SHADOW CASTER Xizor's boss Steve Perry drops dime on the galaxy's newest Crime Lord Interview by Dave Phillips

ECHO STATION: How were you approached to do this extremely high-profile project?

STEVE PERRY: Tom Dupree at Bantam and I had worked together before, on the novelization of The Mask. Between that and my "Aliens" novelizations for them, he thought I might be able to play in the Star Wars universe, so he put me up at bat at Lucasfilm. They read some of my stuff and let me take a swing.

ES: How did working in the established SW Universe compare to writing that comes strictly from your own creations?

SP: It is both easier and harder. Easier, because somebody has done all the background work, laid in a solid template you can use. And harder for the same reason -- you are limited by somebody else's bounds, viz language, which characters you can kill off, etc. If it had been a movie, SOTE would have been rated PG, maybe shading into PG-13 and my own space opera usually is R. Sometimes NC-17.

ES: As this is such a high profile project, with many facets including the game, cards, soundtrack, and of course, your novel, were there any complications with timing, coordination of efforts, or conceptual differences between creators of the different media?

SP: Not that I noticed. Of course, we all sat down ahead of time together -- well, not all of us, but a bunch of us -- and hammered out an outline that everybody could live with. The outline was the basis for most everything that followed. I think the H. Bros. are using the book for some of their illustrations, but there are some pictures (models) generated from Lucasfilm that everybody has to use.

ES: On the topic of the video game, many fans are disappointed that this game will be, at least as far as we know, exclusively designed and available for a game system (the Nintendo 64) that isn't even on the market yet, and not for PC's. Will there, in the future, be a game designed for PC's to take advantage of the popularity of your storyline among your readers who don't want to invest in yet another new gaming system?

SP: The rumor is that there will be a PC version on CD-ROM eventually, but that it will be somewhat lesser than the Nintendo version. And not out any time soon. What I have heard.

ES: Will you be getting a complimentary Nintendo 64 to play the game when it comes out?

SP: I wish. I dunno how many of the toys and games and posters I'll get. I hope they put me on the list to get them all. I love this stuff.

ES: As a character, Xizor is most impressive. Who came up with the Falleen race, and Xizor in particular for this storyline? Was this an invention purely of your own making, or was this something that Lucasfilm, LucasArts or Dark Horse had a hand in?

SP: Lucasfilm gave me Xizor's name and occupation. I was allowed to fill him out, in re his ethnic background and species, general look, psychology and physiology. I came up with the name for the organization, Black Sun, and his HRD lieutenant, Guri. [Actually, I came up with pretty much all the characters we used, plus a bunch we didn't have room for. The meeting at the Ranch where we made outline notes was where we winnowed that list. I think it was Jon Knoles or Steve Dauterman who named Dash's ship and designed it. People were throwing out ideas left and right and it was hard to keep track of who said what. I was afraid they wouldn't let us have two villains viewpoints but Tom Dupree fought to get Vader's viewpoint.

I must admit, Xizor was a lot more handsome in my mind's eye than he turned out. More like the first drawing done by Killian Plunkett, for Dark Horse.

ES: Did you find it easier knowing that you had a concrete realm to work in? In other words, whereas the other authors in the SW Universe need to work closely together to avoid stepping on each others toes as they create things that may have effects on other works in progress, it seems that it would be easier working on a novel that had a definite beginning and end in sight, laying between the two movies as it does. Was this the case?

SP: Oh, yeah. Saved me tons of research, allowed me to answer questions I wanted to know the answers to, and I got to work with the gang at a time when they were young and full of fire an didn't have so much history. Plus I got to get inside Darth Vader's head, something nobody else has done in a long time. Even though everybody knows how it winds up, I still get a lot of "I couldn't put it down." comments. I love to hear those.

ES: Did you listen to John Williams' SW score during your writing sessions? Play any of the trilogy in the background?

SP: Not while I was writing, per se. I watched the trilogy a couple more times in general and several specific scenes I wanted to get word-for-word. Sometimes I play music while I work but when I get rolling, I tend to tune it out. Notice it when the CD stops and I have to go change it. Wish I had had the SOTE soundtrack, though. I'm looking forward to that.

ES: Did you have much contact with the other SW authors?

SP: I talked to several of the other writers, Kevin, Tim, Kris Rusch, Barbara. Exchanged a couple of notes with Michael Stackpole. Later, I spoke with A.C. Crispin. Kevin sent me research material, as did Lucasfilm, and Bill Smith at West End.

ES: Was much comparison needed to avoid any conflicts with their works?

SP: The other writers and I traded some minor characters. For instance, Kevin's character Durga the Hutt [Darksaber] has a small part in SOTE. I used one of Michael's pilots from X-Wings in the Rogues, too. Stuff like that. Kevin and I exchange Email and we had a working dinner with Kris Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith the Christmas I was working on the novel. Tim lives here in Oregon and we bump into each other now and then, saw Barbara Hambly at a signing, too.

ES: How does it feel to be working in the SW Universe? Your project has been possibly the most promoted since Timothy Zahn's trilogy began and brought us back to our favorite place "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." Has this made you more nervous as an author regarding acceptance of your work, knowing that it's going to be looked at even more closely because of the fan's expectations?

SP: Sure, there's some nervousness about being read by a whole bunch of people who really know the universe in which you are working. Scary; you want to be sure to get it right. But I also knew going in, from talking to the other writers, I wasn't going to please everybody. My favorite story about this concerns a note I saw posted on an AOL forum about the time I was wrapping up the outline. Note said, "Bad news, folks, very bad news. Steve Perry is writing Shadows of the Empire." Man, blasted before I even got the outline done. (Later, the writer of that note apologized and we get along fine, now.) But I knew I was going to get flak no matter what I wrote, so I just did the best I could and hoped most of the fans would approve. So far, the percentage seems to be about 9-to-1 in my favor.

ES: You're obviously a Star Wars fan...what's your favorite Star Wars moment from either the books or the movies? Your favorite character?

SP: It would be hard to pick a favorite moment. Lots come to mind: The final credits in ANH, with the music blasting away. Leia telling Han she loved him as he was lowered into the freezing chamber. Yoda raising Luke's X-Wing from the swamp. Vader killing the Emperor to save Luke and redeem himself. Leia telling Han that Luke is her brother. Any scene with Artoo and Threepio together. Any scene with Obi-wan. I could go on and on. I better shut up.

As to favorite character, pretty much the same. I liked all the major characters in the movies, plus several in Tim's and Kevin's books. Vader is maybe the most interesting to play with, but I love Leia's toughness and Luke's coming to terms with who and what he is.

ES: And was there something you wanted to add to the SW universe that you really liked that Lucasfilm had you remove from the final manuscript?

SP: There was one scene I tried to sneak into SOTE. Lando and Luke need to contact Leia while they are in the Falcon. I had them find a ship refueling dock, stop, and make the call to Chewy from there. I thought it was pretty clever how I slipped it in, but Bantam and Lucasfilm caught me. "No, Steve, you can't have them pull into the gas station to use the phone, sorry.")

ES: Getting back to Xizor and his Black Sun organization, they seem loosely based on the Japanese Yakuza and/or the Italian Mafia. Was this intentional on your part, and did you do any research to make them appear so?

SP: Yes and yes.

ES: The first two chapters of your book contain many passages regarding what many fans consider to be "hallow ground", i.e. scenes from what are commonly referred to as "The Holy Trilogy" - the films. How much time did you spend viewing the films to ensure continuity and accuracy, and did you have help from Lucasfilm?

SP: Scenes in the book that came from the movie were as accurate as I could make them. I watched until I had every word and gesture, the color and background, sounds and what I imagined it smelled like. As close to verbatim as I could get things, anyway. I got all kinds of help, mostly from Tom Dupree at Bantam; Howard Roffman, Lucy Wilson, Sue Rostoni and Alan Kausch at Lucasfilm, all of whom read what I did and offered useful and intelligent suggestions.

ES: What other works do you currently have in progress?

SP: I'm working on a novelization of Leonard Nimoy's Tekno Comic book series Primortals, for BIG Entertainment and Warner Books. (And a delightful and polite man, Mr. Nimoy is.)

My next book is a paperback from Ace in July, The Trinity Vector, what they are calling "A novel of technology and transcendence." Me, I'd call it a near-future SF thriller, and rated R . . .

I'm also trying to get a movie script up and sold, a collaboration with Chris Warner, based on his Dark Horse comic book Black Cross. We have some nibbles from a major studio in Hollywood, waiting to see if they'll bite.)

ES: Will you be doing anything more with the Star Wars universe?

SP: I hope so. I'd be happy to work there again. Nothing on the docket as yet, though.

ES: I understand we'll be seeing Shadows debuting at #9 on the bestsellers list this week. Congratulations! It's well deserved. Thank you SO much for taking the time to do this interview. Best of luck with the novel and all future works...