Popular SW Writer Quits Over Continuity

Karen Traviss, author of a great deal of licensed Star Wars material and one of those writers who truly interacted with fans, has decided to end her relationship with Lucas Licensing.   The reason?   The relationship between George Lucas and the EU.

Traviss expressed the fact that to do her job to her satisfaction with her assorted multi-book works, she needed a universe to write in that wasn't constantly having the rug pulled out from under it.   However, the Star Wars EU is not such a universe.  By constantly adhering to what Lucas creates without their consent but also trying to remain self-referential, keeping an internal EU story rolling that can plug in to the Lucas films and TV shows at any time, the Star Wars EU must -- by necessity -- be a moving target.

I feel her pain.   I don't think she's being a diva, as some have claimed* . . . she simply can't continue the storyline because Lucas, as far as Licensing is concerned, is overruling her years after her earlier work already appeared.   As she said, "[i]t would have required a lot more than routine retcon. The only solution I could think of that could accommodate the changes was a complete reboot."   

By getting in bed with the Licensing canon for a long-term relationship, as it were, Traviss unwittingly exposed herself to this sort of disappointment.   Frankly, folks who recognize the nature of canon as I do would've expected such things to occur.  It is only when you get sucked in to some of the worst EU Completist nonsense . . . Lucas having personally guided the EU by his own hand and deep involvement, sharing the benefits of his inexhaustibly bountiful mind with them, and other such oddball stuff . . . that you start to believe that the EU is a functional, internally-consistent universe, and not a hodgepodge of datapoints that have managed to survive the universe-altering finger-snaps of George "Q" Lucas.


UPDATE:

Sue Rostoni of Licensing's Publishing department has commented on the departure.

"re: Karen Traviss, Boba Fett, and The Clone Wars --- I just read Karen's blog -- and can't reply to the posts because it's Saturday and I don't have the whole story. Still, I knew there were issues with the Boba Fett title, so I imagine it will be cancelled. This doesn't mean that you won't be reading about Boba Fett -- He's a major character.

The new chronological issues that the animated series have brought up: Leland is working on mitigating the impact on old and new fiction, but until the TV series is completely finished, he won't know the extent of what he has to work with. None of this is new information --

I like Karen's writing, too. She's a very strong and passionate author."

There's been no further comment made on the topic, though she's replied regarding other things. We'll see.   Her comment about Karen being a passionate author just reiterates the point I originally made in footnote below:


*  Traviss popularized the term "Talifan" to refer to StarDestroyer.Net types who go loony-tunes with hatred against authors who they feel "abuse" their franchise.   Therefore StarDestroyer.Net types are celebrating her departure in true Talifan fashion, without realizing how devastating this sort of thing will be to the quality of the EU.  Where will Licensing be when they can't get authors who are willing to emotionally invest, long-term, because at any moment their entire years-long storyline is excised in a single stroke?  Seems to me that day just got a lot closer.