Alternative Star Wars Saga

The Alternative Star Wars Saga, also called the Alternative Saga, is a fan-fiction continuity created by Victor Dorantes, Wayne Lipman III and Brandon Rhea after the merger of Brandon Rhea’s Alternative Saga and the Squishy Vic Series, although Dorantes has since left the project. Other contributors include Solus, Edward Oliver, and Brent Krajewski. The Saga spans across a vast timeline, starting around 99,945 BBY until at least 7 BBY, with central characters in the Bac, Lanmaw, and Skywalker families. Central events include the Great Territorial War, the Clone Wars, and the Galactic Civil War.

Novels in the Alternative Saga include Star Wars: Episode I - The Chosen One and Star Wars: The Alderaan Affair. There are a number of planned novels and series such as the Chronicles of the Great War series, the Trials of War series, Star Wars: Betrayal, and the recently announced My Father's Dreams. An animated spin-off of The Chosen One was also planned, but was later canceled.

On internet communities such as the Star Wars Fanon Wiki, TheStarWarsRP.Com and the Jedi Council Boards on TheForce.Net, the Alternative Saga has received praise from many readers and reviewers. Compliments range from what reviewers perceive to be strengths in dialogue and overall storytelling to the ability to take the existing Star Wars Saga and turn it into a convincing and engaging alternate universe story, something that some readers have noted is rare in rewrites of the Star Wars Saga. Although some reviews have been more tempered, the overall feedback as been largely positive.

Squishy Vic Series


The Squishy Vic Series is a fan fiction series founded by author Victor Dorantes, one of the creators of the Alternative Star Wars Saga. While the Squishy Vic Series was and currently is an independent fan fiction series, it was one of the founding works of the Alternative Saga. The series, the name of which is derived from his nickname “Squishy Vic”, first appeared on TheForce.Net in a series of carried out on the website’s forums. It was during these role-plays that Dorantes created Narod Antrell, the primary character of the Squishy Vic Series, although the character’s story was not developed until.

After creating Narod Antrell and laying the foundations of what would become the Squishy Vic Series, Dorantes began to work his character into Star Wars, wanting it to fix as closely as possible. This was done through the use of characters such as, a who survived  and the. Canon stated K'Kruhk took on an as his  following the Great Jedi Purge, so Dorantes decided to have Antrell become the unidentified learner. This proved to be the genesis of the Squishy Vic Series.

Although Antrell was originally just an article on Star Wars Fanon, the Star Wars wiki of fan invention, Dorantes decided he would write a narrative work of fan fiction based on the character. At that time, the novel was titled Knighthood, and it would chronicle Antrell’s time during the Great Jedi Purge. Although the Squishy Vic Series briefly merged with author Brandon Rhea's fan fiction series, Dorantes continues to operate independently, having just recently released Acceptance, originally Knighthood.

Brandon Rhea’s Alternative Saga


In late, author Brandon Rhea began to work on a fan fiction series titled Brandon Rhea's Alternative Star Wars Saga, a series that would serve to re-imagine and reboot the Star Wars Saga similar to how ' and ' re-imagined and rebooted the and  film series, respectively. The series started off as the Alternate Trilogy, a series of three stories that were to be written by Brandon Rhea and fellow author Gregg Tasoulas. The stories would rewrite the canon films ', ', and , while leaving the intact, and would follow the same basic premise of  redeeming  before the death of. However, Rhea and Tasoulas decided to work on their own series once their ideas began to conflict.

For his own series, now titled Brandon Rhea's Alternative Star Wars Saga, Rhea planned to write six new episodes, with Episode IV to Episode VI being completely different from the, and Episode VII to Episode IX being based off of the original films. Rhea eventually incorporated Ussej Padric Bac, his role-playing character on TheStarWarsRP.Com, into the expanded universe of the Alternative Saga, where Bac ended up becoming one of the saga’s primary characters. He wrote a number of drafts of a now-postponed novel titled Shadows of the Jedi: The Legend of Ussej Padric Bac, but he put that on hold in favor of writing Star Wars: Episode I - The Chosen One, which he continues to work on now as a re-imagining of the prequel trilogy. This novel continued to be part of the Alternative Saga after the merger with the Squishy Vic Series.

Merger
The overall Alternative Star Wars Saga continuity was created in early 2008 by Dorantes and Rhea, based on a merger of the Squishy Vic Series and Rhea's Alternative Saga. Author Wayne Lipman III, who had collaborated with Dorantes in the past, joined the project shortly thereafter. Rhea’s fanon was comprised of most of the larger-scale galactic events in the series, whereas Dorantes and Lipman focused on characters that did not have major roles on the galactic stage. Lipman's work brought in characters such as Epin Lanmaw and, both of whom had an unknown connection to one another that would be explored in Lipman's novel Star Wars: The Alderaan Affair. The three authors also decided to retain the name "Alternative Star Wars Saga" from Rhea's work, as they believed it made the most sense due to the project's goal of being a re-imagining of Star Wars.

Eventually, Dorantes decided to leave the project, stating his desire to work on his own continuity, now once-again titled the Squishy Vic Series. His series was therefore removed from Alternative Saga canon. As of summer, Lipman and Rhea continue to work on the continuity, with Rhea working on projects such as Star Wars: Episode I - The Chosen One and Lipman working on Star Wars: The Alderaan Affair.

The Chosen One
Set in 22 BBY, The Chosen One by Brandon Rhea is the beginning of a re-imagining of the canon prequel trilogy. The story is about Annikin Skywalker, a nineteen year old moisture farmer on Tatooine, and how he goes from being a “mild-mannered farm to potentially being the prophetic savior of the galaxy”. Other characters involved in his story are Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ophuchi Clan leader Sarus, and Jedi Padawan Padmé Naberrie. Rhea has stated that "The Chosen One" is “a coming of age story where Annikin has to reconcile what he wants to do with his lift with the fact that he may be destined to save trillions of people from the Dark Lord of the Sith”. A final release date for the novel is not currently known.

The Alderaan Affair
Set in 7 BBY, The Alderaan Affair by Wayne Lipman III re-imagines the early years of Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan and focuses on how she meets a young nerf herder named Epin Lanmaw. Other characters are explored, but most of the novel will be devoted to the relationship between Lanmaw and Organa. Lanmaw will learn that he has sensitivity to the Force from, a from thousands of years earlier who is somehow connected to his family. The novel co-won the Best Fan Work Award in the Fourth "Star Wars" Fanon Wiki Awards.

Future works
The Alternative Saga currently has a number of works scheduled for release in the future. Edward Oliver, an Alternative Saga author, will be working on Star Wars: Trials of War, a series that will tell the story of the Clone Wars between Star Wars: Episode I - The Chosen One and Rhea’s future Star Wars: Episode II - Dawn of an Empire. Brent Krajewski, also an Alternative Saga author, will be working on a novel called Disciple about Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jedi Master Jard Dooku. After The Alderaan Affair, Lipman will begin work on two additional stories. The first is Veil of Darkness, which will continue the story of Epin Lanmaw, and the second is Betrayal, which will be about Darth Traya and her connection to the Lanmaw family.

As for Rhea, he will be working on Star Wars: Chronicles of the Great War, a series that will tell the story of Ussej Padric Bac before he became the Shaman of the Order of the Whills, as seen in The Chosen One. Along with this series will be a first-person narrative titled My Father's Dreams. This short story will chronicle the life of Jonathan Bac as the character retells his life story to an interviewer who is writing a story about him. Release dates for this and all of the aforementioned works have yet to be set.

Influences
Influences for the project have come from a wide variety of sources. While Dorantes was still in the project, his Alternative Saga work was largely influenced by the  film  due to its focus on family. Other influences for family included murdered singer, as well as the films ' and '. Dorantes also stated that themes such as friendship were inspired by, ', and '. Star Wars canon influences included  and the. Many of these influences are no longer part of the current Alternative Saga due to Dorante’s departure.

While Lipman has found inspiration in horror novels written by, he is generally influenced by the music he listens to. Bands such as, , and play influential roles in the development of his work because of how he feels they convey anger and aggression that he can use for the characters. Lipman also believes that album  does a good job at influencing emotions of pain and loss, which can be used to portray those emotions in a narrative.

Using different sources than the Dorantes and Lipman, Rhea has found influence in religion, particularly the ideas of, , and. For example, when Steven Alldis, the founder of TheStarWarsRP.Com, and Rhea were laying the groundwork for the character Ussej Padric Bac in, it was decided to use the name “Ussej” due to it being a respelling of “Jesus”, the name of the. The, the second book of the and Christian , also forms the basis of a story in Rhea’s work. Two final influences include TheStarWarsRP.Com and the television show .

Reception
Reception towards the Alternative Saga and the works within it has been generally positive amongst those who have read and reviewed them. In an issue of the Completely Unofficial Star Wars Fanon Newsletter, now-former Editor Darth tom called Star Wars: Episode I - The Chosen One “an excellent read, and a literary masterpiece in relation to here on [Star Wars Fanon]”, as well as “an excellent addition to the world of Star Wars”. Reviews on TheStarWarsRP.Com and TheForce.Net have been equally positive; on TheStarWarsRP.Com, Hunter Manuel stated that he believed the novel should be published, and on TheForce.Net users commented that they were “blown away by the spectacularity” of the novel and that it is an incredible alternate universe story. Unit 8311 stated that while he was not a fan of Star Wars rewrites, he felt that The Chosen One and other Alternative Saga novels were better reads than other alternate universe works.

Joe Butler, a user on Star Wars Fanon, praised Star Wars: The Alderaan Affair author, Lipman, for his work on the novel, saying that Butler could “feel the emotion [and] the adrenaline”, even though Lipman was not “fluffing up [the] writing with cotton”. Although fellow Alternative Saga founders Rhea and Dorantes noted a certain lack of detail in some points of The Alderaan Affair, they nonetheless praised the work as well. The novel also co-won the Best Fan Work Award in the Fourth Star Wars Fanon Wiki Awards.