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I've only read the first Ascendancy book, but enjoyed it quite a bit.
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Aug 2, 2021 02:35
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Sad Star Wars book news: Jonathan Rinzler, author of the "Making of" books and editor of the Visual Dictionaries, just died of cancer. Those books were some of my favorite Star Wars books, fiction or not. His unreleased Making of Force Awakens remains my white whale of hoped for things to eventually be released. Also looking him up now, I didn't realize he wrote a couple Clone Wars episodes, too.
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Aug 5, 2021 00:21
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That’s a bummer. The visual guides are so cool, some of my favorite Star Wars books.
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Aug 5, 2021 00:23
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So I've been rereading the NJO with the intent to actually finish it this time (got stuck on Force Heretic last time). Just finished Balance Point, and a few assorted thoughts so far: - Dark Tide kinda feels like where the real NJO begins. Vector Prime is sort of a little pilot episode/prologue, kinda limited in scope and even wrapping up with a sort of Pyrrhic victory. But DT is where you start getting those repeated losses that define the early NJO, as the scale of the war broadens and the whole EU to this point starts getting pulled in. Luceno's going to start making that his whole thing in the next two, but Stackpole's throwing around references left and right here. He also goes really hard on the Vong sadomasochism thing, and I can see why the series gets a reputation as being edgier than it turns out to be; it is kinda funny that the next couple books establish that Shedao Shai is just really the Vong equivalent of born-again, and even other Vong think he's kind of a weirdo. - Agents of Chaos is a series that I've really been underrating. Not that I've really thought it was bad, I mostly just remember it as being fun but also kinda just there. But on this go through I enjoyed the hell out of it, particularly the first book. The second book loses some points from feeling kinda directionless, just mostly consisting a bunch of separate plots that happen to intersect at the end, but Hero's Trial is a fun little spy thriller and really a highlight of the early NJO. And I never noticed just how much I like Luceno's Han; Han in a lot of EU books just feels like a Han-shaped bundle of movie references (He's annoyed by Threepio! He doesn't want to be told the odds!), but this feels a very authentic extension of Han's character from the OT without just aping it. And I like that Luceno lets Han be kind of an rear end in a top hat, because he really can be sometimes in the movies, and it helps the portrayal feel more well-rounded. The Daley callbacks are fun, if a bit gratuitous sometimes, and Luceno immediately establishes himself as the reference guy; pretty sure the whole Bantam EU gets a reference at some point in these two books. - Balance Point is strange. One of the NJO's five hardcovers, and therefore presumably one of the tentpole books of the series, is a character-focused slow burn mostly set on a single planet. The very first time I tried reading the NJO I got stuck here, and the second time I still wasn't impressed, but I think it's improved somewhat in reread. I like how Tyers writes Mara and Leia, the latter of which in particular I don't often find portrayals that click with me. And I like her Luke/Mara, which is a pairing I was honestly never that big a fan of, but actually feel like a real couple that work here. Jacen is also a highlight of this book, even if a lot of it is spent wanting to yell at him to figure out his poo poo. As to the pacing, it's still pretty slow and the writing gets oddly bogged down in detail at points, but it lends it a sort of traditional science fictiony feel that I ended up enjoying. An interesting experiment. It is kind of amazing how much I still remember in the 15 or so years it's been since I last read these. There's so many iconic little moments and scenes, even in these early books before the real drama kicks off. I have fond memories of the next stretch of 8 books, so I'm looking forward to rereading them; particularly wondering how Star By Star has aged, given Denning's later output.
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Aug 8, 2021 01:45
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Balance point is the one of my least favorites of the NJO. I just remember it being very slow and tedious, with the highlight being Jacen finally doing poo poo.
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Aug 8, 2021 01:50
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Balance Point was one of the only books I never managed to slog my way through in the whole of the EU. It was that and maybe like the end of the Corellia trilogy. At age 10!Lord Hydronium posted:Luceno immediately establishes himself as the reference guy; pretty sure the whole Bantam EU gets a reference at some point in these two books. Several of the books seemed like they were riffing on earlier Bantam-era stuff, and I always wondered if that was a specific mandate, wanting to keep continuity with Bantam after the Del Rey acquisition, authors just playing with their pet characters, or some combination thereof. Dark Tide is riffing on some X-Wing stuff and stars Stackpole's Very Favorite Character; Agents of Chaos calls back to the very original Han Solo books; and Edge of Victory and Star By Star systematically kill off all the major characters from the children's books.
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Aug 8, 2021 07:12
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I'm a bit less than midway through Agents of Chaos 2 atm and i'm really enjoying this scene on the Vong ship where this Chine-Kal dude is coming across more like a camp councilor or like a personal trainer trying to get everybody fit than a slave master making sure everybody works faster.  I mean maybe this scene will take a turn for the dark in a minute but i'm enjoying this dudes energy"Okay yall are doing really well right now.But i can see by the coloration of this doval basin that you could be doing BETTER! So we're gonna try a group exercise instead! Don't worry if the tentacle beast gets a little grabby or tries to probe your mind with it's telepathy, it just means it likes you! Lets all work together to bring this invasion to a swift end  "Shedao Shai really was a weirdo edgelord even for a Vong wasn't he?
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Aug 8, 2021 09:32
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Rochallor posted:Several of the books seemed like they were riffing on earlier Bantam-era stuff, and I always wondered if that was a specific mandate, wanting to keep continuity with Bantam after the Del Rey acquisition, authors just playing with their pet characters, or some combination thereof. Dark Tide is riffing on some X-Wing stuff and stars Stackpole's Very Favorite Character; Agents of Chaos calls back to the very original Han Solo books; and Edge of Victory and Star By Star systematically kill off all the major characters from the children's books.
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Aug 8, 2021 14:06
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I kind of want to read just the Walter John Williams and Matt Stover Vong books just because I like thr authors
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Aug 8, 2021 15:20
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T___A posted:Also Sorch briefly appears in the latest episode of the Bad Batch.
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Aug 8, 2021 23:34
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Nope. Raphael didn't voice him, sadly.
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Aug 8, 2021 23:35
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Arcsquad12 posted:Nope. Raphael didn't voice him, sadly. That’s hosed up.
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Aug 8, 2021 23:38
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Yeah, if I was forced to pick a single novel to be the NJO's nadir, it might be Balance Point. That or the Force Heretic books felt like kind of boring slogs. Actually, Force Heretic followed by Final Prophecy was kind of a slog overall in between the great highs of Traitor/Destiny's Way/Ylesia and Unifying Force. StashAugustine posted:I kind of want to read just the Walter John Williams and Matt Stover Vong books just because I like thr authors I mean, Traitor and Destiny's Way are probably the high points of the NJO. Along with Unifying Force.
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Aug 8, 2021 23:46
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Star by Star rubbed me the wrong way back when I read it, and I ended up despising Denning more than any other EU author. Probably not a coincidence.
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Aug 9, 2021 00:07
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I actually enjoyed the force heretic trilogy. It was fun seeing them prune the dumber branches of Star Wars stuff like Yevetha and Ssi-Ruuk. Also, Nom Anor is a treasure and watching him scheme and bullshit his way into the Heresy was great.
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Aug 9, 2021 00:15
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Xenomrph posted:That’s hosed up. Tbf he wasn't voiced at all, it was a very quick (but significant!) cameo
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Aug 9, 2021 02:26
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Cross-Section posted:Tbf he wasn't voiced at all, it was a very quick (but significant!) cameo Still hosed up 
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Aug 9, 2021 02:31
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How am i almost 100 pages into Balance Point and NOTHING has happened?!
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Aug 9, 2021 03:22
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I was watching the Behind the Attractions episode on Disney+ about Star Tours, and they mention that the original idea for the storyline of the ride was that Emperor Palpatine would return to reunify the Empire around a new superweapon following ROTJ. Some ideas are just too good to let go of, I guess!
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Aug 9, 2021 03:42
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The Shame Boy posted:How am i almost 100 pages into Balance Point and NOTHING has happened?! that's how all of the bad EU books are. they just fill the first 80% with a load of waffle and then stuff all of the plot points they were told to include into the last 20%
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Aug 9, 2021 04:27
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Next wave of the Essential Legends reprints have been announced, for April 5: Kenobi, Plagueis, Wedge's Gamble, and Darth Bane 3.
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Aug 9, 2021 15:27
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Chairman Capone posted:Next wave of the Essential Legends reprints have been announced, for April 5: Kenobi, Plagueis, Wedge's Gamble, and Darth Bane 3. Not seeing anything in the usual places--where'd this one get announced?
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Aug 9, 2021 23:57
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Rochallor posted:Edge of Victory and Star By Star systematically kill off all the major characters from the children's books. This does not happen! Why do people keep saying this? Lowbacca, Zekk, Tenel Ka, even Raynar all survive the mission and the war! jivjov posted:Not seeing anything in the usual places--where'd this one get announced? They haven't been announced. Edelweiss, a book publishing website, seems to have mistakenly publicly listed their upcoming release.
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Aug 10, 2021 13:46
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OhFunny posted:This does not happen! Why do people keep saying this? Lowbacca, Zekk, Tenel Ka, even Raynar all survive the mission and the war! Perhaps traumatized would have been a better word, but I was always more familiar with Junior Jedi Knights, which featured Anakin (KIA), Ifrit (KIA), Lyric (KIA), and Tahiri (POW).
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Aug 10, 2021 20:48
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Horse Girl KIA
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Aug 10, 2021 21:08
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There was no hope for horse girl once the higher ups learned she had been topless for the entire childrens series.
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Aug 11, 2021 18:26
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hey fellow lore nerds: I've been getting into painting Star Wars Legion and I want to do a unit of Rebel Commandos as Korun militia; does anyone know if they've been visually depicted or really even described there? Shatterpoint is pretty light on description iirc other than being a very irregular force. There's like one picture of Mace with Nick and Chalk I found that just has them in brown
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Aug 12, 2021 01:53
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All I remember are the metal shields and the red teeth stains from chewing the bark.
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Aug 12, 2021 02:13
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Almost forgot. M-TD (Stolen/KIA)
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Aug 14, 2021 06:46
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Hey guys, are the High Republic Books any good? I wanna read dumb Jedi Adventures. Edit: For star wars stuff, im looking for Jedi Stories that lean more intonthe magic and fantasy aspects of the franchise than the hard science fi parts. BigRed0427 fucked around with this message at 21:01 on Aug 16, 2021 |
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Aug 16, 2021 17:46
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They’re alright, and it’s something different. I’ve been stuck on the most recent one because a huge part of it is showing a major action scene from multiple angles and that kind of stuff just drags everything to a halt for me.
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Aug 16, 2021 18:36
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BigRed0427 posted:Hey guys, are the High Republic Books any good? Yes, I would say all the books, save for Race to Crashpoint Tower, have been decent to good. RCT is basically a side story to another book, and doesn't really add much. There are three levels of books for adults, young adult and kids, and so far only the RCT kids book has been meh. All the other books are introducing characters and events that carry over. RCT does involve some of the comic characters and looks to cross back some of its new characters back into comics.
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Aug 16, 2021 19:43
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So interesting potential spoiler for future stuff on the finale of Bad Batch season 1. The facility where Nala Se is moved to by the commandos during the finale is Mount Tantiss on Weyland. Considering Ahsoka's Mando episode confirmed they're doing something with Thrawn between ROTJ and the ST this i has to be another hint at what they're going to do with that story thread.
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Aug 17, 2021 21:03
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They also changed the spelling of the planet (It used to be Wayland). It probably wasn't intentional, but definitely suggests that they were thinking of the company from Alien when they were writing the location into the episode.
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Aug 17, 2021 22:44
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Robot Style posted:They also changed the spelling of the planet (It used to be Wayland). It probably wasn't intentional, but definitely suggests that they were thinking of the company from Alien when they were writing the location into the episode. loving THANK YOU. I was wondering why this whole thing was making me think of Alien but the Zahn books didn't. It was driving me more than a little crazy.
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Aug 17, 2021 23:19
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Eat your heart out lightsaber knees guy, there is a new sheriff in town. Lightsaber umbrella guy... https://twitter.com/JordanMaison/status/1427621095088263178?s=19 Trailer: https://youtu.be/lle0NNmvIyU
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Aug 17, 2021 23:19
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thrawn527 posted:loving THANK YOU. I was wondering why this whole thing was making me think of Alien but the Zahn books didn't. It was driving me more than a little crazy. You should always be thinking about Aliens.
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Aug 17, 2021 23:30
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I got the ESB short stories book out of the library pretty much just for General Battuta's story (which was very good), what else in there is good?
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Aug 17, 2021 23:51
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I didn’t catch it because they took some big liberties with how Mount Tantis looks
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Aug 18, 2021 01:40
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StashAugustine posted:I got the ESB short stories book out of the library pretty much just for General Battuta's story (which was very good), what else in there is good? I liked the bounty hunters story with IG-88 and.. Zuckuss, I think, happening upon a YT-1300 converted into a casino ship while searching for Han and crew Overall though, there felt like there were less standout stories than the ANH one
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Aug 18, 2021 01:46
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