Buch: So, today we're bringing back our Disingenuous Discussions column, because we want to complain about the cover for the new Star Wars videogame tie-in novel, Revan by Drew Karpyshyn.
Knight: Indeed. There is much wrong with this, and we want to tell you why you should be angry, as well. And then buy it, like we inevitably will.
Buch: I actually quite like bad book covers - sometimes I've deliberately paid more for a copy of a book with a silly cover. And compared to a lot of Star Wars books, this one is not too bad. But we do enjoy hating things that we financially support.
Knight: Right, they could've gone with the same artist that made up the nightmare-inducing cover for Darth Bane: Rule of Two.
Buch: Exactly. That was the same author, and it was easily the worst cover I've ever owned. But Revan here does look like he's holding onto the support railings on a bus.
Knight: It kinda looks like he's afraid of the lightsaber. Keeping it at arm's length, like Indiana Jones would hold a snake.
Buch: Looks like he's trying to read the serial number off the back.
Knight: So he can return it for the one he actually uses in the game.
Buch: To be fair, in the game, everyone just uses plain white ones in the wrong shape.
Knight: Yeah, well, I'm not here to listen to reason and logic. I'm here to trash this on the grounds of irrational nostalgia.
Buch: That's basically all we do. And Darth Revan is usually involved.
Knight: In some negative way. He's our President Obama.
Buch: Do you think Revan looks overweight in that picture?
Knight: Like he ended up eating the rogue gizka on the Ebon Hawk. In one bite.
Buch: I don't think there's any need at this point explaining why Revan is so important to us. But it is important to know that he's a really big deal and the two of us really care about his story. Here we have the writer who invented him, apparently continuing the largely user-defined and non-specific role-playing game character's story, but in a novel. On the one hand, I'm extremely excited to learn what happened next - the Knights of the Old Republic series always had an unsatisfying lack of an ending.
Knight: Agreed. No endings I could really latch onto. And Revan is a really big deal, you're right. His story was intriguing not only on its own, but because it was open to so many interpretations. Revan could be unique to everyone. So it's... odd, I guess, that they're deciding to so openly set his character in stone.
Then again, there's money to be had.
Buch: They've got to have money. And really, I think I'm glad about the book. Frankly, I don't rate Karpyshyn's previous SW and Mass Effect novels much at all, as much as I adore his work on the games. And as you know, I have a real 'thing' about going back to a story after it has concluded to my satisfaction. I think Knights of the Old Republic 2 was a disappointment. I like to leave stories alone - very opposed to sequels, especially after time has passed. But I'm excited to read this. I don't know why. You?
Knight: I'm excited to be given any reason to delve back into the "Realm of KotOR," I suppose. The Old Republic is three centuries removed, The Sith Lords focused on the Exile, and Bane was an idiot. This'll be the first real... anything to represent a true sequel to KotOR. So, I'm excited, even if the form this project eventually took isn't really to my liking. There were other stories to tell in that time period.
But if any of the original party members show up in the book, I will probably clap and scream like a girl at a showing of Twilight.
Buch: I am very attached to 'my' Revan - the girl with the blue eyes and black ponytail who looked a bit like Barbara Streisand, carried a yellow lightsaber and sometimes turned out dark side. It will be a stretch for me to accept Revan is now absolutely, no-arguments, officially a handsome, heroic white man, as I assume he will now be.
But yes - seeing HK-47 or Canderous or whoever will just be wonderful. And even seeing the classic Revan costume there - odd choice of lightsaber aside - makes me feel like this will be more of a sequel than anything. Which is probably why it's on that cover, despite the continuity questions it raises.
Knight: Either they know something we don't, or we know something they don't. Or maybe it's a case of, "It's Revan on the cover. They'll buy it anyway."
Buch: But if Revan weren't on the cover, or his armour wasn't there, how would you be feeling?
Knight: They could've shown Revan's face for the first time. In that case, I probably would've dug up my torch and matching pitchfork. So, it sounds like on a basic level, they were still thinking about the fans. However minimally.
Buch: I like that the armour is there. But I'm sure it makes no sense that he would wear it after the events of the games - after his return to the Republic. There is no denying that this cover is silly.
Knight: I agree. Maybe we make up a very small camp of folks (along with the KotOR fans back at the ME Fanfic Forum) that would actually get pissed at something like this. The lack of the Juyo lightsaber form on the cover, the green blade, the inexplicable lightning in the background, as you pointed out, makes it hard to even place this in the timeline!
Buch: He's at some kind of Sith reunion during an unbelievably heavy thunderstorm. On the Shadow Broker's spaceship. And it's windy out.
Knight: Everyone knows that wind is a severe problem inside... spaceships.
Buch: I just noticed that there is blue lighting above him and red below him - that's actually kind of a nice touch, considering that the character was constantly switching sides, and the game was largely concerned with which way the player chose for him. Reminds me of the level-up screen.
Would have been nice for his damned lightsaber to have been one of those colours, though.
Knight: There was pretty much only one color they could've picked for his blade that wouldn't have fit with anything we know about Revan. Green is that one color.
And purple. But Mace Windu's badassery was not yet known to this galaxy.
Buch: Green lightsabers are cool because Luke Skywalker's sword was green. Luke Skywalker is cool. I hate purple lightsabers.
Knight: I hate your cat.
Buch: And I think you'll find that Mara Jade actually invented the purple lightsaber. Plus - I hate all cats.
Knight: Mara Jade invented a weird way for a Jedi to die. That's her contribution to the New Republic, in addition to Ben Skywalker.
Buch: All silly things, I think. I don't like purple lightsabers, and I don't like sequels to Jedi. Where were we?
Knight: Uh.
Buch: We are ace journalists.
Knight: Dragon Age 2?
Buch: Dragon Age 2. Fuck that game.
Knight: Fuck that game complete.
Buch: Not complete. Two-thirds.
Knight: 66%
Anyway, Revan! So, all of that aside, Karpyshyn and the New Adventures of Revan. How about some closing thoughts?
Buch: I think I would have preferred that title: 'The New Adventures of Revan.' It would have been poor, but at least it would have been interesting. 'Revan' as a title just emanates laziness. 'It's a book about Revan - whaddya want? There he is, look - see the Revan costume? Yeahhh.' But really, as I say, Star Wars book covers are usually pretty lousy and involve someone we know, in a costume we know, holding a lightsaber in a threatening manner. That's how it goes. It's just not an encouraging sign.
Because Revan to me is more important than your Ben or Anakin Skywalkers - he's up there with Luke and Han (and maybe Gandhi) in the VIP Club. I'm 27 years old now, so I ought to have bigger concerns... but I really don't want Revan's tale to end badly. And I really don't want some endless series of diminishing sequels.
Knight: Right-o. I think in the six-or-so years after KotOR's release, we've both sort of settled on how we imagined Revan's story to continue, where it probably would've ended. This book's likely to end up being one big case of, "I'm not so sure that would've happened," since Karpy's probably going to try and link Revan to The Old Republic in some way. It might be a frustrating experience, but then again it might not be. This might be a good book, and maybe Karpyshyn took this as seriously as we would have. We'll just have to wait and see, I guess.
Buch: That's a good point. And maybe he had a great idea. He might just have a fun adventure ready for us here, involving closure for Revan and a cool sword fight in a thunderstorm.
Knight: Closure? When an MMO is involved? Stranger things have happened.
Buch: The MMO thing worries me, for sure. I feel like the old man from Big Trouble in Little China. 'You leave Jack Burton ALONE!' Except it's Revan.
Knight: Would you accept Kurt Russell as Revan?
Buch: What I really like about our friendship is that quite often you will type out, word-for-word, what I was thinking! :D
Knight: Haha! Fantastic, then we'll end on an agreement!
Buch: Normally we disagree more on these things! Dragon Age 2 next time, eh?
Knight: Aw, yeah.
Buch: 70%
Knight: 33%
That's how much of a game it was.
Buch: That's how much of a game your mum was!
Knight: I'm telling.
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