Page 29 - Star Wars Insider #177

cover of the Chinese translation
“LUKE SKYWALKER IS PROBABLY THE
MOST POWERFUL EXAMPLE OF A
HERO IN THAT JOSEPH CAMPBELL
SENSE OF THE HERO’S JOURNEY.”
universe is because we all have our
own unique vision and unique
voice. I wanted to share my own
giddiness at this universe with
stages of Luke’s journey will everyone else and I think as long
start to become more and more as I held true to that respect for
meaningful to you. the larger vision and my deep,
deep gratefulness to George
Is it intimidating writing such Lucas and to Disney, I can put
an iconic character? my own unique imprint onto this
Yeah, of course! As a fan of the little corner of events in the Star
universe, I know how meaningful Wars history.
every bit of Star Wars lore is to the
fans. I came into this with the idea How long have you been a
that I’m a fan and I’m here to Star Wars fan?
participate and share my joy with As long as I can remember. In fact,
all the other fans, but at the same the fi rst sci-fi novel I ever read was
time you can’t let the weight of a novelization of The Empire Strikes
the mythology take you away. One Back. This was when I was back in
of the reasons that each of us gets China as a young child. I remember
asked to build something in the being just absolutely struck by the
SWI177_026-031_INTER_JourneyJedi_FINAL.indd 29
SWI177_026-031_INTER_JourneyJedi_FINAL.indd 29
of The Empire Strikes Back. I
had never seen anything like it.
One interesting thing about
Star Wars fans who are of my
generation in China is that we
didn’t get to see the movies when
they first came out because back
then American films weren’t shown
in China at all. Many kids my age
got exposed to Star Wars through
comic books or other adaptations.
My exposure to Star Wars came
out of this book.
I remember first seeing the fi lms
after I came to the United States. I
was a little older, I must have been
11 or 12. My jaw was on the fl oor the
whole time. It’s a primal story, it’s
mythical and it’s told in this
gorgeous, elaborate science-
fictional visual language where
every detail was thought through.
How has writing for Star Wars
differed from writing your
own novels?
For one thing, I’m constrained
by the fact that I have to stand
on the shoulders of giants, you
know? George Lucas himself,
of course, but also all the other
amazing authors who have
written for Star Wars, and all
the set designers, actors, all the
script writers, everyone who in
some way shaped the vision of
Star Wars.
One of the great things about
The Legends of Luke Skywalker,
though, is the status of the book
is somewhat unique because it is
specifically pitched as a book of
tall tales and myths and stories
and legends about Luke. I’m not
as bound by concerns about
continuity as I would be
otherwise and that gives me
some freedom to tell new kinds
of stories and new interpretations
of events that I think would
otherwise be difficult. I love
the ability to reinterpret and
offer new perspectives of
known events.... I certainly had
a great deal of fun writing it and
I think that joy comes across
in the work.
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