Origins of the Death Star

The ultimate weapon of fear has had a torturous history and the truth of its genesis seems to have been contradicted time and time again. Here, seems to be about the best explanation we are ever going to have (excerpt from the Death Star entry on Wookieepedia):

The Death Star was born in the mind of Raith Sienar, who had conceived of it as an Expeditionary Battle Planetoid. He shared his idea with his friend Captain Wilhuff Tarkin, who presented it to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. Palpatine, as Sith Lord Darth Sidious, gave the designs to his apprentice, Separatist leader Count Dooku. Dooku then presented the designs to Geonosian Industries for further technical modifications.

During the Battle of Geonosis, Archduke Poggle the Lesser, leader of the Geonosians, returned the top-secret designs to Count Dooku to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Jedi. Dooku took the designs back to Coruscant and gave them to Darth Sidious, his dark master.

To me it personally doesn't make a lot of sense and it is a contrivance, trying to draw together all the different elements supposedly involved in the genesis and evolution of the Death Star. And what of Bevel Lemelisk, who I once understood was the creator of the Death Star? Well, he was involved with the designs of the laser super-weapon at the Maw and the development of the Death Star Prototype. In one book (Darksaber, I think) Lemelisk is repeatedly tortured by the Emperor for the thermal exhaust port flaw in the original battle station that allowed the Rebels to blow it up. It now seems that Lemelisk was unfairly blamed for a fault that was not of his making at all!

What also doesn't make sense is all this passing around of what were supposed to be top secret plans for the ultimate weapon. And why would Tarkin give the plans to Palpatine? Surely he would wish to maintain control of the project especially as the Death Star was a possible insurance for Tarkin or maybe a means of one day wresting power from Palpatine.

I am currently reading the novel Star Wars: Death Star and this had such a confusing and vague explanation for the battle station's origins that I am not sure that I quite remember what it said. Largely I think it was along the lines of the comments quoted above from Wookieepedia.

But I have another problem with this book, apart from the fact that it is badly written and has on occasion appalling sentence structure; the introduction of Admiral Daala. My recollection, and a re-reading of relevant passages from Jedi Search largely confirms this, is that Daala was put in charge of the Maw Installation and was out of communications contact with the Empire for over a decade. She was forbidden from making contact with the galaxy outside the Maw and indeed Kevin J Anderson in his book suggests that holonet transmissions were impossible because of the effects of the black hole cluster surrounding the installation. How can it be explained that in the novel by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry, Daala is summoned to the Death Star by Tarkin? I have not yet read the outcome of his invitation but if Daala did leave the Maw and visit Death Star I, this would seem at odds with Jedi Search. Furthermore if communications to and from the Maw are firstly prohibited and secondly supposedly impossible, how was the conversation between Tarkin and Daala possible?

Although these may seem trivial concerns, I am annoyed by the fact that where a story has been established it is subsequently contradicted or rewritten in a later novel. Similarly, the events Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith add extra complexity to the origins of the Death Star and I wonder whether the only thing we can really consider as canon is the films themselves. In other words, all the books, source materials and novels (which have been licensed by Lucasfilm) are just an interpretation, not necessarily part of the official canon.