By Michael Rosen-Molina
Daily Bruin Staff
“Star Wars” aficionados will rejoice to hear that
Jar Jar Binks does not appear anywhere in Greg Bear’s new
novel “Rogue Planet,” and it only gets better from
there.
Set after the events shown in “Star Wars: Episode 1″
and before the events of the upcoming “Episode 2,”
“Rogue Planet” follows Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi and
his apprentice Anakin Skywalker as they travel to the distant
planet of Zonama Sekot, the mythical source of the fastest ships in
the galaxy. There, the two knights find that there is more to the
planet than meets the eye.
Hot on their trail is the Trade Federation’s power hungry
commander Wilhuff Tarkin, soon to become Grand Moff Tarkin in
“A New Hope,” eager to use the fabled ships to conquer
the galaxy.
While Bear often had to work with previously established back
stories for his characters, Tarkin’s background is his own
original invention. With his menacing sneer and human-centric
leanings, Tarkin is every inch the personification of refined evil
that he was in the films.
The winner of two Hugo and four Nebula awards for his science
fiction, Bear is nonchalant about his own success. Modest despite
his reputation, the author recently reminisced in a rich voice
about his experiences writing “Rogue Planet.”
“I had to clear all my ideas with Lucasarts first,”
said Bear, who spoke about the writing process in a phone
interview. “But as long as I stayed true to the spirit of the
movies, I had a lot of freedom. They agreed that my ideas on Tarkin
were compatible with their image of the character, so I could go
ahead with my story.”
Bear was aware that many fans were disappointed by the first
film’s portrayal of the future Darth Vader as a total
innocent, completely devoid of any lurking darkness. “In
“˜Rogue Planet,’ it’s obvious that Obi Wan has his
work cut out for him,” Bear said. “Anakin is still the
same bright, likeable kid, but it’s more obvious that
there’s an awful lot of something below the
surface.”
The scars left by Anakin’s years in slavery become
apparent as he struggles against his own inner demons. Captured and
tormented by triple-jointed Blood Carver assassin Ke Daiv, Anakin
is overcome by years of bottled anger. In one of the book’s
most powerful scenes, Anakin is horrified to see the true
destructive power of the force explode free.
The versatile Bear is equally at home in both hard and soft
science fiction. “˜Hard sci-fi’ concerns itself with the
implications of real science, exploring the real possibilities of
computers and lasers and DNA, while “˜soft sci fi’ is
more science fantasy, concerned more with tales of daring
adventures and weird creatures.
Despite his background, Bear is no snob when it comes to the
improbable, romantic science of “Star Wars.” In fact,
he has been a fan ever since the beginning of Lucas’ epic
trilogy.
While working as a freelance writer for the L.A. Times Sunday
Supplement Series, Bear was invited to a preview of the original
“Star Wars” movie. “It was just amazing,”
said Bear. “This entire room full of jaded reporters just
stood up and cheered. The whole film just had this atmosphere of
loving attention to detail.
“Afterward, I received lots of calls from studios that had
turned Lucas down, trying to find out what they had missed,”
he continued.
In a move typical of this versatile author, Bear’s next
project is hard science thriller “Darwin’s
Radio.”
“This will be my take on modern corporate biology,”
Bear said. “An ancient virus encoded in human genes comes to
life, and what looks to scientists like a horrible disaster turns
out to be the greatest surprise humanity has ever
experienced.”
Bear constantly researches the latest scientific developments,
something necessary to ensure the realistic feel of his fiction.
“I always research all science because I don’t know
anything,” said Bear jokingly. “Much of the time, I
find that there are lots of interesting facts on a topic but no
theory behind it. I like to bring things together and try to come
up with my own theory.”
The same dedication to research even helped Bear in writing a
soft science story like “Star Wars.”
“It was just a matter of knowing the “˜Star
Wars’ universe, reading through the fold-out technology
guides and other books published about the trilogy.”
Bear paints a vivid portrait of that far, far away universe,
with all its bizarre denizens. Charza Kwinn, part of an alien
species known as the Priapulin, is an enormous flatworm, damp and
bristly. When the party finally touches ground on Zonman Sekot,
they are greeted by an ordinary human ““ except that he is
“blue as Tatooine milk.”
Gratuitous gags like this are only the tip of the iceberg in a
book devoted to exposing exactly the sort of alien culture its
readers expect.
“Basically, with a “˜Star Wars’ book, I tried
to give the audience exactly what it wanted.” said Bear.
“You know there’s going to be some great technology,
some personal conflicts, some revenge, some romance, just something
for everyone.”