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qqueenofhades · 3 years

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so…now that we all know what you DISLIKE about star wars (and 400% fairly so, you have my full support here)…

what drew you into the universe, what keeps you around?

favorite characters, ships (OTPs or actual spaceships lol), overall themes, do you have a favorite random weird creature or robot that you adore? whatever you wanna talk about!

go off honey (again, but supportively 💖💖💖)

tax paid: the very nerdy star wars punk vest i made and the even nerdier matching vest i made for starsky

Lmaooo, entirely valid. You were like "star wars?" and I was like the drunk person at the bar who can't stop shouting about how much their ex sucks. But now that I have gotten all that off my chest, let's talk about why I love it (since if I didn't love it, I wouldn't have such strong opinions). Basically my feelings on the OG SW trilogy are similar to my feelings on the OG LOTR trilogy, as that tumblr post floating around somewhere put it: sure, they have flaws, but also, they're perfect. I have a complicated relationship with the prequels, as do we all, since George Lucas cannot write dialogue or direct actors to save his life (stick to what you're good at, George, hire other people to do the rest), but even they have their moments. Like. Hit me with that "Across the Stars" love theme, John Williams. Gahh. Just like that.

Because... Star Wars wasn't actually this omnipresent corporate global entertainment monolith when it started out. It was a dorky low-budget indie sci-fi film in the 1970s which everyone thought was going to bomb. But it told a simple and compelling story in an interesting way, everyone agrees that ESB is one of the best films/sequels ever made, and then ROTJ gave it a happy ending while it was still okay to do that. My main thematic gripe with the Disney trilogy (I will try to keep those to a minimum, lol, but I have to bring it up to compare) is that it very clearly fell into the "actual happy endings are naive and unrealistic and a cynical postmodern audience won't accept anything less than things being Bad" trap that, yet again, we have GOT to thank for. It obviously existed to some degree before that, but GOT blew it up to huge levels, where the only valid situation or character is that which is Grimdark and Depressing. Which, in my view, misses the heart and soul of what SW is all about??

Like. ESB is genuinely dark. ANH was this fun plucky little sci-fi film where the scrappy good guys won the day against the Nazi stand-ins, as they were supposed to, and then ESB comes along (speaking of John Williams, let us all chant together, DUH DUH DUH DUHDUHDUH DUHDUHDUH, DUH DUH DUH DUHHHH DUHHH DUHHH DUHHHH) and things go... wrong. Leia and Han are on the run for most of the movie, then get captured and tortured by the Empire and and betrayed (however unwillingly) by Lando. The Rebellion is attacked on Hoth (I tell you, those fuckin AT-AT walkers were SCARY when you see it as a young kid for the first time), and forced into hiding. Luke loses his hand, doubts Obi-Wan and Yoda and realizes that his mentors are fallible, makes dumb mistakes, and of course gets hit with The Most Famous Line In Movie History. But it's also just adrenaline and excitement. THE ASTEROID FIELD! THE HAN-LEIA BANTER! THE FIRST LUKE-VADER DUEL! THE FACT THAT YOU HEAR TWO FRICKING NOTES OF THE IMPERIAL MARCH AND YOU'RE JUST LIKE OH YEAH OH YEAH OH YEAHHHH!

But also then... Return of the Jedi. It gets shat upon for the Ewoks and reusing the Death Star as the Big Bad and being supposedly cheesy and not as Thematically Dark as ESB. Which is all kinda silly, in my opinion, but also, can we talk about Luke Skywalker's character arc and how he chooses possibly the most radical compassion ever demonstrated by a hero in an action movie, let alone a space opera. He insists that Anakin Skywalker is still in there somewhere and puts his own neck on the line to prove it. Luke doesn't save the galaxy by being a Badass Jedi. He saves it by throwing away his lightsaber and saying "I will not fight you, Father." He saves it by trusting that even in the depths of darkness, Anakin can come back from the charred ruins of Darth Vader and finally do what he was supposed to do all along. He can end Palpatine for good and all (we don't talk about "Somehow Palpatine has returned" because it's nonsense, obviously). Anakin can avenge the Jedi and what was done to him and all the lies he believed and the pain he wreaked on the galaxy, even then. It's not too late. It's not too late. Like. I don't care if this is Lightweight or Childish or whatever. It makes me CRY every time I watch it. Especially the moment where Luke takes off Anakin’s helmet and sees how ruined he actually is under there, and yet the downfall and death of the trilogy’s chief villain is not triumphant at all but instead utterly heartbreaking. “You were right about me Luke... tell your sister... you were right.”

Excuse me, I need to just /CRIES INTENSELY/

Luke won't be tempted to the dark side for his own sake, but Leia's ("If you will not join me, then perhaps she will"). I likewise hold firmly that Anakin/Vader is one of the best movie villains/antiheroes of all time and likewise have many feelings and Strong Opinions about his arc, prequel writing clumsiness and eye-rollingly tepid love story aside. (See: he and Obi-Wan were deeply in love and in a way they still are, don't @ me. I have no problems with Padme and obviously stan Natalie Portman at all times, but Anakin and Obi-Wan’s relationship is the real love story, the heart of the prequels, and in some ways even the subsequent movies, the end.) And “so this is how democracy dies, with thunderous applause” is... raw af as a line. For being in a Star Wars prequel movie. What?? (Also, the Revenge of the Sith novelization had no business being as good as it was. If only that dude had also written the movie.)

Anyway, my point is: the OG trilogy had plenty of moments of staggering emotional weight and where things genuinely sucked for the good guys and the outcome wasn’t entirely clear. The difference is that it didn’t choose to dwell on them, and it allowed for a transformative fictional space where a happy ending, fiercely fought for and squarely earned, was the right outcome. We didn’t need to go back thirty years later and make everything suck for fear that a cynical modern audience couldn’t connect with it otherwise. (Like I said, we didn’t need the new movies at all, but Disney heard that Cha-Ching of the Almighty Dollar). Star Wars was sci-fi, sure, but it also had the fantasy elements that allowed a happy ending to be the right choice for what we saw the characters go through and the philosophy that carried us through the original trilogy.

Likewise it’s just... Peak as far as dynamics go. C-3PO the fussy metal butler who worries about Everything and R2-D2 who is the droid embodiment of YOLO? Flawless. Sassy scruffy space pirate and badass politician warrior princess bicker constantly, butt heads, drive each other crazy, and then fall in love? Iconic. (And has shaped my ship tastes for... all of eternity, oops.) The above-discussed transformation of Luke Skywalker, whiny ordinary teenage kid, to the truly great man who fulfills what Obi-Wan, Yoda, AND the rest of the entire Jedi order couldn’t manage to do, because of their own flaws and blind spots and black-and-white moral views that didn’t know what to do with a man who loved as passionately as Anakin Skywalker, for better or for worse? The guy who managed to save the galaxy with love? STAN.

So... what? The Disney trilogy decides to retcon all that, throw everything that they’ve fought for out the window, make Han, Leia, and Luke miserable and rejecting the roles they grew into in the original trilogy, and die without ever really reuniting or seeing each other again as a trio? The underlying message was that “these happy endings aren’t satisfactory/realistic/sophisticated enough” and idk, maybe it’s just the shitshow of the last few years, but I’d like to see some entertainment that had the cojones to tell me that despite all the darkness and despair, maybe there’s a chance for hope. (”Rebellions are built on hope,” thank you Only Valid New Star Wars Movie Rogue One.) And Rogue One worked so well, despite being utterly GUTTING as all the heroes died one by one, because we knew what was coming next (A New Hope) and that their sacrifice was going to be worth it. I don’t care if that’s “realistic” or not. As I’ve said before, that’s what stories are for, and if I only wanted things that were Real Life, I would only read the news. Besides, the idea that happy endings never happen in reality is equally bullshit. We as a culture need to accept that more, instead of finding reasons to tear everything down.

So just... yes. The original trilogy might have flaws, but also, it’s perfect. And do I want to rewatch it all now? Kinda.

(Anyway. I warned you this was gonna be long. Oh look, it’s long, and I’m sure there is even more I could say, but still. Ahem.)

sleepover weekend asks

#buffaluff #ask #star wars #long post

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bkbricks · 4 years

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Why There Was No Room For Episodes 7-9

In 1977, the first Star Wars film was released. It was simply titled “Star Wars” and would gain the title “A New Hope” once other films came about. The original story follows Luke Skywalker as he learns the way of the jedi and also discovers the truths of his family. “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi” followed the film and completed the original trilogy. The entire trilogy looks as if Luke Skywalker is the main character. While from a certain point of view he is, a different perspective shows how Darth Vader is the main character.

When the prequel trilogy (Episodes 1-3) was released, they reinforced the idea that Vader/Anakin Skywalker was the main character across all six films. So if this is the case, how come Disney’s sequel trilogy (Episodes 7-9) did not include Anakin very much? For one, they even downplayed his legacy, in my opinion (and I talk more about this at the end of this post). Yet, it is simply because there was no room for these episodes in his story. He had completed his destiny. Let’s take a deeper look.

It Was Always About Anakin

In Episode 6, “Return of the Jedi”, the jedi that is returning is certainly not Luke. It is Anakin. He is returning to the light, fulfilling his destiny that was outlined all the way back in Episode 1, “The Phantom Menace”. The Skywalker Saga has always been about Anakin’s rise, fall and then redemption. His rise begins in Episode 1, and he is redemned in Episode 6. Where can a sequel trilogy fit into this? Also, I don’t mean to go against Disney Star Wars, as they have put out some good films; I mean there was no room for a sequel trilogy whether the franchise had been sold to Disney or not. However, due to other reasons, I am not a fan of the Disney sequel trilogy that we got.

Anakin’s Story Begins

His story begins with Qui-Gon Jinn’s discovery of him on Tatooine. Qui-Gon believes that Anakin is the Chosen One and knows of his importance in the force. Qui-Gon is also the only jedi capable of truly keeping Anakin in complete balance, and this is portrayed in “The Phantom Menace”. When Qui-Gon dies at the end of Episode 1, Anakin’s story truly begins. He now starts a slow journey towards the dark side. During Episode 2, Anakin needs help that he cannot find, and it would only be Qui-Gon who could truly help Anakin with his emotions. Qui-Gon is the true father-figure that Anakin needs, which is why this is portrayed in Episode 1.

The Rest of the Prequels

Episodes 2-3, and especially Episode 3, also focus much on Anakin’s path towards the dark side. In Episode 2, we see Anakin’s anger as he discovers his mother’s death and seeks revenge, which is against the Jedi Code. Even Qui-Gon’s force spirit can be heard in Anakin’s mind telling him to stop, but he does not listen. Anakin even seeks guidance from the Jedi Council, most notably Yoda, who simply tell him to forget about all that he loves. This proves to be easier said than done, and in Episode 3 Anakin finally steps fully over into the dark side and we end the film with him in his brand new Darth Vader suit. So Anakin’s rise begins in Episode 1, and his fall takes place during Episode 3.

The Original Trilogy Also Focuses on Him

Sure, the original trilogy (Episodes 4-6) perceives Luke Skywalker as the main protagonist, in which he certainly is, but the overall story follows Anakin Skywalker’s destiny. In Episode 4, we are presented with Darth Vader, who is evil and very powerful in the dark side. In the end of the film, he learns that it was a force-sensitive being (Luke Skywalker) who blew up the Death Star, and he spends three years (the time in between Episodes 4-5) looking for this person. In one of the Darth Vader comics, it is revealed that Vader hired Boba Fett to track down Luke. When he finally found Luke, he was unable to capture him for Vader. He did, however, get his name: Skywalker. When Boba said this name to Vader, the haunting memories of his past all came back, just as he was finally getting over them. In Episode 5-6, Vader spends most of his time searching for his son. In the beginning of Episode 5, during the Battle of Hoth, Vader is suppose to be wiping out the rebels (in which is does), but he is also hastily searching for Luke at Echo Base.

Return of Anakin

Luke is very important because he is the final pull for Anakin to come back to the light. We see Padmé attempt to bring him back in “Revenge of the Sith” but she is unsuccessful. In “Star Wars: Rebels” Ahsoka also tries to bring Anakin back, but is once again unsuccessful. It is only his son, Luke, who can truly do this. Luke is the catalyst to bring Anakin fully back to the light. In fact, Anakin returns to the light in a manner similar to how he fully turned to the dark: to save the one he loves. In “Return of the Jedi”, while Emperor Palpatine is shocking Luke with force lightning, Vader sits and watches, and truly contemplates stopping his master, the Emperor. In that moment, he also recalls the prophecy of the Chosen One (my source is the novelization of “Return of the Jedi”), and understands that this is where it all comes together. This was the prophecy that was brought to light in Episode 1. Now Anakin realizes this is where it is all fulfilled. He redeems himself by acting selflessly and saving his son, while also destroying the Sith. The story that was revealed in Episode 1 is brought to a close in Episode 6.

How Could Sequels Fit?

There could, of course, have been a good sequel story that followed Episode 6, but even a good one would not have fit well with Anakin’s full story. Even if George Lucas had not sold Star Wars to Disney, he would have taken the sequels in a different direction. In my opinion, the sequel trilogy ruins Anakin’s true story, as it portrays Rey as the Chosen One. It also downplays Anakin heavily. In his redemption, it was not as if Anakin was only avenging himself by killing the Emperor, he was also avenging all the others who the Emperor had deceived then destroyed: the Jedi Order, Darth Maul, the clones, the Republic, Padmé, the Separatists, Obi-Wan, Yoda, and many, many more. This final victory for the galaxy was achieved in Episode 6, then simply taken away and forgotten in the sequels. In my opinion, the Star Wars saga ends after “The Mandalorian”, which I believe fits well into the original story, better than the sequels.

I understand that I may get hate for this post, but this is my honest opinion. I do not dislike the sequels simply to dislike them and join the crowd, I have many reasons for not liking them. One main reason is how they downplay Anakin’s destiny and story tremendously. Episodes 1-6 and everything in between is good enough for me. Thanks for reading!

#star wars #star wars anakin #anakin skywalker #chosen one #return of the jedi #jedi #revenge of the sith #sith #writing

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gffa · 5 years

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Always love your recs and appreciate the amount of time you have to put into them on top of all your normal, insanely detailed posts! I was wondering if you had any good starting places for getting into the non-film/video game/TV side of the fandom. Like what books are good? comics? There are so many!

Hi! I’m glad you’re enjoying the fic recs! There’s a ton out there to read, so if I can help point out some gems, I’m very glad to do so!With books and comics, a lot will depend on what you’re interested in (like my favorite era is the prequels, but I’ll read anything good, because I enjoy almost everything of SW), and you can pretty much pick up anything from the last five years or so and it’ll at least not be terrible! Though, I have to admit, the comics have been phenomenal, while the books can’t quite reach the same heights for me.But my favorite places to start are usually:COMICS:

The 2015 Star Wars main comic title by Jason Aaron + the 2015 Darth Vader comic series by Kieron Gillen. They’re meant to be read concurrently (at least for the first dozen issues or so) and they really kicked off an incredible era of SW comics. The explore the time between ANH and ESB, getting into the characters’ heads and having some phenomenal moments. Vader discovering the name of the pilot that blew up the Death Star is an iconic moment for a reason.

The 2017 Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith comic by Charles Soul, which is an intense and beautifully done look at the transition from Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader in the aftermath of Revenge of the Sith and really goes hard on showing his sunken cost fallacy and how terrible his choices were that he could never admit to, that he’s absolutely a terrifying nightmare while also being entirely human and almost pitiable.

Kanan: The Last Padawan is only 12 issues, but it’s gorgeously drawn and adds so much to Kanan’s story and is great if you’re interested in seeing what the Jedi were like inside their own Temple a bit more. We get to see Caleb Dume become a Padawan, we get some stellar Depa Billaba moments, and a lot of heartbreak as we see Order 66 through Caleb’s eyes, as well as Kanan figuring out his way in the galaxy after all that.

The Age of Republic series (I think there’s 8 or 9 in total?) by Jody Houser are really great. They’re single issue stories, so don’t expect big complex plots, but the character moments in each one of them, including a lot of themes that echo from one issue to another, are absolutely stellar.

Obi-Wan & Anakin by Charles Soule, which is a stunningly beautiful comic (I HAVE NEVER SEEN A PRETTIER COMIC IN MY LIFE) and seems somewhat simple on the first read--Anakin intends to leave the Jedi Order, but goes on one last mission with Obi-Wan, then changes his mind--has a surprising amount of layers and details that you can read into it, making it one I’ve reread like three times now and I’ve loved it more each time.

The Poe Dameron comics by Charles Soule are absolutely incredible. They’re the Poe character exploration for me, the one that really set the foundation imo, as well as they capture Poe’s character and Oscar Isaac’s portrayal of him brilliantly, making him absolutely charming to read. I still think they’re the best sequels tie-in material yet, even when I love love love other stuff, too.

Shattered Empire by Greg Rucka is also a gorgeously illustrated comic and does a lot to explore what happened after the Empire fell and the aftermath and clean up/last days of the war and was just really solidly good.

BOOKS:

From a Certain Point of View by various authors is a series of short stories about the A New Hope characters that really give a lot of cool depths to them or are just funny little moments. While it can be hit-or-miss, the ones I would recommend reading are “Master & Apprentice” (Qui-Gon POV), “Time of Death” (Obi-Wan POV), “There is Another” (Yoda POV), and “An Incident Report” (Motti, and it is the funniest thing I’ve ever read) as they provide some stellar character moments.

Bloodline by Claudia Gray is probably the best book for giving you a sense of how the sequel trilogy happened/what the politics of it are, and it’s a solidly fun Leia book and I think easily Gray’s best work for Star Wars.

Star Wars Propaganda by Pablo Hidalgo is an incredible read if you don’t mind that it’s sort of a reference book and sort of a proper novel, as it’s an in-universe reference book, which tells the story of the politics of the galaxy far, far away as shown through art history and its use for propaganda. It’s an amazing overview of the bigger SW story and how one war flowed into the next and really nails how the governments’ actions (or inactions) lead to so much unrest.

I haven’t finished A New Dawn by John Jackson Miller, but I’ve heard nothing but good about this Kanan backstory (the early days of his and Hera’s first getting to really know each other/working together, as well as Kanan slowly starting to find himself and his path again, or at least think about doing so) that’s interspersed with flashbacks to his time as a Jedi Padawan.

Thrawn by Timothy Zahn is actually a really great book, it introduces the perfect character to be the Watson to Thrawn’s Holmes, where they balance each other really well, so it takes the edges off Thrawn’s more obnoxious behaviors, while also winding it all together with showing what it was like inside the Empire’s earlier days and how the characters all came to be in the places they were in Rebels.

I haven’t finished Lords of the Sith by Paul S. Kemp yet, but what I’ve read of it so far has been really good! It’s an intense one (as would be expected of a Vader-heavy book) but also it has moments of showing the Twi’lek’s pain at all that’s been heaped on them from their point of view, and some really EXTRA AS FUCK moments from Vader, so I’m enjoying it a lot.

If you’re interested in the sequels, I really loved Phasma by Delilah S. Dawson and Cobalt Squadron by Elizabeth Wein, I thought they both did amazing jobs at showing the backstories for Phasma and Rose Tico respectively, that Phasma is utterly batshit Star Wars at its best, that Cobalt Squadron really gave me a ton of Rose and Tico Sisters feelings.

#fic recs #not really #but that's my tag!#winking-owl

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preserving-ferretbrain · 5 years

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Fail of the Lich King

by Wardog

Tuesday, 14 July 2009Wardog critical hits Arthas: Rise of the Lich King, the World of Warcraft tie in novel, for 4000 points of damage.Uh-oh! This is in the Axis of Awful...~

Here’s a confession, Ferretbrain readers: I’ve never read a tie-in novel. Truthfully, I have enough trouble getting invested in the world in original fiction, so there’s a pretty low likelihood of me wanting to read about a universe specifically designed to have movies or games or a tv show happening in it.

I do, however, play World of Warcraft.

And I am, secretly, a bit of a Warcraft loregeek – having played Orcs Versus Humans, and Warcraft II and Warcraft IIIback in the day, despite being abysmal at RTS games. Azeroth is basically Generic Fantasy Setting#3 but having been splashing about it in since the age of eleven, what can I say, I have a fondness. For anyone who doesn’t give a toss (i.e. the rest of you) lore has kicked off in a big way recently in WoW, with the release of the expansion Wrath of the Lich King. This is a big deal.

Arthas, Rise of the Lich King, a WoW tie-in novel by Christie Golden, is the history of that big deal.

The short version: There’s this Lich King, right? He’s wrathful. He needs to taken out by a bunch of PCs.

The longer version: I’m not going to go into the history of Azeroth, which has a long and detailed history. Arthas, later to become part of the entity known of the Lich King (like, whoops), was the son of King Terenas Menethil, ruler of Lordaeron, and a paladin of the Order of the Silver Hand. An impetuous but basically okay youth, hope of his people yadda yadda yadda, he boned the only girl in the entire Warcraft universe, Jaina Proudmoore, for a bit and then went off to do, err, war things.

It’s all a bit complicated and involves a plague of undeath caused by infected grain, evil wizards, demons and Arthas going off the deep end, culling infected villages and burning the boats of his own army so they have no choice but to fight for him. While making questionable military decisions (this is WCIII, by the way) Arthas also gets obsessed with the

deathly hallows

runeblade Frostmourne, a sword rumoured to give its wielder limitless power. This is, as anyone could guess, a plot. In this case, orchestrated by the Lich King Ner’Zhul.

Arthas nabs Frostmourne from its prison of ice, despite the “DON’T TOUCH THE SWORD IT COMES WITH TERRIBLE PRICE YOU STUPID PILLOCK” signage and heads off to save his people. Except, this apparently involves murdering his own father, because, of course, the sword has completely corrupted him, and the Lich King is whispering to him, and controlling him, through it. Way to go, Arthas.

So, now some gothylooking sub-human Death Knight, Arthas charges around the land, generally wrecking it and raising people from the dead for kicks. But it turns out the Lich King isn’t as powerful as he thought he was and things start to go wrong. Arthas is recalled to Northrend, which is currently attack anyway by some other dudes from the lore (The Burning Legion, don’t ask). Again, it’s insanely complicated but Arthas fights his way to the Frozen Throne, releasing the Lich King and consuming him or something or other in order to become the true Lich King. Mwhaahaha.

And, then, in true Lord Voldemort fashion he’s just … been … like … sitting on there on the Frozen Throne. Raising an army, or whatever. Although everybody knows that “raising an army” is fantasy-speak for “doing fuck all.”

This is the story told in Arthas: Rise of the Lich King.

What neither my summary, nor the book itself, quite encompasses is the fact that there is quite a bit of WoWlore that’s quite cool and interesting. The original Lich King, for example, is actually an ancient Orcish shaman, tricked by demons into betraying his people. His transformation into the Lich King was actually a punishment for defying his demonic masters. Arthas, of course, is Generic Fantasy Concept #5: uppity princeling is stupid and turns evil. But there is something iconic about him, it must be admitted. He’s one of the most popular and enduring figures of the Warcraft universe.

I think part of his resonance comes from the fact you actually got to be him in Warcraft III. That game blew my tiny mind when it first came out. Not only was it sweeping, epic, and sub-Tolkeinesque in the way that Blizzard does supremely well (here’s the scene of him murdering his father –

check it out

!) but the narrative arc is, well, a bit of a mindfuck. You start out playing Arthas in his whiny Prince incarnation and, even though the game is utterly linear, it’s hard not to feel some responsibility for all the messed up stuff he does. Or rather, you do on Arthas’s behalf, because it is a RTS.

Anyway, that’s the background and a little bit of justification as to why I’m reading a tie-in novel, an experience I don’t think I’ll be repeating any time soon. This is not, you understand, a dig against tie-in novels, I’ve had absolutely nothing against them at all and I suspect I found the right sort of universe and the right sort of writers I’d enjoy them. But Arthas: Rise of the Lich King is absolutely terrible.

Dear me, dear me, it really is.

The problem is, I’m not sure what extent its just plain bad and to what extent signs I am interpreting as manifestations of badness are merely the tropes and tools of the tie-in novel form. Obviously tie-in novels are operating on a different set of rules to those governing original fiction. I’m not entirely sure what they are, truthfully, but I suppose it’s about evoking characters and places that are already familiar to the reader. And since the writer is working within an already quite restrictive canon, I suppose I should have expected an element of sketchiness but … but … it still feels incredibly tepid to me. It’s simultaneously bland and over-written, if that makes any sense at all. There’s no depth or conviction to the narrative – I suppose, I’d say it’s supremely utilitarian.

Northrend was the name of the land. Daggercap Bay the site where the Lordaeron fleet made harbor. The water, deep and choppy, with an unforgiving wind, was a cold-blue gray. Sheer-cliffs were dotted with tenacious pine trees soaring upwards, providing a natural defense of the small, flat area where Arthas and his men would make camp. A waterfall tumbled down, crashing in a billow of spray from a great height.

Do you see what I mean? It’s like looking at flat image. The information is presented list-like – there’s very little connection between the introduction of the sea, the cliffs, the camp, the waterfall. No senses other than the visual are engaged, and no effort has been made to do anything with the scene setting other than present it as it is. The waterfall tumbles down from a great height? Oh come on. It’s a waterfall, obviously it moves from a higher place to a lower place. Dan has pointed out that we’ve all been to Daggercap Bay so the description doesn’t have to do more than sketch in enough of the details to remind us and, bam, we have a ready-made vivid picture of it. Now maybe I’m just failing to engage with the differences between tie-in fiction and original-setting fiction but is it wrong of me to want just a little bit more effort than this?

One of the lines that Dan and I never tired of mocking in Star Wars III: The Revenge of the Sith is “from my point of view the Jedi are evil.” This is profoundly mockable from every conceivable angle but my favourite joke is that Lucas simply forgot to finish the line. He was sitting at his writing desk, thinking something like this: “what I want to do here is capture something of the moral ambiguity of this scene, the way morality is so often a matter of perspective. I suppose what Anakin is trying to say, from his point of the view the Jedi are evil.”

Writes down: “From my point of the view the Jedi are evil!”

And the entirety of Arthas: Rise of the Lich King reads like this to me.

For example, there’s scene in which Kael’thas, Prince of the Blood Elves, confronts Jaina Proudmoore over Arthas’s destruction of his entire race. This is naturally complicated by the fact Jaina, tastelessly, chose whiny Arthas over fabulous Kael. Now, I think the thought process behind the scene went something like this: “what I’d like to show in this scene is Kael’thas verbally attacking the woman he loves and cannot have because he cannot attack his real enemy, Arthas, and therefore feels helpless and impotent. In order to capture this quite subtle interplay of emotions and ruined relationships, Goldie writes:

Jaina felt quick tears come to her eyes as she suddenly understood. He was attacking her because he could not attack his real enemy. He felt helpless, impotent and was striking out at the nearest target – her, Jaina Proudmoore, whose love he had wanted and failed to win.

Everything about the way the book is written is as laboured as the scene above. There’s no hope of anything, or anyone, accruing any emotional depth because, Rowling-like, everything the characters say, think and do are mercilessly explained to us. Take this little discussion between 9 year old Arthas and Prince Varian, whose father has just been assassinated.

“He was assassinated,” Varian’s voice was blunt and emotionless. … Arthas stared. Death in glorious battle was difficult enough to handle but this- Impulsively he placed a hand on the other Prince’s arm. “I saw a foal being born yesterday,” he said. It sounded inane, but it was the first thing that sprang to his mind and he spoke earnestly. “When the weather lets up, I’ll take you to see him. He’s the most amazing thing.” Varian turned towards him and gazed at him for a long moment. Emotions flitted across his face – offense, disbelief, gratitude, yearning, understanding. Suddenly the brown eyes filled with tears and Varian looked away. He folded his arms and hunched in on himself, his shoulders shaking with sobs he did his best to muffle… … “I hate winter,” Varian sobbed, and the depth of his hurt conveyed by those three simple words, a seeming non-sequiteur, humbled Arthas.

Putting aside for a moment, young Varian’s impressive ability to communicate a range of complex emotions in a short space of time using only his face, for God’s sake, you stupid woman, there’s no need for you spell it all out for me. I get it. You don’t have to join the emotional dots with a crayon. A seeming non-sequiteur my seeming arse.

It doesn’t help that it lacks any sort of consistent narrative voice, swinging from an attempt at Tolkeinesque portentousness which inevitably just sounds lame (“long had he lived” or “tall he was”) to an incongruous modernity. Arthas, in particular, sounds like he’s voiced by Keannu Reeves:

“I destroyed your homeland … fouled your precious sunwell. And I killed your father. Frostmourne sucked the soul right out of him, Kael. It’s gone forever.”

Like, totally, duuuude.

As you can see, the dialogue is generally pretty shite (sorry, I’ve lost my objectivity now). Kael’thas, my favourite character in the entirety of WoW canon, is its most tragic victim. A beautiful elven prince, thousands of years old, bizarrely into Jaina Proudmoore (I think because, as we have established, she is the only woman in the entirety of Azeroth), cultured, sophisticated, tremendously intelligent, and, ultimately, terrible tragic as Arthas’s destruction of his people reduces him to utter madness. He spends much of the book pouting and sulking after Jaina, flouncing out of rooms in “a swirl of violet of gold” (way not to look gay, Kael), throwing hissy fits and bickering with Arthas. His dialogue encompasses such immortal gems as

“In Quel’Thalas, there are trees that tower over these in a glory of white bark and golden leaves, that all but sing in the evening breezes. I think you would enjoy seeing them someday” (take me now!) and, rather less impressively, while verbally and literally fighting with Arthas: “You’re good at killing noble elderly men.” All together now: whooooo.

Oh sigh.

And if all that wasn’t bad enough, it’s just somehow plain misjudged a lot of the time. From Arthas’s weirdly homoerotic consumption of the Lich King Ner’Zhul (just, no thanks) to lines like “long had he lived, the length and yellowness of his tusks and the wrinkles on his brown skin testament to the fact.” Yellowness?! What the hell?

Below is a picture of Illidan Stormrage, part demon, part night elf, blind and wholly mad, another of WoW’s iconic figures. Isn’t he kind of fabulous? Wouldn’t you just love to get together with a group of friends and kill him?

Would you at any point, if writing about him, use the phrase: “Sweat gleamed on his massive, lavender-hued torso?” Lavender-hued? LAVENDER-HUED? Lavender is for grandmas and bath oils. Not insane demonic night elves. Come on, Christie Golden, don’t you give a damn what you’re doing?

I could criticise the writing style endlessly but the problems with Arthas: Rise of the Lich King are even more substantial. Again, I understand that writing the story of a life of a character who was probably made up as they went along is probably quite a challenge but I don’t think it alters the fact that the one event constantly cited as the most traumatic and character-defining of Arthas’s entire life is… Actually let’s do a quiz. Is it:

a) That time he murdered his father?

b) That time he killed an entire town of innocent people because they’d been infected with the undead plague?

c) That time he burned the boats of his own army to force them to keep fighting for him?

d) That time the guy he was staying with offered him a serving girl to rape?

e) That time he was picking up Frostmourne and it directly caused the death his mentor and oldest friend?

f) That time he killed Sylvanas Windrunner, turned her into a banshee and rape/tortured her for kicks?

g)The death of his horse.

What the hell? He even has recurring nightmares about it.

(by the way, it’s option g)

Okay, this has degenerated into ranting now. By whatever standards you’re judging it, Arthas: the Rise of Lich King is a bad, bad book. Just because something is a tie-in novel doesn’t mean readers aren’t entitled to flair, conviction, a small scintilla of actual talent. Is there anything good at all I can say about it? Well, the commas are all in the right places.

Themes:

Books

Sci-fi / Fantasy

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Arthur B

at 22:37 on 2009-07-14

Dan has pointed out that we’ve all been to Daggercap Bay so the description doesn’t have to do more than sketch in enough of the details to remind us and, bam, we have a ready-made vivid picture of it. Now maybe I’m just failing to engage with the differences between tie-in fiction and original-setting fiction but is it wrong of me to want just a little bit more effort than this?

That laziness isn't a trope of tie-in fiction, it's a disease of tie-in fiction.

Games Workshop/Black Library, who seem to have a better batting average than most with this sort of thing, seem to work on the assumption that any tie-in novel is potentially someone's first contact with the franchise in question - that's is why they put the classic "laughter of thirsting gods" blurb at the start of all the

Warhammer 40,000

books, after all. This does mean that the authors have to explain who the Space Marines are every time they're introduced in a novel, but it also forces the authors to have some degree of discipline and not Christie Golden the place up.

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Rami

at 22:38 on 2009-07-14The fact that the other prince's name is the same as that of the author of one of my first-year textbooks just highlights the ridiculousness of it all to me; I couldn't take anything seriously past that point.

That having been said, I've read some pretty good tie-in fiction and there's lots of mediocre-but-not-actively-crap tie-in in campaign settings like the Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance, so in my experience at least tie-in fiction's rules aren't that compromised by the rules of whatever they're retelling!

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http://serenoli.livejournal.com/

at 10:46 on 2009-07-15Studying Microeconomics, Rami?

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Shim

at 12:11 on 2009-07-15

Actually, I

haven't

been to Daggercap Bay, in fact I know nothing at all about the Warcraft universe except what I've picked up via gaming conversations/blogs/comics. Maybe I should read this thing as a control sample?

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Andy G

at 14:03 on 2009-07-15

The fact that the other prince's name is the same as that of the author of one of my first-year textbooks just highlights the ridiculousness of it all to me; I couldn't take anything seriously past that point.

I misread that, I thought there really was an economics professor called Arthas.

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Rami

at 17:07 on 2009-07-15@serenoli: I'm pleasantly surprised anyone got the reference, although I don't suppose I should be as it's a pretty typical text, isn't it? Certainly everyone I met at my uni on an economics course used it.

I misread that, I thought there really was an economics professor called Arthas.

Well since I used to play Warcraft III I would have loved a textbook I could call the Book of Arthas ;-)

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Wardog

at 14:26 on 2009-07-16@Arthur & Shimmin

Since WoW produces far fewer tie-in novels than the Black Library (those things are taking over Borders, there are shelves of them!), I don't think there's any particularly need to make them "introductory." I suspect the thinking behind it is there's genuinely *utterly no reason* to read a Warcraft novel unless you're already hugely into Warcraft.

I can has macro-enconomics joke?

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Arthur B

at 16:27 on 2009-07-16

I think Black Library managed to become huge in a way that the previous Games Workshop book line never was at least partially because they were able to rid themselves of that thinking, and made a conscious decision to a) try their damnedest to be accessible to newcomers without patronising hardcore fans, and b) not regard the fans as morons who will buy anything with the Warhammer logo on the cover. I strongly suspect that the later volumes of

Konrad

didn't match the potential of the first one at least partially because neither author nor publisher really gave a crap about what they were producing.

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http://fightsandtights.blogspot.com/

at 07:05 on 2009-09-30

That's precisely the sort of thinking that tie-in franchises get stuck in, of course: they don't write for newcomers because they don't expect any newcomers to buy the books, and as a result no newcomers buy the books, which discourages the publishers from producing more and discourages the writers from writing for newcomers, and you end up with a vicious circle which results in the novel line ghettoising itself. (It gets particularly bad when the authors and/or publishers also believe that the audience for the franchise is too stupid or too loyal to care about quality, and so can't be bothered to write well.) I think Black Library managed to become huge in a way that the previous Games Workshop book line never was at least partially because they were able to rid themselves of that thinking, and made a conscious decision to a) try their damnedest to be accessible to newcomers without patronising hardcore fans, and b) not regard the fans as morons who will buy anything with the Warhammer logo on the cover. I strongly suspect that the later volumes of Konrad didn't match the potential of the first one at least partially because neither author nor publisher really gave a crap about what they were producing.

You raise an excellent point here, and it's one worth considering. Despite WoW's massive fanbase (as well as the fanbases of their other universes), Blizzard just really focuses on writing novels for the existing fans, not in bringing in new ones. A good deal of their tie-in fiction are simply novelizations of the games in some capacity or prequels to upcoming stuff, and unlike Games Workshop, they rarely give the writers a chance to produce original stuff within the confines of these worlds they have created, though they are getting a bit better at it. As well, one of the things that Games Workshop really excels at with their tie-in fiction is that they take more risks and allow the writers to investigate and play with their creative properties much more frequently.

This also leads to a greater depth of genre material, for example, you can find Warhammer stories that involve big quests and swash-buckling adventures (Gotrex and Felix), detective stories (Zavant Konniger), horror (Vampire Genevive), etc. Now Blizzard is expanding a bit, particularly with their manga works, but they are still a long way off from getting anything close to the Black Library's level of quality, range and depth.

One of the major problems I had with this story was the lack of epic scope that I would expect for a novelization of much of Warcraft III, and it's a problem that Blizzard's novels seem to be running into frequently these days. Part of that is simply the transition from an interactive visual-based medium to a non-interactive text-based one (unless you count throwing the book against the wall a point of interaction), but honestly, Golden could not seem to capture the intensity and the epic nature of the many of the events she was writing about. Take the Siege of Hearthglen, for example. In the game, it's a mighty 30-min last stand against an overwhelming horde of flesh-eating nasties, and about a third of the way through, you're faced with the choice to save a series of nearby villages, possibly gaining an expansion town and preventing the undead from massing even more troops with the risk of possibly losing your main base because your forces are stretched too thin. In the novel, Golden doesn't bother to show it, beyond transcribing the start and end cutscenes to novel format. It's like the writers Blizzard has hired to write these books say to themselves, "I have to write battle scenes, intense drama, and make the reader feel like this stuff matters? Fuck it. Let's talk about Arthas' horse." I'm half-expecting when the inevitable novel chronicling the Exodus to Kalimdor and the events of the second half of WCIII comes out, the Battle of Mount Hyjal will be reduced to a schoolyard slapfight between Archimonde and Stormrage. Perhaps not the biggest problem with the book overall, but one of many, and as a major Warcraft fan, one that really stuck in my craw.

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Wardog

at 12:19 on 2009-10-05Hello there - welcome to Fb.

I don't much to say really except: yes, I agree with you entirely :)

The novel really does feel, and read, like a cutscene - I think because she makes no attempt to engage with the interactive elements of the game. So what you end up is a book that's basically a string of cutscenes. Wheeee.

It's a shame becaus the Arthas story does have a lot of potential, as you say, for drama and intensity.

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http://fightsandtights.blogspot.com/

at 13:39 on 2009-10-23

Hello there - welcome to Fb. I don't much to say really except: yes, I agree with you entirely :) The novel really does feel, and read, like a cutscene - I think because she makes no attempt to engage with the interactive elements of the game. So what you end up is a book that's basically a string of cutscenes. Wheeee. It's a shame becaus the Arthas story does have a lot of potential, as you say, for drama and intensity.

Many thanks for the warm welcome, and glad to hear I had something useful to contribute.

One of the things that really struck me when I was reading this novel was that Golden's writing skills seem to have dramatically declined since she wrote Lord of the Clans. That was a pretty good tie-in novel that worked both as a Warcraft story and a general high-fantasy one, and I'm considering doing a review of it for this site. Reading Rise of the Lich King, I had a uncannily similar feeling when I read the sixth Harry Potter book, namely, "Who is this woman and where has she stashed away the writer I had come to love?" Or just like, in this case...

#Ferretbrain #Arthas: Rise of the Lich King #World of Warcraft #Axis of Awful #Wardog

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