Friday Update: New Karpyshyn Novel



Today Star Wars: The Old Republic announced Drew Karpyshyn is authoring a new novel titled Revan. An in-depth interview with Karpyshyn is also available on the official site.

Q: In what ways will readers who have read Revan benefit when playing Star Wars: The Old Republic?

A: I think the novel will give them a much better understanding of the Sith Emperor and the Empire, for one thing. The Old Republic Sith Empire is very different from what people know from the movies, or even from the Great Hyperspace War comics that focus on characters like Naga Sadow and Ludo Kressh.

The novel will also give them some very direct background and detailed information that ties in directly with key Flashpoints in the game. I can't say too much, of course, but like any great prequel the books will give you the details of what came before to add an extra layer of depth to the experiences in the game.

As you might expect from the title, the main character of the forthcoming novel is Revan of the Knights of The Old Republic series. While that sets the novel some 300 years before the time of the game, Karpyshyn let us know that there will be some significant characters [in the novel] who appear in Star Wars: The Old Republic.

The book will be available "later this year," which surely bears some relationship to "soon." Hit the jump for the official announcement.

In other news, if you are in the Austin, TX area tomorrow, Austin Books & Comics is hosting a Star Wars Day featuring autograph sessions with Star Wars: The Old Republic comic authors Rob Chestney and Alexander Freed. Details about appearances from film stars and schedules available here.
AlysonBridge

Star Wars: The Old Republic is continuing to expand beyond the core game and into novels and comics. Del Rey Books has already published two novels in the Old Republic timeline, Fatal Alliance and Deceived, and last year announced that a third Old Republic novel was to be written by Drew Karpyshyn, Principal Writer at BioWare, and author of the Darth Bane series of Star Wars novels.

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Comments

  • abner_ford's avatar
    Dark Councilor
    • Posts: 662
    #44 abner_ford Posted 4/22/2011 5:19:32 PM
    I don't give two craps about the update "controversy". People complaining about it is just a symptom of a larger problem with society. What worries me is that the book is going to have the identity of the Emperor in it. I was hoping it was going to be revealed in-game first, so I am waiting to see if this comes out before the game or not.

    If it does come out before the game launches, I'm just going to have to try my best to avoid any spoilers. I will buy the book once I find out the Emperor's identity, because I like Drew's writing and the previous two books have been good supplemental material.
  • DarthShnooky's avatar
    Dark Lord
    • Posts: 345
    #60 DarthShnooky Posted 4/22/2011 7:06:24 PM
    I think some of that presumes that the Emperor is an established canonical figure, and not a new character created by Bioware. It's entirely possible that the revelations about the Emperor's identity in the novel will be somewhat meaningless, since it will be removed from the context of the Emperor's actions in the game world. I could be wrong...just sayin' though.
  • Kindar's avatar
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    • Posts: 28
    #43 Kindar Posted 4/22/2011 5:18:58 PM
    The rage across the SWTOR realm, fan sites included are insane at this point.. I don't think I have seen this much flamage since... well... the last update on environment polish :P
  • darthuser774's avatar
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    • Posts: 620
    #35 darthuser774 Posted 4/22/2011 5:06:41 PM
    This seems like the kind of thing you tack onto a Fan Friday, not a standalone update. It's not like they are lacking things to talk about: the rest of the crew skills, companions, flashpoints, warzones, Consular and Inquisitor updates, general PvP, armor progression videos, inhabitants, biographies, in-game economy, mounts, etc. All of which cannot possibly be intrinsically linked to something they don't want to talk about yet.
  • Gregthegen's avatar
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    • Posts: 118
    #26 Gregthegen Posted 4/22/2011 4:48:18 PM
    Yay! Awesome Game and an even awesomer book! Looking forward to reading about what happened to revan, Drew penned Revans story in KOTOR so this book should be even better than decieved. I'm guessing the republic prisoner that has been held captive for 300 years and is in danger of becoming the darkness is revan somehow or the exile.

    SWTOR Character Names:

    The Bastion:: Gurion (Lvl 50 LS Sith Juggernaught), Adomin (LVL 44 DS Sentinel), Achinoam (Lvl 11 Grey Consular), Tzahala (LVL 14 DS Trooper),Juliraus (LVL 9 Grey/Dark BH)

     

  • darthuser3817's avatar
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    • Posts: 13
    #25 darthuser3817 Posted 4/22/2011 4:47:23 PM
    What the hell is going on the worst Friday update and looks like bio-ware has gone into silent mode.
    Talk about the game and whats new i always look forward to Fridays update.
  • KaelMyec's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 81
    #15 KaelMyec Posted 4/22/2011 4:33:43 PM
    So there is still about 12 hours left in Friday at the time of this post so a update about the game, even if its a Fan Friday is still possible but if nothing else shows today, well congrats Bioware on the great run of Friday updates relating to the game for over two years, why did you stop?
  • Jobi-Wan's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 98
    #17 Jobi-Wan Posted 4/22/2011 4:38:30 PM
    I think BioWare is doing it out of spite.
  • Neko399's avatar
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    • Posts: 705
    #24 Neko399 Posted 4/22/2011 4:46:32 PM
    What concerns me, is that it implies that there is nothing of interest about the Game, to make a Friday Update around.

  • chronium's avatar
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    • Posts: 1,719
    #34 chronium Posted 4/22/2011 5:05:21 PM
    Why should you be concerned? The vast majority of information we really care about is going to come from people playing the beta. All Bioware does is announce the major features of the game and they can announce them whenever they want. You are not entitled to anything.

    When they do start announcing a ton of features that's a good indication the beta is coming soon.
  • abner_ford's avatar
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    • Posts: 662
    #36 abner_ford Posted 4/22/2011 5:06:55 PM
    Haha Your comments are priceless.

    They have a big fan site summit next week, they just had a public event in UK, they just had another public event in Boston. Developers are posting comments on the forums every week with new info on the game. They just had a blog update talking about several changes being made due to testing to the actual gameplay.
  • DarthShnooky's avatar
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    • Posts: 345
    #59 DarthShnooky Posted 4/22/2011 7:04:23 PM
    Seriously? That's what you take from this?
  • KaelMyec's avatar
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    • Posts: 81
    #74 KaelMyec Posted 4/22/2011 8:19:37 PM
    Let me make it clear, I like the announcement of the novel, I will go out and buy it on release day. Can there be information inferred about the game from this? Yes, there can. Do I think that the information about the novels title and brief description of what its about is enough to stand alone as a Friday update? No I do not,
    Every other bit of information about the tie in novels released on Fridays were released in conjunction with a Update about the game.
    3-4-11 Deceived Novel trailer revealed along with Bounty Hunter Progression video.
    12-17-10, Deceived sample chapters released along with a Fan Friday.
    7-30-10, Threat of Peace in Print release announced with Nar Shaddaa reveal.
    7-23-10, Fatal Alliance release date announcement along with a Fan Friday.
    4-23-10, Threat of Peace in Print announcement along with a Fan Friday.
    3-26-10, Smuggler Vanguard short story reveal along with a Holonet update.

    Now I understand that its Biowares prerogative to release what they want about SWTOR when they want to and the Friday updates are a courtesy not a right but it still feels like a giant punch in the gut.
  • cg110304's avatar
    Nerf Herder
    • Posts: 1
    #14 cg110304 Posted 4/22/2011 4:32:14 PM
    Have they taken it down already? I saw it up earlier but it's not showing now - maybe they got so many hostile comments they decided to take it down and (hopefully) do something else instead / as well?
  • Eslates's avatar
    Spice Runner
    • Posts: 107
    #13 Eslates Posted 4/22/2011 4:30:57 PM
    I read the udpate on swtor.com, but it didnt say it was a friday update. And now, it seems like the "friday update" just dissappeared from the official site :O
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