Lit Zahn's inventions

Timothy Zahn is the godfather of SW novels.
His books have influenced not only many comics and novels, but also the PT.
Think of the worlds he invented (Coruscant, Muunilinst, Albregado Rae, Wayland...)!
Think of the characters he invented (Mara Jade, Pellaeon, Thrawn, Talon Karrde...)!
Think of the species he invented (the Noghri, the Barabels...)!

What do you think is Zahn's greatest invention ever?
Personnally, I think Pellaeon was the best character he created.
I know many fans won't agree. It was through Pellaeon's eyes that we saw what Thrawn was up.
The Imperial part of the Thrawn Trilogy was focalized through him.
He just is a loyal officer, not another Imperial lunatic.
The EU depicts too many Imperials as bad guys. Pellaeon is a good example of an Imperial who has honour. It show that although the rulers may be evil, normal people are dragged into the system.

 

For me Thrawn was his greatest and most enjoyable character to read.
Did he invent interdictor ships as well? cause those are cool as hell/

I hope that the classic era trilogy he has planned comes to fruition. I would have loved to see Thrawn fight the Yuuzhan Vong as well. It would have been a pretty short series though.

My favourite authors are

1. Timothy Zahn
2. James Luceno
3. Michael A Stackpole
4. Karen Traviss

 

Wow... I dunno. It's near-nye impossible to pick just one with this guy. When I think of all the things the EU did right, it usually has something to do with a Zahn invention. The smugglers, the neo-Imperials, Han/Leia's family (when it was normal), Lando being -- well, Lando.

In terms of long-term EU impact, my favorite invention of his was probably the smuggler camaraderie. He sort of set the base for all kinds of neat tales with that one. Short-term-impact-wise, the Thrawn/Pelly dynamic. Excellent villains that built off the OT-Empire mindset but were unique enough not to seem like dull vacant-minded power-mongerers.

That said, Samuel Tomas Gillespie is an awesome name. If we can't all agree on anything else Zahn ever did, can we at least agree he had a knack for names?

 

As it's not something anyone else is likely to bring up:

Hyperspace travel times.

Not supported by instant travel in the films? Don't care. Like George himself, Zahn just did what the plot calls for at the time and I find journeys that take hours, days, even weeks sometimes, something that better suits space opera and is more relatable than instantaneous jumps from one side of the galaxy to the other.

 

For me, it's Thrawn. I know some EU fans are sick of Thrawn, but for me he was the first SW EU villain, and I just love him. The look, the attitude, everything. I just love how he dissects species 'behavior based on art. Brilliant.

I do like Pellaeon too, for the reasons you mentioned. He had a healthy fear of Thrawn, but also admiration and respect (which I think was mutual).

 

Yes!!!!!!!!

I liked that he approached interstellar distances this way. The instant travel of the films is absurd. It doesn't send me into a nerd-rage, but I much prefer Zahn's approach.

Good call.

Nice thread topic, by the way.

 

barabels and interdictors are from WEG, not Zahn.

Anyway, I don't really like Zahn's take on the universe or its characters all that much but I do think the majority of the individual elements and concepts he introduced have been for the better. Characters in particular, although ironically many (most?) of them are far better realized by other authors. Especially after his first trilogy.

If I had to pick a single thing I'd say Mara Jade as a concept (his take on her character is pretty dull though). Runner up would be the name Coruscant.

 

Every character who debuted in the Thrwan Trilogy and the Ysalamiri.

 

Borsk Fey'la: What hath Zahn wrought!

 

I was gonna mention this. It's one of the things I particularly like about his books. The idea of being in a ship like the Falcon or the Lady Luck and having to spend several days in Hyperspace appeals to me for some reason.

 

Cameo appearances in Galaxy of Fear is the bar by which I judge all of Star Wars, so Thrawn.

 

The Chiss.....i mean the Duros. The chiss really don't have anything over the duros. Besides Cade Bane is so much cooler then Thrawn. Thrawn doesn't even own a cool hat.

 

I am kind of a middle-ground guy with hyperspace travel times.

If the continuum is something like:

The Movies (Instantaneous) ------------ Stackpole/Allston (between half a day and a couple days, usually) ---------- Zahn (a few days) ------------------ Wolverton (a couple weeks)

For me, somewhere between Stackpole/Allston and Zahn is the sweet-spot. The instantaneous stuff, I get, is done in large part for the narrative of the movie, so maybe, like with any movie-to-book transition (or vice-versa_ you have to make concessions for the pacing. I mean, in Empire it seems like the middle part of the movie (asteroid field/Bespin and Dagobah) may take a day or so. If I recall correctly, EU sources have pegged it more along the lines of a few weeks, with the Falcon limping along on an emergency hyperdrive and Luke spending a few weeks with Yoda. So, the movies may not actually be on that end of the spectrum, realistically. For me, I like the idea that a journey to most parts of the galaxy could take a couple days, max, but major routes can be traversed in less than a day. While I love Courtship, the idea that the journey from Coruscant to Dathomir takes 17 days normally, even with the Falcon's hyperdrive (10 days with a Force-user navigating) just takes too much out of it for me. Maybe it does fit more. Maybe it's more like days of yore with sea transportation being the dominant mode and oceans being crossed in upwards of week or more (or months, if we go way back). But if an era of such advanced technology, and even though days of travel is insanely faster than how fast light travels, I think it's just a bit bad for the story to think that people can be completely out of the loop for 10+ days during major developmental times. "Oh, hey, while you were in Hyperspace there were three major battles..." just doesn't really fit for me.

Like I said, I like something more like how the X-Wing novels handled it. Somewhere between 12 hours and 36 hours for most journeys. I liked, for example, the end of Rogue Squadron where as little as a few hours would give Corran and Mirax enough time to "catch up to and pass" the rest of the squadron on the way back to base.

 

When it comes to hyper space travel my headcanon is that you usually don't travel the whole distance in one jump, instead you jump to one point then continue to the next one. The amount of times you go out of hyperspace depends on gravity fields and how well mapped the rut you are taking.

 

I think that is the way it's supposed to be in almost every author's mind. The movies don't really show it, but I think every author does.

 

He got a cool HAT.. he just does not wear him often enough!!!

 

WELL PLAYED, Ceiran. lol