The writer of “Star Wars: Convergence” played the role of Han Solo for New Antihero

Star Wars: Convergence Last month ushered us into a new era of a galaxy far, far away. this is The first adult novel It takes place in Phase 2 of the Great Republic era 350 years before the Skywalker saga.

The story of Jedi Knight follows Jala Natai as she investigates a plot to assassinate the heirs of the royal families of Eiram and E’ronoh, neighboring worlds at war. He is forced to team up with Axel Greylark, the arrogant son of the Republic Chancellor, despite his distrust of the Jedi.

It was written by charming Zoraida Cordovawhich includes previous works of Star Wars Accident of fate and stories in anthologies such as From a certain point of view: a new hope, The empire strikes And The Clone Wars: Stories of Light and Darkness.

This Ecuadorian born writer is also because Brooklyn Brujas seriesalso Heritage Orquídea Divina.

I got to have a spoiler-filled chat about the twists and turns of the novel with Cordova, who lives in New York City. We discussed Gla’s ability to use her emotions, her inspiration for Axel Graylark, and how her book sets up other High Republic stories.

full the destroyer Because the novel is coming, so I recommend you wait until you finish the book to continue. Here is a transcript of our conversation, slightly edited for clarity.

s. Writing a first adult Phase 2 novel must feel like a huge responsibility. What were you hoping for?

Cordova: It was about setting the stage for these two planets, establishing the role of the Jedi and the Republic, and how they worked together before we actually saw them work together like that. I wanted to show different aspects of Jedi through Gella Nattai and how using your emotions can be a good thing. And I wanted to develop the landscape and culture of two different planets, because what we love about Star Wars is that we get to see these amazing worlds.

Eiram and E’ronoh are fascinating places. How much of their development was left to you and how much was prescribed? My understanding is that with the Star Wars novels, the writers have a lot of creative freedom and autonomy.

I’ve done a lot of intellectual property work for brands, and it’s amazing how, with Star Wars, you almost have a little bit more room to play with. [Lucasfilm Publishing boss Michael Siglain] And our team is more willing to say, “Oh, great, let’s bring it in.” All I knew going in was that there was a desert planet, but not a sand desert, and an ocean world. It was created in phase 1. We saw them briefly and know where they are.

With E’ronoh in particular, it’s a very dry world. For the geography of it, I was really inspired by the southwestern United States, where all these giant rocks are. And the idea that, not only are Iram and Ornoh fighting each other, but they are also fighting their planets. They are fighting for the basics, and how do you fight a war when your planet is trying to kill you? You don’t have fresh water in Iram, desalination plants don’t exist until phase 1. Is it responsible to even have a war going on while you are fighting the basic elements? And as we see, the people in E’ronoh begin to rise up against the king.

It was important to me to show the younger generation to stand up to the older generation and say, “Okay, well, I’m tired of the war, we need to do something different.”

Gola was a lot more emotional than we’ve seen with most Jedi, especially during the Clone Wars. Why did it work for him?

The Jedi can’t just be these robots traversing the galaxy, because what makes them great guardians of peace is the idea that they care enough to fight for light and life. With Jala, it made sense to show someone who wanted to be the ultimate Jedi. People can relate to the idea of ​​aspiring to be something, and sometimes you strive to be the best along the way.

We all have this idea that you can only be serious if you act a certain way. How does it work for anyone if they choose a different path but end up with the same result?

Does Gla’s decision to become a Pathfinder (a Jedi who acts independently of the Jedi Council) at the end of this story seem to be related to this?

Yes, Gla’s decision to become a pathfinder with the question, “How can I still be serious and fulfill my mission, but do it on my own terms?” Meeting Axel Greylark challenged his idea of ​​what a Jedi was supposed to be. He desperately wants to learn, and you can only learn so much in school. It’s like getting a doctorate. About how to become a Jedi and then realize that maybe you should go to the school of hard knocks.

How did you develop Axel Greylark?

I had the idea of ​​looking at the Star Wars archetypes, and asking, “What if Han Solo had grown up rich?” That changes the kind of person he becomes. Here it’s like a person who has everything, but still makes choices that hurt people. And so can you be a good person and hurt someone? How can you be influenced by someone like a cult leader?

The novel only deals with Axel’s relationship with his mother [the leader of the Path of the Open Hand, a cult that believes no one should manipulate the Force]. How did you bring them into the novel in such a discreet way?

There’s this idea that Axel, as a neutral man in the galaxy, is kind of lost, among the most vulnerable when he encounters someone like Mother – all of this is the subtext of the book. There are other stories where we can see how the open hand path actually worked [like Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland’s novel Path of Deceit].

But here I wanted to show how one person’s machinations, which we see a lot in Star Wars, affect something as big as a civil war between two planets. Axel thinks he has everything under control, but at the end of the day, he’s just a pawn. Which is kind of sad, because he changes his mind about Jedi at the last minute [as he falls in love with Gella].

Convergence shows what they can do in the shadows. that in [George Mann’s audiobook The Battle of Jedha, and Lydia Kang’s novel Cataclysm, which come out Jan. 4 and April 4 respectively] We will see how they work in the light.

How does planning happen with this? How do writers communicate?

We have a very secret laxity among writers, no executive would allow. We ask ourselves, “Are you using this character? What did you do here?” We maintain continuity through other secret documents, but for the micro-story elements, we just have to remind each other. So it’s a little messy, but in a good way.