Well, of course. How else is a Star Wars fanatic supposed to read the series in order? Star Wars books and comics don't come numbered like Hardy Boys books (Say, how many Hardy Boys books are there? What is the actual continuity of the Hardy Boys Adventures? This is coming from the kid who at one time in sixth grade worried about the chronological order of He-Man and Scooby-Doo cartoons.) Negotiate years of conflicting Star Wars continuity, or lack of continuity altogether? Fit 12 episode story arcs in the comics into timelines apparently non-existant according to the novels and video game tie-ins.
Of course there were Star Wars timelines on the internet by 1999, but none with the universality I had been hoping for. The most authoritative timelines over the years have been exclusive- a timeline just for novels, a timeline just for Dark Horse comics, or general timelines which didn't include specific books or comics.
Naturally I started my own. There is something wrong with me.
I have never posted it online or even shared it until recently. I have compiled it and used it strictly for the purpose of gathering new published materials up over time and then sitting down to a good series of stories- in correct chronological order.
A few years later I happened to be reading the Foundation
Now I had stepped into the territory of crossover fiction. If you don't know about this slice of the fanboy universe (a great (an mostly unknown)example is the Wold Newton family, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wold_Newton_family) it is simply the idea of famous fictional characters meeting each other. Or put differently: all fictional characters live in the same fictional world.
This obviously is a stupid concept from the get-go. Many stories are alternate universes, where the nazis won WWII, for example. The earth was destroyed in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
What about time travel? Do I read Doctor Who stories in the order they happened to him, or do I read Doctor Who The Highlanders
Obviously I became obsessed. And clearly I've proved my driving force in the geekdom of the QoG blog.
So since, I don't know, around 2003 I have been working on the master timeline. This has grown into multiple files, spreadsheets, web links, and a general mental illness. I started with Star Wars, have worked my way up through pre-history, every era of mankind, and am now in the early sixties. I won't share my timelines in this blog. Among other reasons it is sloppy, the selected materials are totally subjective with regards to what I want to read and have available, and I've made spotty attempts to actually track information about the authors, dates and eras of some of the books.
I will share my book reviews, though! My closer friends know that I have used several Facebook apps to track the books I read and write thumbnail reviews. I will use this blog to slowly go through and expand on what I've read and written about. I will also detail the timeline aspect (if any) and how it does or doesn't tie in with other literature (or pulp crap) I'm reading. I will also include other stuff I've been reading, including non-fiction and modern writing (tho most of it will still be wedged in timeline wise). I read a lot, and as I've weaned myself off televion recently due to personal circumstances, I read even more.
Now that I've explained myself, we will be starting later this week with the first book I published a review on. It takes place in 1868, and the nationality of the story's mysterious antihero is never revealed....
Have you read Heinlein? He's huge on timelines and on fictional characters interacting. :)
ReplyDeleteI have read some Heinlein, such as Starship Troopers. There are also a few unread ones on my bookshelf that will be hit in the near future, such as Stranger in a Strange Land. Let me know if you have any specific recomendations, Erica!
ReplyDeleteThe Number of the Beast is a great example of fictional characters interacting but all of his stuff is great! :D
ReplyDeleteI just verified Number of the Beast is on my bookshelf as well. I picked it up at a giant annual rummage sale in Minturn last summer- something like a dollar for a bag of books, and a giant sci-fi section.
ReplyDeleteI had a very difficult time putting Beast in a timeframe. I ended up deciding on sometime in the early 2300's. This would be comperable to right before the era of Star Trek: the Next Generation.
I remember now that Beast included trips to alternate/fictional realities, inluding Oz. I will be covering Oz extensively in upcoming posts!