More to the Point - Notes on the Lost Novel

One of our recent Point of Origin updates mentioned a project we'd never heard of - a planned Wing Commander novel about the destruction of the Tiger's Claw credited to Ellen Guon and Jerry Pournelle. The article said: "The third book may include the death of the Tiger's Claw, but it won't hit stores for at least 18 to 24 months. This one will be penned by Jerry Pournelle of BYTE fame and once again, Ellen Guon. Maybe we ought to put her back on ccMail..." This novel's 'slot' eventually became Fleet Action, with a completely different author and a completely different subject. What happened? Both Jerry Pournelle and Ellen Guon were kind enough to respond to our questions! Jerry Pournelle:

I don't remember how that news got out. I much admired Ellen's novel, but I certainly never had a contract to do a Wing Commander novel. Lost in the mists of time, I guess. I liked the Wing Commander game series a lot, and Privateer is certainly among my top five favorite games ever.

Unfortunately, for various reasons (mostly contractual), that novel never happened. Sorry to disappoint you!

The Art of Wing Commander Arena - Part Twenty-Two

This is another orthographic view, this time of the A-17 Broadsword. It's interesting seeing both the initial 'blueprint' rendering of the ship and the 'internal notes' in the top corner! Apparently they had initially intended to leave the Broadsword without afterburners, as it appeared in Wing Commander 2... it's likely that game balancing ultimately prevented this.