A&A The Official Matthew Woodring Stover Discussion Thread

Hey Matt,

I am so excited about the upcoming novel, "Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor!"

You are one of the most fascinating authors I've had the pleasure of reading as well as meeting. I remember at C3 raving about Rod Serling and you patiently nodding your head in agreement. You said some amazing things in your panel discussion and outside with individual fans. I read your blog often and I'm glad to see you pop in every once in awhile. Hope that Caine Black Knife is going well and I look forward to reading your future novels, especially the Luke Skywalker tale. Thanks again!

- Matt

 

I'm definitely looking forward to the new Luke Skywalker novel. Stover will do a great job with the OT characters. I wonder if we'll see it before CBK?

How did Mr. Stover keep his lips sealed about this for so long? Must be in the contract.

 

It is indeed in the contract.

And I'm having a ball writing it, too. This will be my first swing at the Big Three; the only OT characters I've written before were Obi-Wan and Yoda (and a dash of Vader, of course . . .). There is a sense (but really only one sense) in which this book resembles Traitor:all the heavy lifting has been done for me, so there's no need to fiddle around with character-building and exposition and the rest of that Hard Stuff.

As Mick Jagger once memorably put it: "I know . . . it's only Rock'n'Roll . . . but I like it, like it, yes I do."

 

To be honest I liked Traitor, loathed Shatterpoint and disliked the ROTS novel, so I am hoping this novel will be resembling Traitor in more then 1 sense.

 

I believe my reaction to this news was something along the lines of 'Holy mother of duck!'

Definately functionally similar reaction. Yep.

Luke Skywalker going through a veritable meat grinder of a conflict and undergoing some major character development along the way? Why on earth has this NOT been touched before?

Oh yeah, and also Matt's writing it. That may have contributed some to my reaction. Not much, though. A solid 4%. Give or take.

Now, I'm not saying that I'm now looking forward to this more than most any other Star Wars literature coming out over the next few years, but...

But..

You know, I really shouldn't have started writing that before I'd come up with a suitable conclusion. Ah, well.

So, yeah. Looking forward. Expecting some kick-ass action tempered by Luke undergoing some good, healthy introspection and self-loathing.

 

All I can say is - Thank the PTB that LF gave this story to the only Author who can give Luke his *cough* Spine *cough* back.

It being Luke, I assume he'll still retain some of the qualities that made him Luke, compassion and quiet dignity - I loved the lyrical quality of The ROTS novelization, especially as in the passage where Anakin discovers he's going to be a father - and how Mace was given such depth in Shatterpoint - This will be one of the few EU novels that will make me part with my coins!

 

First off:

Congrats for the new upcoming book, should be great. *wipes nose*


Ok, now onto some questions:

1. What are your thoughts on Chuck Palahniuk and his writings?

Having just read Fight Club and Stranger than Fiction, it would be interesting to hear your view on him.

2. What current writers do you think are worth reading?

 

Can't wait for your new book Matthew. I must admit I never thought a book on the battle of Mindor would ever be written. I always thought comic book first, and I knew Dark Horse would never right a story just to feel in a continuity gap. But once hearing news of this, I've never been more thrilled.

I'm sure the story itself will be great, but I'm also hoping the action, the actual battle, will be great too. The thought of simple field with two armies on either side going to battle is as old as the seas.


Being a total Mandalorian fanatic, knowing Fenn Shysa and his crew will be a major part it also great. I'm really interested in how you'll write them. I'm also interested in how many of them you'll use. Supercommando's I'm sure are in short supply at this time, but then again Fenn has the ability to call every Mandalorian to him if need be. So it could come down to millions of Mandalorians vs Lord Shadowspawn and his army of troopers. I don't think that would be fair. But then again Shadowspawn might have millions too, of course it still wouldn't be fair for them. Atleast their armies would be equal though.

Definitly looking forward to it. I'm sure it will be as epic as it sounds, and I'm glad you get to write it.

 

Wow, Matthew Stover posts here?

That's so cool! I've read the ROTS novel about ten times now; I think you probably should have written the script Somehow you made the whole "Dying of a broken heart" thing seem a lot less corny. Plus, you kind of gave insight to how close Obi-Wan and Anakin really were; All we see on screen is arguing. It made the outcome a lot more... moving. I write fanfiction, and you're the kind of writer that I aspire to write like. Course, I'm not nearly as good

I actually ordered Shatterpoint and Traitor today, since I liked ROTS so much, and I anxiously await reading them.

And I definitely plan to order the new book when it comes out

 

I have to say, it is awesome that an author posts in his official thread! And Mr. Matt Stover, I loved your characterization of Mace Windu in Shatterpoint. I believe Traitor is one of the best New Jedi Order books, and Revenge of the Sith was 100% better in your book than as a movie (although of course, the lightsaber scenes in the movie were terrific, among other things). I especially liked the parts that showed that Padme wasn't just a weak pushover who fell dead when Anakin turned evil. I am thrilled that you are writing another star wars book, especially with Luke and the rest of the classic trilogy characters. Is it possible that you could give us any hints about what is to come in your upcoming book? Thanks a bunch!

 

Wellllll . . . the only hints I'm gonna give are contained already in the title.

Spoilers, as most folks around here already know, give me a rash.

 

Care to give any thoughts on Chuck Palahniuk and/or his writings?

 

Yeah, Matt... I called the doctor about that and I'm not contagious, so it wasn't me!

 

I know Im a little late to the party but I just wanted to say how thrilled I am that youre writing another SW novel, Matt. The EU has sorely missed your talent and unique vision.

Im also happy that things seem to be moving along nicely with CBK. I know youve probably already heard this ad infinitum already, but do you have any idea when CBK may hit the shelves ?

 

No news yet on pub date for CBK.

Haven't read Palahniuk. Sorry. Though FIGHT CLUB is one of my favorite movies, for whatever that's worth.

For dp4m --

You sure it wasn't you? I get a rash from moral clarity, too . . .

 

Cool. Thanks for replying, Matt.

 

They have a cream for that, now.


And if you like the movie Fight Club, you have got to check out the book. It's awesome. Though I don't recommend you take any mind-altering substances before you do, because that book is enough of a mind**** all on its own.

 

Moral Clarity, huh?

Reading Shatterpoint now; though I make sure to read it in broad daylight. Very chilling--in a good way. It's probably the best characterization of Mace that I've read.

Spoilers bug me; if you know what's going to happen in the book or movie... well, it spoils it That's just me though.

 

I'm a little behind the times, so I finally read the news on the new upcoming novel today. Having read both ROTS and Shatterpoint (I still have yet to read Traitor), I am very much looking forward to your take on Luke, Han, and Leia. While I enjoy quite a bit of SW EU, I find your novels to be the best I've read to this point in time, they are grounded in the grays of the world, and I feel that is something that has always been present in the SW universe but never really explored till you came along. Can't wait to read it, as well as Traitor when I get to it about three books from now.

 

Matt, I just finished reading Scott Lynch's Lies of Locke Lamora, and I noticed he acknowledges you and Gabe in his afterword. I have to say that even though Locke is nothing like Caine, his gritty characterization and cheat-to-kill fighting reminded me so much of Caine. Can you tell us anything about what Scott means by the "energetic flow of online miscreant-savants?" What, if any, input you had?

Such a fun book, by the way, gawd, loved it. For those of you that haven't checked out Lynch's debut effort, check it out!

 

When Scott was writing TLLoL, he would intermittently post excerpts on his LiveJournal blog-- in fact, that's how he sold the book, as I recall. Scott was once a regular poster at the deadcities3.0 forum (which is now called Frameshift -- a collection of like-minded cranks), which is how I got to know him.

I didn't really help him much, other than providing moral support (like reminding him that he's already my second favorite living writer -- after myself, of course). Others had more direct input. As I recall, the only real help I managed was to give him a couple words of advice about developing Jean Tannen's fighting style -- but only a couple words; basically I just confirmed for him that his approach would actually work in real-world combat.

It'd be a mistake to read that book with an eye to where he got what; it's 100% pure Lynch, and it's a terrific novel.

 

Hmmm, I'll probably have to go pick that up then. I'll add it to my queue after Children of Men (the book).

 

I finally got the chance to read Traitor today, I refuse to read the NJO out of order so I've been weaving in NJO books with other era books for a few years now. This is the first book in quite some time that I've completely devoured and read straight through with little to no interruption. Your view of the force is the view that I've held ever since I started with SW and the way you managed to express it in prose and especially through the character of Vegere was something to behold. Now I hope that as I move on this view won't be muddled by the authors that follow you in the rest of NJO, the Dark Nest Trilogy (although Denning is a personal favorite so I don't expect problems from him), and eventually LOTF. Great work, right up there with Shatterpoint and ROTS, and if I could only get my book store to hurry up and get my copy of Blade Of Tyshalle in stock I'd start devouring your other non-SW works as well. Before I do start reading any of the Caine books though, does it matter what order they are read in or would it be perfectly fine from a story standpoint to start with BOT and then read the others when I'm able to track them down?

 

Well I read the book first, his afterword second, so no, I wasn't trying to connect where he got what. Just a casual thought in retrospect.

Scott Lynch is getting some attention over on the ASOIAF boards, so that's where I picked up the book tip. I was surprised, usually ASOIAF posters recommend avant-garde, experimental books, but not necessarily fun books. The Lies of Locke Lamora (LoLL) was so much fun. There's already very positive reviews out for LoLL's sequel releasing soon: Red Seas under Red Skies.

Anxiously awaiting CBK btw...

 

PerfectCell,

Heroes Die precedes Blade of Tyshalle chronologically. However, both can be read as stand-alone novels as I'm sure Matt can attest to. I recall others having read BoT first and still having enjoyed/understood both BoT and HD just fine. Still, I would read Heroes Die first, ah, to be reading that book again for the first time...