The full Stover interview: RotS novelization

Post by **Vympel** » 2005-04-14 08:17pm

Link

Good quotes:

: What were Mr. Lucas's line-edits like? Was he a tough editor?

MS: Not tough so much as exceedingly detailed, though I suspect he would have been very tough indeed if I hadn't been quite so scrupulously faithful to the spirit of his story. I mean, he literally went over it word-by-word, even to the point of altering descriptives to adjust the characters' inflections. As I mentioned earlier, he trimmed a number of the EU references -- especially ones that harkened back to some of the older material that I'm guessing he'd rather not re-avow as part of Official Continuity, if you see what I mean.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2005-04-14 08:51pm

I would nearly kill to find out what was line-edited out.

McC · Post by **McC** » 2005-04-14 08:56pm

That interview makes me incredibly giddy.

Everything I'm seeing/hearing about ROTS makes me incredibly giddy.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2005-04-14 09:21pm

Illuminatus Primus wrote:I would nearly kill to find out what was line-edited out.

Considering how he paints Lucas' reception, I'd venture maybe references to the Holiday Special?

Sriad · Post by **Sriad** » 2005-04-15 12:39pm

Topic 66666? I'm kind of nervous...

What are people's general feelings about Mr. Stover as a Star Wars writer? My impression is good from the interview, but I didn't see him mentioned when I took a look back at the Essential EU requests thread I did a while ago.

So how do Traitor and Shatterpoint stack up?

Old Plympto · Post by **Old Plympto** » 2005-04-15 01:09pm

There was only one cut -- actually a series of cuts, of a continuing metaphor of which I had been particularly proud -- that surprised me (and, in fact, upset me; I don't mind telling you that this was the first time in my career that I've thrown an actual Full-Blown Diva Hissy-Fit, in a conference call with LucasBooks, howling that they go back and tell Mr. Lucas that "He just can't do this to My Book!"). The funny thing was that after I had calmed down -- and survived the migraine I'd given myself -- I realized that not only was Mr. Lucas right and I was wrong (in the sense that making this series of cuts tightened the book and cleaned up the thematic arc), but that doing it his way also brought into much clearer focus a powerful moral point... and I found I had been arguing against something I actually really agreed with. Oh, it was embarrassing!

I'm REALLY curious now as to what caused this hissy-fit. Hehe.

Mange · Post by **Mange** » 2005-04-15 02:05pm

Illuminatus Primus wrote:I would nearly kill to find out what was line-edited out.

According to a Hyperspace chat with Stover, it seems as if it mostly had to do with the history of the Sith.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2005-04-15 02:55pm

Sriad wrote:What are people's general feelings about Mr. Stover as a Star Wars writer? My impression is good from the interview, but I didn't see him mentioned when I took a look back at the Essential EU requests thread I did a while ago.

The only material from Stover that I've read is a number of chapters from the RotS novelisation. My opinion of him from those is that I don't really like his writing style all that much.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2005-04-15 08:56pm

Mange the Swede wrote:
Illuminatus Primus wrote:I would nearly kill to find out what was line-edited out.
According to a Hyperspace chat with Stover, it seems as if it mostly had to do with the history of the Sith.

The whole KJA and Sith Empire thing? I could really careless if the Sith Empire went down the toilet. Its nigh-impossible to reconcile with a developmentally realistic galactic civilization.

Cykeisme · Post by **Cykeisme** » 2005-04-16 12:35am

Illuminatus Primus wrote:I would nearly kill to find out what was line-edited out.

"Nearly kill"? As in, cause life-threatening injuries? Severely cripple? Perhaps induce a coma?

I'm curious, too, to be sure.

The whole Sith Empire idea is a bit ridiculous, even though it was an idea integral to Knights of the Old Republic (which I thoroughly enjoyed).
Still, I wonder if the official canon Sith only have a two-thousand year history, or if there were any preceding incarnations thereof; if the canon Jedi existed almost as long as the Republic (did they?) I should think that one or more Dark Side splinter groups would have broken off, not long after the founding of the Jedi Order. Slightly odd that it took 23,000 years before the Sith came about.

Lord Revan · Post by **Lord Revan** » 2005-04-16 12:43am

I think that the "true" Sith Empire was destroyed sometime after KOTOR2 and the Jedi took their holocrons for some reason and after 2000 years a Jedi would use teachings in thse holocrons to found a "new" Sith Empire which would self-destruct after 1000 years with Darth Bane being the only survivor.

Darth Fanboy · Post by **Darth Fanboy** » 2005-04-16 02:02am

Illuminatus Primus wrote:I would nearly kill to find out what was line-edited out.

You can nearly-kill me just so long as you share what you find out. Oh and leave my testicles intact.

Mange · Post by **Mange** » 2005-04-16 06:14am

Illuminatus Primus wrote:
Mange the Swede wrote:
Illuminatus Primus wrote:I would nearly kill to find out what was line-edited out.
According to a Hyperspace chat with Stover, it seems as if it mostly had to do with the history of the Sith.
The whole KJA and Sith Empire thing? I could really careless if the Sith Empire went down the toilet. Its nigh-impossible to reconcile with a developmentally realistic galactic civilization.

I'm really not sure. Put together with the other quote, it seems as it was inspired from older materials.

Cykeisme · Post by **Cykeisme** » 2005-04-16 08:20am

Hmm yeah, Stover does say "older materials".. wonder what exactly he means by "older".

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2005-04-16 12:45pm

I doubt they cut the Exar Kun ish; it was GL who told KJA to make Exar Kun a Sith Lord, instead of a dark Jedi. Not to mention they keep churning out KotoR games filling in canon from that time slot with the blessing of LFL.

I'm pretty sure it ought to to be the stupid Sith Empire.

Mange · Post by **Mange** » 2005-04-16 01:03pm

Yeah, I'm not that crazy about the Sith empire business either.

Crown · Post by **Crown** » 2005-04-16 01:30pm

Mange the Swede wrote:Yeah, I'm not that crazy about the Sith empire business either.

I've pretty much stayed clear of that part (Sith Empire, I assume it was mostly comics/games), so anyone wanna fill me in? Why the dislike, specific points if you could. Tah.

Mange · Post by **Mange** » 2005-04-16 02:24pm

Crown wrote:
Mange the Swede wrote:Yeah, I'm not that crazy about the Sith empire business either.
I've pretty much stayed clear of that part (Sith Empire, I assume it was mostly comics/games), so anyone wanna fill me in? Why the dislike, specific points if you could. Tah.

It's from the Tales of the Jedi comic book series from Dark Horse, written by a.o. Kevin J. Anderson and Tom Veitch. I wasn't very fond of Exar Kun and that part of the story. However, as I recall, Anderson wrote that the backstory came directly from George Lucas, so it's difficult to say if this was something that was cut from the novelization. On one hand, the last comic was published almost a year before TPM premiered, but on the other, Lucas perhaps changed the concept of the Sith after he'd layed out the foundation for the series (IIRC, the first comic was published 1993 or 1994).

Elheru Aran · Post by **Elheru Aran** » 2005-04-16 02:39pm

Soemthing I've wondered for awhile, how does Tales of the Jedi relate to the KOTOR era? I heard on the chat that they're approximately around the same time, but I've also read that KOTOR is much earlier than the Sith Wars of ToTJ...

Lord Revan · Post by **Lord Revan** » 2005-04-16 02:45pm

Elheru Aran wrote:Soemthing I've wondered for awhile, how does Tales of the Jedi relate to the KOTOR era? I heard on the chat that they're approximately around the same time, but I've also read that KOTOR is much earlier than the Sith Wars of ToTJ...

KOTOR happens 40 years after the War of Exar Kun

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2005-04-16 02:54pm

I'm talking about the Great Hyperspace War crap.

Mange · Post by **Mange** » 2005-04-16 03:21pm

Elheru Aran wrote:Soemthing I've wondered for awhile, how does Tales of the Jedi relate to the KOTOR era? I heard on the chat that they're approximately around the same time, but I've also read that KOTOR is much earlier than the Sith Wars of ToTJ...

I've checked it out. KOTOR takes place about thirty years after the Sith war.

IP, the Great Hyperspace War is part of Tales of the Jedi, isn't it (or perhaps I remember wrong)?

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2005-04-16 03:42pm

Mange the Swede wrote:
Elheru Aran wrote:Soemthing I've wondered for awhile, how does Tales of the Jedi relate to the KOTOR era? I heard on the chat that they're approximately around the same time, but I've also read that KOTOR is much earlier than the Sith Wars of ToTJ...
I've checked it out. KOTOR takes place about thirty years after the Sith war.

IP, the Great Hyperspace War is part of Tales of the Jedi, isn't it (or perhaps I remember wrong)?

Yeah, but very different from the Exar Kun era.

Lord Revan · Post by **Lord Revan** » 2005-04-16 04:12pm

Mange the Swede wrote:
Elheru Aran wrote:Soemthing I've wondered for awhile, how does Tales of the Jedi relate to the KOTOR era? I heard on the chat that they're approximately around the same time, but I've also read that KOTOR is much earlier than the Sith Wars of ToTJ...
I've checked it out. KOTOR takes place about thirty years after the Sith war.

it 's 40 years after Exar Kun (it's said in may places in the game for example in Yavin space station (in PC version)).

Mange · Post by **Mange** » 2005-04-16 06:04pm

Lord Revan wrote:
Mange the Swede wrote:
Elheru Aran wrote:Soemthing I've wondered for awhile, how does Tales of the Jedi relate to the KOTOR era? I heard on the chat that they're approximately around the same time, but I've also read that KOTOR is much earlier than the Sith Wars of ToTJ...
I've checked it out. KOTOR takes place about thirty years after the Sith war.
it 's 40 years after Exar Kun (it's said in may places in the game for example in Yavin space station (in PC version)).

Alrighty. Thanks for correcting that.