Mike Cooper's recent survey of 1,500 Star Wars fans via TheForce.Net and its forums in February was the first real attempt to ascertain Star Wars books fans' attitudes to key plot events and of the book itself. The survey required participants to rate "certain books and comics, as well as certain plot elements, on a 1 to 10 scale"^[1]. Although the question order was random, the selection of book and plot elements were very specific with the vast majority being paired, for example being asked to rate the Dark Empire comic trilogy, Luke's fall to the Dark Side and the resurrection of the Emperor, both of which are key plot points of the Dark Empire comic trilogy. Mike's conclusion was as he had suspected, that "we like the books better"^[1] than the plots.
However, there is another element to Mike's conclusion that has particular relevance to this website, he asks the question "[are we] sick and tired of the Big Three having to get involved in big galactic wars?"^[1] In a recent editorial, "Could this be the future of Star Wars novels?", we argued that the future of Star Wars books was one without the Skywalkers as they have featured in almost every Star Wars book published since the advent of the modern Expanded Universe in 1991 and that the time had come for Luke and Leia to get some rest after seventeen years of continuous storytelling. However, it is now our opinion that Mike's survey offers a No answer to his own question while at the same time refuting our own argument. The survey results show that Star Wars book fans need Luke, Leia (and Han) to get involved in big galactic wars as they are less likely to be interested in stories where "the Big Three" are not featured and more inclined not to be conversant with the key plot points of these books.

In his survey Mike also measured fans familiarity with both key plot elements and their related book by using fifteen pairings of plot and book (in some cases even using several plot events from one book such as the Dark Empire example). If we rank the books by their familiarity score and list them accordingly, add their year of publication, their average plot familiarity score and plot familiarity ranking we get:

It is quite clear that there is no correlation between a book's publication recency and its familiarity ranking: it is the oldest published novel surveyed, the Heir to the Empire trilogy (counted as a single story), that ranks #1; while, Darth Bane: Path of Destruction, published in September 2006, ranks #14; and Sacrifice (June 2007) is #10. Even the two comic series, Dark Empire and Legacy, exhibit the same difference in familiarity: Dark Empire (first published 17 years ago) scores 73.9% for book familiarity (#8 ranking); whereas Legacy, one of the most recent comic series (and still ongoing), is second from bottom (#15 ranking). If we now compare book familiarity ranking against plot familiarity ranking, the only visible correlation is that of the bottom third of the table (highlighted) : i.e. #11 Shatterpoint to #16 the Republic Commando novels. (It is reasonable to assume that Inferno's low ranking (#12) is due to its very recent publication, only six months prior to the survey, and thus not enough readers have had sufficient time to read the book). So why should these five books be ranked so low in both book and plot familiarity?
Since both the Heir to the Empire trilogy and Dark Empire are "[t]he two cornerstones of the moden EU"^[1] and are therefore essential reading for any Star Wars book fan, it is not surprising to see either placed so high for either book or plot familiarity (#1 and #5; #8 and #2 respectively). But even when Darth Bane: Path of Destruction (#14 and #12 for book and plot familiarity) is compared to a book published in the same year as itself, either Betrayal or Bloodlines, the other books are still ranked higher for both familiarity scores (#5 and #10; #7 and #9 respectively). Clearly these five low ranking books must have something in common that differentiates them from all the other books.
The answer is simple: none of these five books feature the Big Three of Luke, Leia and Han: Shatterpoint and the Republic Commando novels are set before Luke and Leia are born; Darth Bane: Path of Destruction is set before all three are born; the Legacy comic series is the story of Luke's descendents after the Big Three are dead (125 years after Return of the Jedi); and even the Enemy Lines duology which did have all three in the second book, only had Luke in the first. However the Star Wars Expanded Universe isn't just about the further adventures of Luke, Leia and Han, there are also the adventures of the Prequel Trilogy characters and of the characters that came before them and before them and before them. And if we are to enjoy the Expanded Universe of A Galaxy Far, Far Away we need stories that do not involve the Big Three. But the survey suggests that a Star Wars book excluding the Big Three is not going to be overly popular with Star Wars book fans. This does not necessarily therefore mean that such books are not commercially successful. Darth Bane: Path of Destruction achieved #11 in the New York Times hardback bestseller list^[4] while Republic Commando: True Colors reached #15 in the paperback chart^[5], a clear indication that exclusion of the Big Three can be popular. So why have these books still performed so badly in the survey?
It could be, as Mike admits, "the difficulty of accurate polling"^[1] and the fact that the survey was conducted of 1,500 fans who answered an article on TheForce.Net and its associated forums must surely limit the demographic profile of participants. Or it could be that "everyone wants something different out of their Star Wars"^[1], that is to say Star Wars fandom is layered: we get out of it what we want such as political intrigue, romance, lightsaber duels, space battles, "themes of struggle and redemption"^[1] and so on; and that are more likely to read and enjoy stories that are reflective of issues that are important to us. However, for whatever reason, it is clear from even this small polling sample that Star Wars book fans much prefer stories that include the Big Three.

As Star Wars book fans we relish stories that feature our three heroes, not only do more of us read the books but we are substantially more aware of their plot points. So what does this mean for the future for Luke, Leia and Han? Unfortunately, it means that even after seventeen years of continuous storytelling, we are still not sick of them and they will have to continue getting involved in big galactic wars for a while longer because if they are not a part of the story, then we are less likely to be interested in the story and, which is worse still, we will be not be as fully conversant with the key plot points!

• [1] Mike Cooper, The nexus of fandom and logic, March 2007, StarWars.com Blogs
• [2] there was no corresponding plot element pairing for this book
• [3] data used with permission of Mike Cooper
• [4] on 15th October, 2006 (source: New York Times)
• [5] on 18th November 2007 (source: New York Times)

© 2008 swbooks.co.uk.

9 comments

Great job - this is exactly the kind of thing I'd hoped people would do.

Obviously the data does suggest that people are more interested in Luke & Co, but I think there's more going on there than simply not caring as much about other characters. I believe the fandom has reached an interesting point in that we really do, I feel, want the Big Three's story to end because A) they deserve a rest, as you said, and B) the more time goes by with some huge struggle happening every five years, the less realistic the whole things feels.

In fact, I think one major aspect of the Big Three books' higher interest levels isn't even about caring more for the characters, but a sort of "what could possibly be happening now??" feeling...on one hand, we want this universe to seem plausible, fair, and so on, but at the same time, we can never get enough of Luke Skywalker. It puts us in a peculiar situation, and that's why I think we should be asking ourselves what we really want from Star Wars - sensibility and fairness - where the good guys get to retire and ride off into the sunset - or a steady supply of guilty pleasures. The data may point to the latter, but it's my hope that that can only last so long. I guess we'll see.

I think it would be cool to let Luke retire from action, but be involved as a Jedi sage who gives advice to those who sek it.  Let Jaina and Ben do the action.  Let Luke be a teacher to whoever wants lessons on how to be a Jedi that is stronger in the Force.  Just some thoughts from a random fan with an opinion.

I think there's more involved in market appeal than just who the main characters are in a book.  You can use favorite main characters, but if the plot elements aren't what readers like, you will still shoot yourself in the foot with a story everyone hates.

The original films had a big survival theme, but they also had a big enlightenment theme, too.  It looks to me (and I allow that I haven't done a survey!) like the most fervent novel fans find the survival theme in SW to be by far and away the more appealing over the deeper, more spiritual themes in the films.  Which is why, if you want to keep these people buying, there is simply nothing to do but keep Han, Luke, and Leia off to the wars.

Personally, I think there is a potential audience with the other side of SW, but these folks aren't going to buy the kind of book (war, war, war) that's currently being published.  These folks would definitely need the name recognition of a movie character, however.

But, I haven't done a survey.  These are just up-close-and-personal observations.

Another possible factor is that due to the huge amount of Big Three stuff out there, it's all but impossible not to have their previous adventures reinforced in your mind.
For instance, I pretty much knew what happened in the Thrawn trilogy long before I'd read the books themselves due to having read books set after it and things like the 'Star Wars Encyclopedia'.

What I'm saying is that familiarity with the lives of Han, Luke and Leia is built up in successive layers as you read the EU, but the adventures of, say, the Republic Commandos have had a relatively small impact on the franchise as a whole.

I think there's a certain amount of cliffhanger mentality in the current adventures of the big three. I can't say I've been the most thrilled with the plot at all times throughout the NJO & Legacy storylines, but I can't wait to get my hands on the next one just to see what happens next.

I've personally thought for a long time that there would be an inevitable day where the story would move on without them. Reading the X-wing books and being thrilled by those adventures, the Twins & Anakin growing older and becoming major players in these events, and even books like the Republic Commando series left me feeling comfortable with a future without them. Don't get me wrong though. I still love Luke, Leia, & Han and wish them no harm!!

The prequel era has very few series. Many isolated stories/events with random characters here and there (an Obi-wan here, Mace Windu there) There's very little time to become invested in the characters, where they're going, and how they'll get there. Unlike in NJO and Legacy where we've literally watched characters grow up and take their places in the galaxy. The stories may not always be the best, but I feel that we can't wait to see where it all leads.

I disagree.  I think the big galactic conflict, same old, same old, simple  story lines, is exactly what the universe doesn't need and why some fans are getting tired.  How about a more intimate potrayal of Luke's endeavor to create the new order? Starting with him perusing countless data about the old Jedi, where they went wrong, and what changes he needed to make with the new jedi (I.e. allowing love/marriage, confronting and overcoming the darkside, more free will, etc).  Also, how about an epic, deep plotted Yoda origin story?  The reason Star by Star was so very successful is that it read like a complex epic novel (EG Dune, Wheel of Time, etc) and not the simple, rink dink,  writing of most of the EU.  I also thought Cloak of Deception was one of the best "adult" read EU books.  Just my 2 cents.

I might be deviating from the focus, but I would love Dark Horse to make more graphic novel adaptations of these novels being spoken of.  They did it with Thrawn & DarkEmpire, they need to do the NJO and these brand new ones where Jacin and Mara meet their destinies.

I think plot and the ability of the author to tell a story are more important than who the story is about.  I like the big 3, but there have been times when not all of them were crucial for the plot to work and it seemed like the author was just putting a chapter in now and then to keep them handy.  (The Joiner Trilogy comes to mind.)

I think one of the reason Darth Bane did well but not great was simply the fact that it's hard to write a compelling book from an 'evil' point of view.  More people enjoy the hero than the anti-hero.

I agree with Russ in that prequel and sequel series have not had the chance to really build a following in essence because they have not had a 'big three' of their own.  Many of the books are here and there.  I personally like the Republic Commando series, because the characters have been given the chance to grow over the course of there books.  I hope to see some characters come up with a book series of their own set in Old Republic (KOTOR)or Legacy.

While they have been present in some fashion in most of the highly familiar stories, I would point out that not all of those focused primarily on the big three. Traitor for example barely a mention of the big three and focused entirely upon Jacen Solo. Star By Star also featured the "next generation" cast (i.e. Jacen, Jaina, Tenal Ka, et cetera) in a major portion of the story. Indeed, with the exception of Thrawn and Dark Empire, all of the top ten also featured the "next generation" cast as much, if not more than the big three.

I think a slightly more accurate way of describing things is that people are most interested in the continuing saga of Star Wars (which the ongoing stories of the New Jedi Order and Legacy of the Force represent) and less so in stories that do not (either by occuring in the past or by jumping too far into the future in a medium as relatively small as comics).

I would also point out that familiarity does not necessarily mean popularity. One can be familiar with Anakin Solo's death in Star by Star without finding it to be enjoyable or good storytelling. Indeed, I would suggest that lousy plot developments might even engender more familiarity than good ones (we tend to remember things that tick us off) in the long run.

While the big three still have some stories to tell, I would love to see more prequel storylines.  I agree Cloak of Deception was the best adult SW book published along with the Medstar duology.  Any featuring Palpatine/Sidious gets my vote.  Finally I always wondered if the introduction of a gay Jedi would fly with fans.