Jump to content

Worst EU writer?


Recommended Posts

Who do you believe is the worst writer of the EU? Personally I think it's Karen Traviss. The woman has never read a Star Wars book she hasn't written, she shoves Mandalorians into everything, she thinks that the Jedi are Nazis and frequently gets into flame wars with fans. She always talks about how the Mando's are better than everyone, she has Jaina Solo(Sword of the goddamn Jedi) go to them for training against Jacen instead of going to her uncle, who had recently just schooled him. Traviss then displays her being beat severely by the mandalorians because of their lightsaber proof armour and ability to disappear from the force(ignoring the fact that Jaina is a veteran of the Yuuzhan Vong war). Then proceeds to imply that the Mandalorians could have easily beaten Caedus and the "Bathrobe Brigade" in her words.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Who do you believe is the worst writer of the EU? Personally I think it's Karen Traviss. The woman has never read a Star Wars book she hasn't written, she shoves Mandalorians into everything, she thinks that the Jedi are Nazis and frequently gets into flame wars with fans. She always talks about how the Mando's are better than everyone, she has Jaina Solo(Sword of the gosh darn Jedi) go to them for training against Jacen instead of going to her uncle, who had recently just schooled him. Traviss then displays her being beat severely by the mandalorians because of their lightsaber proof armour and ability to disappear from the force(ignoring the fact that Jaina is a veteran of the Yuuzhan Vong war). Then proceeds to imply that the Mandalorians could have easily beaten Caedus and the "Bathrobe Brigade" in her words.

 

I agree 100%. According to most accounts, she either got fired or was given the option to quit or get fired because of her "Kryptalorians" as I like to call them. Too bad she didn't get fired for killing Mara Jade. She stepped on a lot of toes and pissed off a lot of fans with that one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Who do you believe is the worst writer of the EU? Personally I think it's Karen Traviss. The woman has never read a Star Wars book she hasn't written, she shoves Mandalorians into everything, she thinks that the Jedi are Nazis and frequently gets into flame wars with fans. She always talks about how the Mando's are better than everyone, she has Jaina Solo(Sword of the gosh darn Jedi) go to them for training against Jacen instead of going to her uncle, who had recently just schooled him. Traviss then displays her being beat severely by the mandalorians because of their lightsaber proof armour and ability to disappear from the force(ignoring the fact that Jaina is a veteran of the Yuuzhan Vong war). Then proceeds to imply that the Mandalorians could have easily beaten Caedus and the "Bathrobe Brigade" in her words.

 

While I agree, I also think her editors and whomever was attached to guide her, check lore, make sure she wasn't going overboard with the lore etc from LA is to blame as well.

 

I mean people had to have read what she was writing as she wrote it, it's part of the process, and they still went ahead and published it. Then they let her do another book, and another. Even if she refused to let them see anything until she was finished they had the option to kill the project, force her to rewrite, or bring in another author to rewrite parts. When the fanbase got up in arms about Mara Jade, OP Mandos and the like, then they gave her the "quitting or firing" option.

 

A majority of the blame should fall on her shoulders, but a lot of other heads should have rolled for not quashing the stuff she was writing before it went to print.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree 100%. According to most accounts, she either got fired or was given the option to quit or get fired because of her "Kryptalorians" as I like to call them. Too bad she didn't get fired for killing Mara Jade. She stepped on a lot of toes and pissed off a lot of fans with that one.

 

Hey now, don't insult Superman. :p He can be beaten.

Edited by Wolfninjajedi
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey now, don't insult Superman. :p He can be beaten.

 

Well, I COULD call them Daxalorians, but Daxamites are vulnerable to any toy from China. :p

 

Lead.

 

Worst. Weakness. Ever.

 

Especially for a species that otherwise has the exact same powers as Kryptonians.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think this thread would be more fun if it was titled worst EU writer (Other than Traviss). Because Traviss is the easy choice as #1.

 

For #2 I'm going to go with KJA, his stories are full of OP things and trying to one up the films and other authors (You have a death star? well I have a SUN CRUSHER. You think thrawn is a genius? Well my admiral is a genius AND A WOMAN!!! You think Luke is strong? Well my jedi student PWNZ HIM IN THE FACE!!! You think the empire is evil? WELL IG-88 WAS THE DEATH STAR AND PLANNED ON DESTROYING ALL ORGANIC LIFE!!!). It reads like a bad fanfic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think this thread would be more fun if it was titled worst EU writer (Other than Traviss). Because Traviss is the easy choice as #1.

 

For #2 I'm going to go with KJA, his stories are full of OP things and trying to one up the films and other authors (You have a death star? well I have a SUN CRUSHER. You think thrawn is a genius? Well my admiral is a genius AND A WOMAN!!! You think Luke is strong? Well my jedi student PWNZ HIM IN THE FACE!!! You think the empire is evil? WELL IG-88 WAS THE DEATH STAR AND PLANNED ON DESTROYING ALL ORGANIC LIFE!!!). It reads like a bad fanfic.

 

To be fair, I like his NON-Star Wars sci-fi. Hell, I even like some of his Star Wars novels. But overall, you're right. He does seem to be Teh Pwnzor on everyone else. He still isn't as bad as Traviss, though.

 

Now, my vote for #2 is Drew Karpyshyn. I know I'm probably going to take flak for this, but the Revan novel just wasn't that good. *shrug*

 

Now, if we went for Best, to me it would be a toss-up between Stackpole and Allston. Both X-Wing novelists, and both outstanding. Yes, I KNOW the obvious choice is Zahn, and he comes in a close third.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To be fair, I like his NON-Star Wars sci-fi. Hell, I even like some of his Star Wars novels. But overall, you're right. He does seem to be Teh Pwnzor on everyone else. He still isn't as bad as Traviss, though.

 

Now, my vote for #2 is Drew Karpyshyn. I know I'm probably going to take flak for this, but the Revan novel just wasn't that good. *shrug*

 

Now, if we went for Best, to me it would be a toss-up between Stackpole and Allston. Both X-Wing novelists, and both outstanding. Yes, I KNOW the obvious choice is Zahn, and he comes in a close third.

Personally I think Drew is an amazing writer, true, Revan was crap. But you can't deny his work on Kotor I, II and TOR is pretty damn good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Personally I think Drew is an amazing writer, true, Revan was crap. But you can't deny his work on Kotor I, II and TOR is pretty damn good.

 

KotOR I was a bit predictable, tbh. Not a bad piece of writing, though. Now, KotOR II was Chris Avellone and the writing in that was a masterpiece. Also, Drew did a decent job on The Jedi Prisoner, and Kyle Katarn/Johnny Bravo as the voice of Revan was just icing on the cake!

 

Jeff Bennett is the MAN!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess I'm one of those minority people who actually liked Traviss. I generally tended to enjoy her writing and characterization. Yeah I'm not big on the Mando's much either but it made at least a semi interesting change to see someone on a par with Jedi that wasn't Sith and it's not exactly like Traviss leaving has withdrawn the Mando's from the story, they were still present plenty in FotJ.

 

Regarding the whole Jaina going to them for training situation I thought it was pretty well explained why she went there. Jacen knew her fighting style pretty well having grown up with her, knew what to expect from her and had grown into a better combatant than her through his five year journey. He had plenty of tactics that she would have trouble counteracting so she went to Boba to learn fighting styles very different to her usual so she could fight Jacen in ways he wouldn't expect her to. It seemed to me that it was less about Traviss saying the Mando's could easily take Jacen and more about Jaina coupling Mando styles with her own styles to increase her total ability and give Jacen a few surprises. But meh, that's just my opinion.

 

My least favourite author currently would probably be Christie Golden. I just didn't enjoy her novels that much, the characters always felt remarkably different to how Denning and Allston were portraying them, some moments seemed to drag while others felt rushed and overall I just found her books a bit of a chore to read compared to some of the others.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

KotOR I was a bit predictable, tbh. Not a bad piece of writing, though. Now, KotOR II was Chris Avellone and the writing in that was a masterpiece. Also, Drew did a decent job on The Jedi Prisoner, and Kyle Katarn/Johnny Bravo as the voice of Revan was just icing on the cake!

 

Jeff Bennett is the MAN!

 

This, he is nowhere near as good as some people seem to think he is, compare him to James Luceno and he looks amateur at best.

Edited by Rayla_Felana
Link to comment
Share on other sites

To be fair, I like his NON-Star Wars sci-fi. Hell, I even like some of his Star Wars novels. But overall, you're right. He does seem to be Teh Pwnzor on everyone else. He still isn't as bad as Traviss, though.

 

Now, my vote for #2 is Drew Karpyshyn. I know I'm probably going to take flak for this, but the Revan novel just wasn't that good. *shrug*

 

Now, if we went for Best, to me it would be a toss-up between Stackpole and Allston. Both X-Wing novelists, and both outstanding. Yes, I KNOW the obvious choice is Zahn, and he comes in a close third.

 

/Agreed. Especially with the Stackpole/Allston comment :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

/Agreed. Especially with the Stackpole/Allston comment :)

 

What makes them so good, imo, is that they don't use ANY of the major characters from the movies, except in cameos. Their novels stand on their own merits, not on "Luke, Leia, and Han".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

*sigh* Why does everyone end up using these topics to horribly bash KT and all her work and anything related to it? That's really all this is. For a full conversation on the subject, here's a link. Me, Zone, Walsh, Aximand, and Rayla.

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=378497

 

I have intentionally kept my Traviss bashing on here to a minimum. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I personally like Drew. Sure, Revan wasn't that great, but has everyone just forgotten about the Darth Bane Trilogy? Those were the best books I have ever read! And whoever said James Luceno is a much better writer than him, in my opinion he is not. I tried to read that Darth Vader book, and it was just terribly written, and just........ no. That's just my opinion though.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What makes them so good, imo, is that they don't use ANY of the major characters from the movies, except in cameos. Their novels stand on their own merits, not on "Luke, Leia, and Han".

 

Agreed, and they flesh out some previously minor characters very well, Wedge, for example.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You know I'm surprised there aren't any MandoMercs Costume Club members on this site's forum giving you guys a piece of their mind when you diss Karen Traviss like that. They either must have died out or just don't give a **** anymore.

 

While I didn't necessarily like the Legacy of the Force Novels (I'm not really that into Jedi/Sith as I am into guys and gals with Blasters, that's probably why), I did like Boba Fett a Practical Man and most of her Republic Commando Books....so sue me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You know I'm surprised there aren't any MandoMercs Costume Club members on this site's forum giving you guys a piece of their mind when you diss Karen Traviss like that. They either must have died out or just don't give a **** anymore.

 

That is because they are all either in game pretending to be Boba, or in General Discussion complaining about the lack of 'the Mandolorain' title.

 

While I didn't necessarily like the Legacy of the Force Novels (I'm not really that into Jedi/Sith as I am into guys and gals with Blasters, that's probably why), I did like Boba Fett a Practical Man and most of her Republic Commando Books....so sue me.

 

I thought the Republic Commando books were alright, but they did seem to be a little OP compared to every other soldier in the galaxy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You know I'm surprised there aren't any MandoMercs Costume Club members on this site's forum giving you guys a piece of their mind when you diss Karen Traviss like that. They either must have died out or just don't give a **** anymore.

 

Still here, just not interested in reposting it anymore...http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=378497

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have kind of a love/hate relationship with KT books...

 

On one hand I love the Mando books she's written (Hard Contact - True Colors, and Order 66), I have this kind of separate mental sandbox of the Star Wars universe where her super soldier commandos can exist when I read those books and can enjoy them. The rest of her Star Wars books I don't really like, and especially hate the killing of Mara Jade and how that was handled.

 

 

On the opposite end of the spectrum for best SW authors, I have to agree, my top three are Timothy Zahn, Michael A. Stackpole, and Aaron Allston.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It really shocks me that when listing the best SW authors nobody mentions Stover.

 

Traitor was the best book in the NJO, Shadows of Mindor was a fun read, his novelization of RotS was better than the actual movie.

 

And Shatterpoint is my Favorite novel in the entire EU. I guess his body of work isn't large enough yet *shrugs*.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...