interview with
drew karpyshyn
by Mandalore the Wise
4 Fiction Universe / June 2014
DREW KARPYSHYN
I recently had the fantastic opportunity to ask a few questions of a writer who helped draw me deeper into the Star Wars Universe. My first adventure into the EU was his Bane Trilogy (available here). If you don't know his name, take a moment and familiarize yourself with his awesomeness. Go ahead and click on his picture and check out his website..I'll wait.. Back? Ok, hope you enjoy the interview.
M: You have created two of the greatest story lines in the EU with Revan and Bane. What was your inspiration for each?
D: It's always tough for me to know where my inspiration comes from; there isn't ever one specific thing. But I've been a fan of Star Wars ever since I was a kid watching Episode IV in the theater, so it wasn't hard to think of ideas to fit into this amazing universe.
Revan was actually created by the core design team at BioWare, and we worked a long time to come up with a story and character that we felt would fit into the Star Wars universe in a new and exciting way. As for Bane, he already existed in Star Wars; he was a character in the Dark Horse comic series Jedi vs Sith. But there wasn't much about him in the comics, and I thought it would be interesting to flesh out this character who was so important to the creation of the Sith as they appear in the films.
M: Recently, KOTOR was released for the iPad (and then a universal patch for all "i" devices), how do you feel about the re-emergence of sorts of this iconic game?
D: I'm all for anything that brings more fans to my work. As a writer, you want an audience for your stories, so bringing something like this back helps grow that audience - especially with games, where they often have a very short shelf-life. As technology changes and people upgrade their gaming system, it can become hard to find some of the classic games, so it's nice to know there are people out there working to help preserve them in some way.
M: In your FAQ, you had said there were no plans for another Bane book, does that still hold true?
D: At the moment I'm focusing on my Chaos Born fantasy trilogy. The first book, Children of Fire, is already out and the second - The Scorched Earth - is written. But I'm still working on Chaos Unleashed, the final volume. Once that's complete, I'll need to take a look around and see what projects I want to do next, and I never want to say something is off the table. I've always enjoyed working in the Star Wars universe, so that's one possibility, and I know fans would love to see more.
(continues on page 4)