Canon Novels Trump Legends!

Let’s take a trip down Eric’s memory lane. The year was 1992; I was not quite 17 years young. It was a nice spring day, much like today as a matter of fact. My brother Rob and I were on our way to a local department store called ‘The Fair’ which was in Milford, MA; the town next door to where I lived. Back then there were no good stores in Bellingham, you had to travel to get what you needed. So we’re strolling through the store and we come up to the magazine/book stand. Lo and behold for what do my eyes see? A new Star Wars book? “Heir to the Empire?” What’s this? I grab the book on the shelf in all my excitement and beg my brother to buy it for me. As of yet I wasn’t working, I didn’t have my first consistent paying job beyond cutting grass until a year later. So he did and the ride home consisted of me yelling out the window, “They’re making new ones! They’re making new ones!” All the while my brother telling me to shut up. Mmmm, good times.

Not long after that is when I first discovered comic books, Star Wars comics of course. Classic Star Wars #1 was found at Newbury Comics in Natick, MA. I picked it up, flipped through the first few pages and placed it back down on the rack. “This doesn’t have anything to do with the movies”, I said. But considering what a sap I am for Star Wars literature I ended up buying it on a later visit to the same store. Around that same time is when I also discovered the Dark Empire comic which was on its second printing. Needless to say Star Wars was making a comeback, and the bookworm in me drank every drop of Star Wars literature Kool-Aid there was to consume.

Fast forward to circa 1996, the whole “Shadows of the Empire” multi-media blitz hit. I was all in except for the video game. I bought the figures, the comics, the novel, and even the soundtrack to the “movie that wasn’t a movie”. By the late 90’s, it didn’t take a degree in Literary Theory to tell me that the quality of Star Wars literature was sub par at best. With titles like: “Crystal Star”, “Darksaber”, “A New Rebellion”, “Children of the Jedi”, “Truce at Bakura”, and “Courtship of Princess Leia”, “The Black Fleet Crisis trilogy”, and “The Corellian Trilogy”, I was basically on a “I’m only buying this because I’m a fan” kick. I was not under any impression that I was reading quality literature. As positive as I try to be about my fandom, I’m not completely blinded by love.

 

 

Let’s fast forward again to January 2011; “Knight Errant” was just published. This was a turning point in my Star Wars reading fandom. I specifically remember reading “Knight Errant” and thinking to myself “why do I care about Kerra Holt?” I remember posting a comment on the Star Wars Facebook page telling them that after 20 years of new adult novels, some years having up to 7 adult novels released in one year ( Before the Storm, Shadows of the Empire, X-Wing: Wedge’s Gamble, Shield of Lies, X-Wing: Krytos Trap, The New Rebellion, and Tyrant’s Test were all published in 1996) that I just couldn’t do it anymore. Quality was taking a backseat to quantity so much so that quality might as well been strapped to the back bumper. I had to take a break from reading about the galaxy far, far away. My non-Star Wars reading list was growing and being neglected which it did not deserve (Tarzan and John Carter were screaming to be read). I didn’t care about Kerra Holt, or anyone else outside of the films. So why do I keep reading about them?

 

 

When Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012, things changed for the better (in my opinion). For one, the quantity of books released per year has dropped dramatically. In 2015 Del Rey only published five adult novels; “Heir to the Jedi”, “Lords of the Sith”, “Dark Disciple”, “Aftermath”, and “Battlefront: Twilight Company”. I know what you’re saying, “Five titles isn’t much different from seven”. It is when you want to take your time with the book and get to know the characters you’re reading about. Maybe the quality isn’t always great still, but I would argue that it’s far superior to what we were getting in the 1990s-2000s. Second, I was never at any time a devoted fan of any character, so the change from Legends to Canon was a welcome one. It needed to be done.

 My decision to write this blog came to me last month when I thought about what books are being published this year; “The Force Awakens” novelization, “Bloodline”, “Aftermath: Life Debt”, “Star Wars: Catalyst” (the Rogue One: A Star Wars Story prequel). That’s a total of four titles! That’s like music to my ears. I can read each story and not feel like I have to gorge myself in order to finish before the next one is published. I’m a happy reader!

The Cantina Cast

The wretched hive your Jedi Master warned you about!

 

*I hope you enjoyed my blog and if so, you can find my other blogs at the following sites: thebeardedtrio.com and coffeewithkenobi.com

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