Your most/least favorite Star Wars author?

[Guest CronoT]

For years now, people have been saying that some Star Wars books just suck, and some are the best ever written. What's your opinion?

 

For my most favorite author, it's kind of a tie. Timothy Zahn wrote one of the best Star Wars series ever, the Thrawn Trilogy. Some people regard it as the "unofficial" third Movie Trilogy. My other favorite author is Michael A. Stackpole, who wrote most of the Star Wars: X-Wing novels, and a few of the New Jedi Order novels.

 

My least favorite author is very simple: R. A. Salvatore. Why? Because he killed Chewbacca. I personally don't understand why George Lucas decided to allow him to write a Star Wars novel. I've looked over a few of his fantasy novels, and I must say that Piers Anthony's novels, especially his Xanth series, are much better than any of Salvatore's books.

 

So, what are your's?

[Guest BDC]

I loved Timothy Zahn, he's done incredible stuff and even created a villian that was just flat out SMARTER than everyone else and that's it.

 

Stackpole did really good work, I just had the problem with so much constant inflection, but other than that, it was good.

 

I haven't read any New Jedi Order stuff, so I don't know anything about that.

 

My LOATHE/HATE/DESPISE Kevin J. Anderson. He has about three descriptors for a character and repeats them ad naseum. His plots feel so contrived. "I know, I'll make a ship that is indestructible and is a more badass weapon than the Death Star, so it blows up suns! And let's make another Death Star!" Good Lord, KILL ME.

[Guest CronoT]

I loved Timothy Zahn, he's done incredible stuff and even created a villian that was just flat out SMARTER than everyone else and that's it.

 

Stackpole did really good work, I just had the problem with so much constant inflection, but other than that, it was good.

 

I haven't read any New Jedi Order stuff, so I don't know anything about that.

 

My LOATHE/HATE/DESPISE Kevin J. Anderson. He has about three descriptors for a character and repeats them ad naseum. His plots feel so contrived. "I know, I'll make a ship that is indestructible and is a more badass weapon than the Death Star, so it blows up suns! And let's make another Death Star!" Good Lord, KILL ME.

Yeah, I kind of dislike Kevin Anderson, too. His plots do seem somewhat stale and overdone. I also forgot that Michael Stackpole also did a novel titled I, Jedi, which was a first-person novel that had Corran Horn as the main character. In it, Corran Horn goes to the Jedi Academy during the same time as the Anderson Jedi Academy novels. However, Stackpole's novel completely blows away Anderson's Jedi Academy series, and only spends a few chapters on it, too.

 

You should check out Stackpole's New Jedi Order novels. One of the things I've always liked about Stackpole is that he gives more attention to some of the minor characters, as well as the major ones. Aaron Allston's NJO novels are also very good.

[Kaertos 0]

Well, let me put it this way. I keep all my Star Wars stuff. Cups, packaging for action figures long out of the plastic... dumb stuff like that.

 

Not only were the Kevin J. Anderson Jedi Academy books so bad I stopped reading any expanded universe stuff, but I happily sold them at a garage sale about a month ago... then felt bad I actually made someone pay money for them.

[starvenger 0]

My least favorite author is very simple: R. A. Salvatore. Why? Because he killed Chewbacca. I personally don't understand why George Lucas decided to allow him to write a Star Wars novel. I've looked over a few of his fantasy novels, and I must say that Piers Anthony's novels, especially his Xanth series, are much better than any of Salvatore's books.

Hmm, that's kinda petty. Salvatore was kinda told to off him by the editors, so don't shoot the messenger on that one. Besides, they wanted to kill Luke initially. Anyways, Salvatore has a good sense of describing swordplay, and it's showed in the two books he's written.

 

Anthony's Xanth series has devolved into total crap btw. His fan-friendly attempt at sticking as many puns into the book as he can has hurt any kind of story that he's trying to tell. His other Incarnations and Adept series hold up pretty well though. And I need to reread Bio of a Space Tyrant one of these days.

 

I cut Kevin J Anderson some slack because the stuff he's developed on the comics side of things (like the whole Sith mythology) is quite good. Jedi Academy was fine, but his bookends for the "Callista trilogy" were pretty bad.

 

I've heard that "The Ruins of Dantooine" was a total load. When the people at theforce.net hate your novel, it's got to be hella bad. But from what I personally own, the worst novels are KW Jeter's "The Bounty Hunter Trilogy" and Vonda McIntyre's "The Crystal Star". The first is a lesson on how to make Boba Fett boring, the second is an example of taking a story and trying to shoehorn it into the Star Wars Universe.

[Guest BDC]

The Crystal Star is pretty bad, I had forgotten about it. Let's not forget the Black Fleet Crisis books. Dear LORD, NOTHING HAPPENED. You do NOT write Star Wars books where it's all about political intrigue.

 

My biggest reason for picking on Anderson is the simple fact that he seems to insist on having his hands on everything in the Star Wars universe. He wrote what, six books? Edited some others. And did a piss poor job all around. Have you read Darksaber? Pardon me while I go vomit.

 

I'll always stick to Zahn. He not only made the characters completely badass, but he made them believable too. Thrawn was a monster in terms of villians, but he was so intelligent that it just worked.

[starvenger 0]

The Crystal Star is pretty bad, I had forgotten about it.  Let's not forget the Black Fleet Crisis books.  Dear LORD, NOTHING HAPPENED.  You do NOT write Star Wars books where it's all about political intrigue.

Perfect waste of Lobot, The Black Fleet Crisis was.

 

The thing I like now is that Del Rey seems to have a much better handle on the Star Wars EU than Bantam ever did. Even if the book isn't all that great (the recent Alan Dean Foster novel comes to mind), they try to make sure that it's not a paint-by-numbers story.

 

Have you read Darksaber? Pardon me while I go vomit.

I can't say that it makes me vomit, but like I said, the Callista "trilogy" wasn't very good. Also sad to say, that middle book (can't remember the name, but it wasn't by Anderson) was even worse.

 

Thrawn was a monster in terms of villians, but he was so intelligent that it just worked.

To throw in a comics comparison, Thrawn is Doom. Without the pathological need to be the absolute monarch over everything.

Edited September 16, 2004 by starvenger

[Guest CronoT]

My least favorite author is very simple: R. A. Salvatore. Why? Because he killed Chewbacca. I personally don't understand why George Lucas decided to allow him to write a Star Wars novel. I've looked over a few of his fantasy novels, and I must say that Piers Anthony's novels, especially his Xanth series, are much better than any of Salvatore's books.

Hmm, that's kinda petty. Salvatore was kinda told to off him by the editors, so don't shoot the messenger on that one. Besides, they wanted to kill Luke initially. Anyways, Salvatore has a good sense of describing swordplay, and it's showed in the two books he's written.

 

Anthony's Xanth series has devolved into total crap btw. His fan-friendly attempt at sticking as many puns into the book as he can has hurt any kind of story that he's trying to tell. His other Incarnations and Adept series hold up pretty well though. And I need to reread Bio of a Space Tyrant one of these days.

 

I cut Kevin J Anderson some slack because the stuff he's developed on the comics side of things (like the whole Sith mythology) is quite good. Jedi Academy was fine, but his bookends for the "Callista trilogy" were pretty bad.

 

I've heard that "The Ruins of Dantooine" was a total load. When the people at theforce.net hate your novel, it's got to be hella bad. But from what I personally own, the worst novels are KW Jeter's "The Bounty Hunter Trilogy" and Vonda McIntyre's "The Crystal Star". The first is a lesson on how to make Boba Fett boring, the second is an example of taking a story and trying to shoehorn it into the Star Wars Universe.

Actually, the editors wanted to "shock" the EU fanbase. The reason Salvatore was brought in, as far as I know, was because no other Star Wars author would touch that idea. Also, I seriously doubt Lucas would have authorized the death of Luke. Salvatore might be good at the fights and swordplay part, but he kind of stumbles around like an idiot with the sci-fi part. You can definitely tell it's not his genre.

 

The reason I compared Piers Anthony to Salvatore, is because Anthony uses a little less action, and more character development in his books. I've never really minded the puns, myself.

[thuganomics 0]

I enjoyed KW Jeter's Boba Fett trilogy, but I will admit she was an odd choice to author the books as she has a more introspective style. Stilll good reads though.

 

Kevin J Anderson's books are weak. The fact that Kyp Durron wasn't even punished for destroying several whole systems says to me he didn't even think his plots out. Utterly weak, and now he's hacking up the Dune universe.

 

Both Salvatore and Elaine Cunningham are examples of D & D authors that should have been kept far away from Star Wars novels. Only Troy Denning seems to have a handle on the universe from the former TSR writers.

 

I actually would like to see more from Williams and Dix who wrote three books in the NJO series. They're really talented guys who actually tried to breathe life in to an utterly stale series.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

As a general rule, the further you get away from the timeframe of the original trilogy, backwards or forwards, the worse it gets. Sure there are exceptions, but nearly all of the best books (Thrawn Trilogy, X-Wing Series, Shadows of the Empire, Han Solo Trilogy) are within a handful of years of the original series. Most of the utter crap (NJO, Corellian Trilogy, Crystal Star, Darksabre, Planet of Twilight, the prequel books) are further away.

 

The best author is Aaron Allston. The depth of his characters and the interaction between them goes far beyond those of the other authors. He is also the only author who has no problem with spending a lot of time building up his own good guy characters and then kill them off if the plot calls for it. There is more tension in his novels as a result. His best book is Iron Fist, which I also think is the best Star Wars novel ever written.

 

Following him are Tim Zahn, Michael Stackpole & AC Crispin.

 

The worst is the woman who wrote Children of the Jedi and Planet of Twilight (Barbara Hambly?). Both books are virtually unreadable, and brought the worst Star Wars character ever, Callista, into the EU (not counting the jedi Hutt she created). Kevin J. Anderson's books are incredibly childish, but at least they weren't completely awful. He's definitely next on the list though.

[starvenger 0]

As a general rule, the further you get away from the timeframe of the original trilogy, backwards or forwards, the worse it gets. Sure there are exceptions, but nearly all of the best books (Thrawn Trilogy, X-Wing Series, Shadows of the Empire, Han Solo Trilogy) are within a handful of years of the original series. Most of the utter crap (NJO, Corellian Trilogy, Crystal Star, Darksabre, Planet of Twilight, the prequel books) are further away.

 

The best author is Aaron Allston. The depth of his characters and the interaction between them goes far beyond those of the other authors. He is also the only author who has no problem with spending a lot of time building up his own good guy characters and then kill them off if the plot calls for it. There is more tension in his novels as a result. His best book is Iron Fist, which I also think is the best Star Wars novel ever written.

 

Following him are Tim Zahn, Michael Stackpole & AC Crispin.

 

The worst is the woman who wrote Children of the Jedi and Planet of Twilight (Barbara Hambly?). Both books are virtually unreadable, and brought the worst Star Wars character ever, Callista, into the EU (not counting the jedi Hutt she created). Kevin J. Anderson's books are incredibly childish, but at least they weren't completely awful. He's definitely next on the list though.

I liked the NJO, but really it ran much too long. Star By Star was probably the best of the bunch - it kinda played out like an Alien Resurrection/Pitch Black type thriller (you know the kind), but they really could've done better by cutting down a bit.

 

Totally forgot about Crispin. She did a great job with the Han Solo trilogy, even tying in the earlier novels into her "origin" story.

 

Allston and Stackpole were pretty lucky in that their novels have generally allowed them to kill whoever if they needed to (although you'll notice that Janson, Hobbie and Tycho all make it through), but all the same, it would've meant buptkis if the stories sucked. Which they most definitely different.

 

And I'd like to see Terry Brooks try his hand at something more than a paycheck book in the EU. I've no idea what he'd do, I'd just like to see it.

[Masked Man of Mystery 0]

I read most of this stuff when I had very little life and pretty much all of it. I also used to be read books very quickly, so I liked polishing off Jedi Academy books in a day. Only other thing I did that with was the Hardy Boyz book. I was really disappointed with Shadows though. I just didn't enjoy that one much. Same with Truce at Bakura. I just wish the X Wing books were stil going, I could read those forever.

[Guest CronoT]

I read most of this stuff when I had very little life and pretty much all of it. I also used to be read books very quickly, so I liked polishing off Jedi Academy books in a day. Only other thing I did that with was the Hardy Boyz book. I was really disappointed with Shadows though. I just didn't enjoy that one much. Same with Truce at Bakura. I just wish the X Wing books were stil going, I could read those forever.

Both Michael A. Stackpole and Aaron Allston wrote two novels each for the New Jedi Order. Stackpole's two books were Dark Tide I: Onslaught and Dark Tide II: Ruin. Allston's two books were Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream and Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand. Allston's two books have some of the most badass Jedi fights in them, and Allston also brings back in Wraith Squadron, from his X-Wing books.

 

Stackpole's two books take place before Star By Star, one of the most pivotal books in the NJO series, and Allston's books take place after it. I really don't want to ruin the major plot points and events in Star By Star, but suffice it to say if you don't read it, the rest of the NJO series won't make much sense.

[starvenger 0]

The Crystal Star is pretty bad, I had forgotten about it. Let's not forget the Black Fleet Crisis books. Dear LORD, NOTHING HAPPENED. You do NOT write Star Wars books where it's all about political intrigue.

Resurrecting BDC's comment because that perfectly describes Medstar I: Battle Surgeons by Steve Perry and Michael Reaves. They try to have lots of things happen - Black Sun smuggling, spies, Jedi, a M*A*S*H-type thingie, yet because of this, nothing really happens. Put this one in the "borrow from the library" pile...