Your Favorite SC Author?

[solidsamurai]

McNeil has a slight edge over Tracy Hickman.

McNeil is a more balanced author of the two. He's good with the story, characters, setting, action pieces and general feel and tone. Hickman is better at the action pieces, setting and the feel and tone, but the story and characters weren't as good as McNeil's. This could possibly also be because her story wasn't nearly as "big" as McNeil's, so it's possible she'd outdo him if she got to work with a proper premise.

Hickman's a dude.

[l33telboi]

Hickman's a dude.

Oh. I just figured Tracy was a woman's name.

[solidsamurai]

Oh. I just figured Tracy was a woman's name.

Aho ho ho... Nnnnnnope!

You guys forgot Keith RA DeCandido. Oh wait, he has zero votes. Good.

[nocommayes]

"Liberty's Crusade" is easily my all-time favourite StarCraft novel. The amount of characterization that went into Raynor, Kerrigan, and Mengsk was immense. You really got a sense of who these people were, and why the did what they did. Michael Liberty was a character was also pretty awesome.

Then I saw that they based his in-game appearance on Metzen, and I was crushed.

[solidsamurai]

One thing about Tracy Hickman is that his novel actually gives a nod to (I think it was) the american navy or marines or something. Just the description alone sounds waaay more mature of a theme than a lot of the other novels, check this out:

Confederate Marine Ardo Melnikov has lost everything dear to him. Now he must come to terms with those painful memories... and the unsettling truths that may dominate his future.

It sounds those 'painful memories' are shell shock and more shell shock. It's like comparing Spec Ops: The Line to warhammer 40k or Call of Duty. Funny that it even belongs in the same universe.

Compare that to this:

When the most violent storm in recent memory unearths an unfathomable alien artifact, forces from the zerg, the protoss and the terran dominion converge to claim the lost secrets of the most powerful species the universe has ever known.

And that convergence is gonna be whacky! Monday, monday, monday... see three forces duke it out for the prize! An artifact of coolness that is so cooler everything in, like, the whole universe wants it! Tell your mom and dad (so that they can buy tickets).

Behind the attacks of the zerg and the protoss lies the story of a lifetime... if imbedded reporter Danny Liberty can survive long enough to penetrate the mystery.

Compare that to a plot of spider-man. Peter Parker faces Venom, whom threatens to unmask him! Will he survive long enough to penetrate the mystery of Green Goblin (who's also involved?). Sorta the same thing.

---
Feels sorta like three books for three different levels of maturity. At least, the overarching theme. Of course, it's all labeled 'StarCraft' so it could be assumed that it'd be thrown into the same general age group - y'know, the one that plays videogames? That exists right?

[Hawki]

"Painful memories" is a trope as much as "ancient species" or "McGuffin, let's grab it!"

Anyway, it's kind of academic, in regards to how a story fits in the universe - I mean, it should conform to canon and the like, but my personal philosophy for writing and reading is that story generally comes before lore. Ergo, Speed of Darkness is good IMO, because while it doesn't influence the wider lore much, it's well written. Ergo, Liberty's Crusade is okay because while it does give insight into certain characters, the story felt...average, not helped by Liberty being an example of "Forest Gumpism" IMO. Ergo, Shadow of the Xel'naga is terrible, because while it had key pointers towards future plot points, the fact is that it's terribly written.

Or, rather, "IMO" it's terribly written, but who's disputing that?

[Pr0nogo]

Peter Parker faces Venom, whom threatens to unmask him! Will he survive long enough to penetrate the mystery of Green Goblin (who's also involved?).

where the fuck did you learn your spiderman

[solidsamurai]

where the fuck did you learn your spiderman

From not reading it! ;D

[Alar]

I, Mengsk was great, and Shadow of the Xel'Naga was also quite good. However, Christie has put out more, and I thoroughly enjoyed the DT Trilogy (and Flashpoint to a lesser extent), so I'm going with her.

[Gradius]

I, Mengsk was great, and Shadow of the Xel'Naga was also quite good.

Shadow of the Xel'Naga was also quite good.

Shadow of the Xel'Naga was also quite good.