On the page for the final Fate of the Jedi novel, Apocalypse, the Random House Spring catalog says that the book will feature an “extensive excerpt of book one of the next Star Wars series.” (via)
Given that they’ve been saying for some time now that we won’t be seeing another mega-series in the nature of Legacy of the Force and Fate of the Jedi, we can only hope that means a trilogy at the most. And, while I can’t really summon much vitriol for the guy, I hope dearly it’s not going to be by Troy Denning.
The catalog also contains pages for Luceno’s Darth Plagueis book and Fry’s Essential Guide to Warfare, as well as a new Caine book by Matt Stover. Head under the cut to see the pages for Apocalypse and Plagueis.
I really, really do not want this next series to be penned by Denning, but he and Del Rey seem to have a very good relationship. It’ll be him.
He can be okay – IF someone at Del Rey/Lucasbooks is willing to rein him in a little. We’ll see, I suppose.
I’d bet on Allston, but then I rembered that he’s writing a new Wraith (<3) novel, so I guess he's off the table. Other than that, I have no clue who it could be…
I hope it’s not Denning, only because I think he’s become too entrenched in direction of the Legacy era. I’m actually hoping it’s a completely new author to breathe some fresh blood into the series. Of course, considering how some readers have taken to Christie Golden, that might not be a good idea.
We do need fresh blood, and I’m not sure a new editor will be enough…
Golden strikes me as, well, workmanlike. She’s okay, but not great. And middle-of-the-road, more-of-the-same is not going to cut it very long, I’m afraid.
I guess it’s just me, but I love Denning. He can be a bit hit or miss at times, like any Star Wars author really, but I blame that more on the overall FotJ structure than any of the writers of the series themselves. Still haven’t been able to make myself finish Conviction.
Star by Star is and probably always will be my favorite Star Wars book, and one of my favorite books in general. Absolutely blew me away.
Heh. To me, SbS is a microcosm of all the things that were wrong with the NJO: A spastic, bloated mess.
I don’t have any really pervasive issues with Denning. I’m mostly just ready to see him sent back to the bullpen for a while.
My trepidation with Denning is entirely because of the structure and creative planning with LotF and FotJ. Everything from Dark Nest to this point appears to be his baby, he’s sort of the project lead so to say.
Like Dunc said, if the editors can be reigned in, Troy can be a useful piece of the EU writing crew. The problem is when he’s given too much creative freedom. Result? Dark Nest, LotF, and FotJ.
You know, overall, the basic plans for LOTF and FOTJ (well, what we’ve seen of FOTJ) aren’t that bad. Things seem to fall apart in the execution, and I’m not sure that beefing up the FOTJ series at the midpoint really did it any favors. FOTJ is getting very NJOey with all these extra characters, plus the lack of forward momentum thus far…
But when I say ‘reining in’ Denning, I am specifically thinking of stuff like the Ben/Tahiri scene in one of his LOTF books. That was too far.
I’m not sure, I honestly feel that the basic premise of LotF was one that perhaps shouldn’t have been explored to begin with. It felt like a rehash of the PT film elements.
Unfortunately, to get to LotF, Dark Nest needed to happen. Then LotF blew up and needed to be fixed (somehow) via FotJ.
I definitely understand keeping Denning from doing more of the Ben/Tahiri stuff, but I’m just not confident with him at the helm of whatever the next flagship series is. Denning is great in small doses, but when he’s tasked with pushing the franchise along, things seem to fall apart.
LOTF should have utilized Lumiya a lot more than they did – as the main villain, for one. Jacen was always the most faily of the Solo kids, but they didn’t need to have him go all the way. (Though I honestly could care less if he survived or not, it might have saved them some trouble.) Plus it could have given Mara an actual subplot, instead of killing her off. :P
Dark Nest, coming as it did in the shadow of the NJO’s rein of crappiness, has never bothered me. It was just SUCH a relief to have books with no fricking Vong!
I know it’s a long time until Apocalypse comes out, but maybe it’s Paul Kemp’s duology. That’s at least a series we already know is coming. I just don’t think we know yet when that story will take place.
Kemp has said he doesn’t want to write about the Skywalker/Solos, so chances are whatever his new thing is, it might not be of interest to FOTJ’s core audience – or at least not much as the next S/S trilogy (or whatever.)
It’s possible, though.
The problem with Denning is he comes from a D&D background, which is a violent, sadistic world. Star Wars isn’t — there can be darkness, but only so that you can see the struggle of the light against that darkness. Denning brings in too much wanton death and sadism with his writing.
At my blog, I just reviewed his Dark Nest Trilogy, if any are interested – http://eubadugly.blogspot.com/