[geeks] "Expanded Universe" of Star Wars, LOTR, etc.

[Mark Benson]

On 29/11/2014 17:58, Nicolai wrote:
> On Sat, Nov 29, 2014 at 12:41:15PM +0000, Mark Benson wrote:
>
> Agreed, but for me I consider the EU to be full canon -- that's how I
> enjoy the stories.  They are well-written, reasonably consistent, and
> faithful to the Star Wars universe.  No other criteria matter to me.

Well I say 'soft' canon only because some works are a bit odd, there 
were some conflicting canons, and some are just poor efforts in general 
opinion, BUT there  are a lot of really good books, comics and games 
based off the universe too.

Bioware's Old Republic is one example, in that framework the EU has 
constructed the entire early history of the Jedi Order, the Sith and 
indeed the galaxy in general starting 40,000 years BBY and going from 
there.

There's also things like Rogue Squadron, Republic Command (although the 
books get ridiculous after book 2), various stories about Han Solo, 
Bobba Fett etc. which really help build a bigger picture of the Galaxy 
above and beyond the Jedi/Sith power struggle.

> The only problem is if Disney's position causes the Star Wars universe
> to stop expanding through tighter control, which would only make SW fade
> more quickly than it would otherwise.  "The more you tighten your grip,
> Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."  This is
> what's happening to LOTR now IMO, which seems to be turning into Mirkwood.

I doubt that's the case, they just wanted to clean slate the whole thing 
before Episode VII, I think, because so many EU novels are based 
post-Return of the Jedi (and of those a significant proportion are 
pretty questionable or bad). Thus they did this to avoid clashes of 
canon and the resultant fan backlash. They won't stop creativity 
happening because it's making them millions of dollars, to put it 
plainly. They just adjusted the rules. Whether that puts authors off is 
anyone's guess right now, I guess we'll have to see.

-- 

Mark Benson