Anyone who’s read The Rising Storm will know the huge shock ending that shakes the very foundations of the era, and author Cavan Scott talks with the official site about the book, the story and those huge moments that got all of social media talking.
StarWars.com: Marchion Ro’s nefarious plans for the Republic Fair is a central part of The Rising Storm. And the Fair itself feels very relatable — it feels like Disneyland, or even a Star Wars Celebration. And you bring this world of the Fair to life and build the tension leading up to the massive Nihil attack by cutting between our main heroes and ordinary fairgoers. Why was striking this unique balance important to you for this story?
Cavan Scott: Because these stories can’t just be about the Jedi, you know? It’s about consequences. The Nihil, and what they decide to do and why they decide to do it, as well — that entire course of action that leads Marchion Ro to make the decision that yes, they are going to hit Valo, and then on the flip-side of that, the Jedi and the Republic and the chancellor and their hubris about what they believe they’re going to get away with and what the Republic Fair will be…you need to see the effect that’s going to have on real people.
And I was thinking back to the London Olympics and going to the Olympic Park and just sort of the excitement in that room, and yeah, going to theme parks and conventions — and I’ve been going to conventions for years — and you can just imagine what the chaos would be in a place like that if something goes on. And we see things like that happen in terrible moments in the news at public events where something bad goes down. I knew I couldn’t spend a lot of time with those people because I had bigger stories with the main players that I had to tell. But I had to show why the Jedi should care about saving it. Not just because it’s this abstract thing, that there’s lots of people here, it’s a celebration, it’s about the Republic — “we’re all the Republic” — but no, it’s about the kid who wants a Ronto Wrap, or whatever it was, and is nagging their mum. It’s about the families that are arguing because they want to go there and they should be on the other side of the park. And those people who really don’t know something is coming. It’s in the best tradition of disaster movies. Those are the moments you see. And they’re the moments that make it real.
You don’t necessarily spend a lot of time with them, but you just know you’re seeing a glimpse of life that you can recognize. I think that was important to me. As a parent of young-ish kids now, knowing how terrifying it would be to think, “I brought my family to this place and something really bad has happened.” I don’t think Stars Wars is the right place to focus on that for 400 pages, you know, and tell that story because that’s a very, very different kind of tale. But to make these events have consequence and have meaning, you have to touch those lives. Because then you get those moments when you realize, “Yeah we’re in space, yeah we’re on different planets, yeah there are spaceships falling out of the sky, but there are real people that are landed on.” And I think that’s what’s important in these kinds of stories.
Stay tuned for our review of The Rising Storm audiobook next week.
