HEADMASTER
OF THE ACADEMY:
Interview with Kevin J. Anderson
12/16/95
Few people outside of George Lucas have had as much to do with the direction of Star Wars in the post-movie age than writer Kevin J. Anderson. He has co-plotted "The Dark Lords of the Sith" comic with Tom Veitch, co-authored the "Young Jedi Knights" with his wife, writer Rebecca Moesta, edited two Star Wars anthology "Tales" novels, and singly authored the Jedi Academy Trilogy, "The Sith War" comic series, and Darksaber, the most recent Star Wars hardcover release. Plus he's managed to write an X-Files novel and work on, believe it or not, other non-Star Wars projects! Yet as busy as he is, he found time before leaving out of town yet again to answer some candid thoughts.
ES: Are you working with George Lucas to try and prevent obvious discrepancies from being written into the scripts he's working on?
KJA: No. All of us authors are told to steer clear of certain portions of SW history to keep the road open for George and his sequels, but they are playing very close about what they will and won't be doing in it.
ES: I really enjoy "Sith War." Are you planning on continuing the saga?
KJA: Yes, I'll be doing a new ten-issue series, THE SITH GOLDEN AGE and THE FALL OF THE SITH EMPIRE, set a thousand years prior to Dark Lords and Sith War. I've already delivered the first script. Dario Carrasco will again be the artist.
ES: When writing Darksaber, what was the most difficult aspect?
KJA: Getting it done on
time! [grin] Actually, I was trying to make the romance between Luke and Callista into a
real gut-wrencher. We know, of course, from later books that Luke is not with Callista in
the future, so I wanted to find some way to resolve the relationship (without using the
cheap way out of just killing her off).
ES: Are there any new Star Wars projects for you or Rebecca in the future?
KJA: Rebecca is writing the second trilogy of JR. JEDI KNIGHTS books, and she and I will be working together on all eleven YOUNG JEDI KNIGHTS books (just finishing up #6 this week). Also, next year Reb and I have the JABBA'S PALACE pop-up book, again with McQuarrie art. (I hope everyone's seen the CANTINA pop-up book.)
ES: Rebecca, will the "Young Jedi Knights" series be a continuing saga, or will we see new storylines and characters introduced?
RM: Yes, to both questions. The story has the same core of four characters, but they will meet new friends and new enemies, just to keep the story moving. The first six books form a continuous story arc, and so will the second set of five.
ES: How much research did you have to perform in order to understand the characters and hardware in the SW universe when you first started writing stories?
KJA: A LOT of research -- as you know, the fans really care about the details, so we have to get it all right. I've got shelves full of scripts, handbooks, sketches, notes, and game handbooks. All of which are well-thumbed.
ES: Why so many superweapons? It seems there's always a Sun Crusher, a Galaxy Gun, or another Death Star around the corner.
KJA: What, you expect everybody to just FORGET about the Death Star, once it's been constructed? As an analogy, the atomic bomb didn't go away after we dropped the first one. Next we have to worry about how to keep *everyone* from getting their own bomb (that's what DARKSABER is about). Also, note that the second word in the title is Star *WARS* -- it's tough to have much of a war without weapons.
ES: In Heirs to the Force Qorl escapes in a TIE Fighter with hyperdrive added. Yet TIE Fighters do not come equipped with Navicomputers. Also, being marooned on Yavin IV for over 20 years, Qorl would most likely travel to the seat of the government that he knew, Coruscant. Now assuming that hyperdrive jump didn't kill him [which it should have] how did he live through Coruscant space [see Assault at Selonia for NRI agent's entrance into space]? How did he survive his jump [without navicomputer] and how did Brakkis find him?
KJA: We can't tell all the secrets! The jump into hyperspace should not have killed him, since Jaina installed the hyperdrive and all its appropriate modifications. Remember, Jacen and Jaina spent the evening with him, telling him how the galaxy had changed, so he knew to head toward the core systems if he had any hope of finding the Imperial survivors. Once there, he encountered a regular patrol, and from there he was taken to the representatives of the Second Imperium.
ES: Rebecca, what's it like to write with Kevin? What books are you planning to write with him in the future?
RM: He loves to write and spends every free minute doing it -- it's tough keeping up with him. As for collaborative projects in the future...well, we've got to finish up this batch first!
ES: Why were Luke and Han were with the Sandpeople in Darksaber?
KJA: I thought that was explained well enough in the first two chapters. They were trying to slip close enough to Jabba's palace, undetected, so nobody would know that the Hutts' infiltrations were suspected.
ES: As you may have noticed, the character of Wedge Antilles has gotten quite a following in the SW world. Assuming that you'll be writing more books, where do you plan to take his relationship with Qwi Xux?
KJA: That one's
not on my docket. I hope some other authors continue the relationship, though. It's nice
to have a nice mushy romance.
ES: When working on the "Illustrated Star Wars Universe", did Ralph McQuarrie get his imagery from your writing, or were you inspired by his beautiful artwork?
KJA: Both -- we met together and brainstormed each planet, had a lot of fun coming up with wild ideas and making them tie together. This book took us three years to complete, and I think all the effort shows!
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