the "kuat kuat Kuat kuat "

and

Greg Keyes -
He has a way of giving you some background data on the Y.V without stalling. And he did a great job with Anakin Solo and the proof that there was something greater and beyond the Force in the galaxy.
OK OK OK Anakin Solo is teh best and a 2 part story with him just rocked !

 

He started it all (after Lucas of course !)

Why?!? Why did you have to go and say this? For the love of all that's good, why?

 

I hear the Genghis has been unleashed

 

1.) Keyes
2.) Denning
3.) Anderson/Tyers

It's impossible to just name three...

 

1. Aaron Allston
2. Tim Zahn
3. Mike Stackpole/Troy Denning/Michael Reaves

 

Thanks, nice to see myself on some of these lists.

I'm so glad to be back here at The Force.net!!

-Ann C. Crispin

 

Zahn, Stackpole, and Allston...and Keyes (and yes, I know that's four).

 

Grd-adm: He started it all (after Lucas of course!)

Madge: Why?!? Why did you have to go and say this? For the love of all that's good, why?

Reaper: I hear the Genghis has been unleashed

Gandalf: We could hear the sound of drums beating in the distance... He is coming!!!

 

1) Stackpole
2) Zahn
3) Denning

 

A low fog clung to the dark roots and mosses, cut only by white light from a gibbous moon overhead. the leaves of the black wet trees were silent and no breeze stirred them this night. It was as if nature had stopped. In the distance came a howl, like metal tearing, echoing off the gnarled trucks, then the sound of foot falls, but ones made by no man, no human.

Soon, leaves that had not fallen during the autumn were shaken loose by the impact of whatever was coming. Puddles of stagnant water rippled, their images of the moon shattered with each tremor. Again it roared, much closer this time, scaring a doe from her hiding place, she trotted off into the night. Where she had stood a tree toppled to the leaf covered forest floor, its trunk splintered by terrible claws. Within a heartbeat the beast was in the thread.

The Genghis had come,
And Doom followed him in!

 

I think I'd better explain myself, and get out, before Genghis shows up.

Daley did so much to expand the universe, with all the information contained in his Han Solo trilogy and the Radio dramas. Archie Goodwin has, in my opinion, written *the* best SW comic stories we've yet seen. His stories for Marvel and the newspaper comics are nothing short of excellent, (with the exception of the paci-fog incident, of course. ) A.C. Chrispin did a marvelous job tying all the loose threads of Han Solo's history together, even taking Lucas's original ideas into account, along with information from the Marvel comics. I only hope that the writers on the upcoming Boba Fett series do as well.

TC

 

1)Timothy Zahn
2)Michael Stackpole
3)Greg Keyes

 

Gr-Adm-Thrawn...
"1. Zahn
He started it all (after Lucas of course !)"

? Statements like that are mind-boggling to say the least.

Tim Zahn's foray into the EU merely started in 1990 when he lucked out to write another Star Wars novel (the eleventh or so by that time). Star Wars spinoff products started in 1976, even before the movie began. The expanded universe was created with Marvel #7 - the ACTUAL STORY THAT STARTED IT.

Please, even if you can't get the facts straight - at least get them in a reasonable ball park at least. Calling someone who came to the party 14 years after it started, the one who started it is hardly reasonable.

TalonCard...
I agree 100%

 

Yay! He agreed with me!

TC

 

Zahn, Stackpole, Allston

 

Mastadge, Taloncard, Genghis12

I?m sorry I could not acknowledge earlier but know that I have freed myself from my professional obligations, I will be glad to answer your good question.

Why? Why? WHY?

OK let?s try and not sound too clueless ? Do you read the forewords in each Star wars novel? Are you aware of the events that happened in 1992? Do you know who brought Star wars out of the cinema halls? Do you have the slightest idea of how many books you have to sell to become a New York Times bestseller?

You might think ?in the name of all that is good? that Zahn sucks ... and maybe you?re right from your point of view. The only problem is none of us know your point of view, you never took the time to explain.

But you must acknowledge the fact that thanks to the media event of the Zahn trilogy: Star wars fans stopped being associated with the obscure and mysterious world of Science fiction gatherings filled with dudes in weird costumes. Bloated geeks drooling over twilek dancers, pot-smokers who spent their time in RPGs imagining they were in Jabbas? palace having a shot, kids screaming ?yub, yub? every time they saw an Ewok and everybody chanting ? May the Force be with you?. ?

I was sick of that, everybody thought that That was a star wars gathering was about.

Of course i am aware of the event of Marvel comics, and the fact that Crispin and Daley and did very very good work with Han Solo .. I have read all of them .. in fact must have read Crispin some 3 or 4 times and Daley likewise.

BUT .. and here is my point : thanks to Zahn and his NYT bestsellers, people started having a second opinion on Star wars. Some non-SF readers got to know about the books Zahn wrote and sought out to find some more. And so they found Crispin, Daley, Foster, Perry, and all the other writers who were doing a great job with the books.

Eventually even they started going to the gatherings and see by themselves that, well, it isn?t the ?cliché? they had at all.

But the BIG difference between before and after Zahn is this:
Before Zahn : Only Star wars fans were aware that there were books to complete the movies, the comics and the RPG.
After Zahn : Book readers learned that there were Star wars books that related to the universe created by Lucas and that they were as stimulating as the first trilogy.

The difference, back then, was that star wars fans were counted in hundreds of thousands whereas book readers were counted in hundreds of millions.

I?m not proving he is the best writer, but I am stating as a fact that he allowed other (maybe better) Star wars writers to become even more famous for the books they wrote.

Thanks to him, Star wars literature finally came out of the dark - that is what makes him on of the best.. you don't want to stop on Zahns' work, you're unsatiably thirsty for more.

That, my dear friend, is why I said and repeat now: he started it all after Lucas of course.

Sorry for such a long monologue - and please i would like to have your opinion on the here-above stated facts.

 

A.C. Crispin
Timothy Zahn
stackpole or KJA (can't decide)
my favourite SW books:
The thrawn trilogy
the han solo trilogy ()the second one, about Han... i think it was the one Crispin wrote, about bria. i can't remember much, i read it so long ago...)
the jedi acadmey books (where luke starts the academy)

 

Am-Thrawn,
I am quite aware of Zahn's contributions to the EU and to SW fandom, and I agree with the sentiments expressed in you last post. However, the purpose of the thread is not to debate over which authors are best, but to name your top three personal favorites. Zahn is not on my top three, (top five, maybe,) and that is why I didn't list him.

TC

 

OK let?s try and not sound too clueless ? Do you read the forewords in each Star wars novel?

Yes

Are you aware of the events that happened in 1992?

The Gulf War? Oh, wait, that was 1991...

Do you know who brought Star wars out of the cinema halls?

I'm not quite sure what you're asking...

Do you have the slightest idea of how many books you have to sell to become a New York Times bestseller?

Nope, nor is it relevant to this discussion.

You might think ?in the name of all that is good? that Zahn sucks ...

I wasn't saying Zahn sucks, I was replying to your incorrect assertion that "He {Zahn} started it all."

The only problem is none of us know your point of view, you never took the time to explain.

Au contraire -- all of us, but most particularly Genghis, have explained our reasons many times. Just not in this thread, as it's not the right forum for such discussion.

But you must acknowledge the fact that thanks to the media event of the Zahn trilogy: Star wars fans stopped being associated with the obscure and mysterious world of Science fiction gatherings filled with dudes in weird costumes. Bloated geeks drooling over twilek dancers, pot-smokers who spent their time in RPGs imagining they were in Jabbas? palace having a shot, kids screaming ?yub, yub? every time they saw an Ewok and everybody chanting ? May the Force be with you?. ?

I have no idea what you're talking about, nor how it's related to Zahn.

I was sick of that, everybody thought that That was a star wars gathering was about.

If by gathering you mean convention, that's pretty much what it is about.

Of course i am aware of the event of Marvel comics, and the fact that Crispin and Daley and did very very good work with Han Solo .. I have read all of them .. in fact must have read Crispin some 3 or 4 times and Daley likewise.

Crispin was far after Zahn. Daley, Smith, Foster, Marvel comics and WEG were before. So obviously he didn't "start it all." Which is the only point that I commented on earlier.

BUT .. and here is my point : thanks to Zahn and his NYT bestsellers, people started having a second opinion on Star wars. Some non-SF readers got to know about the books Zahn wrote and sought out to find some more. And so they found Crispin, Daley, Foster, Perry, and all the other writers who were doing a great job with the books.

No. Zahn was the first one hired by Bantam to write Star Wars books. He did a pretty good job by the standards of those who were unaware of what had come before (which does not, BTW, include Crispin). Because of this, Bantam made enough to continue producing SW novels. According to him, the reason his novels sold so well initially was BECAUSE the words "Star Wars" were on the cover, not because they were by Tim Zahn.

Eventually even they started going to the gatherings and see by themselves that, well, it isn?t the ?cliché? they had at all.

You've lost me again.

But the BIG difference between before and after Zahn is this:
Before Zahn : Only Star wars fans were aware that there were books to complete the movies, the comics and the RPG.
After Zahn : Book readers learned that there were Star wars books that related to the universe created by Lucas and that they were as stimulating as the first trilogy.

The books don't "complete" this stuff. There's pretty much two categories: Movies and EU. Zahn when writing HttE pretty much ignored established (and soon-to-be-established) EU. And I don't think you're correct to assume that "book readers" and "Star Wars fans" are two distinct and exclusive groups...


The difference, back then, was that star wars fans were counted in hundreds of thousands whereas book readers were counted in hundreds of millions.

PPOR

I?m not proving he is the best writer, but I am stating as a fact that he allowed other (maybe better) Star wars writers to become even more famous for the books they wro