This seems to be a debate that crops up every now and then. They've been chatting about it over at Westeros and now Mark Charan Newton and Dan Abnett have got together to chew the fat on this topic over at Ecstatic Days. Both discussions are well worth a look and browse.
Do I stand anywhere on this? I'm probably preaching to the converted but running this blog has taught me not to turn my nose up at tie-in fiction; you may have to wade through some absolute crap (actually, there's no 'may' about it!) but you will find some gems on the way. Paul S. Kemp is one (gutted to hear that he's moving on from Wizards of the Coast but apparently he'll be writing Star Wars books in the future) and Karen Traviss is another (and there's also Dan Abnett of course). As far as the rubbish goes, I've been quite lucky so far but Keith Baker's 'The Queen of Stone' was one that really didn't work for me...
A book that I'll be reading very soon is Tobias Buckell's 'The Cole Protocol' (from the 'Halo' universe) so I'll guess I'll see how this balances things out in the ratio of 'Good Tie-In' to 'Bad Tie-in' fiction... How about you guys though? What are your experiences of tie-in fiction? Anything that you think I should look out for?
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3 comments:
I think it's mostly about the author. On a similar vein, I never thought I could ever enjoy a novelization of a movie, but Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Stover was amazing. I'm really glad I gave it a chance.
I remember a caravan holiday i had when a child when the only thing I had to read all week was the movie novelization of 'Lethal Weapon 2' the previous occupants had left behind. I must have read it 9 times, once while hanging upside down to see if it would make it more exciting. It didn't. That began my dislike for tie-ins. There are too many original stories by original authors out there, new ones appearing all the time for me to delve into tie-ins. I still have nightmares about being trapped in a caravan with only novelizations of Mel Gibson movies to keep me occupied.
Yep, it all depends on the author. I never would have discovered Matthew Stover and Karen Traviss had it not been for their Star Wars books. Both are amazing writers whether their working in their own universe or someone else's.
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