[Ed. Note: For those who have not yet read Darksaber by Kevin J. Anderson, be forewarned that the following interview "spoils" some of the secrets of the book. KJA wouldn't want it that way.]

     Kevin J. Anderson is perhaps the de facto "premiere" Star Wars author, in that he's written more books than anyone else in our favorite universe. This is not a position he takes lightly; he's frequently stated that he's honored that Lucasfilm continues to offer the opportunity to do more work for them.

Author KJA

Less enlightened fans have accused KJA of becoming a sort of Star Wars Overlord, controlling all that goes on in the written SW universe - but that is simply not true. Lucasfilm has requested him on the works he's authored, and there have certainly been many writers tapped to create the next chapter in the continuing adventures of that galaxy far, far away.

KJA: It's a big universe, with vast possibilities, and plenty of room for numerous authors. I get a real thrill to be working on projects as diverse as the McQuarrie Illustrated Star Wars Universe (you're not a real SW fan if you don't own a copy of that one!) and the numerous novels, and the "Young Jedi Knights" series (I didn't ever think I could maintain enough interest to write eleven volumes with the same batch of characters), and the cool historical comics, even the high-tech pop-up books!

ES: How seriously do you take fan critique of your writing?

KJA: I get an enormous amount of fan mail, both online and through the mailbox. I read it all and I answer it all personally. It's an exhausting process, but I think the fans deserve it, since they're the ones that kept Star Wars alive all these years. I go to a lot of conventions, do a lot of booksignings, try to make myself accessible to the fans.

So far the statistics run about one negative letter for every hundred positive ones. I do listen to the comments about what fans like and what they don't like, and I am always working to develop and fine-tune my writing. I personally think there was a big improvement from the "Jedi Academy" books (which were written under outrageously tight deadlines and no fan input) and Darksaber. Much of that came from dealing with some of the comments I received in the intervening time.

ES: What's your opinion of the on-line Star Wars fan community?

KJA: I've been on CompuServe, Prodigy, and RASSM occasionally in the past, more regularly on GEnie and FIDOnet, and quite a lot on AOL. I've been cutting down my interactive time because of my writing deadlines and because of the overwhelming amount of direct mail I get. I find the discussions engaging and I have received a great many good contacts via the online community, despite the sometimes hilarious hurricane of rumors.

As in anything, there are a few genuinely rude jerks who have occasionally fouled the waters for everybody. I have been the target of some horrendously offensive personal insults, but these people (despite their numerous postings under various screen name identities) are such a tiny fraction of the readers that they are not at all representative of the real fan community. Much of the furor seems to have died down recently, and I am glad to have received such overwhelming support from the overall readership. I guess the "surly bunch" has gone off to amuse themselves by pulling the wings off of flies, or some other socially redeeming activity...

TALES OF THE DARKSABER

KJA's Darksaber, Part 2 of the Callista Trilogy

ES: How did Darksaber come to dovetail so neatly with Children of the Jedi (COTJ)? Was this planned from the beginning, or were you and Barbara working on projects independently and just sort of noticed it occurring?

KJA: Many of the Star Wars authors keep in regular and constant contact with each other to discuss ongoing storylines. I had known Barb very well for some time -- in fact I had twisted her arm to get her to do a story for my "Cantina" anthology. From that story, the Star Wars editor at Bantam said, "Hey, I didn't know Barbara Hambly liked Star Wars!" and they offered her the book contract. I had planned Darksaber as a sort of bridge between COTJ and The Hand of Thrawn (which had gone in a completely different direction), and I worked to resolve many of the issues that would have to be put in place to set up for Tim Zahn's book. Barb and I brainstormed many of the plot details for Darksaber. (In fact, her original name for the "Eye of Palpatine" was "Night Hammer" -- I thought the name was just too cool, so I used it as Daala's super-star destroyer in Darksaber.)

ES: You did something else with your writing that shook many fans to their core - in Darksaber you killed off a character [albeit, a relatively minor one] from what has previously been "hallowed ground" -- the initial trilogy of movies. What led to this decision?

KJA: The Star Wars novels have always been a living, growing saga. Things change in them from book to book; the characters age and learn. Tim Zahn established that in Heir to the Empire, when Han and Leia are married and have kids.

However, by the time of Darksaber I believed that some of the fans were getting a bit too complacent and I wanted to do something to rattle them. When you pick up a Star Wars novel you should be a little nervous, always wondering what's going to happen next, not a nice comfy little series where the book always ends in the same place where it began (unlike some other series I could mention < g >).

I had always thought (General) Crix Madine was a fascinating character from his brief background as described in West End Games material. I proposed using him as an important character in Darksaber, and that I wanted to kill him off as a dramatic high point at the climax. At first the Lucasfilm people squawked, but I explained to them what I wanted to do and why. I then had to explain the scene directly to George, showing how I intended to use Madine as a Nathan Hale sort of martyr hero. George liked what I suggested, and gave me explicit permission to do so.

From now on, I hope the fans are always a little uncertain as to what they're going to get when they pick up a SW novel.

ES: The wampa that Luke encountered in the The Empire Strikes Back makes a dramatic appearance in Darksaber. What brought that into your plotline?

KJA: That was sort of a surprise to me even as I wrote it. Those chapters in Darksaber were meant to be reminiscent of one of my favorite SF movies, Aliens, in the relentless attack-attack-attack of the monsters, while our heroes are trapped with ever-diminishing options. I had watched the Hoth scenes over and over and over again, but when I was writing that scene it struck me that TESB had made such a clear point that Luke had NOT killed the wampa, merely lopped its arm off... Well, everybody knows that in a movie universe, unless you see the monster actually die on camera, he's gonna come back sooner or later.

OF DARKSABERS AND DEATH STARS

ES: Many fans criticize your novels since they are seen as "going to the Death Star well" once to often, in that every novel seems to have a new superweapon being lugged out to be thwarted by Our Heroes. Was this something that you did intentionally or did LFL have a guiding hand in the plotlines?

KJA: You asked me above whether I listened to comments from the fans...and I do. But some of the fans who make this particular objection just haven't thought their own ideas through. It doesn't make sense.

Look, the Empire dumped an enormous amount of resources into designing and building the Death Star- a superweapon which worked, incidentally (ask any former inhabitant of Alderaan) - and these fans expect the Empire to FORGET ABOUT IT just because the thing has a relatively trivial design flaw that can be fixed by placing a screen on top of a little exhaust port? Excuse me?

In an exactly analogous situation, the U.S. spent a huge portion of its wartime budget on the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb. . . but after successfully dropping one on Hiroshima, did they just ignore the weapon from that point on, forever? Wipe their hands of the whole thing, been there done that? "Duh, I guess we don't have to worry about nuclear weapons anymore, no sir, nyuk nyuk nyuk." That's really naive from a military and social standpoint.

I've worked in the nuclear weapons design industry for thirteen years, and that scenario just isn't the case. Before embarking on such a project, the Empire would build a prototype of the main weapon, they would have plans to build others... Darksaber, where the Hutts get hold of the plans, is a metaphor for nuclear proliferation in our society. What happens when any bully, any Saddam Hussein or Khadaffy can get his hands on the design of a superweapon? That's a story worth telling. Just because it has a Death Star in it doesn't mean that the novel is about the Death Star.

However, all that said, I raise my right hand and hereby swear: I will never concoct another superweapon, never fire another Death Star superlaser, etc. (I did manage to get through all eleven volumes of "Young Jedi Knights" with nary a Death Star in sight, and all eleven issues of Golden Age of the Sith and Fall of the Sith Empire.) I can find other territory to develop.

Next Page - KJA: A Star Wars Insider

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