Discuss BP with Kathy -- Spoilers Welcome

Shmi52, you are correct, Hatikvah is the Israeli national anthem and it means The Hope just as you said. That part of the world could use some right about now.

CoK

 

What about

Benjamin Skywalker

 

Too true, CoK. Pray for them.
I just noticed, if you take the two H-es off of each end of Hatikvah, you get Atikva. Move the V to the beginning . . . peculiar.

 

It's late on the right coast (CT) so I am turning in. I owe a post elsewhere tomorrow too. Maybe I'll check back tomorrow to see where we've gotten.

 

G'night, JF. Nice swapping ideas with you.

Kathy

 

Kathy--


I absolutely love the book so far! I got as far as Chapter 20 when my eyes threatened a strike, so I had to put it down for a while. My fave part (besides of course the revelation of the lil' Skycrawler. Awww. cute.) was at the beginning when the Holonet showed the droids on Salliche Ag referring to Han as the 'long-awaited one' and the 'only flesh and blood'. I was ROTFLMAO! Han as a Messiah to droids! Too funny.

Another thanks for mentioning Malinza. She was basically forgotten by other authors and I was so glad that you brought her back and reaffirmed Luke's pledge to her. Thanks. =)

May the Force Be With You

red-gold

 

Thank you, Red-Gold. I got such a chuckle out of Han saving the droids in JE that I just had to sneak in a reference. And I AM convinced that was Bollux he ran into.

Kathy

 

Kathy,

Thank you, and everyone who helped get this book into existence, but particularly you, for such a wonderful story! I knew from the moment I saw a scan of the cover that, as other people have mentioned, this could be the NJO book I was waiting for. Marvelously done. I am so relieved to see my favorites, the members of the Skywalker/Solo family, healed of some of the difficulties that have been following them. I think I needed to know that they could each still have a moment of contentment despite the troubles in the galaxy. Of which there will certainly be more: Your last line was incredible and chilling.

Can I ask one small, silly, but faintly obnoxious question? On pages 99-101, is Luke sitting in a chair or on the floor? Ridiculous, I know. =)

Although I was hoping for a girl, I definitely understand your reasoning for choosing a son for Luke and Mara. After all the gossip about "The Face," I was scared to hope for too much, but you have certainly done this event justice! I hope the birth is written as well! On the subject of children, I very much enjoyed Leia's words to Mara about daughters (p. 178). This passage reminds me of some of my own relationship with my mom.

A couple quick things: I particularly enjoyed your focused setting of one planet rather than dozens, which for me provided a consistent and well-fleshed-out backdrop for the actions and emotions. Also, although I hated to see Leia go through such an ordeal, I was also fascinated by her attempted discussion with Tsavong Lah. I think this kind of ideological protest needed to be voiced, and I am so glad Leia was the one to do it. Thanks for bringing her back into action a bit, despite the consequences.

I don't think I have anything else to say that hasn't already been said! Thank you for the Skycrawler (and I laughed so hard when you used that term!), for writing Mara so beautifully, for reminding us all why Luke Skywalker is a hero not only of my childhood but by now my adulthood as well, for the integrity of the Solo family, for the details, for the humor and emotion. I think I might be thinking of the acronym now as "Brilliant Point" instead of "Balance Point"!

 

Hmm..artemis..darn it how did you notice that?? yea..i wanna know now too...

i guess it looks like he started out on the floor or maybe he was just sitting in a chair that was lower..and .>?>>>>???


Thanks Kathy for answering my questions...i guess i'll just have to wait and see....


oh hey i noticed somthing also..but from starfighters..that documentrian from sludge news was there...i liked that..and she's a Major!! Major Hallis Saper...i kinda thought it was neat finding out what happened to her...


i'll be back..

*just for the sake of argument* i like Ben..but i also like Brennen..

 

Hi Kathy. few quick questions, hopefully you can answer them,
Stupid question, are the Yuuzhong Vong storyarc planned to go through all of NJO or not?
Does the priests have more power over Tsavong Lah and maybe even Shimmra?
Also a stupid question, does the person who tells about the plan to defect by Elan and Vergere, also Viqi. I guess u can assume yes, though i thought it was someone else.

Maybe another Hebrew word as a name for the child would be
Atid - which means future, or
Chazak - strong
I finished the book yesterday and it was very good
bye

 

Artemis -- Not ridiculous at all, though I might give you half an obnoxiousness point . Yes, this is an oops. Let's fix it. Let's say that Luke is sitting in one of those very low, legless chairs that rests on the floor. My husband's got one of them. (drat drat drat)

I'm so glad you liked the story. The idea to set most of it on Duro was made by both Shelly and me, and I think it was sound.

As for Leia's conversation with Lah -- it just flowed out, with almost no need to rewrite, and I rewrite a LOT. Thanks!

jedi51999 -- I'm glad you spotted Hallis. I really liked her as a character, such a great oddball with so much potential, so devoted to her work.

DarthDave -- I'm afraid I can't tell you whether the YV story arc will go through all the NJO. Sorry . . . you know why!

I think the priests do have considerable power over the other castes, but IIRC there were hints in AoC that there isn't perfect unity among the priestly caste.

We aren't told for sure if that's Viqi (I assume you mean the mysterious telbun?) or one of her staff. I suspect that it was her. That it was she? . . . That it was probably Viqi.

Intriguing names. I definitely like the implication of Atid for "future," but I'm not sure it's as useable and pronounceable is Luke's child's name will need to be. VERY close, though.

Kathy

 

Back when I ran with the fanfic crowd and was thinking about that sort of thing I was fond of Duranjaya as a name for Luke's son, with Duraj as a nickname. It's Indian if I remember correctly and means "heroic son."

And I'm a fanatic about all things Celtic so I found a Gaelic one.
Solus means joy,comfort,solace That would work with bitter. Actually it has sol in it too, which means sun which plays into the whole "son of the suns" thing. Cool.


Harimad-sol

 

Thanks, Kathy! I'll try to conserve those obnoxiousness points from now on. =) Those chairs are fun; I bet Luke sits in his all the time!

I almost feel sorry for whatever author gets tapped to come up with a name for the Skycrawler. Perhaps we all could form an advisory committee?

This is kind of a general question, but one that popped into my head as soon as I read the jacket flap of BP. To my mind, there seems to be a very clear strain of environmentalism underlying most of SW. Some of the most horrible large-scale occurrences are the destruction of planets -- not just in Alderaan's style, but in the destruction of the natural world, as in the poisoning of Honoghr, the disintegration of Ithor, the pollution on Duro. The good guys seem to live fairly close to nature -- Luke as a farmboy, the Jedi in the Yavin jungles, even the Ewoks in treehouses -- while the bad guys live removed from it, like the Imperials surrounded by grey metal and technology and the Duros (at least the traitorous ones) living above their ruined planet in orbiting cities.

Of course, now the NJO has the NR ensconced in the technological wilderness of Coruscant and being slowly but surely corrupted, while the YV use only biological technology, which isn't metal but is certainly manipulated just as far from a natural state as anything else.

That got kind of lengthy, but I guess my question is: Am I just making up this dichotomy out of a series of coincidences, or do you, as someone who's worked professionally in this universe, feel that respect for the natural world is an important trend for characterizing the heroes of the story?

 

You see, I speak as someone who has exstensively analyzed Mara's character and personality over several pages,figuring out her fan appeal and motivations. One of the problems made by many of the authors depicting her was that they did about who she was enough. I would love to hear your own extended take on Mara, and where we diverge.

And as for Lando and Tendra, no where in any of the other books, or the Chronology, does it say that they married. In effect, you really did marry them. Thanks.

 

Harimad-sol -- Thanks for joining in. Those are intriguing ideas.

Artemis -- I don't think you're making this up. The children's series seems to have had a strong -- even a "PC-strong" -- subplot or subtheme of environmentalism. Since BP was set on Duro (which previously had been shown as a hideously polluted planet), I had to pick up that theme too.

I believe Mr. Lucas has shown all along that his heroes stand against supplanting humans with machinery ("He's more machine than man, now. Twisted and evil.") or natural environments with artificial ones. The classic Imperial environments in the OT were set on board "technological terrors."

Yet two of his most beloved characters are mechanical. (but oh so human)

It will be interesting to see if & how he uses these themes in Ep 2 and 3.

Kathy

 

noitart -- Excellent! I did that, too -- and when I'd finished, I submitted my Mara scenes to Tim Zahn, whom I consider the ultimate authority on Mara Jade. He liked what I'd done, and he asked for no changes. Praise from the master is praise, indeed.

Kathy

 

Hi Kathy,

I was wondering if you know how old Mara is -- I can't remember anything in any of the novels that gives an exact age.


Thanks

 

I have a question for you Kathy. Whne Leia's legs get attacked by the Vong creature I got confused. Was it one of those things Lah was holding? I almost got the impression that those things that started chewing on her legs just sort of popped up. Just thought I'd ask.

 

I always had the impression Mara was 17 or 18 just before the Battle of Yavin, so add 25 to that. I wonder how close I am.....

//waits patiently for clarification.....

 

Hope -- According to my notes, which should not be taken as gospel, Mara is 46.

The jedikiller -- That scene is told from Leia's point of view. She can't see what it is. She only knows that it's heavy and sharp. Staying in Leia's viewpoint, we know only what Leia knows.

Instead of playing the scene for its maximum horrific value by letting Leia see every gruesome detail, I held back. It's still plenty scary, and maybe -- told this way -- it won't give quite so many people nightmares.

Kathy

 

General -- close enough?

Kathy

 

I see now. I was hoping I wasn't just missing something.

 

Not a thing!

 

Near enough that I'm not complaining.

Can I inflate your ego a little more and say GREAT BOOK! again?

 

I left the Star Wars book universe about three years ago due to time constaints. Only two months ago did I rejoin via Vector Prime. It really confused me because I had missed Spectre of the Past and Vision of the Future. I've been happily finishing one book and then picking up the next. When I finished Jedi Eclipse I only had to wait two weeks for Balance Point to be released. Now I'm stuck with everyone else waiting for the next book. ~sigh~

AWESOME BOOK! Absolutely loved it. Mara has become a favorite character. Managed to cajole a clerk at Borders to sell me the book on 10/30. Yippee! Drove home from the bookstore like a maniac.

My thoughts:

The baby will be named Ben.

Mara won't become soft because of motherhood. She's too mature to totally lose herself completely. All of her lessons have been learned the hard way.

Out of the Solo kids I think Jaina will fall the hardest. Why? Because everyone is keeping an eye on Anakin because of who he was named after. And Jacen has already shown his weaknesses. No one really worries about Jaina. She just keeps advancing as everyone expects she should. Eventually I think when no one is looking she's going to face the toughest test of all. I hope I'm right and I can't wait to read the book.

I may have missed this, but when is the next paperback or hardcover in this series due to be released?