Have a question for the Expanded Universe’s most prolific author? Send us a tweet, leave a Facebook message, or drop a comment in this post! We’ll be interviewing Aaron Allston on Wednesday, June 6th.
While we can’t promise we’ll have time to get to everyone’s questions, Nanci and I will do our best to get to as many as possible.
In order of importance:
1) When you were hired to write Wraith Squadron (and weren’t informed for a while 🙂 you mentioned that you did a lot of research (like researching life on aircraft carriers, buying Action Fleet Micro Machines and doing measurements, etc). Did you do similar research for the Enemy Lines, Legacy of the Force, and Fate of the Jedi series? If so, can you share some of it? (And maybe some research you might have done for Mercy Kill?)
2) Seha Dorvald is definitely one of my favorite characters of the past decade – what was the inspiration for creating her, and what do you like about writing her?
3) I’ve been chatting with a friend who feels that Jaina and Mara lack agency in Outcast and Exile. I just reread these two novels (after buying them!), and am attempting to formulate a response, and was wondering if you had thoughts on Jaina and Mara in the early part of Legacy of the Force. (Note: I hope this question doesn’t sound accusatory or negative – I really love the Allston LotF trilogy, and am just trying to get a sense of his views on writing these two fantastic characters.)
4) Do you have thoughts about the 3×3 megaseries format and fan reaction to it?
5) What are your thoughts about the continued update of the X-Wing (we’re at XJ6, right?) instead of developing new fighter types?
6) In Betrayal, you have a powerful paralleling with Jacen’s vicious and appalling murder of Nelani with Leia’s realization that she needed to commit to never sacrificing others for her own ends. Did you have a further thematic purpose with that scene and Leia’s characterization?
7) What are your thoughts about major character death in Star Wars?
8) X-Wing, A-Wing, B-Wing, E-Wing, K-Wing, Y-Wing? Similarly, what kind of TIE do you think is best/most awesome? (Also, if the answer is “X-Wing,” is that StealthX or the more standard T-65A-XJ6 models?)
9) You have had a huge influence on Jag Fel and Jaina Solo’s characters and romance. What draws you to these characters and their relationship specifically? Do you like the way their romance has progressed from Dark Tide to Apocalypse?
10) Mon Cal cruisers or Star Destroyers? And are you a fan of Super Star Destroyers (I hate the Star Dreadnought classification)?
11) On a related note, what do you think about the changing of an SSD’s length from 8km to 17km? In my mind, it makes things like the Mon Remonda/Iron Fist duels and the Black Fleet Crisis very hard to work out (and in my mind, they’re still 8km long).
Where would you like to see the SWEu go from the end of FOTJ?
1) In an interview, Jennifer Heddle said that if Mercy Kill was a success, another X-wing book/series would be considered a possibility. Would you be up for writing more X-wing novels?
2) If you had your way, where would the EU go after FOTJ? What kind of stories would we see and what would our beloved characters do?
3) Every author seems to write Luke Skywalker a bit differently. How, in your opinion, should Luke be written? Personally, is he a difficult character to write?
4) In my opinion, the Luke and Ben dialogue in FOTJ is the best part of that series. What went through your head as you were writing those dialogue bits.
5) Does Luke wear boxers or briefs? ;p
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