Oddworld Books?
 

I'm going to throw this into the mix and hopefully generate some worthwhile discussion. Is there a market for a release of Oddworld novels?

As an avid reader and writer (currently in the agent liaison stage of publishing), I am probably somewhat biased when I consider the possibilities of experiencing Oddworld in a literary form, but I think the opportunity would be a worthwhile investment for JAW and Oddworld Inhabitants. New 'n' Tasty will likely be the only video game I embrace this year, besides a few quick rounds of Harmony of Despair with my fiancé, but I think it is a testament to the tantalising thematic and aesthetic elements of this fictional universe that it is still able to lure a core percentage of my time, when my focus has primarily shifted to a cumbersome literary existence.

We all know Lorne originally devised the Quintology as a series of movies, which inevitably became our beloved video games. The raw origin of the story is obvious, as the characters, environments and the narrative itself are all rich and believable components not a unanimous presence in the video game industry at the time. Oddworld was an intelligent pioneer, which effectively amalgamated movies and video games into a single stream, and because of this near-cumbersome mythology, I believe the franchise lends itself to be expanded in the literary world. Not only would it enriched our experience with Oddworld, it would be a cost effective product (in consideration) to deliver to the ever-patient fan base who are forever hungry for more kudos from kudos.

Video game related novels that tie-in to an established universe are prevalent among the industry, and successful franchises such as Halo and Warcraft have created entirely new narrative strings, which exist independently as their own unique stories, but act to flesh out certain characters, locations and story threads. Of course, the process of penning Oddworld stories would rely on the acceptability of the fandom, but as I have stated, the series has already established a mythology worthy of literary expansion.

So I'm going to pass the forum baton over to your good folks. What do you think? Is there a market for Oddworld stories? Would you read them? What sub-stories would you like to see tackled in a literary form? Let me know!


[I apologise for the rough paragraphs. I had a much longer reply typed, and then the forum logged me out, so I tried to pump this out from my mind's eyes as quick as I could. I think I got most of the points.]

Well, I'm always interested in more Oddworld stuff.

I'd definitely read books based on the Oddworld universe but only if they really are part of the IP canon. I'm not interested in fan fiction that will be discarded by OWI if they decide that the story told in the book goes in the way of their creative process, a bit like Disney is doing with the Star Wars extended mythology.

Basically this yeah. Halo is a near perfect example on how to handle things (only problem I have so far is the end of the "Reach" game and "The Fall of Reach" book). The books enhance the experience but you don't need them to enjoy the rest of the stories.

So what I'm saying is that OWI/Lorne Lanning should have a big role to play in this for me to be interested.

Indeed. Fan-fiction is the bane of my existence, and although I used to tinker in a range of personal iterations of some of my favourite stories, as I've matured the art holds no place in my library. In my opinion, life is too short to read anything that doesn't pertain to canon, and I have even less time to produce such material.

Xavier, you bring up an excellent point about the Star Wars novels. I have seven of them, including the Jedi Academy Trilogy and Darksaber by Kevin J. Anderson (only because I'm a fan of his work as a whole), and another trilogy my fiancé picked up for a dollar. I was a late-comer to the whole Star Wars phenomenon, and I have still yet to see Return of the Jedi in its entirety, but I was marvelled and inspired by the scope of the entire universe and wanted to be a part of it … until I learned the canonical value of the novels pertains to what the core movies eventually decide to depict, which pretty much renders much of the textual reliability and enjoyment moot. If I take the time to read something, I expect it to be "real" within its parent-world, not a tentative instalment that might disappear at any moment.

From what I have read, many of the novels that dictate life after Return of the Jedi are being pulled from the official timeline so J.J. Abrams and crew don't have to abide by the established lore. While I love much of J.J.'s work, and I appreciate he would rather craft his own story rather than retell events that have already been written, it seems to me (the studio formerly known as) LucasArts isn't particularly interested in maintaining a coherent universe. If you had already perused through these various novels, and enjoyed the continuation of the saga, would you not feel cheated by having these experienced effectively erased?

I also once read an interview where George Lucas claimed he has not read any of the extended mythology. When filming Revenge of the Sith, he had to be told by one of the production designers to include a scar on Anakin Skywalker's face, which the character had acquired in one of his novel adventures. A very poor attitude for the creator of such a renowned the universe. I wouldn't imagine Lorne following a similar procedure with his IP—I also wouldn't imagine Lorne selling his IP to a mega-corperation either, but that's another subject.

So, without bashing Star Wars any longer, I completely agree. The novels would have to be canonically accurate without the grand scheme of the Oddworld mythos, and (at the very least) approved by Lorne.

I don't like novels.

I'll be more interested in graphic novels or comics. I can see Oddworld working nicely in that style.

Given the artistic style that was able to flush out such an expansive world via the backdrops of the first two games, I would also wager that a graphic novel would hold some resonance. However, outside of Manga, and very few DC/Marvel arcs, I find the territory to be over bloated, and (at best) sub-par storytelling. I know I couldn't wait until Marvel's adaption of Stephen King's, The Dark Tower, only to be sullenly disappointed with half-baked dialogue and some very uninteresting plot threads, glued together with a few interesting drawings. It's probably me being biased again, having a perverse fascination for pure literature, but I find the overall structure of graphic novels to be limited and very strait-forward in terms of plot. Also, the digital rendering of comics nowadays in general really dilutes the entire genre, in my opinion. It feels too artificial. Yeah, I get it, they can pump them out faster this way, but the simple rule of quality over quantity should never be ignored.

Still, I'm open to Oddworld giving it a shot. If anyone can do it, they can. It would be great just to see some of their famous landscape shots again.

Maybe you you give more independent stories a try? Like Maus or American Splendor. I hear Perespolis is quite a read also.

You seem to refer only to American Comics, you should really give Franco-Belgian comics a try. With the right artists it would be a very suitable medium for Oddworld.

Actually Sha (with stunning drawings from Olivier Ledroit), was referred to by Lorne as being a visual inspiration for Oddworld. Looking at it, no doubt is possible.

Alas, being from Australia, most of these titles and alternative are an ambiguity to me (although, I do have the entire collection of TinTin, arguably the most iconic Franco-Belgium comic). Besides ordering comics in from interstate and judging the content on a whim, my selection has always been limited to a shelf at my old local bookstore, and whatever Supanova provides. Unfortunately, I also just moved to a township that doesn't support an actual bookstore outside of the chain retailers, so my range in this field has always been severely limited. I'll never understand it, but Australians are too caught up in their football fantasia to care about reading, not to mention comics. An old neighbour of mine was adamant I was immature, because I happened to be reading the latest edition of Aquaman, and comics are for children. My mother-in-law also has the same opinion about reading in general, but despiser comics most of all. Yep. Australia. What else can I say?

Xavier, about that graphic novel you mentioned, Sha. Woah. Just, woah. The visuals are near-to a carbon copy of much of the early Oddworld artwork. A very cool find (for me at least), and would make an interesting read. I also would agree my comment of digitised artwork is affiliated mainly with the mainstream comic industry, and there definitely are some gems floating under the broader spectrum. For example, Chakan: The Forever Man, is one of my favourite stories of all time, but at this time it is unavailable for me to purchase, which usually seems to be the case for these exceptions that prove the rule.

Holy Sock, I did a brief Google search of your suggestions, and I'm amazed to find there is a graphic novel genre pertaining to autobiographies. I feel like I just stepped into a completely new era. Since when did this become a thing? For half-a-century? Well, okay. Guess they skipped over that genre in my degree.

They seem very fascinating, and I'm definitely going to investigate further—perhaps purchase a few of them. Cheers!

I would so be down to read an official novel. Not necessarily written by Lorne/Shelly, but just OK'd by them, so I'd know there is nothing that doesn't work with the universe.

It's Sherry, not Shelly. ;)

They will need to pass it trough Wil, he'll spot inconsistencies like no one else.

Damnit, sorry. I always mess up her name.

I like fanfics, but they usually have those inconsistencies.

The additional problem with Oddworld is that there is very little established canon. No one other than OWI/JAW employees know enough about the OW mythos to actually write a novel length story. We don't know enough about the world, the history, languages, names, species or inter-species hierarchy to actual write anything that wouldn't just be another FC fan-fiction.

I'd love to read an Oddworld-themed book. I was always writing short stories for school essays/exams. Not that they were very good at all... but I'm definitely interested in what can be done to expand the universe. I'd love some pretty awesome looking graphic novels too.

I don't reckon we'd see anything like that for another few years anyway.

Wil's probably read the top-secret Oddworld bible by now. Even if he wasn't supposed to.

I would, hell I'd pay to read it.

Wil, if that's true, you better start writing those novels right now!