I think that Option 1 for Star Wars would make a story that would have broader appeal. I would definitely read that option, while I would only probably read the other option.
I agree that option 1 seems better for this specific goal. Already knowing that I like your writing, I’d read either of them, but option 1 seems like it has a more engaging premise for someone new coming in.
Agreed. As PB mentioned, that story has the most familiar jumping off point. As far as PB's concerns about lore - yes that's an important challenge, but also the story could focus more on the inner experiences of Anakin/Obi-Wan and less about getting the external lore correct.
The wiki suggests "thousands of years before the Clone Wars, the Imperial Era, and the New Republic Era" – I misread the wiki as citing those dates as around that time.
The larger point, though, isn't about the chronology – but that there's a canonical event that potentially fulfills a similar narrative function, which you would need to more sharply distinguish yours from.
Oh absolutely. "Jedi break off and join the dark side" is something that happens every two weeks or so in the Star Wars canon. In some sense, this is the default Star Wars story. My hope was to differentiate it by exploring it in a way which created genuine moral and psychological uncertainty rather than the standard narrative of "I MUST SERVE THE DARK SIDE FOR UNLIMITED POWAH". In particular I wanted to probe two contrasting consequentialist viewpoints in morality:
1. It is important to obey the rules even when they don't make sense, because of how rule breaking reshapes and corrupts the psyche. [Roughly speaking, rule consequentialism]
2. It is important to resolve every situation on terms that work for that situation and do the best by people involved- even if doing so breaks deeply embedded norms. [Roughly speaking, act consequentialism]
Cover #1 is good but not great, a bit familiar, safe
Cover #3 is everything. I would rework the text to make it look more like, well, cave scratchings. Change the fonts to something more evocative of etchings in rock, and maybe spread the bottom text out vertically and mix up the horizontal spacing, like each chunk of text visually represents some or other discrete cave meditation, and you read the actual text kind of cascading down the wall, if that makes sense.
Definitely the first option for the Star Wars fanfic! Maybe with some deeper understanding we can reach new meanings behind the story? I found that pretty exciting. As for the cover, I think the 3# option is the best, with some revision of course. The subtitle font kinda unfit the overall style, even though I understand staying simple is safer. That's just my suggestion.
I read a lot of Star Wars fiction growing up. I slightly favor #1 because you've tried some material on here about senates and lie detector arms races that I thought was compelling. If #1 has a lot of that "who do you trust" type of intrigue, then that might be good. #2 is interesting simply because it seems like many people, myself included, can't get enough of the "bad guys aren't as bad as you thought"-trope.
Cover #1. "philosophy" is the largest on this one, and so it will stick out to people who are skimming Amazon pages.
Minority vote - I like the second book cover (although I'd make the sky a pink-purple gradient and make the lower text a black or purple color). The third cover is badass but I find it slightly intimidating (maybe what you're going for, idk).
I would go with Cover 3 - it's attention grabbing and quirky, which I think is most likely to appeal to the kind of people that will actually be interested in your book.
Option 2 is way too generic, Option 1 looks overly serious and boring.
That said, it might benefit from the "collection of essays on..." subtitle that the other two have.
I am personally not that interested in fanfiction.
Obviously there's a wide spectrum between "totally original" and "totally derivative", and that all modern literature is probably closer to the derivative end, because We Live In A Society, but I'd still be more interested in reading your original fiction than your Star Wars fanfiction. I promise I apply this consistently, I've read a lot of Science Fiction and "officially approved star wars tie-in novels" wouldn't make the list of the most memorable or impactful works.
That said, I am pretty intrigued in Option 2, "shared universe" appeals more to me than "what if", and this seems to be a general trend. I do think building on established characters/events/settings is much easier for both author and reader than outright contradiction, and there's less risk of suffering by comparison.
#3 is definitely the best cover
I think that Option 1 for Star Wars would make a story that would have broader appeal. I would definitely read that option, while I would only probably read the other option.
I agree that option 1 seems better for this specific goal. Already knowing that I like your writing, I’d read either of them, but option 1 seems like it has a more engaging premise for someone new coming in.
Agreed. As PB mentioned, that story has the most familiar jumping off point. As far as PB's concerns about lore - yes that's an important challenge, but also the story could focus more on the inner experiences of Anakin/Obi-Wan and less about getting the external lore correct.
I feel like your caveats are aimed at the third one (facing a bear). But it is obviously the best one by a mile.
Star Wars Option 2 is more-or-less canonical already. https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Hundred-Year_Darkness
13000 years ago is also about 12000 years after the formation of the Jedi. https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Timeline_of_galactic_history#The_Old_Republic_(c._25,000_%E2%80%93_c._1000_BBY)
Hundred years darkness was ~7000 BBY, no?
Yes, I wanted to pick a time which:
A) Gave the Jedi a vast history already yet which
B) Wasn't associated with much preexisting lore.
13,000 BBY seemed ideal for that.
The wiki suggests "thousands of years before the Clone Wars, the Imperial Era, and the New Republic Era" – I misread the wiki as citing those dates as around that time.
The larger point, though, isn't about the chronology – but that there's a canonical event that potentially fulfills a similar narrative function, which you would need to more sharply distinguish yours from.
Oh absolutely. "Jedi break off and join the dark side" is something that happens every two weeks or so in the Star Wars canon. In some sense, this is the default Star Wars story. My hope was to differentiate it by exploring it in a way which created genuine moral and psychological uncertainty rather than the standard narrative of "I MUST SERVE THE DARK SIDE FOR UNLIMITED POWAH". In particular I wanted to probe two contrasting consequentialist viewpoints in morality:
1. It is important to obey the rules even when they don't make sense, because of how rule breaking reshapes and corrupts the psyche. [Roughly speaking, rule consequentialism]
2. It is important to resolve every situation on terms that work for that situation and do the best by people involved- even if doing so breaks deeply embedded norms. [Roughly speaking, act consequentialism]
Cover #1 is good but not great, a bit familiar, safe
Cover #3 is everything. I would rework the text to make it look more like, well, cave scratchings. Change the fonts to something more evocative of etchings in rock, and maybe spread the bottom text out vertically and mix up the horizontal spacing, like each chunk of text visually represents some or other discrete cave meditation, and you read the actual text kind of cascading down the wall, if that makes sense.
Definitely the first option for the Star Wars fanfic! Maybe with some deeper understanding we can reach new meanings behind the story? I found that pretty exciting. As for the cover, I think the 3# option is the best, with some revision of course. The subtitle font kinda unfit the overall style, even though I understand staying simple is safer. That's just my suggestion.
I read a lot of Star Wars fiction growing up. I slightly favor #1 because you've tried some material on here about senates and lie detector arms races that I thought was compelling. If #1 has a lot of that "who do you trust" type of intrigue, then that might be good. #2 is interesting simply because it seems like many people, myself included, can't get enough of the "bad guys aren't as bad as you thought"-trope.
Cover #1. "philosophy" is the largest on this one, and so it will stick out to people who are skimming Amazon pages.
Minority vote - I like the second book cover (although I'd make the sky a pink-purple gradient and make the lower text a black or purple color). The third cover is badass but I find it slightly intimidating (maybe what you're going for, idk).
I would go with Cover 3 - it's attention grabbing and quirky, which I think is most likely to appeal to the kind of people that will actually be interested in your book.
Option 2 is way too generic, Option 1 looks overly serious and boring.
That said, it might benefit from the "collection of essays on..." subtitle that the other two have.
I am personally not that interested in fanfiction.
Obviously there's a wide spectrum between "totally original" and "totally derivative", and that all modern literature is probably closer to the derivative end, because We Live In A Society, but I'd still be more interested in reading your original fiction than your Star Wars fanfiction. I promise I apply this consistently, I've read a lot of Science Fiction and "officially approved star wars tie-in novels" wouldn't make the list of the most memorable or impactful works.
That said, I am pretty intrigued in Option 2, "shared universe" appeals more to me than "what if", and this seems to be a general trend. I do think building on established characters/events/settings is much easier for both author and reader than outright contradiction, and there's less risk of suffering by comparison.