LOTF Author Discussion

Karen Traviss, Troy Denning, and Aaron Allston: How did they do with LOTF?

This is NOT for personal attacks against the authors, especially those whom killed off characters. It is for the discussion of the authors works and thoughts of it only.
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Each of them definitely has their strengths and weaknesses.

Traviss: I'm a Mando lover myself so that aspect of Traviss' writing didn't bother me. After Bloodlines, I thought Traviss did a great job of writing Ben, especially as he matures. On the other hand, Traviss tends to write the main characters of the story at the expense of others. I.E. When the story is about Mara, we don't hear about Han or Leia very often.

Denning: Denning is a brilliant author and writes a terrific Han and Leia. He was also one of the only authors who worked 3PO into his work. Nothing specific to say about him but he is probably one of my favorite authors (although most of the LotF writers are my favorites Smile

)

Allston: I love Allston. I noticed it most in Betrayal but his sense of humor is hilarious. I love the way he writes Wedge wonderfully. Other than that, I didn't really notice anything. I believe he was the one who resurrected Lando (Exile?) and I thought he did a great job with that.

In summary, I think all of the authors are great, even if they have their own style. The only problem that I see is that their styles sometimes conflict which is where some of LotF problems come from.

They did good, the only suggestion I would have is a little better character integration. Seemed like each author would mentions certain events and characters and then you wouldn't hear about them again until that author came up again in the cycle. For example the Mandos discovering the ore and coming back into power, this got looked over for a book or two. Things like that. I know Wedge and Lando dropped off the mat again, and we don't ever hear a lot about the Confederation anymore. Seems like the focus gets just a little too centered on specific characters and events and everything else gets completely overlooked which can be disorienting being that there is a war on. I guess my gripe is that we don't often get a look at the big picture.
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Now having read one thing from every author in the series (I am on Exile), I can say I enjoy each author's style immensely. Arron Allston fills his books with an excellent dose of humour, combined with good plots.

Karen Traviss writes Mandalorians wonderfully. I was never really interested in them before I read Bloodlines (which I didn't extremely enjoy in the beginning, but now thinking about it I like the book much more), but after the book, I found them very exciting to read about. And Mirta Gev is awesome. Very Happy

What can I say about Troy Denning? He's one of the best authors to grace the EU, if not the best, and the thing he writes best, Jedi, is what I'm interested in most! He puts great emotion into every book he does, and I know he'll make Invincible one of the best books, if not the best, of the entire series.

Very Happy

Travis: I loved all the work she did with the Mandalorians and Boba Fett's family chaos. She also does an amazing job getting inside of Jacen's head. I was dissapointed in how she chose to kill Pallaeon in Revelation, but other than that, I have no problems with her three books.

Denning: Great with portraying Jaina, Jagg and Zekk, though the hunt for Alema Ra lasted a little too long. He does a decent job writing Han and Leia. He also wrote my absulute favorite part in the whole series so far: the duel with Jacen and Luke aboard the Anakin Solo in Inferno.

Allston: I loved his work in the X-Wing series and I like how he incorporated Wedge, Iella and Corran Horn into his books in LOTF. It's awsome to see Wedge still kicking butt forty years after the battle of the first Death Star. He's also the most humerous of the three authors, and he makes his books fun and engaging.

Who do I think did the best? That's a really hard question. All three are intrepid writers. I would have to say that Allston is my favorite, portraying things from a more galactic scale than the other two writers, and his books are filled with good space fights that harken back to the X-Wing books.
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Fzr1000

I think the best of the authors isn't so much going to be a factor of their skill and talent, but the order of what novel they got to write. Thus, if things go well, Denning will get the win by writing the last novel, the climatic end to the series. In all honesty, they're all great writers and I enjoy their work.

Edit
After having read the last novel, I now change my stance. I like Allston's Exile and Traviss's books better than Denning. He was alright, but they were better. Just my opinion.
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EUC Staff Joined: 02 Feb 2008 Posts: 33 Location: PA, USA

I think I enjoyed Allston more than Traviss and Denning overall.
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Master Joined: 22 Mar 2008 Posts: 599

The only author whose all novels I liked is Allston. Denning started ok, but it went downhill later. I had problems with Traviss from the beginning, not with the quality of writing, but with the Mando stuff etc.

Master Joined: 29 Feb 2008 Posts: 745 Location: Denver

I think they all did a fantastic job!

I think Traviss got a lot of harsh criticism for her contributions. I think she in particular brings a different point of view, Revelation had sorta of the opposite of the tight focus Denning took in Invincible. I just like that she sees things differently than the others.

I think Allston and Denning were awesome too. I really liked how Denning handled Invincible. I think if I had to pick a favorite I am going to give it to Traviss for bringing a different perspective than the other authors.

EUC Staff Joined: 02 Feb 2008 Posts: 33 Location: PA, USA

Agreed. Overall I thought they were all good. And I have no problems with the Mandos taking over the storylines. Razz

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My favorite author for the series was Karen Traviss. I thought her perspective on the Mandolorian view of things going to osik were refreshing. We got to see the view from the biggest losers ine the last 100 years of Star Wars history, and their resigned view on their place in the scheme of things. Not to say they were meekly going to go down without a fight, but it painted a different picture of the way they saw themselves. I also thought that it was brilliant that we got to see Mandolorian culture explained through Boba Fett, a character that hasn't seemed to care what Mando culture was, and was only out for himself all his life.
Aaron Allston was a close second of my favorites. His portrayal of Wedge and Tycho; just two old, weary warriors, trying to just protect their loved ones and not get smashed flat by situations bigger than them was what kept things in perspective for me. It was a refreshing view from the trenches, of decisions made from the top. Now don't get me wrong, I love a good light-saber duel as much as the next guy, but something about a guy, or gal, with no Force powers, but just skills and determination that can get through a tough spot still makes me cheer a little inside when they succeed.
Troy Denning....not exactly my favorite of the three authors, but he could still spin a good yarn. It's just that....the finale of the series kinda fell flat, in my humble opinion. Confused

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Padawan Joined: 18 Jun 2008 Posts: 43 Location: Hapes

Denning is definately my favorite author, and unlike some, my opinion didn't change after Invincible (Which I actually liked).

I believed he did the best with emotions, especially with the scene between Tenel Ka and Jacen in Inferno. That was probably my favorite scene in the entire series!
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"Who?" Jacen asked.

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