tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917612005522287441.post7760816936017599888..comments2023-12-18T23:20:31.042-06:00Comments on Scriblerus Club: Star Wars and the Question of Canon 4: The Thrawn Trilogy.PrisonerNumber6http://www.blogger.com/profile/03156430802462353459noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917612005522287441.post-31718729659161687612019-01-22T02:51:46.425-06:002019-01-22T02:51:46.425-06:00It is possible that King might have had nothing ex...It is possible that King might have had nothing except personal experience to go on. Back in his day, for the majority of his kid and teen years, there was no real major franchise except, perhaps things like Perry Mason. By the time Trek came along, King seems to have been well into stuff such as "Look Homeward, Angel". So it seems as if he was never all that aware of "ST's" literary efforts.<br /><br />Curiously, he's never given any mention of an author like Ian Fleming, so I have no idea of his thoughts about the Bond series.<br /><br />ChrisCPrisonerNumber6https://www.blogger.com/profile/03156430802462353459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917612005522287441.post-52059628909077997422019-01-22T02:13:18.819-06:002019-01-22T02:13:18.819-06:00I read many a Trek novel back in my youth (and a f...I read many a Trek novel back in my youth (and a fair number of Star Wars ones, too, mostly in the wake of the Zahn trilogy). I remember liking some of them quite a bit. I'd love to revisit them all someday, but who knows if time would ever permit. Never did read the one you describe; I think that came out after my era of reading those books had ended.<br /><br />I kind of vaguely remember King saying something like that. I think he's being a bit unfair, personally. I'm sure 97% of books like that ARE indeed crap, but how many people who read the Zahn trilogy then went on to read some of the author's non-licensed books, and from there went on to dabble freely in the sci-fi genre at large? Probably not a massive number of people, but a few thousand at minimum, I'd bet. <br /><br />Plus, if you want to get technical, Clarke's "2001" counts as a tie-in. Ain't no death of literature coming off THAT one, I promise you.Bryant Burnettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01189356171455609865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917612005522287441.post-54668309664151725952019-01-21T06:33:41.476-06:002019-01-21T06:33:41.476-06:00I'm trying to remember know what Stephen King ...I'm trying to remember know what Stephen King said about licensed tie-ins. I remember he said something about them, but I can't recall his exact words. The basic gist was he thought they were the closest thing to the death of literature, or something like that.<br /><br />As for other examples of that subgenre, I do recall picking and reading the summary of a "Trek" tie-in book. This isn't any of the recent onces. It was a while back. It featured Kirk uncovering the backstory of Khan, as revealed in the journals of a minor TOS figure, Gary Seven, from "Assignment: Earth".<br /><br />I never bought it, however I have to say that's one idea I've always remembered. Maybe the reason is because it just sounds the closest to an idea that could work as a series. Who knows.<br /><br />ChrisCPrisonerNumber6https://www.blogger.com/profile/03156430802462353459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917612005522287441.post-114866672973750012019-01-21T05:08:50.751-06:002019-01-21T05:08:50.751-06:00In my case, I knew in advance the novel was coming...In my case, I knew in advance the novel was coming out soon. I think I'd read something about it in USA Today, but it might have been a different newspaper. I got a copy of the hardback in a bookstore in Atlanta when a friend and I took a daytrip over there. The cover blew me away; it just instantly felt like REAL Star Wars to me. I bought a poster of the cover art at Disney World a few months later.<br /><br />I bought and enjoyed each of the novels in the trilogy as they came out, and for many years I hoped they'd be made into animated movies just like you describe. I still think it's a possibility that they might be someday; the fanbase for them is fairly large.<br /><br />I've still got the original hardbacks I owned, and every so often I think about pulling them out of whatever box they're in and giving them a fresh read. Someday!<br /><br />I can only speak for myself regarding the reception of Mara Jade, but I thought she was awesome back then, and I never encountered any opinion to the contrary. Not that opinions of ANY sort on the subject were common back then. But my memory is of everyone I knew of who'd read the books loving them, and loving her in particular. Thrawn, too. Joruus C'Baoth seemed to perhaps be less well-liked, but I thought he was pretty cool. And I definitely felt that Zahn captured the voices of all the primary characters from the movies.<br /><br />My feeling is that to this day, this trilogy remains one of the pinnacles -- one of few -- among licensed tie-in fiction. It's mostly a ghetto, but every so often somebody makes it out of there and into the suburbs. Zahn is one, for sure.Bryant Burnettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01189356171455609865noreply@blogger.com