Karen Traviss

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Karen Traviss is a science fiction author, and full-time novelist from Wiltshire, England. Originally from the Portsmouth area, Traviss worked as both a journalist and defence correspondent before turning her attention to writing fiction. She also served in both the Territorial Army and the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service. Traviss is a graduate of the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy workshop. Her first published novel, City of Pearl (2004) centered around the clash of several distinct alien civilizations, several hundred years in the future. She has since written five sequels to City of Pearl: Crossing the Line (2004), The World Before (2005), Matriarch (2006), Ally (2007), and Judge (2008).

History with Star Wars

In addition to creating her own fictional setting for City of Pearl, Traviss has written numerous novels using existing intellectual property—particularly in the Star Wars universe. Four of those Star Wars novels have been bestsellers[citation needed]: Star Wars Republic Commando: Hard Contact (2004), Star Wars Republic Commando: Triple Zero (2006) Star Wars Republic Commando: Order 66 (2008), and Star Wars Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines. Hard Contact and Triple Zero begin the Republic Commando Series, which Traviss continued to write (Star Wars Republic Commando: True Colors is the third volume and Star Wars Republic Commando: Order 66 (2008) is the fourth). Her newest addition to the series, 501st, was released in October 2009.

In addition to the Republic Commando Series, Traviss was one of three authors retained by Lucasfilm and Del Rey to pen a nine novel series called Legacy of the Force (the other two authors were Aaron Allston and Troy Denning). Her three contributions to the series are: Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines (2006), Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice (2007) and Legacy of the Force: Revelation (2008). Thematically, her work within the Star Wars universe has frequently centered on Mandalorians and their culture. In particular, her Republic Commando novels have explored themes of identity with regards to clone troopers, their Mandalorian heritage, and their interaction with Jedi leadership. Traviss has since parted from Del Rey for creative differences.

Other Intellectual Property-derived works

In addition to Star Wars novels, Traviss also wrote a Gears of War prequel novel, Gears of War: Aspho Fields which was released on 28 October 2008. She was inspired to do so after watching a trailer for the game.[1] [citation needed] She then went on to write the sequels Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant, released on 28 July 2009, Gears of War: Anvil Gate, released on 31 August 2010 and Gears of War: Coalition's End, released on 2 August 2011, and Gears of War: The Slab, released in May 2102. She also served as the lead writer for Gears of War 3.

She wrote together with Eric Nylund and Tobias S. Buckell and many other authors the short story collection Halo Evolutions: Essential Tales of the Halo Universe, which was released in November 2009.

On 21 July 2010 Traviss announced on her blog that she had signed a multi-book deal to write novels set in the Halo universe.[2] The first book is set after the events of Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, and is a continuation of that story line. Explaining why she had agreed to write in the Halo universe, Traviss said that "Believe it or not, I really have found the backbone to turn down other series featuring heavily armoured, unfeasibly cannoned-up chaps struggling to find their place in an unfriendly world. I'm not a soft touch for any old bloke with a codpiece, people. But this is Halo. There's an awkward and upsetting moral dilemma at the heart of the story, and if there's something I can't resist more than money, it's exploring moral dilemmas. (With big weapons, naturally.) You haven't spotted it? Pay attention at the back, there. There is a story."[3]

Bibliography

The Wess'har Wars

  • City of Pearl (March 2004) Book 1 of The Wess'har Wars
  • Crossing the Line (September 2004) Book 2 of The Wess'har Wars
  • The World Before (October 2005) Book 3 of The Wess'har Wars
  • Matriarch (October 2006) Book 4 of The Wess'har Wars
  • Ally (March 2007) Book 5 of The Wess'har Wars
  • Judge (March 2008) Book 6 of The Wess'har Wars

Star Wars novels

  • Republic Commando
    • Hard Contact (November 2004) Book 1 of the Republic Commando series
    • Triple Zero (February 2006) Book 2 of the Republic Commando series
    • True Colors (October 2007) Book 3 of the Republic Commando series
    • Order 66 (September 2008) Book 4 of the Republic Commando series
    • 501st[4] (October 2009) Book 1 of the Imperial Commando series
    • Star Wars Imperial Commando 2. Book 2 of the Imperial Commando series. Scrapped after controversy listed below.
  • The Clone Wars
  • Legacy of the Force

Gears of War series

Halo novels

  • Kilo-Five Trilogy
    • Halo: Glasslands, a sequel to Halo: Ghosts of Onyx (25 October 2011)[6]
    • Halo: The Thursday War (2 October 2012)
    • Halo: Mortal Dictata (21 January 2014)

Star Wars short stories

Other short stories

Essays

  • I Gotta Get Me One of Those, in the essay anthology, Navigating the Golden Compass: Religion, Science & Daemonology in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials (Smart Pop Series, BenBella Books, August 2005)
  • Driving GFFA 1: or How Star Wars Loosened My Corsets, in Star Wars on Trial : Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Debate the Most Popular Science Fiction Films of All Time (ed. David Brin, 2006).

Features

  1. ↑
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ http://www.karentraviss.com/page20/page29/
  4. ↑ Interview with Karen Traviss on Randomhouse.com
  5. ↑
  6. ↑ "Karen Traviss to pen next Halo novel". Gaming Target. 

Further reading

External links

Authority control
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