The guys over at Corellian Run have some things to say about the characters of two SWTOR novels. Well actually, one guy in particular, Mark Pajor (@mpajor on Twitter) has an interesting write-up about the novels.
Mark admits to never reading a Star Wars novel before this but decides he should become familiar with all areas of the lore, as he hopes to be a writer for Bioware one day (wouldn’t we all, Mark?) so he takes up Fatal Alliance and Deceived. I have yet to read them either so I appreciate Mark taking the time to give us some info.
He starts off:
“Fatal Alliance was my first Star Wars novel, and it confirmed all of my fears and reservations of reading one. Deceived, on the other hand, relieved my distaste quite a bit. Now, there’s a lot I could complain about writing-wise for both books. Instead, I’m going to concentrate on what’s most important to me in any creative medium: the characters.”
This review is spoiler-lite so if you haven’t’ read the books yet, you won’t completely ruin the story but there might be a couple of reveals in here so be forewarned.
To Mark, a good story is all about the characters and good characters take time to develop. He feels like Fatal Alliance does not devote enough time to proper character development. He describes Fatal Alliance as not being about people but about events instead.
Deceived, however, changes his outlook by delving more deeply into the characters. Mark explains:
“Enter Darth Malgus of Deceived. At his very core, he is Sith. He vehemently believes in the power of passion and conflict. This makes him the perfect figurehead for what the Sith are, but what makes him an interesting, dynamic character is something that may seem contradictory to his darkness: Love. Yes, Malgus, who leads the destruction of the Jedi Temple and the slaughter of all inside (and enjoys it), has feelings for another living being.”
Check out @mpajor’s look at the characters in both #SWTOR novels