There are several bits of EU news toady, but first up tonight, Paul S. Kemp reveals the dramatis personae for Crosscurrent. Sith, Jedi, assassins… But no women. Sigh. (Though let’s point out right here any now that the presence of a major female character does not necessarily have to mean romantic subplot… At least not in the EU. Though, considering our history here at CJ, uh…)
Anyway, you tell me:
[poll id=”63″]
my main criterion is: Does it have SW on the cover? If yes, then read.
It’s mostly about established characters for me, though it’s more about specifics than gender. (I’d pick a Luke book above a Padme book, for instance, though I would probably get to the latter eventually.) I was already pretty 50/50 on Crosscurrent, and the lack of anyone I’d actually heard of, much less cared about, is still more likely to impact me. But I can’t say it hasn’t ever been a factor outside of SW, and I would be more likely to pick this up if (say) Jaden was a woman.
It matters, but I’m still going to read it. I like having female characters in Star Wars novels. I also really just like SW, so I’m going to give in and purchase/read/complain like I normally do as well.
It really depends for me. I can deal quite easily with the lack of female characters in a novel so long as the book is still well written and its characters well constructed. I have also found that if an author produces something with an all male/female cast, then they’ve probably got a reason for it…either from a narrative (creates a situation in which no members of one gender would realistically/coincidentally be present) perspective or a craft one (can’t really create decent female characters and knows it), and I find both of those to be perfectly respectable.
So I guess we’ll have to see?