A&A The Official Walter Jon Williams Discussion Thread

I'll continue the theme-I was curious if you had any desire to see how the NJO winds up. I guess you would have a basic idea but as you have said it is different from when you started. Do you care where it goes or are you just glad to have your part done with?

-Now to find some 'shrooms and give that steak a try.

 

Hi again! WJW, I've just exhausted myself going through all the previous pages of this thread and must thank you for keeping up-to-date with it... But alas, I'm sorry to add to the mass of questions LOL!

My question is one that's been touched on several times, answered a few times, but I'm looking for specifics to back up an idea I'm working on... What *exactly* was *required* in DW? What scenes were you told were MUST-HAVE-INs..? (And yeah I know that's two questions, but they're the same one really! )

Mucho gracias lol!

 

Hi Mr. Williams! Loved your book. It was great to see the Republic win for once, and I enjoyed the humor. I really liked the inclusions of a Phindain and a Nemoidain; it's great to see authors using the "new" prequel and prequel EU aliens in their stories. A *lot* of the NJO authors tend to rely on Mon Calamri, Bothans, Givin, Qurran, Devornian, Duros, etc for scenes involving aliens.

A question: why did were Jania, Jacen, and the other Young Jedi Knights "graduating" from Apprentice to Knight in DW? They've been listed as Knights in the cast of character listings in the beginning of each NJO book, and they underwent a similar ceremony at the end of the last YJK book. It seemed a tad redundant.

But, again, loved the book. I'd love to see you do another one, perhaps a prequel-era story?

TC

 

*blinks* I was searching through randomhouse just cause i was bored and i saw the Destiny's Way paperback, when did it come out? didn't Mastadge say it was coming out after 10 more months?!

 

The DW paperback won't be out for a while. Seeing that the HC was recentley relesed, why would Del Ray/LFL release it's counterpart so quickly?

 

Kyp, a DW's paperback so soon? That must be a mistake. I'll check this out and report back.

 

Okay's here's what I found . . .


by: Walter Jon Williams
Category: Fiction - Science Fiction
Imprint: Del Rey
Format: Paperback
Pub Date: July 2003
Price: $6.99
ISBN: 0-345-42874-9


Hmmm. Most unusual with a paperback release date of mid-year. That's at least three to four months earlier. Good news for us Aussies!

 

Okay, I have a problem. First, let me say that I enjoyed DW immensely, and spent many happy hours reading it. I thought it started to get a

little slow near the end, but then picked up right away with the battle at Ebaq 9. There was, however, one thing which, IMHO...er, ah, how to

say this diplomatically... Er...could have been...better. Much, much better. My one major complaint (petty little dislikes aside) is the (SPOILERS,
if we still need to announce them) death of Warmaster Tsavong Lah. Not to criticize Mr. Williams's writing ability, but I thought this was the

worst scene in any Star Wars book that I've ever read. Just my humble opinion, of course. Okay, so we have Tsavong Lah, the Dealer of Death,

the Vindicator of the Vong, the main bad guy for the last eight books, plus DTII: Ruin. Rankwise, he's about the equal of Darth Vader in the

Yuuzhan Vong. The second in command of the greatest enemy the NR's ever faced. Why did then, being all these things, did he go out like

some two-bit foot soldier? He's managed to survive the depressurization of the moon, he's armed himself extensively with the weapons of his

fallen warriors, and his enemies have fallen right into his trap. Why, oh why oh why oh why, then does he go out the way he does? Stabbed

through the back of the neck by Jaina Solo? Dying instantly? Not even spouting one last threat, or acknowledgement of his defeat, or anything?

Not even glowering malevolently one last time? "She stabbed him, and he died." That's it. The main villain of the last two years is no more. And

the fight was so stinkin' short! And Tsavong Lah being killed by Jaina Solo? Jaina Solo? Oh, please. Sorry for wasting your time with my ravings and

rantings, but I really enjoyed this book up until Tsavong's poorly executed death scene, which really kinda ruined the whole thing for me.

Sorry for wasting your time, but I just had to get this off my chest. So, what did you think of the Warmaster's ignoble fate? Killed instantly

after a two-minute fight by a teenage girl using some cheap levitation trick? Come on, even villains deserve to go out in a blaze of glory.

Hopefully Shimrra and Onimi will be able to fill the large shoes left behind in the passings of Shedao Shai and now Tsavong Lah. But probably

not. *sigh* Well, one can still hope. Do-ro'ik vong pratte! And woe to our enemies!


EDIT: Sorry this looks so screwed up. Maybe I'll learn how to do this sort of thing one of these days.

 

Oh crap I forgot since it's been so long. How did Shedao Shai die?

 

He swung his snakestaff hard at Corran, expecting to be blocked.

Corran simple shut his saber off for a second. The staff swung wide, leaving him open . . . and reigniting it stabbed his good!

 

This must be a mistake, even amazon.com doesn't have the paperback. I hate this, I wish they had a definite release schedule for paperbacks/etc, I used my money to buy the earlier NJO books i hadn't read and now it says Destiny's Way paperback has come out, now I have to wait for months before i can get the paperback, if it has been released for real.
(btw, I'm 13, hence why i do not have the money.)

 

It hasn't come out. Dun worry. The hardback is still out...

 

stupid me, i cancelled the order for the other star wars books.
*hits head on table*

 

Hi again. Hope you enjoyed the steaks.

The thing I like about a lot of Italian cuisine is that so many great-tasting dishes are dead easy to make, and then you serve them to your friends, get rave reviews, and they think you've done something complicated and magical.

Like veal and/or chicken marsala. Cut your veal/chicken into scallops, pound flat, coat with flour. (I also chop up some mushrooms, but that's just me) Brown meat and mushrooms in olive oil, then add marsala wine. Cook till the sauce has thickened and the alcohol's all burned off, and serve. It's a dead simple recipe, and your friends will go insane with pleasure. And they'll think you're a really profound cook! ("Wow! Walter's cooking with wine!") Little do they know how little work you actually put into the meal, especially if you chase them out of the kitchen beforehand, saying, "Magic things are happening here. You must not profane the mysteries!"

One of the things I discovered fairly early in my bachelor career is that women think that men who can cook are sexy. I'm married now, but I still do most of the cooking.

Thanks for sticking around, by the way. I'm on deadline, trying to finish Praxis II, and I'm not hanging online much.

By the way, Radio SithClan in Canada did a lengthy interview with me, and there's an MP3 file available for download at:

http://www.sithclan.net/radio/wjw.htm

You can hear me talk, anyway, and find out that I'm a real person and everything.

Do I have any long-term goals as an author? Right now I'm just trying to earn a living in an ever-narrowing market, as I compete against authors who are younger, faster, and can practically give their work away because they have a day job or a spouse who pays the bills.

But if I win the lottery tomorrow, I'll want to finish the Metropolitan sequence, then finish an unfinished book that I can't seem to sell (but which my friends think is the best thing I've ever written), and then use my chance-gotten gains to promote the hell out of myself and everything I write, forever. I'll become a fixture on late-night TV. You should all hope this never happens.

Everything from here on down contains SPOILERS.

Ria, some of the parts of DW that are dearest to my heart are Vergere's backstory, which I'm very proud of, the philosophical exchanges between Vergere and Luke, and the submarine combat ('cuz it's just so freaking cool).

Why does Jaina think being the Sword of the Jedi stinks? Because the job description includes, "Always being the first in line to get the crap kicked out of her." But yes, by this point, Jaina has made the mental transition that you suggest.

Why did Vergere have to die? I think it's because Vergere was sort of an information virus--- her whole job was to get some information one place to another. Once that information was transmitted, her function was sort of over. Plus, as Daroo suggests, she'd be getting in Luke's way. And Jacen is another major character who would be stumbling over her all the time.

Am I going to read the rest of the NJO books? You bet I am!

The long, strange Star Wars trip was so fast and furious that I'm still sorting it out. It's clear I've become part of an ongoing classic, but nobody seems to know where the classic is ongoing =to,= so it's hard to sum things up.

I have no other Star Wars related plans at the moment, though that can change. Right now I'm trying to get Praxis II out the door, and then there will be Praxis III. Following that, and after they let me out of the sanitorium, I'll look around for other projects.

I don't know how humble beginners break into the franchise, but I know for sure that humble beginners don't get to write the novels. I don't think fanfic helps. Fanfic is just something you should do for your own amusement, not because you think it's going to lead anywhere.

Moff, I definitely care where NJO ends up. I planted a whole lot of seeds in DW, and I want to see them sprout.

What exactly was required in DW? I'll have to go on memory, beca

 

One of the things I discovered fairly early in my bachelor career is that women think that men who can cook are sexy. I'm married now, but I still do most of the cooking.

True.

The trick is getting 'em up to your apartment to cook for 'em...

 

Hey, I've been lied to all these weeks!

If the Tsavong-Jaina duel was four pages long, that's not short, which everyone has been saying. I wasn't aware of that. That's pretty good. Wasn't Corran and the two Shai siblings in Onslaught of comparable length?

And I agree she won that fight easily. If other Jedi have had it harder with less armoured Vong opponents, it's because they knew less about them, and becasue they don't fight creatively. For example, how hard is it to hurl something big or small at a warrior?

Walter's reasoning for Vergere's exit makes sense, in a way. And if you want to be really sneaky at a later date, did anyone see an actual body in the crash, or was it written in? Hmmm . . .

Walter, you were right about that the cover art and who does it, which I asked a few weeks back. I've researched that extensively over everal other boards and sites. Writers have no say at all, or sometimes how their name appears on the cover . . .

 

i think the explosion would've incinerated any body...if there was one to incinerate.....

 

Walterjon, I apologize if my argument sounded petty or ungrateful. I agree with everything you said, although I'm still a little saddened by Tsavy's death. Well, one more thing to add to my list of why I...dislike Jaina Solo. Yes, I realize he wouldn't have been able to say anything, but I still would've loved to hear a, "Curse you, Jaina Solo! GHACK! <thud>." Ha ha ha.

I suppose the thing that I disliked the most about the whole thing was his dying instantly, although I guess that's what would happen if you got stabbed through the throat. I, too, would like to see you do a Prequel Era book, as I tend to like those more than the NJO anyway, and since DW was among the best of the NJO, I'm sure I would enjoy any prequel book you would write.

Anyway, sorry if I seemed ugrateful. I really liked Destiny's Way, with the exception of the Jaina vs. Tsavong battle, though it's mostly because I won't be seeing my favorite Vong again. *sniff* Ah, well, maybe they'll be able to do something cool with Shimmra and Onimi. I congratulate you on a book well done. Sorry I criticized it for no good reason. You're the professional, after all. *bursts into tears* I'm such a fool!

 

Chiss eh? Well...I can only imagine why you had to include a species/gov't that had nothing to do with your book. Is this a piece of the puzzle that will "blow our minds"?

 

Thanks for the reply. It's nice that you take the time to reply to posts here, no matter how intelligent or inane I must say I enjoyed the political aspects of DW. We haven't seen much of that in the NJO. And while it is totally irrelevant I am a pretty darn good cook.

 

WJW, just wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed Destiny's Way. I like political stories, and this one had it with a side of fries.

I had one question - the design of the Jedi Council. Honestly, this was the one element of the book I really disliked, chiefly because it didn't appear to make any sense to me. What business do politicians have in leading the Jedi Order? I understand that bit about keeping the "Republic" happy and all, but the Jedi Council is not just about working with the government, its about picking who to make knights, who to make masters, who trains who. I mean, why would politicians be a part of that?

I'm not looking to slam you or anything, but I was just curious if this was something that Del Rey wanted, or did you develop this? And, if you did, what was the rationale?

Not trying to be critical, but it was the one element of the book that just didn't gel right for me.

 

Hello Walter,

As a single guy, thanks for the tip about the cooking!

 

I guess I have to agree with CEEWULF, Mr. Williams. I was glad to see Luke set up a Jedi Council, but this Jedi Council only seems to benefit the government, but not the Jedi. It doesn't seem to do what Luke originally intended when he first spoke about the JEDI COUNCIL in VECTOR PRIME. Back then, he wanted to establish it to give the Jedi direction and to eliminate rogue Jedi causing problems by doing their own thing all over the galaxy.

Did you realize that by having that couple month gap that takes place in Ylesia, Vergere was Luke and Mara's house guest for about three months? Poor Skywalkers!

We discussed this in the SOS SON OF SKYWALKER thread on the Lit board a couple of times, and it was decided it would have been great to have been a fly on the wall in that Skywalker apartment. Can you imagine some of the conversations between Vergere and Mara?

 

It would have been very interesting indeed!

 

So, the US military is run by civilians. Checks and balances my man, checks and balances.