CAUTION: Significant spoilers for Bloodlines in this blog's Comments section.

Go out and buy Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines.

Why? For purely narcissistic reasons. You see, Karen Traviss' Bloodlines features my brain child Ailyn Vel. Actually, Karen's a terrific writer, and the Legacy of the Force series is on fire, showcasing one of my all-time favorite Star Wars villains, Lumiya.

But I'm extra excited because one of my characters, Boba Fett's daughter Ailyn, gets her day in the twin suns in Bloodlines. My buddy Dan Wallace of course was the first to include references in his Star Wars New Essential Guide books to anything I'd written, including the Dark Lady of the Sith Lumiya (The Emperor's Pawns), the ancient Mandalorians (History of the Mandalorians), the Iron Knights (Droids and the Force)and our collaborations on the Imperial Grand Admirals. But since my early work rarely dealt in new creations, these references were mostly relegated to story elements I contributed to already existing characters. So there was a unique feeling of satisfaction when I saw my first original character, Sarcev Quest, get a quick nod in Aaron Allston's New Jedi Order novel Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand, and later on to see the Dark Side Technobeasts get a full-on treatment in Dan's New Essential Guide to Droids.

But Ailyn was special. After writing the History of the Mandalorians, I predicted that establishing Boba Fett's daughter into the Star Wars mythology would be the biggest thing I would contribute to the saga. (Of course, that was before I got lucky enough to create the backstory for the Episode III villain General Grievous). I mean, the daughter of the baddest bounty hunter in the galaxy out for her dad's blood? Sounded like a winner to me. You might ask, why give Boba a daughter and not a son? Well, c'mon brother... a son is too easy. I wasn't trying to do an infinite, not to mention poor, retread of the prequels. No clone children for Boba, no sons. Just a baby girl brought into the universe the good old fashioned way.

Now, as is apt to happen in a shared universe like Star Wars, this fictional fruit of my loins has taken on a life of her own, and I'm a fanboy all, all over again. I'm an advocate of interpretation when it comes to literature, so it's a thrill when a different author takes one of my characters and gives it their own spin: "Oh I like that!... hmm, I don't know about that.... hey, I never would've thought of that..." What a trip.

Karen has given Ailyn a nice pivotal role in her novel, so if you want to catch up on what Fett's daughter has been up to before Bloodlines and her repeated attempts to kill her pops, click on the links below to get the skinny!

Ailyn Vel, Daughter of Boba Fett

The Anatomy of a Ret-Con 2: or, "Boba Fett? Where?"

Did Somebody Say... Cosplay?

But enough gushing! I'm a professional now.

Ahem... squee. ~ I'm Abel G. Peņa and I Endorse This Book.

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