Review: John Jackson Miller: Star Wars – Knight Errant

Originally published in 2011.

Knight Errant is a tie-in novel to Dark Horse’s new Star Wars comic series of the same name. Comic and novel star Jedi Knight Kerra Holt, who is a lone Jedi fighting in Sith space. The novel is set after the events of the first story arc of the comic series, and stand-alone.

Kerra Holt is hiding out on Darkknell, the world of Sith Lord Daiman, who is at constant war with his brother Odion. During her stay, Kerra finds out that the Daiman has set a trap for his brother. Using an academy ship and over 1,000 younglings (that Star Wars speak for “children”) for bait, Daiman wants to provoke Odion into an ill-considered attack. Odion walks straight into that trap. Kerra was just along for the ride, hoping for a chance to assassinate Daiman, but now she needs to save those children.

Enter the mercenary Rusher, and his artillery crew. And especially his ship. Kerra loads the children on Rusher’s ship, and off they go, looking for a safe place to drop them off. As if there were such a thing in Sith space. Their first stop is the Dyarchy, a strange world where everyone is mind-controlled by the teenage Sith Lord twins Quillan and Dromika. Kerra manages to abduct Quillan and takes him to the next Sith world, this one ruled by Arkadia – who turns out Quillans sister. There, Kerra learns the deepest secret of Sith space.

This novel was supposed to come out after #5 of the comic series. As it happened, it came out after #4, with one issue of the first story arc left to go. I’m therefore not sure just how stand-alone it really is. Miller references the comics quite a bit. Fortunately, I’ve read them. But I think I would understand the novel even if I hadn’t.

Miller has a very entertaining writing style, but sadly it doesn’t really cover up the novel’s problems. Daiman and Odion are too much comic book villains — they are crazy and over the top, something that can work in a comic (with the help of the art), but is less interesting in prose. The two are too much what they are. However, this novel introduces a host of new characters, most of whom are far better suited to prose storytelling. Quilland and Dromica (along with their regent) are nicely creepy, and Arkadia turns out to be quite the scheming supervillain. The mercenary Rusher has a considerable (early) Han Solo vibe and borders on homage, and the Bothan agent Narsk is complex and interesting enough to deserve a novel of his own. Comedy sidekick Beadle, however, is prone to a type of physical comedy that requires visuals to work.

All in all, the story itself is rather disjointed. Instead of a coherent narrative, it’s episodic, as if it had initially been plotted as a comic book storyarc. And that’s how it reads: like a comic without pictures. Most of the plot twists are telegraphed, the astute reader can predict them easily. All in all, however, Jackson hits all the points that are required of a Star Wars tale. It’s competently written and entertaining enough, but five minutes after you’ve put it down, you’ll have forgotten almost everything in it.

Verdict: mildly recommended, unless you’re a Star Wars fan, then recommended.

Q&A With Jim Turner

A couple of days ago, I reviewed James M. Turner’s autobiographical novel Beyond the Comfort Zone.

For those who like e-books, the book is also available for the Kindle.

Jim took the time to answer a few questions about the book and the story behind the story.

1) What compelled you to write Comfort Zone?

I knew it was an interesting story involving important social issues and I didn’t want the events and things brought to light in the book to be just consigned to the memory banks. I’m not a great lover of quotes, but I will say this: All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

I think that applies to the writing of the book. I’m aware that I have possibly put myself in jeopardy by writing the book, but you either stand and do something or you look away. I couldn’t do that.

2) It seems odd that, as a performing artist, you would choose to write a book about your experience, rather than try to turn it into a movie. Why did you make that choice?

A movie is a very different proposition from a book. It involves a lot of other people right from the start of the process. For myself I needed to feel confident that the story stood up as a narrative that would hold together for the course of a book. After that, making the leap to film is in some ways easier because the plot is mapped out and the book fits neatly into three acts I think. Going: Book, screenplay, film is a lot easier than trying to go in the opposite direction.

3) Will there be a movie, eventually?

I can’t guarantee that there will be a movie. But I am in talks at the moment with three prospective film makers. I would like to think a movie will see the light of day at some point. As anyone who’s read the book or knows me will testify – I don’t give up easily!

4) How authentic is your story? To which extent did you change real events (if you did)?

Some of the names are changed to keep the individuals concerned safe. The final timeline is condensed a little, but not much. Other than that the events rolled out just as they did in the narrative of the book.

5) You said that writing the book required two years and was emotionally very exhausting. How did you see it through?

Through gritted teeth! Application of disciplines I learnt as both an athlete and musician. Each word written is one step closer to the finish. Don’t procrastinate, stop whining, get on with it – that’s my mantra.

6) Have you been back to Thailand since then?

Yes I try to get back as often as possible, it still feels like my true home which is strange as it is so very different from where I was born. Home is where the heart is I suppose.

7) Are you still in touch with Franco, Nok and Jack? Where are they now? Do you know what became of Franco’s Contact?

Nok is married, happily I hope. Jack has moved on to fight battles elsewhere. The contact’s future was set out when he made the choice to cross that border. I feel sure that he is languishing in a Thai prison somehwhere, and I’m still not sure how I feel about that, though not having participated in the trial I don’t know for certain.

Franco? Franco has melted into the background somewhere. I was in fairly frequent contact with him until some months ago. His whereabouts are a mystery. I wish him safe passage wherever he is.

8) You’re still involved in the fight against this child trafficking, I gather? Although no longer so directly?

Well just having the book out for people to read is an involvement by increasing awareness. But, I guess you are refering to my establishing a fund to help both the unfortunate victims of not only trafficking but any child who needs a better start in life to overcome the cards that fate has dealt them. I’m hoping to either support existing establishments or, if the funding levels allow it, to create my own infrastructure. People can read about it at the link further down the page.

9) What’s next for you? Will you ever tell the tsunami story?

Next is my TV series and a couple of other films I’m involved with the production of. I’ve got another fermenting idea for a fictional thriller, but the Tsunami story? I don’t know. I’m not sure I can rake up that particular emotional adventure any time soon.

10) If anyone wants to help these children, what can they do? To whom can they turn?

Well, they can donate to my fund here if they specifically want to help children in South East Asia, or, of course there are many children focussed charities out there that offer a broad range of support for children in need. Two that spring to mind are ‘Children in Need’ and ‘Save the Children’

Review: Tod Goldberg – Burn Notice: The Giveaway

Originally published in 2010. Based on the TV show.

His name is Michael Westen. He used to be a spy. Until he got a Burn Notice on him and was out of the business. Now he lives in Miami and helps people out while he tries to figure out how to get back in.

In this adventure, Michael helps out his friend Barry the money launderer. Barry has a friend, Bruce, who is a thief. Bruce robbed the wrong people — the biker gang The Ghouls. Now there’s a price on Bruce’s head, and he needs Michael’s help to get out of this mess. Michael’s solution: fake Bruce’s death and incite a gang war between the Ghouls and their greatest rivals, so that they’re otherwise occupied. Unfortunately, things rarely go as planned…

The Giveaway is the third tie-in novel to the popular TV series. It is so far the best. Previously, Goldberg did a creditable job writing the main character, Michael Westen, it had just been that the voices for the supporting cast of Sam Axe and Fiona Glenanne felt a bit off. Practice clearly makes perfect, because this time Goldberg nails the voices of the entire cast. The result is a very fun pulpish adventure that is difficult to put down and really captures the feel and pacing of the TV show, up to and including the various character quirks of this admittedly very quirky cast of characters. The only problem is that the novel’s climax seems somewhat forced, as if Goldberg suddenly realized that he was running out of space and had to wrap things up right now.

The Giveaway would work very well as an episode of the TV show. That is both to the novel’s credit and detriment. Credit, because when I read a tie-in novel to a TV show, I actually want the source to be evoked. Detriment, because it doesn’t take the best advantage of the different medium to tell the kind of story that, even for simple budget reasons, the TV show couldn’t.

Verdict: recommended.

Review: Kevin J. Anderson – Enemies & Allies

Originally published in 2009.

It is the 1950s. Gotham City is plagued by a vigilante who dresses up as a bat to fight crime in the most corrupt city in the US. Bruce Wayne, technically in charge of Wayne Industries, discovers that a competitor, LuthorCorp, has bribed or coerced the members of his board. Because of this source, LuthorCorp owner Lex Luthor defeats Wayne Industries at every point. Once Bruce Wayne has gathered proof of this, he decides to turn the tables on Luthor.

Enter Clark Kent, a mild-mannered reporter in Metropolis, and Lois Lane, his co-worker at the Daily Planet. They also discover that Luthor is up to something, but what could that be?

In their efforts to find out, Superman and Batman repeatedly get in each other’s way. But in order to stop Luthor and save the free world, they need to work together.

Kevin J. Anderson dives deep into the pools of DC history and of actual history. His versions of Batman, Superman and Lex Luthor are not the versions of these characters as they had actually appeared in the 1950s. Rather, Anderson mixes and matches the various versions, taking whatever he feels works in this story. For example, his Luthor owes more to the “evil businessman Luthor” of the 1980s than to the “mad scientist Luthor” of the Golden Age.  The references to the 1950s are equally a grab bag. While Superman is very much the Golden Age version of the character, the influence of the Richard Donner movies (for example) is unmistakable.

But, since this is the fictional US of an alternate DC Universe, it works.

The novel’s story is a mix of what X-Files would have been if it had been made in the 1950s, and the adventures of James Bond (more the movies than the novels, though). Up to and including the evil madman’s secret island base. (I admit I was a bit disappointed when the James Bond aspect wasn’t followed through in regards to the secret island base.) Batman and Superman visit a Siberian gulag, they break into Area 51, they run afoul of the House Un-American Activities Committee, and need to stop Luthor from triggering a nuclear war. Throughout, the novel is peppered with references and nods to the entire history of these characters. Clearly, Anderson knows what he writes about.

All in all, Enemies & Allies is not the Superman, Batman and Luthor that anyone knows. It is, as DC used to call it, an Elseworlds Tale. The story doesn’t suffer very much because of it. It does prove, however, that “evil businessman Lex” makes a much better Batman villain than a Superman villain. It also proves that Kevin J. Anderson needs to write James Bond.

If you are a DCU continuity nerd, you want to stay away from this. This story is outside of continuity. If you like superhero action in general, and pulpish action adventure in particular, then this novel will serve you nicely.

Verdict: recommended

Fanfic

I admit, I’m guilty of it myself. Not just once, but twice. Technically.

Once, as a teenager, I wrote a New Teen Titans novel. That was back when Dick Grayson was still Robin. I even went so far to send a copy to Marv Wolfman c/o DC Comics. (Marv was the series writer at the time.) I asked him recently, and he told me that he has no memory of receving it. Even if he had, he couldn’t have read it anyway. At the time, I didn’t know such things. (These days, I hold it that way myself.)

The other time was when I wrote a Knight Rider/Incredible Hulk crossover story. My grandmother was a big fan of both TV shows. I wrote the story as a birthday present. A few years after her death, I submitted it to a fanzine for crossover stories, and it was published.

These days, I no longer do fanfic. Or would I? The trick is, how do you define fanfic?

The official definition is:

Fiction written by fans as an extension of an admired work or series of works, especially a television show, often posted on the Internet or published in fanzines.

Sounds easy, doesn’t it? But where do you draw the line? For ages now, comic books have been created by people who entered the medium because they were fans of the series they now write. Does that make what they do fanfiction? Star Trek fans who now write official Star Trek novels, do they produce fanfic? When Philip José Farmer wrote several Doc Savage novels, was that fanfic?

It’s a very old debate: does it stop being fanfic if it’s officially sanctioned and the writer gets paid for it?

If I got a call or e-mail tomorrow inviting me to contribute to the Star Trek or Star Wars or James Bond series, I’d jump at the chance. (Don’t laugh. I’m confident that I can write a better Bond novel than Sebastian Faulks did.) I’m a professional writer, and I’d approach it professionally. That doesn’t change the fact that I’m a fan (at least of certain iterations of these franchises), and that would influence what I do. It would influence how I approach the characters, and I’d probably fall victim to the “wouldn’t it be cool”-syndrome.

To break the stream of thought, you probably wonder why I’m suddenly talking about this. It’s quite simple, really, if you’ve read this blog. I recently reviewed the fanseries Star Trek Phase II, and I’m currently reading Stephen Lawhead’s King Raven trilogy, which is Lawhead’s take on the Robin Hood legend. ST Phase II is pure fanfic, done for the love of the characters and concepts and not for profit. The King Raven trilogy has a commercial nature, it’s written by a professional writer, professionally published, and it makes everyone what I expect is a nice bit of money. In its own way, however, it’s as much fanfic as the Star Trek webseries.  Lawhead certainly wouldn’t have written a Robin Hood story if he weren’t a fan of the character.

As a reader, I’m less fond of professional fanfic. Just look at the bookstores. How many versions of the Robin Hood saga are out there? How many versions of the King Arthur legend? Of Dracula*, of Frankenstein? How many versions of each of these stories do you need? How many sequels to those classic stories are required? Does the world need Dracula 2, or a sequel to Oliver Twist? I’m not even counting the number of tie-in novels. I admit that I also have some Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Trek, Star Wars and Burn Notice novels on the shelf. I’ve become a bit more critical of them over the years, as they started to crown all-original works out of the bookstores, but they are a good way for a writer to increase audience awareness of their original work. And even if they are derivative, at least they tell new stories, instead of looking for a new way to retell an old story.

The years have made me a bit snobby about this. I used to have the complete Conan saga, not just the original stories (albeit edited) by Robert E. Howard, but also the official novels by other writers. I used to have numerous Zorro novels, beyond the stories by Johnston McCulley. I used to have Sherlock Holmes stories not written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Then one day, I decided that the originals were all I needed, and weeded all those fanfic books out.

Wow, did I get a lot of space on my bookshelf.

Don’t you wonder just what the point of all this rambling is? I confess that I’m not entirely sure myself. On the one hand, I wish that professional writers would stop writing fanfic, and leave that to the amateurs. On the other hand, I have enjoyed quite a few novels that I would now rate as fanfic. I still enjoy the occasional media tie-in, which is at the very least borderline fanfic. And I wouldn’t hestiate to write that kind of thing myself, so long as I got paid for it.

Did I ever tell you of my idea for a Burn Notice story where Michael Westen has to save Fi from a British secret agent who is clearly a James Bond analogue, but not so much so that they can sue? Urm… forget I said that. 🙂

Let’s talk about it. Where do you draw the line between fanfic and professional? What do you think of how professional writers and publishers mine old legends and stories?

*I admit to a double standard here: I enjoned Fred Saberhagen’s Dracula Tape a lot more than Bram Stoker’s original, but I do believe that he went overboard with the sequels.

Adaptation By…

By now, you may have an inkling that I’m kind of old. Truth is, I’m old enough to remember black-and-white TV. I’m old enough to remember a time without computers, cellphones, or even VCRs. I remember a time when the only way to re-experience a favorite movie or TV show was by waiting for the rerun on TV…

… or by getting the novelization.

A good novelization does more than just recount the screen story. A good novelization fills in the blanks, it plugs plotholes (which can be a problem if the movie discovers the same plothole and plugs it differently) and casts a light on characters’ motivations by getting into their heads. In other words, by using the opportunities the different medium of prose offers to the max.

A very good example for how to do this right are Alan Dean Foster’s adaptations of Star Trek: The Animated Series. Foster took those 20 minute episodes and spun entire novels around them. It made the Star Trek Logs, as the adaptations were called, a very satisfying reading experience. Unlike James Blish’s Star Trek TV adaptations. Blish just made a short story out of each episode. But we loved it, because it was all we had.

Back then, a paperback novel was cheaper than a movie ticket. The result was that I would sometimes buy the novelization to find out if I would like the movie. I would never have watched Star Wars (horrible solicitation: “a fairy tale in space” — I was a teenager at the time, I didn’t do fairy tales, those were for children) if the cover to the novelization hadn’t appealed to me. I bought it, read it, and went to see the movie on opening day. The same thing goes for Raiders of the Lost Ark.

I still have a lot of movie and TV novels on my bookshelf. I have the complete set of Battlestar Galactica novels, for example. The original 14.

Movie and TV-tie-ins were more than just re-experiencing a favorite screen story. Through them, I also discovered new writers. New as in, I wasn’t reading them before. I wouldn’t have picked up Alan Dean Foster’s original work if I hadn’t liked his adaptations. I wouldn’t be rerading John Maddox Roberts’ SPQR novels if I hadn’t liked his Conan novels.

It also works the other way around. I discovered Craig Shaw Gardner through his Batman adaptations. I liked them enough to buy his original work. Because of that, when he wrote a Buffy the Vampire Slayer tie-in, I bought it, and so discovered the TV show. I hadn’t paid attention to Buffy before that, because I had seen the horrible movie the show was based on. I liked the novel, though, so I bought more Buffy tie-ins and started watching the show.

In this day and age of the DVD, where re-watching something I liked is only a click on the remote control away, I’ve phased out of buying novelizations. I’ve a limited budget, and each novelization I buy is one original novel I can’t afford. I do, however, still buy the occasional tie-in novel. So long as it is an original story that sounds interesting.

For example, I used to buy Lee Goldberg’s Monk novels. Until I felt that they were getting tedious, going from funny to silly. I still get his brother Todd Goldberg’s Burn Notice novels. What can I say? I like Burn Notice. I want more Michael Weston. The funny thing is, while I don’t like the TV show 24 at all, I enjoy the tie-in novels.

One of the more original ideas in the field is Heat Wave, bylined by Richard Castle. In case you don’t know, Castle is a TV series about a mystery writer in NYC who hangs around with a police detective. Very funny, you need to watch it. Seriously. Heat Wave is presented as the novel he wrote from his experiences. I’ll get a copy once it’s out in paperback. (I don’t buy hardcovers — not when I can get two or three paperbacks for the price of one hardcover. On a budget, remember?)

So, what do I want out of a tie-in novel? It’s really fairly easy.

• I want an original story. If I want to re-experience a movie or episode, I get the DVD. It happens too rarely that a novelization of a script adds enough to the experience to make the extra expense and effort worthwhile.
• I don’t buy hardcovers. Clearly, enough readers buy a hardcover tie-in to make publishing them worthwhile. However, I don’t feel that tie-ins and hardcovers are a good match. It’s not even elitism, or literature snobbishness. It’s more of the sense that a tie-in is merchandise, something that is supposed to increase a franchise’s profit, and therefore it should be more affordable than a hardcover is.
• A good tie-in is a stand-alone story. You can read it and enjoy it even if you don’t know the franchise on which it is based. If you know the franchise, you get more out of reading it. But if you need to pass a trivia test, the tie-in has failed.
• In other words, each tie-in novel needs to be accessible for the new reader.

Two examples to illustrate this: Star Wars and Star Trek. I used to buy the tie-ins to both. Then Star Wars decided to continue their epic saga with a new war, the Yuuzhan Vong storyline. Some novels were published in hardcover (which, you might remember, I don’t buy), some in paperback. You needed to read them all to understand what was going on. I had some problems getting the order right, because I waited for the paperbacks (and had a major problem with being forced to pay attention to a scorecard to keep track), but I also felt the novels weren’t well enough written. So I dropped this. Without that overarching storyline, I might have kept buying at least some Star Wars novels, getting those stories that sounded interesting and following some writers I liked. As it was, by the time the (supposedly) stand-alone Prequel novels started to come out, I had lost all interest in buying Star Wars novels.

Another example is Star Trek. I used to buy them religiously. TOS, TNG, DS9, even the occasional Voyager. As time passed and the number of novels increased to the point where I could no longer afford them all, I switched to buying only a few select writers and promising stories. I dropped out of the Star Trek novel universe when they started to get too heavy into continuity. Each novel was suddenly a part of a larger, cohesive whole. You had to get all parts of multi-volume crossovers, series within series. Here, I dropped out not only because I could no longer afford them all, but because I didn’t like the marketing concept that tried to force me to buy them all. Plus, the writing had gotten very bad. I hear the writing has improved considerably in the years since, but the continuity has become so convoluted that I feel discouraged to give it another try. (When people tell me that a novel was worth the build-up of the previous two or three novels in the series, that’s a turn-off.)

When Paramount announced new Star Trek novels based on the new Star Trek movie’s universe, some people whined that those novels, because they aren’t part of the canon, will be “generic science fiction.” I wonder what’s wrong with that. Startide Rising is generic science fiction. The War of the Worlds is generic science fiction. Anything by Robert A. Heinlein, Frank Herbert, Alistair Reynolds or Isaac Asimov qualifies as generic science fiction. I guess in their, shall we call it elitist snobbery?, these Star Trek fans forget that generic science fiction has produced some damn good stories. And that even Star Trek started out as generic science fiction.

What they also forget is that these stand-alone novels might bring new readers to the Star Trek universes. Readers who are probably scared off by the continuity-heavy regular series. I think, however, that it makes more sense to Star Trek editorial to cater to their existing fanbase, rather than try and attract new readers. Except perhaps by proxy of new movies or DVD re-releases.

• A tie-in offers a chance that the movie or TV show on which it is based doesn’t: a chance to spotlight the supporting case. Simply by virtue of providing more space to develop the story.
• For the writer, a tie-in is a chance to increase their reader base. As I mentioned above, I’ve discovered several writers through their tie-ins. As a writer, if you get the chance, and you bring your A-game instead of just hacking it out for the paycheck, it’s a chance. I know I’d grab such an opportunity, if someone offered it to me, with both hands.
• For the franchise owner, tie-ins are not just a way to increase revenue. It’s also a way to remain in memory. Why are there no Burn Notice novels published in-between seasons of the show, for example?

As you can see, I’ve given this subject way too much thought. But then, I enjoy a well-written and entertaining tie-in novel. And, yeah, there are some franchises where I’d kill to get the chance to play in that sandbox.