|
I think a big reason for that is that Jaina's love interest in YJK was Zekk, but then in the later part of the NJO she was set up with Jagged Fel (seeing as real people will not usually stay forever with the person they have a crush on at age 12). Then after the NJO ended, Denning took over the main series plotting and since he's obsessed with YJK, he decided to split up Jaina and Jag and get her back with Zekk. I know he explicitly talked about hating Jag and how Zekk was Jaina's one true love and all that. Hence why he even tried to kill Jag at the end of Dark Nest. Then in LOTF Allston came back and also outright stated he liked the Jaina-Jag relationship (I'm assuming because Jag was created by his friend Stackpole). So throughout LOTF there was a big back and forth depending on which author was writing on who Jaina preferred. Denning had a similar spat in LOTF with Traviss over how the Mandalorians were portrayed although in that case I shockingly side with Denning.
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2013 02:13
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 5, 2024 10:21 |
|
|
Maybe it could be written off that Jaina and her cohort were never allowed to be a part of a real relationship because of the fact that A) They were all stuck on a planet with only each other as playmates and Winter as their caretaker B) They then lived as the members of a "First Family" and seemingly were still isolated from people And then there was the Academy, where my memory wants to tell me they were roommates. But Common Sense is telling me they were split between rooms.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2013 02:59
|
|
|
An NJO book also toyed with the idea of pairing her with Kyp Durron. A later book pointed out how creepy the age gap was.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2013 03:18
|
|
|
I'm so glad all of this is not gonna matter once the new movies come out. Well, I guess it doesn't even really matter right now either.  to be honest the only EU-created characters I'm gonna miss are Corran Horn and Horton Salm. And I guess Wes Janson because even though he was in the movies, the EU hashed him out.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2013 03:37
|
|
|
I seem to recall thinking that dude that ran the lab at Borleais or wherever was pretty cool. I liked Salm too, he was pretty salty IIRC. E: I also really liked Bror Jace, because he came across as perfectly 
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2013 03:40
|
|
|
Jedi Knight Luigi posted:I'm so glad all of this is not gonna matter once the new movies come out. Well, I guess it doesn't even really matter right now either. The actor who played Wes in ESB has read all the X-wing books, has met Aaron Allston a few times, and likes the way that the character is portrayed. :3
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2013 03:56
|
|
|
Beardless posted:The actor who played Wes in ESB has read all the X-wing books, has met Aaron Allston a few times, and likes the way that the character is portrayed. :3 I am inordinately pleased at that. I also have a someday dream of getting him, Denis Lawson, and Richard Oldfield to sign my copy of Starfighters of Adumar.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2013 04:02
|
|
|
jivjov posted:I am inordinately pleased at that. I also have a someday dream of getting him, Denis Lawson, and Richard Oldfield to sign my copy of Starfighters of Adumar. I have a copy of Lightsabers signed by KJA and his wife. Hahah. Also I think you post in all the threads I post in 
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2013 04:05
|
|
|
Conquistador posted:I have a copy of Lightsabers signed by KJA and his wife. Hahah. Oh man, Lightsabers is one of my favorite YJK books. Great one to get signed. That whole series was pretty well done for kid's books. Also yes, yes I think I do.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2013 04:29
|
|
|
I remember being a kid and waiting for those books to come out, I think I was more excited at those kids getting the lightsabers than they were. That was one of my favorite SW books back in the day, truly the only one I had at that point that I even wanted signed
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2013 04:33
|
|
|
I have a couple Zahn books signed (I think Dark Force Rising and Vision of the Future), as well as the Mara Jade comic signed by Zahn and Stackpole. I also have Allston's signature but just on a piece of paper since I didn't have any of his stuff with me at the time. That's basically the extent of both my author and SW author signature collection.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2013 04:41
|
|
|
Conquistador posted:I remember being a kid and waiting for those books to come out, I think I was more excited at those kids getting the lightsabers than they were. That was one of my favorite SW books back in the day, truly the only one I had at that point that I even wanted signed I think we keep posting in the same threads because we're secretly the same person. I loved the poo poo out of those books and I had most of them for myself. There were a couple I kept having to check out from the library because we couldn't find them for sale anywhere and Mom didn't want to use the mail in order form in the back of the book. (Remember when paperbacks had those?)
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2013 04:45
|
|
|
My mum bought me the first YJK book once when I was sick, and I read it in a single fever-crazed sitting. I loved it to bits, but I could never find any of the others to buy, and none of the local libraries had them, either. I had to make do with reading and re-reading the relevant entries in the Star Wars encyclopedia.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2013 05:26
|
|
|
I never read YJK; by the time I was interested in the EU I was maybe a few years too old for them. Jedi Apprentice was great, though. They were definitely a lot better than they had to be.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2013 12:21
|
|
|
While we're praising the EU, I kind of like most of the non creepy bits of Shadows Of The Empire. I sort of wish we had more modern EU media set between the movies.
|
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2013 15:22
|
|
|
SeanBeansShako posted:While we're praising the EU, I kind of like most of the non creepy bits of Shadows Of The Empire. I sort of wish we had more modern EU media set between the movies. The new Star Wars comic is and it is terrible.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2013 15:26
|
|
|
Scoundrels is set in between ANH/ESB and is pretty good as has been mentioned in this thread.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2013 15:28
|
|
|
alg posted:The new Star Wars comic is and it is terrible. So were Empire and Rebellion, and they were pretty good.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2013 20:12
|
|
|
Finished up Darth Plagueis the other day. I'm kind of amazed that Luceno managed to take the shoehorned-in "political" elements present in The Phantom Menace and weave a compelling backstabbing thriller leading up to them in a way that makes sense. Much like Matthew Stover's novelization of Episode 3 makes the plot of Episode 3 much better. It's also really, really nice to see a treatment of the Dark Side that isn't KICK PUPPIES FOR Are there any other EU books that have as good a treatment of the villains or the Dark Side? Heck, even something with that kind of insight to The Force would be nice.
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2013 10:55
|
|
|
I think a lot of people were optimistic about LOTF because, at least in the first book, it looked like the main conceit of the series was going to be "Can Jacen become a Sith Lord without becoming evil?" Of course, a couple of books later, it was more like, "If there was one thing Jacen loved more than deceiving people, it was deceiving Luke Skywalker!" Mustache-twirling evil, that sort of thing.
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2013 11:24
|
|
|
Sodomy Non Sapiens posted:being cartoonishly evil because THE DARK SIDE. The trouble is that this is what Lucas actually envisions the dark side to be.
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2013 13:23
|
|
|
Sodomy Non Sapiens posted:Are there any other EU books that have as good a treatment of the villains or the Dark Side? Heck, even something with that kind of insight to The Force would be nice.
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2013 17:21
|
|
|
Yeah Traitor is definitely worth reading. The problem with the post-NJO EU was that they set up the potential to have actual interesting ideas about the force and so on, then George came in and said "lol no the dark side is pure evil that's it." Oh yeah, and that they introduced a ton of characters that should have taken over the central EU plotlines but nope the Big-3 must always remain front and center. And that Denning became one of the main writers. I guess what I'm saying is that no matter how batshit-crazy some of the stuff was, I miss the Bantam-era EU 
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2013 17:38
|
|
|
Flagrant Abuse posted:Traitor does almost exactly this with Vergere, and is one of the best books in the entire EU, to boot. Matthew Stover's contributions to the NJO were by far the highlight of the series, it's a shame he didn't write more. I was really disappointed that subsequent writers dumbed down Vergere and half-hand waved away the questions posed in the book. It's pretty much the only NJO book I'd go back and read.
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2013 18:44
|
|
|
Darth Plageuis was one of my favorite EU books of the past few years. Maybe even my top SW book since the NJO ended, although Outbound Flight and Scoundrels would be up there also. I have to hand it to Luceno for weaving together so many threads like that. I especially liked how he took a side-plot from one of those Jude Watson young readers books and turned it into a big behind the scenes Sith plot. However, by that same token, I think because it does all that, it's a book that would probably be incomprehensible to someone not well steeped in the EU. Maybe that's why I liked it, it came across as a book written by an actual EU fan for other hardcore EU fans (which, as much as I love to bitch about how lovely most of it is, I still have to admit I am). Flagrant Abuse posted:Traitor does almost exactly this with Vergere, and is one of the best books in the entire EU, to boot. I'd actually say that all of Stover's novels (even the ROTS novelization, though to a somewhat lesser extent) offer more well-rounded villains and alternate, and to a degree even revisionist, takes on the dark side. Traitor and Shatterpoint really are leagues ahead of almost any other EU work, in terms of literary quality. Shatterpoint is actually the only SW EU book I've ever suggested to friends who are sci-fi fans but don't generally read spin-off fiction. Incidentally Sodomy Non Sapiens I'd suggest you also try to find Stover's short story "The Tenebrous Way" which came out in an issue of Star Wars Insider about a year or two ago and was a tie-in to Darth Plagueis. It covers Tenebrous's assassination from his point of view and explores some constraints with the use of the Force to try and foresee the future. I don't think it was ever reprinted outside of the issue so it might be hard to find, unless Insider issues are available for individual online digital purchase or something.
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2013 19:06
|
|
|
Sodomy Non Sapiens posted:Finished up Darth Plagueis the other day. I'm kind of amazed that Luceno managed to take the shoehorned-in "political" elements present in The Phantom Menace and weave a compelling backstabbing thriller leading up to them in a way that makes sense. Much like Matthew Stover's novelization of Episode 3 makes the plot of Episode 3 much better. Cloak of Deception is fantastic for this very reason. I recommend you pick that up as well.
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2013 19:49
|
|
|
astr0man posted:I guess what I'm saying is that no matter how batshit-crazy some of the stuff was, I miss the Bantam-era EU Me too, friend, me too.
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2013 04:27
|
|
|
Chairman Capone posted:Outbound Flight, Traitor. Traitor was basically my favorite book of the entire EU, is the reason i have any patience for the Vong arc, and is also the reason why i've all but stopped reading the EU - they devoted entire trilogies to undoing it. Outbound Flight, oddly, i wasn't nearly as pleased with. It felt like Zahn just going back to play with his old toys; C'Baoth is still nuts, Thrawn is still preternaturally clever, and so forth.
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2013 09:37
|
|
|
Have to reread shadows of mindor. Its the only SW book I've kept.
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2013 13:30
|
|
|
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2013 21:48
|
|
|
jivjov posted:Oh man, Lightsabers is one of my favorite YJK books. Great one to get signed. That whole series was pretty well done for kid's books. Agreed. My only issue is that in order to get a full grasp of New Jedi Order's characters; you are almost forced to read all of YJK. Take Tenel Ka and Jacen's relationship for example. I had to stop mid NJO and go back to some of YJK to get caught up multiple times because I never finished the series when I was a kid.
|
|
#
?
May 3, 2013 07:06
|
|
|
I think you can literally sum their relationship up with "he pined after her like a nerd and then sliced off her arm and felt really bad but she was ok with it. *kiss scene* then they go their separate ways because shes a queen and hes a super special Jedi" the end. * prior to NJO I mean.
|
|
#
?
May 3, 2013 07:36
|
|
|
So I just spent the last...large amount of time going through a treasure trove of behind the scenes pictures from all three of the original trilogy shoots. It's incredible. Quite a few I had scene before, but there was a lot in there that was new to me. 1,138 behind the scenes photos of the Star Wars Trilogy  I bet it was incredible fun hanging out with these two.  Something about this picture seems...odd to me.  Apparently Ponda Baba was originally decapitated?   Especially fun are the Empire Strikes Back pictures where you get an idea of just how coked out Carrie Fischer was while filming. The answer? Very.      Irvin Kershner does not know what the gently caress. Anyway, I find stuff like this fascinating, so I figured someone else here might.
|
|
#
?
May 3, 2013 13:57
|
|
|
I think I've read that Peter Cushing was wearing slippers in scenes like this (ie. when he wasn't doing a full body shot) because his boots didn't fit properly?
|
|
#
?
May 3, 2013 17:41
|
|
|
 I'd just as soon kiss a Wookie
|
|
#
?
May 3, 2013 18:29
|
|
|
what happened to you Lucas.  This stuff is awesome though, thanks for linking it.
|
|
#
?
May 3, 2013 20:55
|
|
|
Throb Robinson posted:Have to reread shadows of mindor. Its the only SW book I've kept. It's definitely one of my favorites as well. Most Stover novels I've read are up there, actually.
|
|
#
?
May 3, 2013 22:17
|
|
|
Conquistador posted:I think you can literally sum their relationship up with "he pined after her like a nerd and then sliced off her arm and felt really bad but she was ok with it. *kiss scene* then they go their separate ways because shes a queen and hes a super special Jedi" the end. Jacen Solo, basically a goon, prior to BugNest. Anyone else thumb open the Essential Guide to Warfare in the store? Ahsoka writes a note to Scout in it, talking about boys. The boy was Anakin, and yes she mentions that he's "cute." The warfare book.
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2013 01:35
|
|
|
I have it, its actually a pretty neat read. It's kind of like reading through all the books again without having to do that, with the added benefit of pictures.
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2013 01:37
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 5, 2024 10:21 |
|
|
I recently reread the Thrawn trilogy after almost 20 years (I was in middle school when I first read it) and it still holds up, at least compared to how awful the other EU stuff is. Currently reading the Hand of Thrawn sequels, and they seem decent. It struck me that Leia and Han Solo are some of the most one note boring characters ever. Are there ANY EU books that have managed to write Han as an interesting, nuanced character? It seems like all he wants to do is take Leia on a vacation, and harp about the stresses of politics. He's the most neutered, bland, uninteresting smuggler/pirate/hero/general ever. Why is a character like that so hard to write for? I'd really love a legit good sci-fi/fantasy writer to take on the Star Wars universe (other than Zahn, who seems to be the best). Just endless piles of near fan-fiction level stories out there.
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2013 04:41
|
|
