How Zahn Could Fix This Mess (vs. 1.2)
Sean Fallesen
Here it is: the long awaited (?) update of "How Zahn Could Fix This
Mess," now revised to include references to Dark Empire II, Empire's
End, Darksaber, and the Corellian Trilogy.
******************************************************************************
It seems that most people agree that the quality of SW books has
been in a continuous nose-dive since the end of Zahn's trilogy. I know
that there are those who disagree. Let me warn you now: this posting is
not for you!!! Rather, this is for those who feel that Zahn, in his next
book, should negate the out-of-character, off-the-mark, inconsistant,
character-assassinating, and totally un-Star Wars "novels" that came after
The Last Command.
The following scenario is, admittedly, a done-to-death writing
convention that has been used in just about every sit-com, soap opera,
cartoon, and Star Trek series. Yes, it is the dreaded, "It was all a
dream" explanation. However, as every author buries our heroes deeper
and deeper in inconsistancies and out-of-character actions, it seems to be
the best, if not the only, way to redeem them. "Desperate times call for
desperate measures," and these are desperate times. "It is a dark time
for the rebellion..." and all that. Besides, Mr. Zahn would be erasing
the messes that other writers have created, not his own.
My suggestion: Mr. Zahn should make this "dream" explanation into
his second chapter. Why, you might ask, not denounce everything else
right off the bat? Why wait for chapter two? Simple: Chapter 1 is
reserved for the Empire. So far, Zahn is the only one who has caught on
that all the Star Wars movies start with a Star Destroyer. It may not be
the first thing on the screen, but the first scene ALWAYS includes one. I
would assume that his first chapter would consist mainly of Captain
Pellaeon getting the fleet ready to move in for the final campaign. And
now:
****************************************************************************
CHAPTER TWO
Luke's breathing got heavier and faster until he suddenly snapped
up and swatted the light on.
"Callista! No!" he shouted, not quite out of his dream.
Beside him, Mara stirred and mumbled, "Huh? What?"
"It was a dream," Luke realized, now fully awake.
"Uh... What dream?" the drowsy Mara replied.
Luke started, "It was horrible. I fell to the Dark Side, and..."
Mara interrupted, "So what? You always have that nightmare . Now
go back to sleep. It's 3:00 in the morning."
"But it seemed so real," Luke continued. "All of a sudden, there I
was, in the middle of Imperial City. The Imperials had taken over the
planet, and I crashed a Star Destroyer on it."
"So you dreamed that Thrawn came back for revenge and managed to
take over Coruscant. Big deal. I hear that most of the military planners
have the same nightmare. It's nothing new. Who in their right mind would
give you command of a Star Destroyer, even in a dream, is beyond me. Now
turn off the light and go to sleep," Mara said, pulling her pillow over
her head.
"But it wasn't the Grand Admiral. It was just some Imperial
factions," he explained.
"Uh huh, sure. And how did they manage that?" came Mara's voice
from under the pillow.
"I don't know," he replied. "They were just...there. And then I
found out that the Emperor had returned, and then..."
At the mention of her former master, Mara sat up, and said, "You
must have been probing my mind in your sleep. I have that dream all the
time."
"You do?" Luke said, quite surprised.
"Yeah," she said. "The Emperor comes back and wants to know why I
married you instead of killed you."
"What do you tell him?"
"Actually, before I can answer, I'm usually helping you and Vader
hack him up. Anyway, good night!" She crashed down into her pillow
again.
"Well, I haven't been probing your mind in my sleep," he replied.
"In my dream, the Emperor came back into a clone of himself. Then he
invited me to join the Dark Side, and I just went along."
"And why did you do that?" said the increasingly tired voice of his
wife.
"I don't know..." Luke said. "I just...did. But Leia helped me
out of it and we killed the Emperor again."
"Good for you. Now go to sleep."
"But there's more. He came back again a few months later. Sort of
like one of those bad chain ads on the holonet. And he was blowing up
planets again. And he had the ability to turn any of his servants into
Dark Siders, whether or not they were Force sensitive. Sort of like
'Zap! You're a Dark Jedi!' But I managed to hold out against them with
some potential Jedi I found. I actually stumbled across a planet full of
decendants of the Jedi, and they all had Force potential."
"Gee, a whole planet full. Sure. One or two Jedi, here and there,
maybe, but there's no way the Emperor would have missed a whole planet
full of them."
"I don't know how he missed them. But anyway, we killed the Emperor
a third time, and he tried to possess the body of one of Han and Leia's
kids, but a dying Jedi got in the way, so he took the Emperor with him
when he died."
"Tried to possess another body? How could he do that?"
"I don't know. But we were all worried about the possibility of him
coming back again."
Mara, now quite annoyed, replied, "Well, don't worry about him
coming back. He's dead. And even if he did come back, I would be the
first to know. Now shut off that light. I've heard enough about the
Emperor for tonight - or this morning - or whatever this is."
"But there's more," Luke insisted. "I started a Jedi academy."
"Don't tell me, let me guess...on Dagobah?" came the pillow-muffled
voice.
"No. On Yavin 4. And there was this 4,000 year old Sith lord that
tried to possess my students."
"Trying to possess your students, huh? Why didn't you just leave?"
"I don't know," Luke replied. "Even after he almost killed me, I
still stayed there."
Mara, now realizing that she would not get to sleep until Luke was
done, sat up and asked, "So this is when I come in and destroy the ghost
that tried to kill you, right?"
"Actually, no. You didn't even know it had happened. And what's
even more bizzarre, neither did Leia."
"You're right. That is strange. Why didn't we know?"
"I don't know," Luke replied again. "At the same time, there was this
ship that could destroy stars."
"A super Death Star, right?"
"No," Luke said. "A fighter sized ship that could fire a torpedo
and was indestructible. In fact, Han was flying it while being chased by
four Star Destroyers, and they couldn't destroy it. He actually ran it
through one of them as a diversion to get to hyperspace. Destroyed the
Destroyer, but Han came out just fine."
"So," Mara asked, "if Han could run it through one of the Star
Destroyers that was chasing him, why didn't he just run it through the
rest of them and be done with them all?"
"I don't know," Luke said. "Anyway, the thing eventually got
sucked into a black hole, along with the prototype Death Star."
"Don't tell me the Death Star came back again, too?"
"No," Luke replied, "it was the prototype Death Star."
"Luke, you yourself blew up the prototype a long time ago. What,
do you think the Emperor would have built a prototype planet smashing
Super-Laser and then just left it in storage?"
"You're right. What a strange dream."
Mara was about to tell Luke to shut the lights off again when she
noticed the handeled mug with a strange brown liquid in it sitting on the
night stand on Luke's side of the bed. "You've been drinking one of
Lando's exotic concoctions again, haven't you? How many times have I
warned you not to drink that hot chocolate stuff late at night?"
"Funny you should mention Lando. He was in my dream, too."
"As strange as this dream is, I guess he must have gotten a real
money making enterprise going - and kept it. Right?"
"Well, it was a strange dream - but not THAT strange. Actually, he
was hitting up on you."
Mara laughed out loud. "You know, I wish he would. Just to see
the look on his face when I turn him down. Must've been fun to watch in
that dream."
"Actually, no. In the dream, you took him up on it. You took to
living with him and wearing his clothes, but then turned around and
denied the whole thing."
"I did WHAT!? You have GOT to be kidding. There's no way I'd let
Lando... I'd never... I'd sooner take my lightsaber and cut him in half!"
"Actually, I don't think you had that lightsaber in my dream. At
least, I never saw it."
"Please, Luke. Tell me YOU cut him in half! Tell me that YOU
saved me from that fate worse than death. That's almost as bad as if
C'baoth got me. If you didn't kill him, at least tell me that you put ME
out of my misery!"
"Sorry. I didn't."
"Why not!?"
"I don't know," Luke said again. "I didn't seem to care. It was
terrible. I felt like I was nobody for a while. I had no emotions when
Lando was hitting on you, and then once you were intimate, I didn't care.
About you, that is. I still cared about Han, Leia, and their kids. Their
kids were kidnapped at one point in my dream."
Mara, more than a little angry about Luke's dream, nevertheless
questioned this new information. "You mean to tell me that someone
actually got through the Noghri? Or did Leia actually manage to get the
Noghri to stop surrounding her and the kids in your dream?" As she said
this, she got a strange feeling that something was amiss. "Mahk?" she
said in no particular direction. The door slid open and a Noghri
bodyguard appeared with a wicked looking knife in his hand.
"What is wrong, Consort of the Son of Vader?" he said in a gravelly
voice.
"Nothing," Mara said. "Just checking to see if you were hiding
under the bed again. Just last week I caught one of you under there."
"We are here to protect the Son of Vader. The bed presents an
excellent hiding space to ambush those who would harm him. There are some
new bodyguards who have not yet been told of your preferences in this
matter and seek to take advantage of the hiding place to better protect
the Son of Vader. I shall talk to the others about this. Is there
anything else?"
Mara shook her head. "No. I'm sorry about bothering you."
"Sleep well, Consort of the Son of Vader." The door slid shut
behind the Noghri. "Why does he still call me 'Consort'? I don't know
how many times I've told him to stop it."
"We tried to work something out, remember?" Luke pointed out.
"Oh, yeah, we did. It's just that it works a lot better for Han.
I mean, 'Mara clan Skywalker' just doesn't sound as good as 'Han clan
Solo'. Even 'Mara clan Jade' doesn't sound right. But now, back to this
dream."
"Well, there weren't any Noghri in my dream. Strange. I see them
often enough. Anyhow, there was this incident in the Corellian system
where someone was blowing up stars in an attempt to secede from the
New Republic."
"Wait a minute. I thought you said that thing got sucked into a
black hole?"
"No, it was a different one."
"Another star killing super weapon?"
"Well, yeah. But the really strange thing was, Han and Leia thought
you did it."
"Luke this is ridiculous. Why would I destroy stars?"
"They figured you might want to set up a new Empire with yourself in
charge. But they came around. It turned out that one of the people
involved in the plot was Han's evil twin cousin."
"Twin cousin? Luke, you're scaring me."
"I mean, they looked like each other. Anyway, at this other
part of the dream, I was aboard some enormous ship that was taking aliens
and turning them into Stormtroopers. There were even these Basic-speaking
Gamorreans that thought they were Stormtroopers."
"You're right, it is a strange dream. Talking Gamorreans. They
must have looked funny in Stormtrooper armor, though."
"They sure did. Then there was this ghost Jedi."
Mara groaned. "Another one?"
"Not a Sith Lord," Luke said. "She had given her life to stop the
ship, and her spirit was stuck in it. She came back to life in a leggy
blonde student of mine and we fell in love, but then she left me because
she couldn't get her Jedi skills back."
"So THAT's what this is all about. You've been fantasizing about
someone else and made up this elaborate story to cover it up. Then you
wind up confessing, anyway. I told you that farm-boy honesty was going
to get you into trouble. Hmm. And you try to accuse me of being
involved with Lando. Some noble Jedi you are."
Luke didn't need the Force to know that he was in trouble. "It
was just a dream! I couldn't help it! It just happened! Just like the
girl from that planet of Jedi that I fell in love with, only she died.
"Luke! How could you! Dreaming of other women..."
"Mara, please! It was only a dream! It doesn't mean anything."
"No, you usually dream about things that you have seen before and
thought about. You probably saw these girls somewhere and regretted that
I'm not a blonde. I'm too tired to talk about it now, but tomorrow
morning, we'll have a long discussion."
Luke got a face full of Mara's long red-gold hair as she leaned
over him to turn off the lights. "But Mara, I didn't mean..."
"Go to sleep. Don't talk to me again tonight. Good night." Mara
turned her head away from her husband and ran through some Jedi relaxation
techniques that he had taught her.
With this, Luke lay back down, but couldn't sleep. The dream
seemed so real. He lay awake trying to figure out what it all ment,
whether there was any sense to be made out of the jumble of episodes that
had tormented his rest. After about 20 minutes, a new thought dawned on
him. He sat up and snapped on the lights again.
"Uhhh...What is it now?" asked Mara, feeling quite annoyed at being
awakened again.
"I've got it! I know what it is!" Luke said triumphantly. "It was
a Jedi vision! That explains why I've never seen some of those people
before. That's why my emotions were mixed up."
"Are you saying that all those things are going to happen in the
future? Well, don't worry, 'cause they won't. I don't have much
confidence in Jedi visions of the future. Or is this just your way of
trying to get out of the trouble you're in? Are you just making up
another excuse for your fantasies?"
"No, I'm not!" Luke defended. "Besides, it didn't seem like the
future. More like the past."
"But none of that ever happened."
"I know," Luke said. "It must have been an alternate past."
"Sure. Alternate pasts. I knew I should have thought twice about
marrying a Jedi. Of course, if what you say is true, and I consider the
alternative... never mind."
"No, really!" Luke replied. "I saw one once on Dagobah. I saw
that if Jabba the Hutt had let you come along to the Sarlacc Pit, you
would have succeeded in killing me.
"Don't go digging up my past again. I've put it behind me. You
of all people should know that."
"I didn't mean it that way, Mara. I meant that I could have been
seeing what would have happened if something else didn't happen. I
wonder what it was..."
"While you're wondering, could I get some sleep? Please?"
"Oh, all right," Luke said as he turned the lights off.
Luke was too interested in his vision to sleep. He looked to the
Force for insight into the meaning of the vision, hoping to figure out
what could have made the difference. After a half hour of dead-ends, it
suddenly came to him.
"I've got it!" he shouted, as he turned the lights on again.
"Uhhh...fine. Now turn off the lights."
"Don't you want to know what it was?"
"No, and if you don't shut up about it, I'll make you sleep on the
couch for the next week. Wait a minute - that's probably what you want,
isn't it? Oh, all right. What was it?"
"The lightsaber!" Luke said, a little too loud for this time of night.
"I gave you my father's lightsaber! That's why all those things never
happened!" he explained excitedly.
Mara felt a tremor in the Force coming from the next room.
She groaned, "Oh, no..." and reached out with the Force. "You're really
lucky, you know that? You were just about to get in even more trouble
than you're already in," Mara said with an obviously softer voice.
"What's wrong?" Luke replied, not quite catching on.
"All your shouting almost woke the kids up. And you know how hard
it is to get them back to sleep. Now keep it down."
"Sorry," Luke said, much quieter.
"That's an interesting interpretation. But I don't think that some
of those things would have happened anyway. I seriously doubt that the
Emperor would return and you'd meet a 4,000 year old Sith Lord if you
didn't give me the lightsaber."
"You're right," Luke said. "I guess it must have started as just a
dream, and then a Jedi vision popped up in the middle of it. That might
explain why you didn't show up until later. Well, I guess I could turn
off the lights now."
Mara stopped him. "Just a minute. Before you do that, I want you to
tell me something. If this was a vision, and if some of those things
would have happened if you hadn't given me that lightsaber, are you still
glad you did, or do you wish you didn't?"
"Why do you think I would wish I didn't?"
"Well, you seemed to come out of that pretty well. You got your
blonde, and Lando got me. So I want to know if you honestly wish that it
happened."
"How could you even think that I would want that to happen?" Luke
said, getting a bit louder.
"Shhh!" Mara whispered. "Maybe because you had no feelings for me
in this dream, or vision, or whatever it was. Or perhaps you wish I
looked different."
"Actually, for a while, you did. When you first showed up, your
hair was shorter, and sort of a red-brown color. Then it turned back.
Then auburn again, then normal again.""
"Get real. That's about as likely as this whole Lando thing. I
don't dye my hair. Why would I do that?"
"I don't..."
"Yeah, yeah, you don't know."
"It was kind of interesting when you and Callista got a chance to
talk together..."
"Who is Callista? Never mind, I think I know."
"She asked you if you were attracted to me at one time."
Mara got an evil look on her face as she briefly contemplated some
wonderfully wicked things she'd like to say to such a person. "So what
did I tell her?"
"Something about how you had once wanted to kill me, so it wouldn't work
out."
"At least THAT sounds familiar. We always used to tell people that,
remember?"
"Sure do."
"But I suppose the only reason I said that in your dream was because of
that ...Lando business."
"Actually, that was when you started denying it. By the way, now that
you've mentioned Lando again..."
"No! I don't want to hear any more about Lando in your dream!"
Mara said, her voice rising a few decibels.
"No, not in my dream," Luke reassured her. "I think you were
right. Maybe it was one of his concoctions that brought this on. But not
the chocolate. I think it was that bowl of that strange spiced stew. My
stomach is a little upset. I guess that might explain how that
incompetent female Imperial Admiral could lose three out of four Star
Destroyers and still be given command of a Super Star Destroyer and team
up with Thrawn's second-in-command."
"WHAT? Well... I don't see why not. Those indigestion dreams can
get really weird sometimes. They never seem to make any sense."
"Tell me about it. Nothing was the least bit logical. I think
that dream may have actually made my indigestion worse. Maybe I can use a
Jedi technique to ease the pain," Luke said.
"Actually, I have a better idea," Mara volunteered. "If you know a
Jedi technique to help you forget things, use it. Now, turn off the
light."
"Sure," Luke said and flicked the lights off. "I don't suppose
you'd want to hear about the Death Star type thing the Hutts were
building?"
"No. Now go to sleep."
It really was a strange, pointless dream, he thought. But there
was a Jedi vision mixed in there. An alternate past could never be
changed, but perhaps there was a lesson in it for the present. Luke fell
asleep contemplating what this could be.
****************************************************************************
There you have it. A scenario to explain all the unlikely events
that have recently transpired in recent books about the galaxy "Far, far
away." Yes, it does nothing to advance a plot, but then, neither did the
other books. Hope you enjoyed it.
****************************************************************************
I knew all along... Had to be a mistake. - C-3PO, the Empire Strikes Back
****************************************************************************
MTFBWY
Grand Admiral Sean
Skylr7
APPALUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!l
Needless to say, I enjoyed your adaptation a lot more than I did the
original books!
Take care!
Engkent
>From: Sean Fallesen <eaa...@arcturus.oac.uci.edu>
>Subject: How Zahn Could Fix This Mess (vs. 1.2)
>Date: Thu, 7 Dec 1995 13:00:33 -0800
Thank-you! Finally someone explains how to do away with those awful Star Wars
plot lines. I kind of liked some of the stories you got rid of, though. Of
course, I really liked the bit with Mara's reaction to the news about her and
Lando! Also the part where she thinks of what she'd say to Callista.
Susan
hada...@delphi.com
:> MTFBWY!!
SPECULATIVE FICTION PERSON
> Utterly loved it!! Hope you let it go on the www fanfic page.
> :> MTFBWY!!
It's on the Speculative Fiction page anyway.
--
<------------------------------------------------------------------------<
< X-Phile? Trekker? Whatever - try the Speculative Fiction Homepage at <
< HTTP://WWW.TAY.AC.UK/~BSSBR2BL/INDEX.HTML <
<------------------------------------------------------------------------<
Maureen T. Proud
> Utterly loved it!! Hope you let it go on the www fanfic page.
> :> MTFBWY!!
>
>
Its already there:> Check out the library section.
\\\\\//
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(.)^(.)
+-------------------ooO---(_)---Ooo-------------------+
| |
| Maureen T. Proud Box 2114 Elwell Hall |
| Bloomsburg Pa 17815 |
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| The only true gifts are a portion of oneself |
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<___| |___>
SGUILFOYLE
that all the Star Wars movies start with a Star Destroyer>>
SO WHAT?
The movies started with Star Destroyers because it is an extremely strong
VISUAL element.. The only movie where the Star Destroyer in the opening of
the movie was ESSENTIAL to the plot is Star Wars, because you didn't ned
to show a Star Destroyer dropping the probes, nor did you necessarily need
to see the Star Destroyer that brought Vader to the second Death Star.
Those were inconsequential story elements, but we got to see the strong
visual element, as the radical white wedge element splits the star
studded, extreme rectangle that is the starfield.
I have read where Zahn thinks this is an important distinction, that he
opened his books like this. I say BIG DEAL.
He's not as cool as everyone thinks he is. Those who are so dedicated are
unable to admit that it is because he was first, not because he was best.
SGuil...@aol.com
__________________________________________________________
\\\\ I think you like me, because I'm a scoundrel. ////
//// No. Do, or do not. There is no try. \\\\
__________________________________________________________
Brett Noble
>SO WHAT?
>The movies started with Star Destroyers because it is an extremely
>strong VISUAL element..
>I have read where Zahn thinks this is an important distinction, that he
>opened his books like this. I say BIG DEAL.
I agree that the visual element is a big part of the effect. But I think
there is more. Opening with a Star Destroyer scene introduces the main
conflict right from the start. The Empire is the big enemy, and in the
first few minutes of each movie, we are reminded of how much we "hate"
them, and of their major role in the films. Zahn captures this effect in
much the same way. In the very first chapter of Heir to the Empire, we
are made aware of a major Imperial war lord who is determined to destroy
the New Republic. Before Luke, Leia, and Han are even mentioned, we know
that they have a "new" enemy to overcome. We know this even before THEY
know it. Personally, this drew me into the story very quickly. After
I read chapter one, I was very anxious to read the rest.
I don't doubt that there are other ways to draw the reader in so quickly,
but this is the natural way to do it, since the movies used the same
method. If another author can find another way to do it, great. But so
far, they haven't. I DID enjoy Anderson's books somewhat, and I might
even reread them someday. (I've read Zahn's books 4 or 5 times.) But
Anderson just didn't get me involved in the same way. With Zahn's books,
I never wanted to put them down. If I didn't have to work or sleep, I
would have just read them straight through. But I didn't feel that with
Anderson's books until about the last third of each book. They were just
not very exciting. In fact, I got so bored with Dark Apprentice, that I
quit about half way through and read several other books, before I
finally decided to finish it. The same thing is true for the Corellian
Trilogy. (Sorry, I can't remember the author right now.) I've only read
about half of the first book, but it just hasn't gotten exciting yet.
Again, wouldn't try to argue that every book absolutely must start with
a Star Destroyer scene. But I think Zahn understands that this is a good
attention-grabber. This is just one of the many ways in which Zahn seems
to capture Lucas' SW universe the way most of us think it should be. And
this is why most of us like the Zahn books better than the rest of the
lot. Perhaps if each was an original story, we might think differently.
But when we first read Zahn, we thought of it as a natural extension to
the story. But when the other books started coming out (Anderson's were
next, I believe), we started questioning whether they were "realistic",
and we started discussing the issue of what is canon and what is not.
I think I'm rambling now, so I'll stop. I hope my point has been made.
Brett
Joe Schulte
: The movies started with Star Destroyers because it is an extremely strong
: the movie was ESSENTIAL to the plot is Star Wars, because you didn't ned
: to show a Star Destroyer dropping the probes, nor did you necessarily need
: to see the Star Destroyer that brought Vader to the second Death Star.
: Those were inconsequential story elements, but we got to see the strong
: visual element, as the radical white wedge element splits the star
: studded, extreme rectangle that is the starfield.
And they were an element in ever (signifigant) thing Star Wars up until
that point. Are they essential? Of course not, but it's those small
things that make or break the story.
: I have read where Zahn thinks this is an important distinction, that he
: opened his books like this. I say BIG DEAL.
And so you have your opinion. Your point?
: He's not as cool as everyone thinks he is. Those who are so dedicated are
: unable to admit that it is because he was first, not because he was best.
: SGuil...@aol.com
Thank you for telling some of us why we think what we do.
Do I think he's the best because he was the first? No, I think he was the
best because he was the *least* bad of an extremely poor crew.
richard david bors
: He's not as cool as everyone thinks he is.
You're right, he's *cooler* than everyone thinks he is :) (Lucas, of
course, would be *coolest*).
: Those who are so dedicated are unable to admit that it is because he was
: first, not because he was best.
Really? Let's take the movies as an example. ANH was first, yet most
people regard ESB as being the best of the three. It seems that most
people are capable of distinguishing first from best. And if the first
happens to be the best, then so be it. Is it too hard to understand that
people like Zahn regardless of whether he was first or tenth? Or is it
too hard to understand that some people share a different view?
--Rick
hada...@delphi.com
>Anderson just didn't get me involved in the same way. With Zahn's books,
>I never wanted to put them down. If I didn't have to work or sleep, I
>would have just read them straight through. But I didn't feel that with
>Anderson's books until about the last third of each book. They were just
I have found that most of the KJA "Cheerleaders" are quite young (no
dissing intended!!! youth is beautiful!) and have not experienced the full
range of SF. I am proudly 40 years young, and have read SF, including
hard SF since I was about 9 years old (1964)./ I remember seeing 2001 in
the theater when it first came out. . .I remember when the original Star
I grew up with Heinlein, Herbert, Asimov
and LeGuin. I KNOW what good SF is. . .
What do other important SF writers think of Tim Zahn's work??? He was
praised by Orson Scott Card in his HUGO winning, "How to Write SF", and
he was similarly praised in the book "Writing SF/Fantasy--Dynamic Essays
by Todays Top Professionals" (St Martin's Press, 1991). These other
writers think that he has a remarkable ability to breathe life into old
ideas and that he has the ability to add humor and good character development
to his stories. I wholeheartedly agree. His work is very similar to the
early Heinlein stuff.
Sad to say Zahn has been the only one to do justice to the SW universe.
I anxiously await his return. In the meantime, may I suggest C.J. Cherryh's
"Foreigner" and "Invader" and Zahns "Conqueror's Pride " and "Conqueror's
Heritage" they're wonderful!!!! I'm outtta here, Peace!