Via Denofgeek.us:
We had a chat with John Jackson Miller, writer of fantastic Star Wars Expanded Universe titles, such as Knights of the Old Republic!
John Jackson Miller is one of the most highly-regarded Star Wars authors of the present day, perhaps even one of the greatest tie-in authors.
A comic book aficionado and Dark Horse veteran from Tennesee, he penned his latest Star Wars tale, “Orientation” for Star Wars Insider #157.
We talked to Miller about “Orientation,” a story about Darth Vader and Palpatine that ties in to both the recent Lords of the Sith and Miller’s own A New Dawn. In it, Vader and Palpatine are traveling on a Star Destroyer operated as a training academy by Pell Baylo, a commandant who may not be as loyal to the Empire as he appears.
Along with unpacking “Orientation,” Miller spoke a little bit about his upcoming story in the Rise of the Empire bind-up and his long history as writer of many of the Knights of the Old Republic comics.
The novel Kenobi was essentially a Western, and you have described your first Star Wars story (the 2005 “A Model Officer” in the Star Wars: Empire comics) as Vader doing detective work. Does “Orientation” also refer to a genre outside of space opera?
It is very much a military school story. It takes place at the equivalent of an Annapolis or West Point for the Imperial Navy. Of course, it is a special time for the Imperial Navy because this is a very early story after the rise of the Empire, so the Empire is still bringing together various parts of the Republic’s armed forces. I wanted to explore this particular flight school that was not really officially part of the Republic navy for a very long time.
There are parallels to that in history. There were various sailing schools and technical, navigation schools in British naval history. We have somewhat of an equivalent here in America where you have the Virginia Military Institute, which is not technically part of the armed forces, but everybody who goes there has a commission.
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