What happened to Kevin J. Anderson?

So in the late 90s Kevin J. Andersen seemed like he was so involved in the EU, even working as editor on a few of the short story collections. Why has he not returned? Was there disappointment in the quality of his work? Was it the Bantam change?

 

He just stopped writing I guess. I suppose his deal with LFL had ended and he moved on. Plus, his books tend to be contentious on the best days. I am a big fan of the Jedi Academy trilogy because I liked how insane and goofy it got, but I know a lot of people who absolutely loathe it for how it treats certain characters than the prevalence of super duper bigger than the death star super weapons and whack jobs like Daala or Qwi Xux. And the Umgullian Blob race. (Best chapter concerning giant homicidal amoeba horse races ever.)

And Darksaber.... not very good at all.

I'm a fan of his books for their fun sense of escapism, but there's a lot of definite criticism for his take on the galaxy.

 

@Darth_Zandalor

I had wondered if it was disappointment in his work. I have seen a lot of people critical of him. I haven't read the Young Jedi Knights, but I didn't mind the Jedi Academy Trilogy. I didn't like DarkSaber either. It just seemed like he was so involved that I was surprised that they didn't keep him involved in some capacity.

 

I liked Young Jedi Knights a lot actually, and I enjoyed the Jedi Academy Trilogy for the most part as well though largely because my favorite EU novel is I, Jedi. (Though there are moments I am disappointed with discontinuity in the tie-ins between those.)

 

That's good to know about YJK, I plan on getting to it, but I have so many others I'm trying to get to now.

 

Plus he helped with Tales of the Jedi.

 

Around the same time the licence switched from Bantam to DelRey, he started working on the Dune prequels, sequels, and inter-quels with Frank Herbert's son. To say nothing of his ridiculously large number of author-owned works.

 

He's got a facebook page and is pretty interactive with fans on there. He goes hiking a lot and shows up to bookstores around the Denver area with his wife.

 

To be honest...would you want to talk about SW books when most of the fandom really doesn't like your books?


(personally I don't mind them)

 

I have several questions for him about TOTJ.

 

It's my opinion that he either knowingly writes **** for rent money, or he's an incompetent.

Does anyone know anything about his connections to Scientology, by the way? Is that a case of just taking their money for a novelization, or is he a Scientologist?

 

...what did I just read?

 

This might be an ignorant question but did Scientology exist when he was writing Star Wars stuff?

 

I'm gonna have to go ahead and say, re: scientology, cite your source, because this is literally the first I've heard about any scientology connectivity.

Also, according to the wikipedia page, the Church of Scientology was incorporated in 1953. So ... yes it existed?

 

This is on his IMDB page (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1218473/)
"Guinness World Record holder for largest single-author book signing, specifically for his novelization of the L. Ron Hubbard screenplay AI! Peditro!: When Intelligence Goes Wrong."

His wiki page has next to nothing to say about it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_J_Anderson#using_materials_by_L._Ron_Hubbard

I realise these sites are less than trustworthy, but the book exists:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ai-Pedrito-Intelligence-Wrong-ebook/dp/B008Y8CSP0/

 

He attends Dragon*Con every year and always sits in on the Star Wars author panels. He's actually quite funny. He started off the Masculinity in Star Wars panel by ripping off his jacket, and spent the rest of the panel wearing a black sleeveless shirt.

 

Why does writing a book for L. Ron Hubbard automatically make him a scientologist?

 

It doesn't, that's why I asked the questions I did. It is a matter of interest though, at least to me!

I think it's probably a case of take the money and run, but I suspect the church would wish to favour their own, or at the very least go for someone sympathetic to their cause and ideals. The book signing world record suggests to me that it happened at a Scientology event (as Hubbard isn't exactly a big draw in literary/SF circles). I could be wrong.

 

Interesting. I'm just curious what difference it would make if he was a scientologist or not. I'm not exactly fond of the group myself, but a person's presence in the society doesn't diminish my enjoyment of their work. (Battlefield Earth is the best ironic comedy ever)

 

LOL yeah it has its moments... I enjoy what I've read of Neil Gaiman, he was brought up in Scientology, as I understand it. I enjoy a lot of films featuring Scientologists, even if I think those actors are mistaken. L Ron's writing was diabolical though.

It wouldn't make me reconsider the quality of KJA's writing; as I said before, I think he's probably either a cynical hack or he's genuinely bad (probably a mixture of both), but if he were a card carrying Scientologist I might consider his work for them seem less of a cynical act of greed, instead making it an act of moral principle (even if I may disagree with most of what that organisation says and does).

I'm clearly prejudiced.

 

I liked the JA trilogy, Darksaber, Dune works, Saga of the Seven Suns and Enemies and Allies

 

I read his Jedi Sunrise trilogy, it was decent. I'd like to see him write a Allana/Ben book series.

 

He went to the dentist, just as Yularen did!

 

The answer is: he's been busy doing other stuff.
http://starwarsinterviews1.blogspot.com/2010/02/kevin-j-anderson-interview-star-wars.html