Karen Traviss quits Star Wars

The second Imperial Commando novel will be the last Star Wars for Karen Traviss, she writes on her blog, due to “changes in continuity.” (via)

Imperial Commando I & II are due out in October 2009 and July 2010, respectively. Presumably this means that her standalone Boba Fett novel and military Essential Guide, both tentatively scheduled for 2011, are now no-gos. Somehow I’ll manage not to cry into the giant margarita I plan to have tonight.

27 Replies to “Karen Traviss quits Star Wars

  1. Depends who you ask. I haven’t read them, and my only interest in the Fett/Mando/military stuff she specializes in is avoiding them.

    She had some moments in LOTF, but overall I wasn’t impressed.

  2. I agree with you Dunc. She certainly did have her moments in LOTF, but the rest of her output certainly wasn’t for me. The closet I came to liking anything remotely set in the PT was her tie-in with the animated series. Boy, that continuity can be a bitch, huh?

  3. Her Republic Commando books, I feel, are the reason The Clone Wars series can be a hit. Why? It introduced the idea of clone troopers being more than clones, more than a droid. Rookies, arguably the best episode of S1, used that.

    Having someone well versed in the military for SW was a nice thing; it being Star WARS and all. I wouldn’t call her my favorite author, but she was a strong author and will be missed once IC 2 comes out.

  4. Andrew – my only deal with that is that she didn’t fully explore death in her books. Death happens in war. At least with the X-wing books, we got death and destruction.

    I was not impressed with her LotF stuff, I enjoy the Republic Commando books, but they don’t hold a candle to the Xwing series as military books, imo.

  5. I agree, but we don’t have Allston or Stackpole writing those style still, do we? She was. I didn’t like her LOTF that much, but it’s always sad to see someone who’s devoted so much time to the EU leave it.

  6. Does this mean that as a star wars-related internet discussion grows longer, the likelihood of someone making a comparison to Hitler is back down to approaching one?

    (I guess it’s not entirely fair to judge an author solely on their Godwin-invoking blog screeds, but her “if you like Jedi, you support the holocaust” bit might be one of the funniest things on the internet, and not in a good way).

  7. I am just finishing Order 66 and can’t believe the impact. Concurrently I finished the Sacrifice book on audible.com. I am completely in awe how she has been able to bridge decades even if I’m not the biggest fan of the new post-quels.

    I was so happy to see Mandos in the CW Season 2 trailer, but something must be horribly wrong if the cartoon impacts continuity so negatively. Karen “went Mando” as she went clone and took a shooter video game and turned it into an incredible string of works bridging into Ep III.

    I think this is a horrible turn in the EU to lose her pen.

  8. And here I thought there was no EU news left that could make me smile.

  9. I think she had the potential to raise some interesting ideas to the GFFA, but her personal biases invaded both her professional work and impacted fandom in a not good way.

  10. I think Evan has hit on something, wouldn’t surprise me one bit, given the harder edge that seaosn 2 apparently has, if Karen turns up writing episodes for seasons 3 (or a future TV project)
    Shame though, she was a big time advocate of GFFA, and if she can’t work around the retconning, no one can.

  11. Here, here! I second what Gabri said. Though Traviss could craft a decent story, her personnal biases led to some major character assassinations on her part in LoTF. I am not sorry to see her go. Bring back Zahn and Stackpole please! Maybe they can save the sinking ship that is the EU post Saga.

  12. You know, as much as I have disagreed with her in the past, I kinda have to respect the fact that she walked away from SW when the “poodoo” started hitting the fan a bit harder than usual. I would do the same. At least she tried to work the overall stories into canon, regardless on if she focused too much on Mandalorians or not. (To be honest, the people who hold grudges against Karen Traviss about her Fett-ishes kinda remind me of the people who still complain about Jar Jar Binks ruining SW… But whatever.)

    I knew that the Clone Wars series would be undoing canon (anyone who remembers the conflict with the end of Tartakovsky’s CW series and Luceno’s “Labyrinth of Evil” could see it happening there first). Because, if you remember the memo, KIDS DON’T READ ANYTHING EXCEPT HARRY POTTER AND TWILIGHT GUYZ. So who cares about the previous stories already penned?

    It’s a shame really.

  13. Scoke: we need a SW book that undoes the Harry Potter and Twilight canons in one fell swoop, by claiming they are both in the GFFA,. Edward – actually Anzati, and not vampire. Voldemort stole Palpatine’s secret of body swapping!

  14. For anyone that has read her works in the Star Wars Universe, (LOTF, The Clone Wars adaptation, Republic Commando) they will realize what an asset the extended universe is losing when it comes to what she offers, especially in RC. She has given it something that it has needed for a long time, and that is a fresh prespective. A look at the events that shaped the universe we love so much, but from a different point of view. It’s nice to know that there are more people in Star Wars than just the imps, rebs, seps, etc. and that they have a story to go with them. If she truly is leaving it will be hard for someone to follow in her shoes.

  15. See, Her Republic Commando Series is what got me into the Star Wars Book universe. I’m a fan but I’ve never read any of the books so; after a few reviews I purchased all the RC novels and I was not disappointed. In fact, since then I’ve read “Death Star” and the first”The last of the Jedi” which were both great but Traviss is very clever when it comes connections between you and the characters, which is why I love the RC books. Maybe some feel differently. I have yet to read the LOTF series but I cannot wait for Imperial commando, and she will be missed.

  16. I think it is a shame she is leaving after only two imp-com books. Stupid Clone Wars…destroying the beloved canon…making Karen Traviss quit…

  17. I am very sad to hear this, i had almost stopped reading StarWars Novels as it was more of the same over and over and over again, then a few authors really showed up their contemporaries and one was Karen Traviss!

    I have read all her books in the SW universe and have been following her Commando series with zeal.

    I figured nothing good would come of that crappy cartoon SWs and as a result of its direction one of the few outstanding authors in SW will now be gone, and likely my love of SW as well. I dont know what the heck the powers that be are doing but its not good IMO

    Its a sad end of an era-

    Shereshoy aay’han!

  18. Her work in RC and Imp-com cannot be taken over and have the same feeling that she has brought to the series. She has given the Fetts a background introduced us to more things Mandalorian, expanded our thoughts on how mandos are and there over all look. Her leaving SW will be a hard blow for the rest of EU

  19. I’m really disappointed with the way Star Wars has been turning as of late. I got into them when I was 11 reading the YJK series and now 8 years later I’m very sad to see the direction that it’s going. I’m not overly fond of the new Clone Wars Saga mostly because it’s been done already and it seems like they’re just trying to redo that. The movie was an absolute mockery and quite frankly, rather juvenile.

    I count Traviss as one of my favorite writers and love how not only she made the Clone Troopers stand out but she also made the Mando’a into more than monsters and mercenaries. And I’m surprised people didn’t like the LOTF stuff. Maybe it’s just preference of style but I found her pretty good.

    I don’t want to get into a big debate about this but she also introduced the first gay couple. Even if she never said it, it’s been the most heavily implied about homosexuality there has been in a book.

    Anyways, I’m sad to see her go. I’ve been reading SW less and less and this isn’t galvanizing me to start up again any time soon.

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