|
A Long Time Ago, in a Another Thread Far Far Away... (Yeah, that was a cheap way to start the thread, but I couldn't resist.) What started back in March of 2007 as a Geeky Star Wars Questions thread evolved over the years (and a few threads) into the Star Wars Book thread. A place where Star Wars nerds could come to talk about Star Wars books and exchange recommendations and theories. Because unlike a lot of other Expanded Universes (EU from here on out), the Star Wars EU was entirely canon. This wasn't true for something like the Star Trek EU, where books could reference or ignore other books. In Star Wars, if it was in a book, it counted. Everything was interconnected. Sure, it wasn't perfect, and occasionally George Lucas came in and stomped all over it with a movie and the EU would have to course correct, but for the most part it worked and a massive EU tapestry was created of some great books, and a lot of lovely books, all weaving in and out of each other. And everyone was happy and no one ever fought about anything. And then in 2012, something happened...Lucasfilm, and everything it owned, including Star Wars, was purchased by Disney. And, as a part of this buyout, an announcement was made. The EU of old would be rendered non-canon, to make way for a new trilogy of movies. The response from the fans for this was...well let's say it was split. Many people were upset to think that their favorites like Thrawn, Mara Jade, Jaina and Jacen Solo, Kyp Durron, Exar Kun, the Wraith Squadron, etc. were no more, and that we wouldn't get any more stories from them. That all the time and emotional investment they had put into them had been wiped out to make way for the new. Personally, I don't see that Lucasfilm had any choice. If the new trilogy was to include Han, Luke, and Leia (whether this was a good idea in hindsight is a different discussion, they were obviously going to include them from the outset), there was no way they were going to try to cover all that history. "So, okay, Chewie is dead. Someone dropped a moon on him. Han and Leia had 3 kids. 1 was killed by a masochistic race of aliens who were invisible to the Force. 1 went evil and was killed by the 3rd. Luke has a kid. The kid's mother? She was killed by the evil Han and Leia kid. All caught up? No? Doesn't matter. Let's go!" But no matter what you thought, it happened, and the old EU was dead. Why am I giving this long recap? To explain why we're here. The old Book Barn OP (which I will link below) is from 2010, before the Disney buyout, and references things that are no longer canon, and had become basically useless. People coming to the thread would have to ask for the same recommendations people had already asked for a few pages ago, so I felt it wise to go ahead and try to consolidate some info and recommendations on the current(ish) state of Star Wars books. I'll try to keep it somewhat current, but let's be honest, that won't last forever. What Books Should I Read? New EU This list is the generally accepted list of "Good New EU Books." If I left anything out, please let me know and I will correct it. I will try to make this OP be a work in progress.  Lost Stars by Claudia Gray Tells the story of a boy and a girl growing up during the events of the Original Trilogy, and is generally accepted by most people as the first great book of the new EU. Technically a Young Adult novel, but it didn't bother me at all while reading it. Thoroughly enjoyed this novel, great characters, well written.  Thrawn by Timothy Zahn Timothy Zahn, one of the originators of the old EU, was asked to bring his most famous old EU character, Thrawn, back into the new EU. This tells the story of his early days in the Empire. There are more Thrawn books written by Zahn after this that have a mixed reception, but this book is solid.  Alphabet Squadron Series by Alexander Freed The spiritual successor to the Rogue and Wraith Squadron books of the old EU, this tells the story of a group of New Republic pilots hunting down an Imperial group called Shadow Wing.  Ahsoka by E. K. Johnston Tells the story of Ahsoka Tano after the fall of the Republic and the end of the Clone Wars, and what she was up to before showing up in Rebels. Has a very Western feel to it, and, to me, matches well with the tone of The Mandalorian. Also, if audiobooks are your thing, it is read by Ashley Eckstein, who voiced Ahsoka in both Clone Wars and Rebels, so that feels very cool.  Phasma by Delilah S. Dawson Tells the origin of Captain Phasma prior to the events of The Force Awakens. I know, who gives a poo poo about Captain Phasma, right? You, after reading this. Described by forums user Teek as "kind of like a Mad Max meets The Long Walk tale of Phasma as a teenager". It's biggest sin is making you care about a character that is ultimately wasted by the movies.  Bloodline by Claudia Gray From the author of the previously mentioned Lost Stars, Bloodline takes place 6 years before The Force Awakens, and tells a story of Leia dealing with threats to the Republic, both internal and external. It's a really entertaining look at the state of the galaxy leading into the sequel trilogy, which those movies tend to gloss over, unfortunately. Some major events, which should have been covered in the movies, happen here. And Gray really is at the top of her game.  Lords of the Sith by Paul S. Kemp Do you want to read about Palpatine and Darth Vader tearing some poo poo up on Ryloth? Well, look no further! Pretty simple, but good, fast paced fun.    From a Certain Point of View series A series of short stories set during A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi using view points of various minor background characters throughout the movies. The quality of each one varies, but overall fun stuff. And the ESB one has a goon writer for one story! I heard about the Aftermath trilogy? What about those?  Ugh. Okay, so the Aftermath books are...different. They were the first new EU books, and set post Return of the Jedi, so we were all very excited to get them to get our first glimpse at what this new EU galaxy would look like! And then we got them. First thing you should know is that they're written in the present tense. That can be a huge hurdle for some people to climb, as this is different than most novels people read, and can be very jarring for most readers. Just want you to know that going in. The books also occasionally jump away from the main storyline to cut to "interludes", which are basically moments of checking in on the galaxy at large to see what it's up to. Some of the interludes connect to each other, some don't. It gets weird. They're mostly god awful bullshit, with slight glimmers of wonderful. They introduce Sinjir, who is one of my favorite new characters ever. He’s great. And honestly, the depths of which they’re bad reach a level that I think has to be seen to be believed. And some of the Interludes they do are fun. An older Jar Jar comes up in one of them! If you listen to podcasts a lot, I’d recommend giving the audiobooks a listen as a change of pace for a laugh. Then the present tense doesn’t bother you as much either, because it sounds like a radio play, with sound effects and score and all. But seriously, they’re loving nuts. Some people will disagree with me, and they can feel free to do so. But I feel like the general consensus on the books is, "...ugh." Also, it's my OP, so there. That being said, if you ever wanted to know why all that wreckage was on Jakku, here's where you need to look. Ongoing Series  The High Republic The biggest thing going right now is The High Republic, which is a multimedia, and multi-phase, project, spanning both books and comics, telling one cohesive story set two centuries prior to The Phantom Menace. It's...a lot, and I haven't kept up with it all. Luckily, forums poster Teek is here with this great breakdown of where we are right now! Teek posted:https://www.starwars.com/news/every-star-wars-the-high-republic-book-and-comic-series What about Legends? As the old EU became non-canon, those books were rebranded as "Legends". So they're still out there and can still be purchased and enjoyed. Just because they're not canon doesn't mean you shouldn't read them. Here's a quick list of recommendations that I won't put much effort into, but if you're interested, check them out, or feel free to ask questions! The Thrawn Trilogy Shatterpoint Revenge of the Sith Novelization (better than the movie itself) The Han Solo Adventures (the Brian Daley ones) The Lando Calrissian Adventures The Hand of Thrawn Duology (once you've read the above Thrawn Trilogy) X-Wing Series, but basically just the ones by Aaron Allston, so: -The Wraith Squadron Trilogy -Starfighters of Adumar -Mercy Kill Links Wookieepedia - Silly name, very useful for an insane amount of Star Wars info. Last Geeky Star Wars Book Thread Let Us Read Terrible Star Wars Books For You (Archives Needed) - Something silly I started years ago that turned into a fun huge group goon project where we all read terrible Star Wars books and made fun of them. Originator of the Bounty Hunter Wars backstabbing chart (seen below) that I wish I could take credit for. The Whole Thread was also zipped by Rochallor here!  Presented into the official Senate record! 
thrawn527 fucked around with this message at 20:54 on Sep 27, 2023 |
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 16:21
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 24, 2024 17:36 |
|
|
You're gonna namedrop the backstab chart but not actually link it in the OP? That thing belongs in a museum! Also, I'd highly recommend tossing Bloodline in the OP if for no other reason than it gives a good overview of the political state of the galaxy in the lead-up to the Sequel Trilogy, something that TFA only glosses over in vague detail
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 16:29
|
|
|
jivjov posted:You're gonna namedrop the backstab chart but not actually link it in the OP? That thing belongs in a museum! I couldn’t find it! If anyone has it, I’d love to put it in the OP, so it’s easy to find moving forward. And yeah, that’s a good point about Bloodline. I’ll add that in later today.
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 16:37
|
|
|
Anything by Claudia Gray is as good as gold.
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 16:50
|
|
|
thrawn527 posted:I couldn’t find it! If anyone has it, I’d love to put it in the OP, so it’s easy to find moving forward. Also, the only thing I'd add or make a minor correction to is recommending the entire Wraith Squadron trilogy plus Starfighters of Adumar, as all the Aaron Allston X-wing books were really good. EDIT: Oh, I'll recommend the Essential Guide to Warfare from 2012 as something that was really cool. It's basically presented as an in-universe history of all the major conflicts of the Star Wars universe, both the films, books, comics, and whatnot of the old EU, and does a really good job of hitting all the high points while skipping the bad ones (Like Darksaber!). It's got some good art, and includes lots of little stuff. The author of it, Jason Fry, has also done short stories in both of the From a Certain Point of View books focusing on Red Squadron stuff, if you're a fan of X-wings and stuff related to that. And from the new canon, the first Battlefront novel, Twilight Company, was pretty good. It's by Alexander Freed, who has also done the Alphabet Squadron books, and I think the infantry unit it focuses on showed up in the second of those books as well. fartknocker fucked around with this message at 17:05 on Dec 17, 2020 |
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 16:53
|
|
|
For the Legends section, those are some pretty good picks. I would add Traitor, but it's smack-dab in the middle of a 500-book series so I understand leaving it out. I'll actually nominate Yoda: Dark Rendezvous and A.C. Crispin trilogy of Han Solo books. Maybe those don't actually hold up, but I remember them being better than most old EU fare. surf rock fucked around with this message at 17:06 on Dec 17, 2020 |
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 16:56
|
|
|
i bid the new moffthread dark greetings
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 17:01
|
|
|
Kyp Durron was nobody's favorite character, OP.
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 17:15
|
|
|
Yub yub, commander.
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 17:16
|
|
|
Hazo posted:Kyp Durron was nobody's favorite character, OP. It is with great shame that I admit I liked him a lot back in the day. He hit that exact right teen angst, angry at nothing spot for me when I read those books back when I was a lovely teenager.
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 17:18
|
|
|
I like Kyp a lot as being one of a very small handful of characters that goes dark and then comes back to the light to speak about and teach on his experiences. Much more valuable than Redemption Via Death
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 17:27
|
|
|
Okay, OP updated to add Bloodline and the backstabbing chart. Also some slight tweaks to the Legends recs (just adding the Allston books mentioned). Thanks everyone!VaultAggie posted:Anything by Claudia Gray is as good as gold. I'll admit I couldn't get through her Princess Leia book. Just something about her and young Holdo in the junior Senate bored me to tears. Does it get better? It's still sitting on my Kindle, I just stopped wanting to keep going with it around 1/3 the way through it. But Lost Stars and Bloodline are both fantastic, yes. surf rock posted:For the Legends section, those are some pretty good picks. I would add Traitor, but it's smack-dab in the middle of a 500-book series so I understand leaving it out. Yeah, while Traitor is good, I find it hard to just drop a recommend for anything in the New Jedi Order without giving a massive explanation for what the gently caress was going on with that, and really you'd have to read the whole series to get why it was good, so it's hard to recommend it. NJO was so loving weird. I both appreciate what they were going for and hate how it turned out. thrawn527 fucked around with this message at 18:00 on Dec 17, 2020 |
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 17:55
|
|
|
Obviously Traitor is great, but I also really like Destiny's Way. For that being the one book Walter Jon Williams wrote in Star Wars, and it being set in the middle not only of a big series but one that was really only tangentially linked to the movies, he did a great job. I'll also do a (maybe?) hot take and say that I think Vector Prime is really solid too as an intro to not only the NJO, but also the first book of both the new publisher and the new movie era. I think my big problem with Disney dumping the EU is twofold (and I acknowledge up front that of course they were going to do it and there's no way movie viewers should be expected to have followed the NJO or whatever): First, they could keep the old EU going as a separate continuity. The exact same way they do with Marvel comics vs. movies. I understand the argument that "it will confuse people to have two continuities" but, by keeping the old EU stuff in print anyways, they're effectively still putting out the "competing" stuff regardless. Second... for dropping the old continuity to make room for the movies, the new movies are completely unoriginal. "Oh, what if Han and Leia had a son... and Luke trained him... but he turned to the dark side! And then there were Imperials who kept fighting after ROTJ... and they made a bunch of superweapons! And everything went back to the status quo of ANH! And what if Palpatine returned from the dead and had a secret Jedi grandchild!" I think it's really telling that for years, movie purists slammed the EU for having terrible ideas like a reliance on recycling movie stuff, superweapons of the week, grimdark heroes failing or tangling with the dark side, negating the end of ROTJ by bringing back the Emperor and dark siders and having the Empire survive and all that... and then those same movie purists all love the sequels for doing those exact same things. I mean, probably the most maligned works of the EU were Dark Empire and Glove of Darth Vader and those are the works the sequel movies have the most parallels with.
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 18:09
|
|
|
thrawn527 posted:I'll admit I couldn't get through her Princess Leia book. Just something about her and young Holdo in the junior Senate bored me to tears. Does it get better? It's still sitting on my Kindle, I just stopped wanting to keep going with it around 1/3 the way through it. The Leia one is pretty solid, although a lot slower than her other ones. The last third of the book picks up, and sets up threads for TLJ. It still is a lot of politicking, and quite different from her other works. Master and Apprentice is also a lot of fun.
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 18:22
|
|
|
thrawn527 posted:Ugh. Okay, so the Aftermath books are...different. They were the first new EU books, and set post Return of the Jedi, so we were all very excited to get them to get our first glimpse at what this new EU galaxy would look like! And then we got them.  The first EU book released was A New Dawn, a pretty solid Rebels prequel that introduces us to Kanan, Hera, and noted recurring Imperial Rae Sloane. Also known for reasserting bathroom over refresher as the preferred terminology edit: Also if I could add a Canon rec: Lords of the Sith 320 pages of Vader and Sheev wrecking poo poo on Ryloth, it's simply written but fun nonetheless
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 18:28
|
|
|
Cross-Section posted:Also known for reasserting bathroom over refresher as the preferred terminology Which did not last, either.
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 18:31
|
|
|
Chairman Capone posted:Which did not last, either. Yeah, I think that and "coffee" were not long for the new canon, sadly
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 18:37
|
|
|
On the other hand, there are all of those menu items at Galaxy's Edge that originally had Star Warsy names but then had to be replaced with their Earthly equivalents because no one knew what they were ordering. I have to say that while I have no desire to go to Galaxy's Edge, I do really want to drink blue milk.
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 18:44
|
|
|
Kyp wasn't even the best new character in his debut trilogy. Then again I'm the weirdo who unironically loves Admiral Daala and her batshit lunacy and how everyone is afraid of her despite getting punked at every turn.
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 18:58
|
|
|
Cross-Section posted:
My mistake, Aftermath was the first announced new EU book if I remember correctly, but A New Dawn was the first released, you are right. A New Dawn was...fine, but nothing really all that interesting. Also, holy poo poo, I can't believe I forgot about Lords of the Sith. I honestly really enjoyed that book. Tons of fun.
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 19:00
|
|
|
Chairman Capone posted:On the other hand, there are all of those menu items at Galaxy's Edge that originally had Star Warsy names but then had to be replaced with their Earthly equivalents because no one knew what they were ordering. This isn't true by the way. I went to the passholder preview last year before it opened to the public, and the only difference I can tell between then and now is that they're maybe more descriptive about the ingredients. The menu item names are still the same. The ronto wrap is amazing and might be the best quick service snack in the park. And yes the blue (and green!) milks are fantastic, both with and without alcohol. edit: Well, I did some googling and I guess I didn't visit during the brief period where they had Earthly names for the food before they switched back because it was dumb. I can guarantee you that the original Star Warsy names are now there, just with additional descriptions Hazo fucked around with this message at 19:16 on Dec 17, 2020 |
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 19:03
|
|
|
Thanks for rebooting the thread, it needed it. I'll contribute my reviews of some of the new books and maybe some of the old books too. My review of Thrawn 2017, which is okay at best: quote:The book covers Thrawn's discovery by imperial forces on a distant outer rim world and his subsequent climb up the navy ranks. The narrative borrows a lot of elements from the EU storylines related to Thrawn, including Thrawn having been exiled by his people, his military genius and ability to psychoanalyze via art appreciation, his unparalleled ascension up the military ranks, general anti-alien sentiment among the predominately human empire, Thrawn's brief run-in with Anakin during the Outbound Flight fiasco, and the vague hints that a greater threat to the galaxy exists beyond the outer rim. Those are sufficient similarities that one wonders why they needed to throw out the EU at all, though of course the rationale is Disney's cravenness re: intellectual property. And also of Thrawn: Alliances, which sucked rear end: quote:My review of Thrawn: Alliances, mostly spoiler-free: And also of Aftermath, which is the worst book I've never finished: quote:I'm kind of in shock at how awful Aftermath is. I couldn't even get 100 pages into it before putting it down, and I'm definitely not going to pick up any of Wendig's other novels, NEU-related or not. Here's just a sampling of things that were bad about the book: And of Lost Stars, which is troubling, to say the least: quote:Lost Stars is my favorite example of how shallow thinking results in accidentally supporting fascism. The premise of the novel is Romeo and Juliet in space, set against the backdrop of the original trilogy. Two kids, who grow up together and of course fall in love, who are both talented Imperially-trained fighters, end up on opposite sides of the galactic civil war. Ciena remains in the Imperial ranks, climbing the Navy's ladder from cadet to captain of a star destroyer; meanwhile, Thane defects to the rebellion and becomes a hotshot starfighter pilot. They fight for their respective causes, meeting each other in battle as well as in the bedroom, as their love never dies even as they support mutually exclusive ideologies.
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 19:37
|
|
|
You should read my OFFICIALLY CANON star wars story "The Final Order" which is all about the fascism of the Empire and how there's no 'clean Starfleet' (to echo the noxious 'clean Wehrmacht' myth). Except we're not allowed to call it the Imperial Starfleet, despite that being the term from the Empire Strikes Back opening crawl, because it's too Star Trek.
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 19:42
|
|
|
Obviously this thread is going to try to avoid bitching about wiping out the old EU, but is it okay to still reference or discuss the Legends stuff? I recently read the original Thrawn trilogy a few months ago and got my hands on "Spectre of the Past" or whatever. I really enjoy them.
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 21:21
|
|
|
Crazy Joe Wilson posted:Obviously this thread is going to try to avoid bitching about wiping out the old EU, but is it okay to still reference or discuss the Legends stuff? I recently read the original Thrawn trilogy a few months ago and got my hands on "Spectre of the Past" or whatever. I really enjoy them. Oh absolutely. Talk about it, praise it, bitch about it, go crazy. Specter of the Past is clearly the first part of what was never originally intended to be a two part book (Zahn has confirmed this), but it's decent set up, and Vision of the Future is really good.
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 21:26
|
|
|
Crazy Joe Wilson posted:Obviously this thread is going to try to avoid bitching about wiping out the old EU, but is it okay to still reference or discuss the Legends stuff? I recently read the original Thrawn trilogy a few months ago and got my hands on "Spectre of the Past" or whatever. I really enjoy them. No, absolutely not, Disney will put you in the memory hole. This thread is strictly canonical!
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 21:32
|
|
|
Also about the "young adult" moniker, in case that turns you away. Claudia Gray has said that she doesn't target teenagers with her YA books, her take is that "young adult" means that the work focuses on young adults to some degree, rather than the prose being written for that level.
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 21:36
|
|
|
Van Dis posted:My review of Thrawn 2017, which is okay at best: The first new-canon Thrawn novel is one of the few books where I think the comic adaptation is superior. Condenses the plot in a good way, and the art is fairly good. Van Dis posted:And also of Aftermath, which is the worst book I've never finished: Speaking of Aftermath, there have been a few references to it in this season of The Mandalorian, which really stuck out for me because before this, the only reference to the new-canon EU in the live action productions was the valachord mention in Solo. I think it speaks a lot that even after the continuity reboot, the new EU just hasn't made an impact on people writing the actual scripts. Especially stuff like both Mandalorian and Episode IX explicitly stating that the civil war ended with Endor. General Battuta posted:You should read my OFFICIALLY CANON star wars story "The Final Order" which is all about the fascism of the Empire and how there's no 'clean Starfleet' (to echo the noxious 'clean Wehrmacht' myth). Except we're not allowed to call it the Imperial Starfleet, despite that being the term from the Empire Strikes Back opening crawl, because it's too Star Trek. Battuta, I thought of you mentioning this when they used the term "Starfleet" in the Ahsoka episode of The Mandalorian. Guess the official policy of "everything is equally canon" has a big asterisk next to it when Filoni wanders in.
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 21:41
|
|
|
thrawn527 posted:Oh absolutely. Talk about it, praise it, bitch about it, go crazy. Good to know, I knew of the original Thrawn Trilogy as a kid only through the comics, and read the actual books after the ST came out. It was nice to a well-plotted set of sequels, and the characterization of everyone was fun. I'm looking forward to seeing Mara and Luke's relationship evolve past "I hate you and want to kill you but I can't" on Mara's side. Chairman Capone posted:Speaking of Aftermath, there have been a few references to it in this season of The Mandalorian, which really stuck out for me because before this, the only reference to the new-canon EU in the live action productions was the valachord mention in Solo. I think it speaks a lot that even after the continuity reboot, the new EU just hasn't made an impact on people writing the actual scripts. Especially stuff like both Mandalorian and Episode IX explicitly stating that the civil war ended with Endor. Not gonna lie, but between talking with some students who are into the new novels, and reading a bunch of the new comics via my local public library, I feel like the Disney EU is already pretty bloated and convoluted. Like, Luke and Vader have now officially squared off at least 3 times prior to ESB thanks to the comic stuff. That's just crazy. Crazy Joe Wilson fucked around with this message at 22:01 on Dec 17, 2020 |
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 21:58
|
|
|
Waru is canon in my heart.
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 23:20
|
|
|
Saw the new thread and became curious about the goonsensus on I, Jedi, a book that I very clearly remember passing over at the library as a child in favor of Ben Bova's Mars, which was hard SF for adults and smart kids like me.
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 23:24
|
|
|
Sham bam bamina! posted:Saw the new thread and became curious about the goonsensus on I, Jedi, a book that I very clearly remember passing over at the library as a child in favor of Ben Bova's Mars, which was hard SF for adults and smart kids like me. I, Jedi is a curious book. It fixes a lot of the problems with the Jedi Academy books, while indulging in a lot of the problems with the Rogue Squadron books, like making Corran into a super important Jedi, when he should have just stayed a cool fighter pilot who was part of a larger group. But on the whole, I remember liking it. Especially when it would "Yes, and..." a literal scene from Jedi Academy to make it better, which it did more than once.
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 23:26
|
|
|
I remember I, Jedi also being one of the few books to explode the idea that not all Force users have the same control or abilities with it. IIRC, Corran basically had zero ability at telekinesis or some of the physical aspects Jedi are shown doing, but he was very capable at projecting visions or ideas into other people's minds, which gets used a lot in the back half of the book. I reread it a few months ago and enjoyed it well enough in spite of it's flaws. The weirdest thing about it is that it's written in first-person, which takes some getting used to if you're coming into it from other Star Wars stuff such as the highly related Jedi Academy trilogy.
|
|
#
?
Dec 18, 2020 00:55
|
|
|
Corran, as further evidence of being a vessel for Stackpole's wish fulfilment, also had a special lightsaber that could be expanded into a longer blade. Didn't know consensus on Aftermath was so negative. Should have brought back Kevin J Anderson! He'd slide right in given TFA was all about a new system destroying superweapon...
|
|
#
?
Dec 18, 2020 02:01
|
|
|
People don't give KJA enough credit for how good a joke the novel Darksaber is predicated on.
|
|
#
?
Dec 18, 2020 02:08
|
|
|
Good to see Lords of the Sith on the list. It’s a great audio book too.
|
|
#
?
Dec 18, 2020 02:20
|
|
|
MazelTovCocktail posted:Good to see Lords of the Sith on the list. It’s a great audio book too. I only added it when someone reminded me of it. But yeah, I really enjoyed it.
|
|
#
?
Dec 18, 2020 02:21
|
|
|
thrawn527 posted:I only added it when someone reminded me of it. But yeah, I really enjoyed it. Yeah I had a bunch of audible credits and when I saw that cover I was like...oh hell yeah.  Also it has Vader and Sheev fighting Xenomorphs...I forget the fake name...but it was cool. The Star Wars audiobooks that use multiple voices are such a good value or a narrator that can do different voices better. Oh and while comics the Marvel Vader run was really nice. Especially when Vader realizes he got played by Palp Marshal Prolapse fucked around with this message at 02:29 on Dec 18, 2020 |
|
#
?
Dec 18, 2020 02:25
|
|
|
fartknocker posted:I remember I, Jedi also being one of the few books to explode the idea that not all Force users have the same control or abilities with it. IIRC, Corran basically had zero ability at telekinesis or some of the physical aspects Jedi are shown doing, but he was very capable at projecting visions or ideas into other people's minds, which gets used a lot in the back half of the book. I reread it a few months ago and enjoyed it well enough in spite of it's flaws. The weirdest thing about it is that it's written in first-person, which takes some getting used to if you're coming into it from other Star Wars stuff such as the highly related Jedi Academy trilogy. I do remember liking that part of it. I think he also had the power of energy absorption? Like when Vader just hand-waved Han's blaster bolt at their Cloud City dinner. Honestly, make Jedi more like X-Men imo. From that book, I also remember: - The author constantly portraying Luke as a naive dummy for how he handled the Jedi Academy stuff, at least compared to how Cool Corran would've handled it; if I recall correctly he also portrays Mara Jada as being more into Corran than Luke because they were both ~~~street-smart~~~ - The antagonist being a sexy pirate lady who regularly prowls her ship's gym looking to bang - Corran ending up naked at least once and maybe multiple times - Corran dogfighting with Rogue Squadron and thinking Gavin sucks but that Tycho was like impossible to beat - There being some weird manservant companion who was his dead cop dad's buddy (or the son of that buddy) who had MEMORY POWERS - A Jedi offshoot branch that were basically Power Rangers who all got their poo poo kicked in by Luke and Corran surf rock fucked around with this message at 13:48 on Dec 18, 2020 |
|
#
?
Dec 18, 2020 03:14
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 24, 2024 17:36 |
|
|
Corran Horn is a loving hero and this thread better show him some goddamn respect or
|
|
|
#
?
Dec 18, 2020 13:19
|
|
