Author Analysis: Matthew Stover

Matt has a great gift at combining character drama and action with putting characters in really effed up situations, and letting things fall apart from there.

He's definately put together some very memorable Star Wars moments, and I salute him for that!

 

Zahn? Allston? Reaves? Traviss? Perry? Stackpole!!??

Nope, Rohniss, none of them touch Stover

I'm with 000 here.

 

Bump

 

I became a big Stover fan after reading Traitor, and an even bigger fan of his after reading RotS. I have yet to read Shatterpoint, but I know I will pick that one up sometime soon.

I find his writing style very good, and, if I may say so, similar to mine. I love his portrayal of the movie in the RotS novel, probably my favorite Star Wars book of all the ones I have read (I have read quite a few). I am glad I saw the movie first because, if I didn't and read the novel first, I would have been severely disappointed. I am reading it for the second time.


I need to re-read Traitor, as I don't quite remember it. What I do remember thinking when I was reading was how I loved his style of writing, and how it seemed, to me, to be such an intellectual book. I really need to re-read it.

Stover is probably my favorite of all the writers I have read so far.

 

I think Stover does a great job writing darker material. I have not read all of his Star Wars books (I am not sure what he all wrote) but I have read Shatterpoint, RoTS, Dark Lord: Rise of Darth Vader, and Traitor. All of these books certainly are some of the darker Star Wars books. In order, this is how I would rank them.

1. Traitor.
2. RoTS.
3. Shatterpoint.
4. Dark Lord.

I really think that Stover does a good job with matching the style of writing to the story. When I first started reading the RoTS novel, I was like "What is this Here is what it's like to be Obi-Wan Kenobi right now" crap. That's childish. Then came the Payoff. The Stover ending to RoTS and Star Wars according the movies was fantastic. "This is what it is like to be Anakin Skywalker forever". Dark, Eerie, and sad. That book was "Front heavy" with half of it occuring before Anakin/Obi/Palpatine landed on Coruscant, but the background he put into it and the thoughts of each character were enlightning. What I thought was a childish method at first was a fantastic writing style to really get you to feel and understand the characters.

The much maligned Traitor is my second favorite NJO book (I have the Force Heretic Trilogy, Legacy, and the Unifying force left to read) thus far, only beaten by Star by Star. The confusing sequences (Vergere betraying him at the Jedi Temple where he faught the Vong with Force Lightning) really gave me a sense as to how confused Jacen was at the time. Awesome. Vergere's ideas on the Force, correct or not, pointed out many philosophical conundrums. Very interesting read.

Shatterpoint really brought Mace Windu to life. Watching the #2 Jedi in the galaxy romp around his really dangerous homeworld and how he reacted to situations was fantastic. I think that this book may have been a bit longer than it should have been, but I really enjoyed it overall.

Finally, there is Dark Lord. I would say that RoTS and Traitor are A/A- novels, and Shatterpoint is a B+. I'd give Dark Lord a C. It had some interesting material and to Stover's credit he did make some random one story Jedi have some depth to their character. I did like how he wrote Vader's frustration with his suit and his trying to come to grips with who he was. Perhaps the scene that sticks out in my mind the most is Shyne and the others, dressed like refugees, seeing Vader for the first time and wondering what/who the hell he was. As a reader you think "THAT'S ANAKIN SKYWALKER, HES DARTH FREAKING VADER NOW!" but to the stranded and betrayed Jedi confusion would be natural. The other high point would be Bail making the realization and fearing for baby Leia. On second though, Dark Lord gets a B-. It's at least a little above average.


I don't think Stover's strength is at writing fight sequences, so he takes an approach on focusing on the mind of the character instead of the action, with the best example being the Dooku/Obi/Anakin fight in RoTS. Written from Dooku's viewpoint, it was easy to get a feel for what was happening in the battle while giving us insight to Dooku's character. Other authors are better at the All Guns blazing/clever strategic planning full warfare no doubt, but I give Stover credit for taking a different approach to the fighting and focusing on his writing strengths instead of simply going through the motions and presenting dull and emotionless battle sequences.

Analysis done. Gushing begin. Stover is awesome. It's hard to pick a favorite author - the Star Wars writers are good in different ways. Zahn was my first and I have a sense of nostalgia from having read the Thrawn Trilogy when I was in middle school at the time it was released, so he might be #1 for me. I would say Stover is #2. It's hard to say with a good crop of worthy authors out there.

Carnage

 

Stover didn't write DL. The other three are his only entries in the EU.

 

He didn't? Was Dark Lord Luceno?

Carnage

 

The ROTS novelization was his only book that I've read - in fact, the only Star Wars book I've read, but I consider it absolutely awesome. It's less of a novelization and more of an in-depth look at the same events coupled with the attempt to interpret them in a different way - a rather successful one, I should add. My favorite moments are the duel between Windu and Palpatine and the execution of the Separatist Council, as well as character introductions.

It's ironic that Stover gets blamed for ruining the SW look while adding depth and moral ambiguity to the story. That reminds me of KOTOR II and Chris Avellone, similarly blamed for what is actually a revisionist game explaining the forces that put the events of the first game in motion.

 

It's ironic that Stover gets blamed for ruining the SW look while adding depth and moral ambiguity to the story. That reminds me of KOTOR II and Chris Avellone, similarly blamed for what is actually a revisionist game explaining the forces that put the events of the first game in motion.

Completely in agreement with all of that paragraph. KOTOR II was judged on its bugs and glitches, which is why so many people criticise it. The plot, however, is extraordinarily deep and thought provoking.

 

Hey, they didn't bother to Mortein the bugs, but were happy to have your money.

 

True. But for Lucasarts, not Obsidian.

 

One of the parts that stick out a lot in my mind of the RotS novel is when Kit Fisto's head is laying on the desk with that smile on. I had always laughed at that smile that he used, and I thought that was very humorous of Stover to do that, a very excellent idea.

 

No doubt. Do I wish that KoTOR was "Complete"? Of course, There would have been more to an already great game. The Sprawling RPG's we get now, a combination of first person type adventure shooters and old school RPG games is kind of a newer genre (I don't game that much, but i can think of KoTOR, Fable (somewhat), and Oblivion to be the only ones that I can put in the newer rpg category...never played Neverwinter nights...) and it is certainly going to have bugs. The sheer depth of the story, interactions with Player and Non player characters, and the more openess of what you can do is just astounding. You get a party filled with characters that all have backstories of their own, you get a crazy old Kreia (Vergere) that tries to mess with your mind regarding the force and morality, and you get an epic tale. Combine that with the influence system and choosing light or dark paths and you have a pretty intricate game. Instead of praise, people say how much it sucks because the droid factory was missing as well as some tying up of loose ends. For $45 bucks I really can't see many other games that give you all that KoTOR II did. Perhaps the crowd that prefers the RoTS video game would be the same as the crowd that didn't like "Traitor" or the RoTS novel. Not enough blowing stuff up, too much psychological and philosophical banter. It scares me to see in the gaming thread how many people want to get rid of the "Dumb attacking system" and "Stupid Puzzles". The game should have a big sticker. "Warning, this game may make you think a little bit and is not a first person shooter."

The Morality issues in Star Wars are what is at it's very core. What people choose to bash and praise is so odd. "Qui-Gon is the best, he thought different then the other Jedi. The RoTS film should have had a gigantic Qui-Gon ghost float down and tell Yoda that his ideas about the Jedi were all wrong. Yoda could have bowed and admitted that Qui-Gon is so cool and smart. Qui-Gon should even be put into the end of RoTJ because he had different ideas and is soooooo cool." "Ugh, that book had too much talk with Vergere about some crazy Jedi ideas. Why didn't they just kill the bad guys? We could have had Jacen pwning the Vong instead we get some weird old Jedi with odd ideas talking half the book. That's boring."

Could KoTOR II had been better? Could Stover's novels had been better? Probably, but it could be worse, we could have gotten neither and the EU would be much worse off.

Carnage

 

Hey, folks.

Dropping by because Havac posted an invite in my author thread. Thanks for all the attention, positive and negative.

As you all know, I do not comment directly on the text of my novels. Some factual corrections, however, may be in order:

For example, any knuckleheads . . . er, folks . . . who claim I got the fighting styles wrong should post their sources. My source was the Jedi Holocron: the classified LFL database which is, I might add, the ultimate reference authority on canon issues. Which means the knuck -- um, those folks' source is wrong anyway, and the text of RotS is right. Period.

Further, I did not invent Vaapad, nor did I invent the idea of Vaapad treading the shadow of the dark side, nor that Vaapad is considered the most powerful and dangerous of the lightsaber forms. Frankly -- in actual combat terms -- the whole concept of fighting styles is downright stupid, and just ends up getting you killed by someone who's seen your style before. In the real world, there are no superior styles, only superior fighters . . . and even superior fighters lose, from time to time.

Vaapad was inflicted upon me, and upon Mace, entirely against my will. I work with the tools I'm given.

And the folks who complain about my grammar should try to expand their mental horizons beyond freshman comp. Someday, perhaps, the distinction between a novel and a formal essay may become clear . . .

The lack of subheadings and bullet points might have been a clue.

Anyway, as I said before, thanks for all the attention, both positive and negative. I have no quarrel with those of you who hate my books just because you hate my books . . .

De gustibus, as they say, non disputandum.

Clear skies!

 

Huzzah! The man himself!

Well I certainly love your work, even though I was initially put off by the unusual (for Star Wars) writing style I encountered when I picked up Traitor. And since I'm currently re-reading RotS, my opinion of your writing has only increased further - so much so, I'm now on the lookout for your non-Star Wars work, of which I've heard nothing but praise.

 

I hate the RotS novelization because it brought my expectations for the movie far too high.

 

That was Matthew Stover. Right here. Posting.

 

Mr. Stover (if you come back to this thread ), you might be interested to know that Revenge of the Sith won the previous tournament over in Census as the best Star Wars novel.

Check it out http://boards.theforce.net/census/b10264/22498290/p1/?1059

 

Man, i usually take each book as it's own, but Stover is actually my favorite of all of the authors. As a "70's-80's" baby, i grew up with star wars, but as a grown man, i like to be taken to the limits with my readings. Stover doesnt seem, at any time during any of his novels to be holding anything back or saving it for later. BY AND LARGE, Shatterpoint is my favorite star wars novel of all time. it showed us that the #2 jedi in the galaxy is not invincible, and that the force, while it IS his ally, is not his ONLY ally. he was clearly overmatched by Kar Vastor in terms of the force in that novel yet found his way to victory. it had it's "Bada$$" mace points too. the battle in the alley, and fresh out of the refresher, who can whip some tail while standing butt-naked fresh out of the shower? mace windu....THAT"S who!!!!! and who can forget, Nick Rostu...perhaps the best rogue-esque character in the SW galaxy next to han solo. it also didnt shy away from the blood, guts and gore and horrors of war. remember the scene in the tent with the kid trying to carve up the enemy person? as for vaapad, and shatterpoints, i like that jedi have manifestations of the force in different ways, and his descriptions of them both were very on point.

Traitor? what can i say? while you dont have to necessarily agree with Vergere's assertion that there is no dark side, you HAVE to consider the notion. the force, in and of itself doesnt readily manifest itself to everyone, therefore, the study of it, and devotion to it is usually subject to differing philosophies dependent on one's influences, and studies. that having been said, i dont believe that anyone needs to crucify Stover about it.....take it up with Vergere. In the meantime, it has produced some of the most heated/interesting debates that these boards have EVER SEEN. ALSO, we see some things in the SW universe that go in cycles....Vergere pushes Jacen to "Unlearn what he had Learned". she prompted him to ask questions that eventually led to his understanding of the force in a new light that also helped bring an end to the war. and who can forget Ganner's Last Stand?

ROTS NOVEL? well, given every thing he had to work with, it was excellent, offerred more insight into the thought process of anakin skywalker, and to each of the main characters save for Pal/Sids. "Age of Heroes" may be one of the best chapters of ANY book i have ever read. for those of us who tried to remain unspoiled, yet our curiosity got the best of us, reading that first chapter had me more excited than i can remember in a while. "Anakin and Obi Wan are coming"!!!!! the chapter, indirectly, but directly was aimed at all of us geeky star wars fans and i'll bet Stover would acknowledge this, all the while painting the prologue as propaganda for the millions of younglings across the galaxy searching for and finding heroes in the malaise.

overall, he's my guy, and if he's writing it, i am reading.

 

Matt's been posting here for, like, four years, Zarm.

 

Well, then... I... uhhh... must've missed him...

 

Well, in all fairness, he doesn't often venture out of the Artists & Author's forum.

 

Unfortunately, I've only read Traitor, as I haven't made many ventures into the prequel-era books. I will maintain that, Matthew Stover's writing is by no means inept. Part of the problem I have with many books that are written in a single universe by various authors is cosistancy of character personalities. Of course, the focus of Traitor was largely on Jacen and Vergere, these characters maintained two distinct voices, as did the slightly more peripheral Ganner. I happened to enjoy the book, as it did challenge my "conservative" view of the Star Wars universe's Force, and the writing provided very vivid imagery through its articulate descriptions.

Of course, with no intended offense toward Mr. Stover himself, I am curious as to how one can seriously single out his work as being "the best" in the Star Wars universe, let alone novelization in its entirety. Though Timothy Zahn's writing comes from a slightly more antiquated era of the Expanded Universe (with the exception of his recent Outbound Flight,) I think that his work is at least "up there" with Mr. Stover's. Of course, I haven't read Revenge of the Sith or Shatterpoint, so I suppose I may not have enough data for that assessment.

However, on the topic of writing within an established universe, I think that Aaron Allston did a note-worthy job, especially given the unorthodox environments and circumstances that were inherent of the New Jedi Order. Allston is evidently underrated in his participation in the NJO, which I find a bit odd. Subjective as my assessment may be, this was an author through whose writing I could really see the Star Wars universe conceived in the original trilogy. Mr. Stover's Traitor was exceptional, however the characters and concepts were those born from a much different era than that which was pictured in ANH, ESB and ROTJ, with the exception of Jacen Solo (who, though developed as a character much later in the game, seems to be one whose thematic descent seems much easier to trace to the OT than others). Traitor's Coruscant certainly did connect the NJO and the movies, however, it was the prequel trilogy to which it seemed umbilically connected (the Jedi Temple, especially)-- another era whose representation, in my opinion, differs so much from the original trilogy.

 

This is my first time posting here because I saw that Mr. Stover posted here and therefore checked this thread out. Personally, I have read a lot of EU and a lot of books outside of star wars. I really like Mr. Stover's work and he personally inspired me, after writing the ROTS novelization, to write the novelization of my club's fanfilm. Being an aspiring journalist and writer, I like to read because Mr. Zahn said that reading is the best way to become a better writer.

Mr. Stover came to my town on a book tour for ROTS and was by far the nicest author I have met. Some authors seem uptight and above there audience but Mr. Stover was totally cool to his fans and this was after he recently flew back from C3 the night before. I like all of his books and have nothing bad to say about the guy. Only good things.

As for fighting styles, being an amatuer swordsman, because I'm a star wars geek, I think that fighting styles as a hard and fast way of fighting are retarded. The best swordsmen study all aspects of swordmanship and adapt to who they are fighting. I liked the explanations in Shatterpoint but I realize they are just for fun. People who live by the sword and one fighing style alone, quickly become one with the force.

 

Wow. I guess it's obvious why an EU author would check out these message boards (see what people want more of, see reader opinions and thoughts on their work, but I was pretty damn surprised when the author himself popped into this thread. Maybe I knew all along, because I had a feeling I shouldn't write what I REALLY thought of his work.

Carnage