Timothy Zahn doesn't kill characters to create suspense

[Tamahome]

Seemed like an interesting point of view. He tries to create suspense in 'how will they solve this problem?' instead. Seems different from the George R. R. Martin approach.

http://functionalnerds.com/2011/07/ep... (around 22 min in)

(He mentioned Serenity)

[Peter]

biggest difference is when he's writing Star Wars books, he doesn't have the free reign like GRRM has with his books. I love Zahn and his writing style, but when you write in someone else IP you have to abide by their rules, particularity one like SW's.

besides, he killed off Thrawn...

[Micah]

Peter wrote: "besides, he killed off Thrawn..."

yes. yes he did. But in a totally awesome way. For me Thrawn was one of the best characters yet to be added in all of the books. I have read quite a few of them and he still stands out as one of the only characters who I would like to see portrayed in a movie at some point.

[Tamahome]

There was a comic book. It's collected in hard cover.

[Peter]

I almost wish he hadn't killed Thrawn, and their best chance to show him in a movie would have been Revenge of the Sith at the end, course they could have in him the live action tv show (if it ever gets made)

Anakin Solo is up there in my mind, they started him out as almost a Mary Sue, but he still had his "issues". Just wish they hadn't killed him off.

[Tim]

Tamahome wrote: "There was a comic book. It's collected in hard cover.

"

almost as good as Dark Empire ;)

[Jared]

While I think GRRM certainly uses the threat of character death to create suspense, I don't think it's necessarily his only tool.

[Tamahome]

I still think about this. Posted on Mastodon.social lol. They mention Mike Resnick and the Serenity movie.

The Firefly books are violent like that too.

[John (Taloni)]

Frankenthread! Is this a commentary on the Book of the Month? Much death stunting there.

[Tamahome]

Hmm maybe subconsciously... I was thinking of Game of Thrones's massive grim influence on everything...

[John (Taloni)]

I was having this chat with Trike elsewhere and he is adamant that what GRRM does isn't death stunting. For which OK, fine, POV and all, but I passed on Game of Thrones for the death toll. It bothers me there, in this book, and really any medium. I remember reading a Batman comic some time back and Joker kills a child, the latest in a long string of deaths, and I thought "any responsible superhero would have offed this guy years ago." When we've gotten to the point where establishing "bad guy" takes killing a child because the audience is so jaded, well, it's beyond my desire to read. Fridging is another one. Leave me out.

[Tamahome]

Maybe I want to read a book that deals with the every day terror of things like going to a party where you don’t know many people and loud music. Especially post lockdown.

[John (Taloni)]

I solve this by never leaving the house. Except to go to conventions with shared nerdery and an instant ability to strike up a conversation.

Speaking of which, there has been a distressing tendency for San Diego conventions to cancel recently. San Diego Comic Fest and Gaslamp Gathering are both taking a break this year. HarRUMPH. San Diego cons routinely beat LA for fun, except for Gallifrey which costs a bundle but is a real joy for Dr. Who fans.

[Ian (RebelGeek)]

I'm currently listening to his latest Thrawn book Lesser Evil. I'm not a fan of the way he writes how Thrawn thinks, but I like learning more about his origins.