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| Sorry, Master, we're sorry! |
This long hiatus is entirely on Esme (who is writing now). Her cross-country move, job, dance, etc. all piled up into a big bundle of excuses that interfered with our awesome project. RoRo has been the queen of patience and good humor about this and now, at long last, we're back!
Reading "Children of the Jedi" is going to be an interesting and likely humorous experience for me, Esme, for several reasons. When I first discovered Star Wars, and then Star Wars novels and the EU, I fell completely in love with Mara Jade (which I may have mentioned before ^_^). I loved her power, her struggle, her open-book character. And I knew, the moment I'd finished "The Last Command," that she was going to be with Luke Skywalker. I'm convinced that there's no one with a more romantic spirit than a ten-year-old girl and I was positive Mara and Luke were destined.
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| Children of the Jedi |
Then I met Callista. If there's no truer romantic than a ten-year-old girl, there's certainly none more fatalistic. Before even reading "Children of the Jedi," I was heartbroken. I couldn't figure out whose stupid idea it was that Mara be Luke's "friend" and Callista be his one true love. Powerless to stop it, I seethed and moped and refused to read any of the novels except to check for scenes featuring Mara. I didn't know it at the time, but part of my general dissatisfaction with those other novels was that Mara wasn't being written all that well. TZahn created the perfect character; I don't mean Mara herself was perfect by any means. I mean that Mara's perfect in terms of her dimension: she perfectly balanced, with flaws and strengths constantly tipping and causing growth. She goes from abused child assassin to independent woman in TZahn's first trilogy but does so in such a natural way. On top of that, she refuses to follow conventional expectation and become a Jedi. Most authors who aren't TZahn have been hopeless at capturing this in any way. The only one I can remember coming even close is Roger McBride Allen of Corellian Trilogy fame and I'll have to decide upon reread whether or not I still think so.
Enough about my beloved Mara. The point in even bringing her up is that I'm a bit older now and I think it's about time I apologized to poor Callista and gave her a chance to play her part in a galaxy far, far away. The next three books are her shining debut and story arc.
So, Callista, I'm sorry I was a jerk to you. I no longer find you threatening (and not just because I know you're only temporary in Luke's life) and I wish you all the best. Thanks for helping to people the Star Wars universe.
Off we go!
