Star Wars Bookworms Book Club discussion

Hi, folks! The kind folks at Del Rey let me know this was your book of the month -- thanks very much for selecting it.

Don't know how often I'll get in here given my schedule, but I should be able to help with any burning questions. :-)

John thank you so much from Aaron and Myself for joining. The book club does pretty well and we are excited to start the new Star Wars literary world off with a bang! We look forward to any time you can give In furthering discussions.

Again thank you so much and may the force be with you!

Happy to have you here! I know I already have some questions of my own.

"The stories we love may not always fit neatly into a single timeline, but they will always matter"
JJM's acknowledgement of all Star Wars authors at the beginning of A New Dawn offers a sensible way of thinking about the old and new canon. There's no need to grieve or lament like the loss of a loved one. Those past stories can sit on your shelf forever and just like an old friend, you can visit them any time you want.

Awesome, I'm sure I'll have many questions myself. Really enjoying the book so far.
I'm new here and really glad I found the podcast and group, thanks Aaron and Teresa.

Darren really liked that line too and I agree with you. The Star Wars fan in me did grieve a little at first but the comics fan thought "What is this canon you speak of?".

If you haven't read it yet, check out my blog post about the canon question across time at StarWars.com: http://www.starwars.com/news/the-jour...

Thanks for taking time for this group.

Nice to see you here John. Can't wait to see what kind of questions to get.

Very Cool

Love Kenobi -- hell, it moved me to tears...nice to have you around John. :o)

Thanks! If you haven't checked them out, be sure to read my notes on Kenobi: http://www.farawaypress.com/fiction/b...

My notes for A New Dawn will follow later in the fall.

That was incredibly interesting. Do most authors publish those kinds of notes?

Very cool Mr. Miller

I don't know about most authors, Mike, but since I started on the fan magazine side of things, when I began writing comics and fiction in 2003, I decided I would keep an online record of my thoughts on each work, sort of DVD extras as it were. There's a lot of stuff on there by now!

Hello JJM. Kenobi was my first book of yours I read. I loved it! You are an excellent writer. Thanks for taking the time to participate here!

Thanks much, Rob!

Hi everybody, great book club. Brought me back to reading after some downtime.

John, thanks for kicking off the canon with a bang!

I do have a musing, though....

I enjoy 'A New Dawn' very much. I have to ask, does anyone else have to think of Dr. Strangelove when reading Vidian's lines?

What kind of voice did you 'hear' for him in your head, John - if the question is allowed.

Regards
Chris

I tended to think it was authoritative -- he was a motivational speaker -- with an electronic effect to it. The audiobook production really hits both of those hard; when he first spoke, he scared our cat off the couch!

Yes, the audiobook version of his voice help me get my mind off of that mental picture. Still, I liked the idea of him speaking in that voice. Makes the motivational aspect of him much more powerful

Hi everyone. I'm brand new to the book club. Even newer than you, JJM.

I loved A New Dawn and thought that you opened the new cannon with a beautiful succession of bangs (literally, thanks to Skelly!).

I guess if I had a question, it would be about the inclusion of "real world" concerns such as environmental destruction and government/corporate privacy invasion. On the one hand, these issues grounded the story and gave it an air of reality. But on the other hand, you run the risk of taking a reader out of the fantasy and reminding them that these are specific and concrete threats in their own lives.

For what it's worth, I think you walk that line beautifully, but I guess I'd like to hear what your take is on how you go about including specific real-world concerns without sounding preachy or overly topical. There were times in the prequels when it felt like George was preaching in a way that it never felt in the OT, but I'm not sure I can put my finger on why that is.

PS: The fate of the Lals hit me really hard. Well done.

Mike wrote: "That was incredibly interesting. Do most authors publish those kinds of notes?" They normally don't. JJM is one of the few that do and he is awesome for it.