Brotherhood: Interview with Mike Chen

Since its publication on May 10, 2022, Brotherhood has quickly become a book that Star Wars fans have embraced. It doesn’t hurt that the two main characters, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are amongst the franchise’s most popular characters, but Mike Chen deserves freighter-loads of credit for his character-driven story which poignantly sheds light on a very specific part of the timeline. Chen shared with Tatooine Times his feelings both in the time before Brotherhood was published to its warm reception today: “Before the book came out, I was definitely nervous. It’s one thing to launch your original work, but this is something I care deeply about and has much more visibility. Fortunately, most people want to spend time with Obi-Wan and Anakin when they’re not in peak crisis mode, so the reception has been really, really fantastic.” With two such important Jedi front and center, Chen said that instead of being nervous, he was excited. “One of my strengths as a writer is the ability to pick up and convey voice. I knew these characters inside and out, and for Anakin in particular, I had to bridge between Attack of the Clones’ Hayden Christensen and The Clone Wars’ Matt Lanter in terms of voice, so I wanted my Anakin to sound like equal parts both. It’s really about getting Anakin into a head space where he feels like he can be loose and authentic with Obi-Wan. So actually executing on that idea was so much fun—it never got dull or felt like ‘work’.”

A central theme in the novel is transition. The galaxy is transitioning from peace to war, and Kenobi and Skywalker are moving from Master and Apprentice to peers. The author shared why he felt this portion of the timeline was necessary to fill in: “At the end of Attack of the Clones, Obi-Wan and Anakin are still bickering, and when we see them on Christophsis in The Clone Wars movie, they’re already bantering. So to figure out that bridge was fascinating, and the thing that I really felt like I unearthed was that that relationship always existed. It just needed the removal of Master and Apprentice framing in order to surface.” Chen spoke about how this change in relationship between two Jedi wasn’t just an interesting plot point, it was actually inspired by his own life: “I thought about how a lot of the sibling relationships in my life changed when we all got to college. In many cases, the things that drove our bickering simply vanished, and we were able to see ourselves as adults and equals for the first time. That was a pretty powerful epiphany, and when I began applying it to Obi-Wan and Anakin, it felt very natural”.

Mike Chen’s introduction of new characters, the Neimoidian soldier Ruug Quarnom and Jedi youngling Mill Alibeth, has delighted readers not only for their key roles in the plot but also for their unique personalities and traits. The author explained where he drew inspiration for such fleshed out newcomers: “Ruug Quarnom is unashamedly a combination of Kira Nerys from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Garrus Vakarian from Mass Effect. I set out with the goal of creating a heroic badass Neimoidian to counter what was seen in The Phantom Menace, and immediately I thought that the character had to be a foil for Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan is so true north in his perspective; he can’t possibly imagine that the system itself is corrupt. I wanted Ruug to be the opposite of that, someone who has done so much killing for governments that she understands that it’s all ephemeral and likely corrupted to some degree, so her guiding light is not an institution but her people. They work very well together, and I’m really glad she’s connected with so many readers.” As for Jedi youngling Mill Alibeth, Chen agreed with the fans that she somehow must survive Order 66: “How she does it and why, I don’t care, as long as she makes it through. As an empath, I can think of many ways she can do good for the galaxy as the Empire is coming to power, that’s for sure.”

Eagle eyed fans of Star Wars and beyond might have noticed a number of easter eggs sprinkled throughout Brotherhood. Chen revealed how some of these tidbits were planned and others arose naturally: “I knew I wanted to pull in elements from Matthew Stover’s Revenge of the Sith novelization, because they felt vital to Anakin’s character. I also contacted E.K. Johnston to see how I could make my book sync up with Queen’s Hope, and I talked with the editorial team about making this a spiritual successor to Claudia Gray’s Master & Apprentice. So all of those were built into the bones of Brotherhood. Other things, like nods to Genndy Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars series or Legends novels like Shatterpoint, were things that felt like they naturally belonged, and I put them in hoping that I’d get cleared to use them. I didn’t want to put in easter eggs for the sake of having them. Nearly every one had to feel like an organic connection.”

For prequels and/or The Clone Wars fans, Chen believes Brotherhood is a great starting point for entering the world of Star Wars books as it’s a deep dive into Anakin and Obi-Wan’s relationship in a time of galactic transition rather than just a space adventure spin-off tale. He added, “I have two of the older parent figures in my life, both in their 70’s. Both are big readers but not really into sci-fi. Though they’ve seen the Skywalker saga as casual fans and don’t watch any of the TV series or read expanded material, they both told me they loved Brotherhood, and it was because of the character work. The woman I call my ‘Second Mom’ told me that I made Anakin ‘complex, compassionate, funny, and totally interesting’.”

For more of Mike Chen follow him on Instagram and Twitter. Brotherhood is available now in hardback and audiobook formats from Del Rey Publishing.