Inferno

by Troy Denning

  KT: Star Wars is a broad church, and there’s plenty of escapist material already out there that folks can read if they want that, but there are also many, many readers who want something that resonates with the issues they face in real life. Like Aaron says, there comes a point where the story gets stale if the protagonists face no real threats and risks.

  RH: What were your feelings about the online contest to supply Jacen’s Sith name?

  TD: I thought the contest was a good idea, a fun twist. Of course, we’ll have to see how the fans like the winner they picked.

  RH: Luke has gone over to the dark side before. Will Mara’s death push him in this direction again?

  TD: You must know we can’t answer that.

  RH: Hey, you can’t blame a guy for trying! Come to think of it, Han didn’t handle Chewbacca’s death very well, either. Knowing that his son has turned to the dark side, and is responsible for the murder of his best friend’s wife—it’s hard to imagine even Leia being able to hold Han back after that …

  AA: That’s a weird perspective, actually. That’s the perspective of someone to whom Luke, a canon character originating in the movies, is far more important than Jacen, an Expanded Universe character. But it makes no sense from Han’s perspective. Luke’s his best friend. Jacen’s his son. He loves them both and would be devastated to lose either one. Instead of strapping on his blaster holster and rushing off to shoot his boy, he’s got to feel horribly conflicted.

  RH: Was Jacen’s turn to the dark side something that was only decided with this series, or was it a plot development slated for some time? Is there an “über-plot” stretching far into the future?

  AA: As I recall, it was settled upon for this series, though that determination was made early enough that Troy was able to foreshadow it in the Dark Nest trilogy.

  TD: Yes, the kernel of the idea occurred to me while I was writing that trilogy, trying to think about what Jacen discovered on his journey to learn more about the Force. When I learned that the editors at Lucasfilm and Del Rey were looking for ideas for the next series, I told them what I’d been thinking about, and it became the seed for Legacy of the Force.

  AA: I’m not aware of any über-plot, though. We’ve coordinated a little bit with the Dark Nest and Legacy series to maintain consistency, but we’re not setting up their plotlines in our series.

  RH: Is there something about the parenting style of Han and Leia that contributed to the dark path Jacen has taken? Do they bear any of the responsibility?

  KT: I wonder if any of the Skywalker/ Solo kids had a good upbringing? If Coruscant had a decent social services department, they’d have taken them all into care, I think—the risks they were exposed to as little ’uns were shocking. Ben’s found his own way—which isn’t easy for him. The offspring of the A-list can go nuts pretty easily trying to live up to legendary parents, as we know in real life.

  AA: It’s the generation gap, plus lightsabers.

  TD: Jacen was captured by the Yuuzhan Vong and brainwashed by Vergere, so he’s been through a lot that wasn’t his parents’ doing. Ultimately, though, the only person responsible for what Jacen has become is Jacen himself.

  KT: Right. I agree that his experiences of the Vong with Vergere did freak him, and distorted his perspective on his own fallibility. But Jacen is actually just a very smart guy with an excessively high opinion of himself. Like so many of those in power, especially the most able, he edges toward the bad stuff a slice at a time, and it’s all too easily done, all too easy to self-justify. He doesn’t start out psychiatrically iffy, but power corrupts and also warps, and there’s no doubt that power can seriously unhinge people. But there’s no inevitability about any of it: many, many people who undergo terrible trauma and nightmarish family lives don’t end up being conniving killers, and sometimes, despite their best efforts, the most decent, responsible parents produce appalling brats. In the end, the only person responsible for what we do is ourselves.

  RH: How did you decide the order in which you would write the novels of the Legacy sequence?

  AA: Our editors, Shelly Shapiro of Del Rey and Sue Rostoni of Lucas Licensing, decided that.

  RH: How involved are Sue and Shelly? And how do the roles of these two editors differ?

  AA: They’re really involved, very aware of everything going on with the series. And their roles do differ. Shelly is a bit more focused on the writing merits of the novels, the coordination between the writers, the internal logic of the storylines outside the context of the Expanded Universe. Sue is a bit more focused on continuity, on the needs of Lucasfilm, on the meeting of fan expectations and fidelity to the characters. But if these different responsibilities ever put them at odds, well, they’ve never let me see it.

  KT: It doesn’t matter in how much detail you plan (we do forty-page outlines for each book) and how much you talk to your fellow authors, you can’t possibly know everything that the other guys are doing. That’s why we need Sue and Shelly. Having two people with a more detached overview, and who aren’t writing it and so can see the wood for the trees, is crucial.

  TD: They’re the grease that gets things moving, and the glue that holds things together. They probably work the hardest to make sure that all the minor-but-inevitable differences of interpretation in our initial story notes get ironed out. It would be hard to overemphasize their role in the series.

  RH: How often do you three talk? And do you communicate mainly by phone? E-mail?

  KT: E-mail. I’m in the UK in a wholly different time zone, so phone calls aren’t convenient, and I like things in a retrievable, checkable format anyway. We have spurts of communication and then go silent for weeks. The books have to be written, after all.

  RH: What do you do when disagreements come up?

  TD: Luckily, we share a brain, so we all agree. But seriously, it hasn’t been a problem.

  KT: Everyone’s focused on what’s best for the series, not individual interests.

  RH: How has your understanding of the light and dark sides of the Force changed in the course of writing these books?

  KT: Not so much the Force as the nature of Force users. It strikes me as more and more sectarian every day. As Boba says, it’s a small religious schismatic war within a tiny unelected elite that drags in trillions of folk. The reader obviously sees most of Star Wars with a heavy Jedi perspective, but I’d bet that the average galactic citizen knows no more about the Jedi Council and what it gets up to than most folk in the real world know about the World Bank.

  TD: I’ve always felt that when Yoda taught Luke about the light and dark sides, he was talking about the light and dark sides within ourselves, not in the Force itself.

  RH: The Jedi of Yoda’s day believed that romantic and family relationships between Jedi could only lead to disaster. Hasn’t that view been pretty well borne out by the history of Darth Vader and his children and grandchildren?

  AA: I think that the Republic-era Jedi belief that attachment leads to disaster is on-target, but I hope we’re going to show that not all love matches constitute that sort of attachment. My belief is that any number of Jedi could marry and have kids without invoking tragedy. I think part of the problem is that the Skywalker family is as important as, and about as lucky as, the house of Atreus from Greek mythology. That is to say, they’re very important … but not very lucky.

  KT: No, I’m inclined to think Yoda got it right. Jedi shouldn’t be allowed to have families. These people are superweapons, and once they lose the ability to detach—however much moral decline that so-called detachment got them into in the late Republic—then their family feuds will end up dragging in the whole galaxy. The Legacy of the Force saga is basically a family spat involving an ex or two that creates galactic war. Do they see the irony? I don’t know. But like all people with vast power and a sense of dynastic entitlement, they take their eye off the ball and—whatever they think they’re doing—make decisions based on what’s good for the people they love, not for th
e majority. They’re only human. Trouble is, their powers and their influence aren’t …

  TD: Let’s not forget that a lot of good came from Anakin Skywalker’s line: Luke, Leia, Anakin Solo, Jaina … We’ll have to see about Ben, but even Jacen was responsible for ending the Yuuzhan Vong war.

  RH: Each of you is known for creating or enhancing a specific character: Allston—Wedge Antilles; Traviss—Boba Fett; Denning—Alema Rar. It must be a blast to be able to weave them all into Legacy’s multi-book tapestry! Are they your favorite characters to write?

  TD: I enjoy writing most characters. If I can get inside their heads and really understand what they want and what they’re willing to do to get it, then I can connect with them on a subconscious level, and they just come alive inside my head. When that happens, whatever character I’m writing at the moment becomes my favorite.

  AA: Wedge is my favorite character, true. I’ve said in other interviews that he interests me because he’s an ethical killer. The killer part isn’t that interesting—from that perspective, he’s a guy who always has a means, a motive, and an opportunity. No, it’s the ethics that are interesting, his struggle to make each choice to kill a correct one, one that will not lead those he commands or inspires down some slippery slope. Like the one Jacen is following, for example.

  But I enjoy writing a lot of the characters, and I find it creepily easy to slip into Jacen’s mindset when writing him. We’re not so very different, he and I. Except he’s better-looking and has superpowers and is even more evil.

  KT: I love writing Boba, and expanding his hideously dysfunctional family and his total alienation from his own culture was right up my street. (And inevitable—I find it amazing that the man is even sane, given his upbringing.) He’s incredibly complex, and that means there are plenty of stories to tell about him. But I enjoyed crazy Alema and Lumiya too—it was fascinating to write the scene with them together in Sacrifice, especially at how differently they handle disfigurement. I like the challenge of getting into characters I don’t know all that well. I think the one I really savored writing was Admiral Niathal, though—no idea why, but when a “hawkish” Mon Cal admiral was mentioned in Aaron’s outline for Betrayal, I was captivated by the idea and she just rolled out onto the page.

  And, sick as it sounds, I enjoyed writing Jacen. I feel better knowing that all those years I spent working with politicians actually came in useful.

  RH: Lumiya first appeared in the Star Wars comic books, then made the jump over into novels. Whose idea was it to bring her back for this series? How closely integrated into the official Star Wars universe is all the old comic-book material? My impression is that in those early days, there was a lot less attention paid to timeline continuity and so forth.

  AA: Prior to Lumiya being chosen, we had a character role, Jacen’s Sith mentor, who was referred to only as “the wizard.” At some point, someone had the idea to make Lumiya into the wizard, and she was a really good fit.

  KT: I think it was Sue Rostoni’s idea, actually.

  AA: Lumiya’s presence doesn’t mean that every event from the comics can be considered a part of the current EU continuity, however. It just won’t all fit.

  KT: Continuity is always a challenge in a thirty-year-old franchise, but as long as people stay sensible about it, recognize the constraints and that it won’t ever be perfect, and treat it as fiction and not a religion, then we can all have fun. When the continuity matters more than the stories and themes, the saga will be over.

  RH: I know you can’t give away any spoilers, but maybe some hints about what may lie ahead in the remaining books of the Legacy series?

  AA: Hints without spoilers? That’s tricky. How about this: “There will be pages. Lots and lots of pages. Most of them will have letters on them, and the vast majority of those letters will be in the Roman alphabet.”

  Aah. Now I feel better.

  TD: You’ll definitely see some grand space battles and classic lightsaber duels.

  KT: Boba doesn’t grow a heart of gold…. I can tell you that.

  RH: In addition to Star Wars, each of you also has his or her own projects. How do you keep the balance?

  AA: By working all the time!

  KT: I split my time 50/50 over the year between tie-in work and my own copyright novels. I’m pretty dull—I’m a business, and I run on spreadsheets.

  TD: I tend to work like crazy on one project, then come up for air and dive into the next one. I’ve heard of writers who work on two—or even three—books at once. I can’t imagine how—when I’m in the middle of a project, I have a hard time thinking about anything else. Phones go unanswered, the mail stacks up, my hair gets long …

  RH: Troy, you look good with long hair! Thanks to all three of you for taking the time to answer my questions with such patience and good humor—may the Force continue to be with you!

  For Jeffrey Olsen

  Neighbor and friend

  acknowledgments

  Many people contributed to this book in ways large and small. I would like to thank them all, especially the following: Andria Hayday for her support, critiques, and many valuable suggestions; James Luceno, Leland Chee, Howard Roffman, Amy Gary, Pablo Hidalgo, and Keith Clayton for their fine contributions during our brainstorming sessions—initial and otherwise; Shelly Shapiro and Sue Rostoni for everything, from their remarkable patience to their insightful reviewing and editing to the wonderful ideas they put forth both inside and outside of the brainstorming sessions—and especially for being so great to work with; to my fellow writers, Aaron Allston and Karen Traviss, for all their hard work—coordinating stories and writing them—and their myriad other contributions to this book and the series; to Laura Jorstad for her attention to detail; to all the people at Lucasfilm and Del Rey who make being a writer so much fun; and, finally, to George Lucas for letting us take his galaxy in this exciting new direction.

  About the Author

  Troy Denning is the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Abyss; Star Wars: Tatooine Ghost; Star Wars: The New Jedi Order: Star by Star; the Star Wars: Dark Nest trilogy: The Joiner King, The Unseen Queen, and The Swarm War; and Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Tempest, Inferno, and Invincible—as well as Pages of Pain, Beyond the High Road, The Summoning, and many other novels. A former game designer and editor, he lives in western Wisconsin with his wife, Andria.

  By Troy Denning

  Waterdeep

  Dragonwall

  The Parched Sea

  The Verdant Passage

  The Crimson Legion

  The Amber Enchantress

  The Obsidian Oracle

  The Cerulean Storm

  The Ogre’s Pact

  The Giant Among Us

  The Titan of Twilight

  The Veiled Dragon

  Pages of Pain

  Crucible: The Trial of Cyric the Mad

  The Oath of Stonekeep

  Faces of Deception

  Beyond the High Road

  Death of the Dragon (with Ed Greenwood)

  The Summoning

  The Siege

  The Sorcerer

  Star Wars: The New Jedi Order: Star by Star

  Star Wars: Tatooine Ghost

  Star Wars: Dark Nest I: The Joiner King

  Star Wars: Dark Nest II: The Unseen Queen

  Star Wars: Dark Nest III: The Swarm War

  Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Tempest

  Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Inferno

  Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Invincible

  Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Abyss

  Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Vortex

  STAR WARS—LEGENDS

  What is a legend? According to the Random House Dictionary, a legend is “a nonhistorical or unverifiable story handed down by tradition from earlier times and popularly accepted as historical.” Merriam-Webster defines it as “a story from the past that is believed by many people but cannot be proved to be true.” And Wik
ipedia says, “Legends are tales that, because of the tie to a historical event or location, are believable, though not necessarily believed.” Because of this inherent believability, legends tend to live on in a culture, told and retold even though they are generally regarded as fiction.

  Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a legend was born: The story of Luke Skywalker and his fellow heroes, Princess Leia and Han Solo. Three blockbuster movies introduced these characters and their stories to millions of people who embraced these tales and began to build upon them, as is done with myths everywhere. And thus novels, short stories, and comic books were published, expanding the Star Wars universe introduced in the original trilogy and later enhanced by the prequel movies and the animated TV series The Clone Wars. The enormous body of work that grew around the films and The Clone Wars came to be known as The Expanded Universe.

  Now, as new movies, television shows, and books move into the realm of the official canon, The Expanded Universe must take its place firmly in the realm of legends. But, like all great legends, the fact that we can’t prove the veracity of every detail doesn’t make the stories any less entertaining or worthy of being read. These legends remain true to the spirit of Star Wars and in that way are another avenue through which we can get to know and understand our beloved heroes in that galaxy far, far away.

  —Del Rey Books, May 2014

  Turn the page or jump to the timeline of Star Wars Legends novels to learn more.

  chapter one

  ABOVE THE PLANET KASHYYYK,

  ABOARD THE MILLENNIUM FALCON