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.
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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

  • Jawa Trader
    Vastori's avatar
    • Posts: 98
    #127 Vastori Posted 4/23/2011 4:12:54 AM
    Poohead! ;)
  • Nerf Herder
    Rainieri's avatar
    • Posts: 23
    #128 Rainieri Posted 4/23/2011 4:20:55 AM
    I bought Fatal Alliance expecting a decent story that tied closely to the book. Instead I got a very weak book with very bland characters and a plot that barely connects to the game. The only redeeming things in it were the Imperial Agent character and Satele Shan.
    Maybe this book will be different, I sure hope it is but I won't make the mistake of pre-ordering another book without knowing how good it is.
  • Okinyo's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #131 Okinyo Posted 4/23/2011 4:48:07 AM
    lol
  • Dark Councilor
    Siros's avatar
    • Posts: 844
    #142 Siros Posted 4/23/2011 12:11:43 PM
    I have both books and enjoyed reading them. It's sad if you can't enjoy because you expect something no book has to deliver... information about the game.
  • Dark Lord
    AgentOP's avatar
    • Posts: 409
    #157 AgentOP Posted 4/23/2011 2:58:06 PM
    Both books were written to provide background information about the SW universe during the time of TOR. Backstory fluff basically meant for fans of EU...not information about what's going to happen in TOR. Deceived is important since the Malgus character is being built up to be very pivotal in-game, but it's still more backstory than anything else. If you were expecting to get information about the game, you set yourself up for disappointment.
  • Dark Councilor
    Neko399's avatar
    • Posts: 705
    #181 Neko399 Posted 4/23/2011 9:11:16 PM
    This is my concern with banking far too much on the story.

    Whats to say that the stories in TOR are not on par with 'Fatal Alliance'?

    If the stories are just as 'weak and bland', it becomes the gameplay that keeps people interested - thus my desire to see strong gameplay over 'just enough because the Story'.
  • Spice Runner
    darthuser915's avatar
    • Posts: 130
    #108 darthuser915 Posted 4/23/2011 12:24:08 AM
    I certainly hope DH that next time you get the chance without causing disrespect for DH ask them about this how the felt as to how the community reacted towards this Fridays update.

    Honestly they are starting to really roll that ball down hill
  • Dark Councilor
    Neko399's avatar
    • Posts: 705
    #182 Neko399 Posted 4/23/2011 9:15:10 PM
    Hopefully they are open to it, and taking notes, instead of just ignoring it out of arrogance.

    APB developers noted one of their biggest mistakes was taking the 'you just dont understand our game' dismissive stance towards criticism from fans. I have seen other developers do the same (SWG and STO for example).

    I recently read a BW exec comment about their suprise to realize how much larger an MMO actually is -- acknowledging they sort of underestimated the task at hand. Hopefully that means they are equally open to underestimating the mmo customer, and willing to proactively make sure they don't fall short.
  • h0tangel99's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #104 h0tangel99 Posted 4/22/2011 10:57:13 PM
    Why would I want to read a book? Worst update ever
  • Dark Councilor
    abner_ford's avatar
    • Posts: 662
    #121 abner_ford Posted 4/23/2011 3:48:23 AM
    Oh boy. "Why would I want to read a book?" There are really no words for this.
  • Dark Councilor
    Neko399's avatar
    • Posts: 705
    #183 Neko399 Posted 4/23/2011 9:16:59 PM
    I would imagine that H0T is talking about in the context of 'reading a book, when he is interested in playing a video game' - rather than reading a book in general.
  • Dark Lord
    Socrates's avatar
    • Posts: 419
    #222 Socrates Posted 4/25/2011 5:49:08 AM
    LMAO abner you sir are very funny!
  • Nerf Herder
    CherithFel's avatar
    • Posts: 7
    #101 CherithFel Posted 4/22/2011 10:17:00 PM
    DelRey publishes the Star Wars novels, not BioWare. Producing these books pulls in payed to the game from another area in the huge mix of Star Wars fans. In order to make the desired amount of money off of TOR, BioWare needs more than the hardcore gamer. This is a relevant update TO THE GAME. The content is directly related. Just because it's not the release date everyone wants doesn't mean it isn't worthy of mention.
  • Jawa Trader
    Shlomoshun's avatar
    • Posts: 60
    #96 Shlomoshun Posted 4/22/2011 10:11:32 PM
    No big deal in the grand scheme of things, but clearly this isn't that good of a friday update.

    That PC Gamer summary was good though, got me looking into PVP a bit more.
  • Dark Lord
    DarthShnooky's avatar
    • Posts: 345
    #98 DarthShnooky Posted 4/22/2011 10:14:40 PM
    I don't know, i thought it was a "Good Friday" update. :P
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