A&A The Official Walter Jon Williams Discussion Thread

The Jedi Council DOES limit rogue Jedi activity; after all, if a few Jedi start going off on their own crusades, the entire NR government will be given permission (through this council) to stop them. It also gives the Jedi a stronger mandate. Instead of working entirely on their own for what THEY see as the common "good", they are now part of the government and are sanctioned by them. It's TOTALLY checks and balances . . . as for naming new knights and stuff, I think Luke and the other masters will do as they had in the past. Said actions are not a concern of the government.

 

You are getting sleepy . . . you are getting sleepy . . . you will buy the hardback . . . you will buy the hardback . . .



Anyways, I finished reading "Destiny's Way" yesterday, and I've got to say that it's fast becoming my favourite SW book. Yes, I noticed the small little problems, but they didn't really get in the way.

Unlike Esplin9466 , I liked the way that Tsavong Lah died, and it's not just because I like Jaina Solo, but when you consider how much trouble the Solo twins have given him since the beginning (Balance Point, Traitor, etc.), it seems fitting that he would come to his end at one of their hands.

I especially like how Nom Anor was handled. Ever since reading Vector Prime, I always conisdered that this guy had a secret agenda. And this is one of the plots that I seriously hope gets picked up and developed by Williams/Dix, Luceno or keys. He's becoming one of my favourite EU characters.

Good job, Walter. Hope you get the chance to write another SW novel.

 

WJW, if this is your only stint in the SW Universe, I'll be shocked. I like authors who tastefully add new stuff to the SW universe (Republic cruisers, Dif Scaur, etc) while still being able to get the mix of fantasy and sci-fi right. I've re-read my favorite parts over and over, and am wearing holes in it.

 

*winces at TIEPilot051999's innocent comment* Yeah, sorry about that. It was late, and I was drunk. Well, not really, but...

 

You know the snoopships the Wraiths fly? Are they kind of like Star Wars' SR-71s?

 

Yeah, sorry about that. It was late, and I was drunk. Well, not really, but...

No need, man. That's your opinion, and we're all entitled to our own point of view.

 

KansasNavy wrote:

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

Yes, but the Jedi are not a military organization, or at least they shouldn't be one. What business does the government have in dealing with Jedi training and so forth?

RiaJade wrote:

The Jedi Council DOES limit rogue Jedi activity; after all, if a few Jedi start going off on their own crusades, the entire NR government will be given permission (through this council) to stop them. It also gives the Jedi a stronger mandate. Instead of working entirely on their own for what THEY see as the common "good", they are now part of the government and are sanctioned by them. It's TOTALLY checks and balances . . . as for naming new knights and stuff, I think Luke and the other masters will do as they had in the past.

And what exactly did Luke and the others do in the past? I don't recall there being any organized fashion in which Jedi were named as Knights or Masters or so forth. That's what the Jedi Council is supposed to be for.

Plus, Cal Omas made it pretty clear that while he and the government can put the kabosh on things the Jedi do, the Jedi and the Jedi Council can be instantly pushed aside and ignored in the government's best interest. Where's the checks and balances in that?

 

Yes, but the Jedi are not a military organization, or at least they shouldn't be one. What business does the government have in dealing with Jedi training and so forth?

While I don't necessarily agree with the DW plan... I'd say that the "business" that the government has with dealing with Jedi "training" is to make sure that if they're going to be operating on the government's behalf, then they'll be operating on the government's behalf. No more of this "rogue Jedi on the periphery fighting pirates" thing. If the Jedi draws the Republic into a conflict it will be with the full knowledge and approval of the government.

The Advisory Council, as I see it, has NO bearing on ACTUAL training -- in terms of how a Jedi learns the Force or what they're trained. Merely the direction that they're pointed in defense of the Republic.

 

In the Enemy Lines duology, Allston alluded to a form of testing (Luke comments that Tahiri, though still officially an apprentice, had become a Jedi Knight, but hadn't been proclaimed such because the academy hadn't kept up with testing its students because of the war). My guess would be that it's something akin to Prequal "trials" in the Jedi Temple. Which, forgive my lack of prequal knowledge, I don't know much about. But I still don't see how the Advisory Council would have a bearing on that, or how they should. The masters of the order seem to have a council on that already going. As to how easily Cal Omas swept away the council when it disagreed with him . . . that worries me (especially given certain political events in our own government). However, since the Jedi have the ear of many branches of government through that same council, I would assume that they could persuade said branches to side with them and make implimenting plans such as Alpha Red (blue, green, whatever; can't remember) a lot more difficult. Since the New Republic is supposed to be a, well, REPUBLIC, the Chief of State shouldn't be able to act unilaterally the way Omas seemed to believe he could.

 

I don't think this will last long, or maybe it will. I'm neutral on this idea, although a council of jedi knights would be better IMO

 

Hi again. Sorry I was gone so long. There's all that holiday stuff to do, plus I'm still trying to get Praxis II out the door.

I'm still having adventures in cuisine. This week I managed to get ahold of a bunch of really excellent ahi tuna steaks, so I'm having tuna every night. The first night I simply grilled it. Last night I had my grilled tuna steak sitting on a bed of corn tortillas, a layer of black beans and tomatoes all cooked and mooshed together, and another layer of French goat cheese, all topped with a homemade pico de gallo salsa. You wouldn't think all those tastes would work together, but they do.

Saturday night I'm having some friends over for dinner, so the tuna extravaganza will continue. For a first course there'll be homemade ravioli with chicken marsala filling and creamy mushroom sauce, then the tuna steaks cooked al funghi with white wine, like the steak recipe I gave above, and then . . . something else. Dessert will be my wife Kathy's mince pies with rum-raisin ice cream.

I'm really going to need to hit the Total Gym after this week.

As far as the debate about the High Council goes, I don't think the government is going to interfere in Jedi training. For one thing, they wouldn't have the slightest idea how to go about it. I also don't think they're going to have much to say about who gets to be a Jedi knight, unless the knight in question has been particularly naughty. If some Jedi apprentice goes off and starts a war with, say, Hapes, the High Council would be perfectly within their rights to say, "You know, I think he needs a bit more maturity before we knight him."

If I were Luke, my worry would not so much going to be government interference with the Jedi, but the Jedi being drawn into questions that are purely political, and beyond their mandate. The Jedi have no particular interest in who gets appointed to what post in the government, or where or to what planet or corporation resoures are being committed, and being involved in decisions of that sort might be corrupting. In my first draft of DW I had the Jedi Council being distinct from the Advisory Council, but I think someone decided that was too confusing, and so the two were combined.

Apropos my first draft, would anyone being interested in my posting some scenes here that, for one reason or another, didn't make it through the final edit? There were some that I rather liked, and some were funny, but for various technical reasons they never made it to the final product.

Copies of the DW audio book came my way, and I've been listening to it. I've never heard my own words read aloud before, let alone by a professional reader, and with sound effects. I have to say, listening to this, that I'm a darn good writer! Some of these scenes really rock! The product is highly edited--- Vergere's whole backstory got cut out, for one thing--- and that's not something I'll ever understand. The fans who are dedicated enough to spring for the audio book would be dedicated enough to want an unexpurgated version, or so I'd imagine.

Also, the reader has some highly individual ways of pronouncing the alien names and objects. There doesn't seem to be any standard way, though--- the folks at Lucasfilm pronounce the names differently from the folks at Del Rey, and the writers just seem to make up a bunch of stuff and throw in apostrophes at random. Is M'oshpi't F'orlo'rn pronounced different from Moshpit Forlorn, and if so, why?

 

"Ah well, sorry about Farlander. As I said, none of the references I could access mentioned Farlander's being a Jedi. Perhaps he was so busy being a pilot instructor that he never advanced very far with his training (he said hopefully)."

As I mentioned to you previously, you never explictely said that Keyan wasn't a jedi in your story, so you never technically contradicted that he was one in your book, by having him commanding forces elsewhere. We see in AOTC that jedi are capable of commanding forces, .

 

Apropos my first draft, would anyone being interested in my posting some scenes here that, for one reason or another, didn't make it through the final edit? There were some that I rather liked, and some were funny, but for various technical reasons they never made it to the final product.

<mouth hangs agape>

YUH-HUH!



EDIT: The product is highly edited--- Vergere's whole backstory got cut out, for one thing--- and that's not something I'll ever understand. The fans who are dedicated enough to spring for the audio book would be dedicated enough to want an unexpurgated version, or so I'd imagine.

This is true. I found the audiobook a full 8 days or so before release, so I caved and bought it. The audio novel was edited so badly that I didn't quite understand that Vergere was dead by listening only to the audiobook!

The dude that read it WAS rather good though... I posted a thread about him in Lit. Apparently he's not really done anything else except for these audiobooks and opera (I think?)...

 

WALTER JON WILLIAMS: Apropos my first draft, would anyone being interested in my posting some scenes here that, for one reason or another, didn't make it through the final edit? There were some that I rather liked, and some were funny, but for various technical reasons they never made it to the final product.

I would definitely be interested in reading them! Thank you for the offer.

WALTER JON WILLIAMS: In my first draft of DW I had the Jedi Council being distinct from the Advisory Council, but I think someone decided that was too confusing, and so the two were combined.

Well, now I'm confused! I thought there WERE two separate Councils! One, the High Council, that was another name for the Jedi Council, and the other, the Advisory Council, which was the Council that gave advice to the Chief of State. There seemed to be some people that Cal Omas was planning to put on the Advisory Council that were different from the members of the Jedi Council. Why would Cal Omas need 6 Jedi Knights on his Advisory Council? I thought Luke Skywalker was on BOTH councils. Wasn't he supposed to head the Jedi Council and be a member of Omas' Advisory Council as well? I know that Luke made a comment about being so busy attending meetings that he wouldn't be doing much of anything else.

Are you sure there's now only one Council? It would seem that the Jedi would be far too intrenched in the government that way. Six Jedi out of 12 people doesn't seem right for a government's Advisory Council. That also doesn't put anyone from Fey'lya's government in the Council, does it?

 

I think deleted scenes could be great

 

I would LOVE the deleted scenes as well!

 

Deleted scenes--what a cool idea. If you're willing to post them I'm sure we would be willing to read them.

I've often wondered about pronunciation myself. I just go with whatever works for me which is probably what everybody else does. I've never been sure about C'baoth. That one still bugs me.

 

Thank you for offering to post the deleted scenes Mr. Williams. I would enjoy reading them.

 

Cool... it's like Destiny's Way: The Director's Cut. Awesome. What about a running director's comentary. Some making of featurettes and perhaps a documentary or two. Cast and crew bios would be nice. It the Destiny's Way DVD-book edition right here on the boards.

 

I'm desperately looking for the multi-angle shots. WJW typiing from the left-side... WJW typing from the right-side... the front angle of WJW sweating while hitting the "Save" icon hoping the file doesn't eat itself...

 

Deleted scenes would be AWESOME!!D Wow. . . dudes, we're lucky. WJW seems to LIKE us . . .hehehe. ;o)

Merry Christmas, all!!! Yay, I get to work. Gah. And what amazing dish will WJW be cooking today? ;o)

 

Please post the deleted scenes, that'd be awesome

 

WJW seems to LIKE us . . .

Go figure.
Must have been all that food talk.

Seriously, it would be great if all SW authors popped in and responded as frequently as WJW does. He's taken the little criticisms and the compliments quite well. Good on him I say.

 

Deleted scenes?

That's like getting an extended DVD with featurettes and extras, after a release. And we didn't have to wait half a year or more.

Great stuff!

 

Deleted scenes would be incredibley awesome!