The End of the Star Wars Expanded Universe, the Beginning of the EU

Some interesting news came out on Friday, and for those who are and were fans of the Star Wars Expanded Universe, though it was not unexpected, it was also not entirely welcome. 

While not perfect, and occasionally stretching the notion of having everything actually tie together, the various writers and editors working in the Star Wars Expanded Universe has done a very good job in having all of the fiction fit within the framework of the movies and build together to tell ongoing stories where events in a novel by one author would play off of those in a novel or comic written by a different author years prior.

With George Lucas having no stated intention to make additional Star Wars movies set after Return of the Jedi, the authors have been able to play and build and flesh out the the universe over decades, with the children of Han and Leia take major roles, having Luke marry and produce a son, with the death of a major character, and seeing the heroes of the original trilogy age and grow and (mostly) develop.  Readers had the chance to see what happened after the Emperor was defeated, and how a group of rebels could begin to build a Republic.  Truly beginning with Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire, the Expanded  Universe has grown to over one hundred novels and numerous comics and it has, as best as the authors and editors could do, been a reasonably coherent whole.

Until Friday.

Lucasfilm has announced how, in the light of the new series of movies being filmed, the Expanded Universe would work.  Given that  Episode VII is set after Return of the Jedi, one of two things would have to happen.  One, JJ Abrams and his writers would have to find a way to fit the movie into the existing framework of the Expanded Universe, of which there are so many stories.  Two, the Expanded Universe would have to be pushed aside and, whatever the new movie turns out to be, it would would contradict much of the existing work.  That was always the risk.

As the press release mentions,

While Lucasfilm always strived to keep the stories created for the EU consistent with our film and television content as well as internally consistent, Lucas always made it clear that he was not beholden to the EU. He set the films he created as the canon. This includes the six Star Wars episodes, and the many hours of content he developed and produced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. These stories are the immovable objects of Star Wars history, the characters and events to which all other tales must align.

This could be seen with the Prequel trilogy.  Writers had been instructed to stay away from the time of the Clone Wars because there was still the potential for Lucas to make those movies, and he did.  Where the books contradicted the films, the movies won and those books had to be ret-conned to explain the differences. 

The press release continues,

In order to give maximum creative freedom to the filmmakers and also preserve an element of surprise and discovery for the audience, Star Wars Episodes VII-IX will not tell the same story told in the post-Return of the Jedi Expanded Universe. While the universe that readers knew is changing, it is not being discarded. Creators of new Star Wars entertainment have full access to the rich content of the Expanded Universe. For example, elements of the EU are included in Star Wars Rebels. The Inquisitor, the Imperial Security Bureau, and Sienar Fleet Systems are story elements in the new animated series, and all these ideas find their origins in roleplaying game material published in the 1980s.

Up until Friday, all of those books set after Return of the Jedi were part of the official canon of Star Wars.  They happened, and they counted.  They were considered a B-Level canon, in that Lucas could (and would) change anything that happened in those books in the movies.  The movies were always the official A-Level canon of Star Wars, and later the Clone Wars Animated Series.

Given how popular the Star Wars Expanded Universe is, the books will still exist and will continue to be published.  They will just be published with a "Legends" banner, denoting that they are not the "real" Star Wars.

What this means for the novels and comics that were set before Return of the Jedi is unknown, except that since Star Wars Rebels will air in the coming years as a follow up animated series to the Clone Wars cartoons, Rebels may also push other, pre-ROTJ under the Legends banner.  My guess is that any and all Star Wars content created before Friday will be Legends.

Future novels, beginning with  John Jackson Miller's A New Dawn, will be part of the official Star Wars canon and Official Star Wars Expanded Universe. 

The real question that I have is whether there will be new books published under the Legends banner, continuing the ongoing stories and the EU that readers have been enjoying for more than two decades. It would now be as an Alternate Universe, sort of like the occasional Infinities told one-off alternate universe stories that didn't actually count.  While it makes sense for Lucasfilm and Del Rey to focus on the new EU, there are a lot of readers out there who would very much like to continue with the particular storylines they have grown up with.

Time will tell. 

Karen Traviss quits Star Wars

I’ve got some disappointing news, folks. Karen Traviss has decided to stop working in the Star Wars franchise. The forthcoming second season of The Clone Wars Animated Series is apparently going to force changes to her depictions of Mandalore and Mandalorians and would necessitate wholescale changes to her future SW novels. Rather than make the changes (and invalidate a whole lot of work she has put into those books + spend a whole lot of time on the changes), Traviss decided to leave the franchise. She will have two novels left (Imperial Commando: 501st and Imperial Commando 2) and then nothing.

This leaves readers without future Imperial Commando novels or the promised Boba Fett book. Plus whatever else would come through the pipeline. Del Rey and LucasArts is clearly happy with the work (and sales) of Karen Traviss since they keep giving her money to write more. There would probably be more.

As a reader of the Star Wars novels I believe that the franchise will be weakened by not having more from Karen Traviss. In my view, she is one of the strongest writers working on Star Wars (along with Matthew Stover, Michael Stackpole, and Aaron Allston – all for very different reasons) and the loss will be felt. It will also be felt because Traviss writes from the perspective of the soldiers on the ground and gives a view not from the Big Name Jedi. The view from the clone commandos (and from some of the Jedi leading them) is very different from, say, Obi Wan or Anakin. It’s the story of the characters without the big picture but who have to live with the decisions on the ground.

It’s realistic and dirty in a way that Star Wars frequently is not.

Now, if you read the message boards on theforce.net, you’ll see a lot of Traviss-Hate…which seems to stem from a fundamental disagreement with A) her focus on Mandalorian culture, B) perceived changes to canon and continuity, and C) her perceived Jedi hate.

I can’t speak to B, because I just assume everything fits together somehow without dealing with the nuts and bolts. I think A is a mark in her favor because it brings to life another culture from Star Wars and she’s the only writer who really works from that perspective…so maybe 9 novels out of more than 100. C, in my mind, stems entirely from the fact that Karen Traviss writes from a very tight third person perspective. So tight that readers get the view from a very limited selection of characters – frequently the Clone Soldiers or Mandalorians: Characters who have NO REASON to like the Jedi and who have their own opinions. So, while these may be the views of Traviss towards the Jedi, it should be read specifically as the views of those characters. Meaning – and this is what irks me about that forum – not everyone loves the Jedi and some have legitimate gripes based on their perception and life experiences. And yes, there are Jedi who become disillusioned with the war and the order because of their experiences with soldiers on the ground. They say Traviss glorifies the soldiers and the Mandalorians – and yes – from the perspective of those who live it. I doubt that Yoda would have the same experience. And yes, Jaina was somewhat seduced by the lifestyle – but bear in mind she’s soldier trained as much as she is Jedi trained. There probably is a certain seductiveness to that culture for some people.

This is all to say that I will read with great joy the remaining Star Wars novels Traviss has left, and that I will look forward to the hinted at original (read: creator owned) series she has planned. Her six volume Wess’har Wars (start with City of Pearl and thank me later) is outstanding and as much as I like her SW work, I really want more from her own universes. With any luck things will work out between Traviss and LucasArts and she’ll eventually get back to Star Wars. But, if not…

Good luck Karen. Thank you for the stories.

Quick Takes: Elizabeth Bear, Orson Scott Card, Walter Jon Williams

Hammered, by Elizabeth Bear: I saw a listing of Space Opera novels that had Elizabeth Bear’s Jenny Casey trilogy on it. As I read Hammered I couldn’t figure out how this could be until I got to the very end. Jenny Casey is an ex elite soldier for the Canadian military. She has served in many of the world’s hot spots and in this future setting, the locations are not what you’d expect. The United States has mostly crumbled and Hartford is a bad town to be in, New York is far worse. Jenny is a 50 year old woman who has had cyborg parts for the last thirty years as a result of her military career. She is worn down, broken down, and in pain. She was trying to live her life quietly and off the grid when she starts to get pulled back in by the military she thought she left behind and by the mean streets of Hartford. Having read Bear’s two Promethean Age novels I can see how she has developed from Hammered, her debut. Hammered is a strong story, interesting, but choppy in how it jumps from scene to scene and I initially had a difficult time figuring out who some people were and how they connected. By the end it made a bit more sense, but Hammered was a bit of work to get through. I hope / expect that Scardown will be a stronger effort than Hammered, but this early Bear novel is still good, but because I know that Bear gets better Hammered wasn’t the thrill I had hoped. I think this is being a little unfair to Hammered, though. After all, on the strength of the three Jenny Casey novels Bear was awarded the Campbell for Best New Writer.



A War of Gifts, by Orson Scott Card: This novella is Card’s Ender Wiggin Christmas story. If you think about it, this is a little bit weird because the story is set in the military academy setting of Battle School, but it works because with Battle School there is to be no religious expression. Battle School needs to bring the kids together and religion is a way to divide. The story seems to be directed through the eyes of a child of an ultra orthodox Christian family from the United States who is very isolated in Battle School and becomes further isolated when he reports other students for celebrating Christmas. By the end of this Christmas story everything is turned about with a heart warming, but not at all sappy conclusion. I wish that more of Card’s fiction was this solid. Since he started telling Bean’s side of the story Card’s Ender-verse has been going downhill fast and A War of Gifts is a very pleasant surprise.



Destiny’s Way, by Walter Jon Williams: Coming off of Matthew Stover’s excellent Traitor, this New Jedi Order novel starts pulling the various threads together. Jacen, Jaina, and the Solo family are reunited, the New Republic begins to find a way to fight back, Vergere gets some more face time, and we learn a bit about the origins of how and why the Vong have invaded the known galaxy. I was hesitant about this one because I worry about any Star Wars author I am not familiar with. Walter Jon Williams knocked this one out. There are only five novels left in the New Jedi Order series (out of 19).

Quick Takes: Lucius Shepard, Roy Morris Jr, Elaine Cunningham

The Golden, by Lucius Shepard: I find it very interesting to see what various authors do with well worn story ideas. Here Lucius Shepard takes on the "Vampire Novel", but Shepard does it in the form of a 19th Century novel with some of the form and restraint found in that era. Set in 186-, The Golden is something of a mystery. We are introduced to Michael Beheim, once a Chief of Detectives in Paris, now a vampire, a member of The Family. The Family has a breeding program which leads to a mortal having such perfect, exquisite blood that the individual is called The Golden. There is a Decanting Ceremony for the clans. Before the Decanting can take place, however, The Golden is murdered and drained of her blood. Beheim is chosen by the Patriarch to investigate the murder. He has three days, otherwise there will be serious repercussions and he must investigate other vampires who will not take kindly to this intrusion. The Golden is a mystery, a romance, a vampire novel, and a well told tale. Shepard seldom disappoints with his fiction and while there is a bit of rigidity in the prose (fitting the style and setting, but rigidity all the same), The Golden is an excellent work of fiction and another example of what else can be done within the vampire subgenre. The Golden is nothing like the contemporary vampire fiction being published today, or even like Stephen King or Richard Matheson's take. If anything, it harks closer to George R. R. Martin's Fevre Dream, but in an entirely different setting. The bottom line is that The Golden is worth the read, as is most of what is published by Golden Gryphon.



Fraud of the Century: Rutherford B. Hayes, Samuel Tilden, and the Stolen Election of 1876, by Roy Morris, Jr: Remember the George Bush / Al Gore Election of 2000 with all the voter fraud, the contested state of Florida, accusations, and overall mess the election was? It's happened before. Same states, different players, potentially worse fraud. Remember, this is not long after the Civil War and the Southern states are only just being admitted back into the Union and the Republicans (the forerunners of the modern Democratic party) have had control for some time now. The Democrats are itching to gain control of their own Southern states and of the Presidency. Both Hayes and Tilden are nobody’s first choice for the nominees, but that's the way it goes. Roy Morris, Jr, takes us through the nominations and how these two men took center stage in the 1876 election. This is probably the largest issue I have with Fraud of the Century. After the introduction where Morris compares the 2000 election to the 1876 election and shows how they were similar Morris takes a step back and spends time introducing the players and their political worlds. It's important, I know, to understand Hayes and Tilden, but it's dry. Very dry. By the time we hit the real Presidential Intrigue, vote theft, disenfranchising, electoral manipulation, and all the other illegality of the election it is difficult to really maintain interest. Morris tells the whole thing in a very dry tone that runs through even the darkest dishonesty on the whole thing. Great subject and puts a historical perspective on 2000, and Morris does speculate on what might have been different with Tilden at the helm (very little), but overall the 250 page book is a bit of a let down due to the dry prose of the narrative.



Dark Journey, by Elaine Cunningham: With Dark Journey we hit the midpoint in the 19 volume New Jedi Order series dealing with the invasion of the galaxy by the Vong. The Vong has hit Coruscant and the evacuation has begun. Anakin Solo is dead, Jacen is captured, and Jaina is on the run. This is a bleak time for the New Republic...and I think the only thing that Cunningham really accomplished here was pointing the characters in the right direction for the second half of the NJO. Underwhelming to say the least. The writing is blah, the story does not move at nearly as quick a pace as previous NJO efforts, and honestly, I can't say that enough happened here to warrant an entire book.

Quick Takes: Pratchett, Denning, Sittenfeld

Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett: There are large gods and there are small gods. The small gods are the ones which have very few worshipers. Despite there being a nation built around the worship of the god Om, Om only has one worshiper, a rather simple young man named Brutha. Brutha is a Novice who will never get the opportunity to become a priest. When Om begins speaking to Brutha, everything will change. This Discworld novel, while it does not appear to connect much to the goings on in Ankh Morpork, is a quality read. Small Gods appears to have the best construction and most coherent story thus far in the Discworld series and contains the usual dose of humor and silliness one would expect from Terry Pratchett. While not as funny as Pratchett at his best, the story itself is perhaps stronger than those that have come before.

Star by Star, by Troy Denning: No Star Wars novel needs to run 600 pages, not even one written by Matthew Stover...which this one was not. Ye s, there are two rather large, significant events which occurred in this novel, but even building to those two events...400 pages, tops. The first half of Star by Star drags a bit, especially coming after two fast paced, pleasing entries by Greg Keyes. This was the ninth volume in the New Jedi Order series (of 19) and for all the darkness which has come before, Star by Star takes a turn for the worse (the two aforementioned events). By the end Denning picked up the pace of his storytelling and things improved, but the first half of Star by Star is rough going after the smooth sailing of Greg Keyes.

The Man of My Dreams, by Curtis Sittenfeld: Author Sittenfeld follows up her bestselling and acclaimed novel Prep with The Man of My Dreams, another quick reading novel about a girl growing up and the relationships she forms and fails at. This time the protagonist is Hannah Gavenor. Hannah is a bit of an outcast, never quite knowing the right thing to say and never quite fitting in with any crowd. In chapter long episodes (each taking place at a progressively later part of her life, from her teenaged years to her late twenties), Sittenfeld gives the reader sufficient glimpse into Hannah's life and we see her growth and in some cases, lack of growth. Hannah never really bemoans her lack of experience with men, but she notes it several times and in comparison we have her cousin Fig, who, to quote Renee Zellweger's character in Empire Records, is "a turbo slut". Still, Hannah tries very hard to fit in. She eventually finds men (or a man finds her) late in college years and while Hannah would potentially dispute this, she is ultimately defined by her relationships (or lack thereof) with men.

Some of the prep-school-charm of Prep is lost in The Man of My Dreams and while I am not sure where the line is, I think that The Man of My Dreams falls into the sub genre of "chick-lit" than it does in the category of "just a good book", which is where I'd place Prep. I read plenty of genre novels (SFF, not chick lit), so I know the danger of categorizing novels as just a genre novel, but there are those novels which are decent stories within the genre, and then there are the novels which rise above any genre label and are simply good, no matter where there are space ships, magic schools, or girls in prep schools. While Prep rose above the genre label it could have been slapped with, I am not so confident that The Man of My Dreams does. Curtis Sittenfeld is a talented writer and her novels have both been fast paced affairs which are enjoyable to read, so I expect further good things from Miss Sittenfeld. The Man of My Dreams is not a misfire, but neither did it connect on all four (or six) cylinders.