Q: What were some of the challenges in writing a Star Wars novel set prior to the events in The Phantom Menace, featuring characters whose ultimate fates readers may be expected to know already? I'm thinking about Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn, of course, but mainly of Darth Maul. How did you keep up the suspense?

Micahel Reaves: That's hardly a problem unique to my book, and I suspect the other SW writers deal with it the same way I did -- you just write the book, you do the best job you can, and if you've told your story well enough, people will give themselves over to it. The suspense will be there. People were able to invest themselves emotionally in Titanic, for example, even though they knew the ship sinks.

Q: In addition to this Star Wars project, you've written for the Batman animated TV series. What's it like writing about characters who have in a sense transcended fiction and become modern myths? How is it different from writing about your own characters, like those in your upcoming novel Hell on Earth, for example?

MR:There are advantages and disadvantages. It can be hard writing about a character like Batman, because you want to bring a fresh vision to the material -- what's the point of rehashing everything that's gone before? But you have to be true to the spirit of the material, to be mindful of everything that's iconic about it. It's a balancing act. On the good side, you feel like you're participating in a myth cycle, which is pretty cool. Also, when you're writing about Batman, or Darth Maul, or other legendary characters, a certain amount of the work has been done for you, in a sense -- you can hit the ground running because everyone knows the backstory. We don't have to set up in every episode that Batman fights crime, which is a big help when you've only got 22 minutes to tell a story. One of the fun things about writing in the Star Wars universe is having such a rich source to draw from. It's quite different from creating your own characters and stories -- then you're on the ground floor, and there are less rules. Of course, you're still dealing with archetypes -- if you're doing it right -- but it's simultaneously less constraining and more work.

Q: Did your work on Batman, the Dark Knight, give you any insight into the Jedi Knights . . . and the Dark Side of the Force?

MR: I can't say I was aware of any connection -- that is, I don't recall any point while writing the book where I found myself noticing or stressing similarities in tone or characterization. Obviously parallels can be drawn. I seem to have a natural aptitude for writing stories and characters that are dark and obsessive in nature, which is why I was able to tune into both Batman and Shadow Hunter.

Q: By the end of Shadow Hunter, I sensed that you'd come to to respect Darth Maul . . . even to have a certain sympathy for him. Is that true?

MR: As a writer, I of course wanted to create character arcs for the main players. That's just conscientious craftsmanship -- characters have to go through changes, have epiphanies, etc., or the reader doesn't feel invested in the story. It's not satisfying. One of Maul's big attractions in Episode I is that he's very focused and single-minded -- he goes where Sidious points him, does what he's told. But that's easier to sustain in a movie, especially when he's a supporting character. He has a much more central role in Shadow Hunter, and, because it's a book, I had to get inside his head somewhat. The folks at Lucasfilm didn't want too much of his past revealed, preferring to keep that part of him shrouded with mystery, and I couldn't just play him as a one-note Terminator -- it would be boring for me and the readers. So the direction I chose to go with him seemed the best way to satisfy both the book's dramatic needs and the constraints of writing a character who has to remain substantially the same from beginning to end. So the short answer is: of course I did. If I didn't sympathize with and respect him, nobody reading the book would either.