|
I honestly was not all impressed with Darth Plagueis, it seemed to always be on the verge of "now the real good stuff is coming" and then kind of ended, maybe I need to revisit it.
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2013 21:36
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 15, 2024 01:03 |
|
|
I'm not totally adverse to Clone Wars stuff, I loved the TV show, so I'll at least check out Dark Rendezvous, Shatterpoint and Darth Plagueis down the line. That description of Death Star sounds pretty intriguing. I'm definitely on the look out for Survivor Quest, Outbound Flight and Allegiance. A few weeks ago I listened to the Shadows of the Empire audibook, that'll do. Maybe I'll read the comic instead some day.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2013 22:18
|
|
|
Minnesota Manatee posted:The first eight X-Wing books, I'm going to start these soon once I get some fast reads out of the way. You're going to want to get the ninth X-Wing book, Starfighters of Adumar. It may very well be the best in the series. And it's not really connected to other X-Wing books, so in case you don't like the series and want to bail on it (though you'll probably like it), you should still skip ahead to Adumar. It's fantastic, and has a humor you won't find in any other Star Wars book. (Though there is some in Allston's other X-Wing novels.)
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2013 22:30
|
|
|
Minnesota Manatee posted:I also got The Essential Atlas book which is super nice and comprehensive. It's more of a guide to the galaxy than just a map book. Same author (one of them at least) did Essential Guide to Warfare, which was a neat read in the same tone really (Warfare has more of those side note-style digressions than Atlas, which are awesome fiction in their own right really). Considering the insane amount of retcon work that and the Atlas had to require both were remarkably good at hanging together, and being an interesting treatment of their subjects without going into insane fandom levels of boring detail you can get with some world building stuff. If you can, track down the end notes for both of those online also, the logic behind the choices was pretty interesting reading also.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2013 23:24
|
|
|
Drone posted:I actually hated that about James Luceno's writing (so far) in NJO. I don't mind referencing previous events in the EU occasionally, but the way he was doing it in Agents of Chaos just rubbed me in totally the wrong way. The references served absolutely no point, and at several stages they went no farther than, "hey, this reminds me of that one time we <did obscure thing in Star Wars novel from the 1980s>. Good times." What did you think of R.A. Salvtore's rendition of "Vector Prime?" For some reason that I cannot explain, it still is my most favorite Star Wars book to date. 
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2013 00:22
|
|
|
Drone posted:I never really got farther than halfwayish through NJO (working on it now), but I really can't stand Jacen. At all. Kinda not surprised at all by what ends up happening to him. No not really; he's an insufferable blowhard of a Jedi who turns into an insufferable blowhard of a Sith. Balance Point is a moment of Peak Jacen however, with the whole "Jedi shouldn't save people because it could involve violence" line Jacen was pushing.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2013 03:06
|
|
|
The whole Jedi Order dynamic was pretty poorly written throughout the entire NJO, Jacen was an insufferable extension of that. I'm trying to remember why I was supposed to care about Kyp tracking down smugglers when he, oh I don't know, blew up a planet. A bunch of Jedi for some reason think the best use of their talents is standing on a planet pointing refugees to which ships are taking off. Oh, and Luke is indecisive for some reason.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2013 04:08
|
|
|
The novels get entirely too up their own asses with the "maybe there isn't DARK and LIGHT Side" stuff which makes anything with the Jedi a near-unreadable mess as another author tries their hardest to redefine the Force. Basically the only time I think it actually worked was when Zahn put forth the idea that Luke was treading on the Dark Side by using and relying on ostentatious overt uses of the Force constantly and the real Jedis were more subtle, less dependent on the Force for everything and more prone to following its guidance. Of course the prequel movies showed that, no, it was Space Magic and so we went right back to "Well maybe it's not the Dark Side if you look at it this way?!" stuff because people want to write about giant awesome Force Lightning shows.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2013 04:16
|
|
|
Minnesota Manatee posted:A few weeks ago I listened to the Shadows of the Empire audibook, that'll do. Maybe I'll read the comic instead some day. The novel (=the audiobook) and the comic were meant to complement each other, i.e. you get some of the story in one and not in the other, and of course there is some overlap. As far as I remember, the comic deals a lot more with Boba Fett battling the other bounty hunters and eventually delivering Han to Jabba, for example.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2013 10:34
|
|
|
Fuzzyjello posted:What did you think of R.A. Salvtore's rendition of "Vector Prime?" For some reason that I cannot explain, it still is my most favorite Star Wars book to date. Quoting from my Goodreads review of it. Basically it's a bunch of awful interspersed with some okay stuff. The book does have an atmosphere of its own though, which I like, but it fails on every other level. And I'm not even one of those butthurt "Chewbacca dies!" grognards. quote:I read this book a little over ten years ago when the NJO series was still underway. Naturally, 14 year old me thought it was great -- it was Star Wars, but darker.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2013 10:39
|
|
|
All you need to know about RA Salvatore is Drizzt.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2013 13:22
|
|
|
api call girl posted:All you need to know about RA Salvatore is Drizzt. He's a decent to good writer. He pretty much invented the Angsty "I come from an evil culture, but I'm actually a good guy" trope in modern fantasy, so he gets a pass for Drizzt.Vector Prime, however; bored me to such extents I gave up halfway through. Although killing Chewbaca, by slamming a moon on him was awesome, it was the only interesting thing in there. Defenestrategy fucked around with this message at 13:56 on Aug 13, 2013 |
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2013 13:51
|
|
|
KildarX posted:
After I'd read a couple of his D&D books .... no.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2013 15:50
|
|
|
KildarX posted:Although killing Chewbaca, by slamming a moon on him was awesome, it was the only interesting thing in there. We're still spoilering this?
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2013 16:44
|
|
|
Jedi Knight Luigi posted:We're still spoilering this? Look I've seen people banned for less and the person above me spoiler'd it. 
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2013 16:48
|
|
|
ImpAtom posted:The novels get entirely too up their own asses with the "maybe there isn't DARK and LIGHT Side" stuff which makes anything with the Jedi a near-unreadable mess as another author tries their hardest to redefine the Force. Basically the only time I think it actually worked was when Zahn put forth the idea that Luke was treading on the Dark Side by using and relying on ostentatious overt uses of the Force constantly and the real Jedis were more subtle, less dependent on the Force for everything and more prone to following its guidance. I thought Vegere's stuff did that pretty well. It's a shame they felt the need to go back over it with a BUT SITH brush. e: I guess we're spoilering stuff now
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2013 17:02
|
|
|
Ursine Asylum posted:e: I guess we're spoilering stuff now Speaking of spoilers, I've heard that Darth Vader is Luke's father.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2013 17:19
|
|
|
Seeing as how no one in this thread is even bothering to spoiler Crucible at this point, I don't think it's necessary to spoiler poo poo from the NJO 
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2013 17:29
|
|
|
Spoilers from Crucible for someone who has heard nothing about the book... Luke is all-powerful, gruesome fight scene, weird sexual references, nothing changes at the end, pet characters, Hapan politics, bugs, Jedi Council scene, maybe a slap by Denning at some other author
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2013 17:43
|
|
|
api call girl posted:After I'd read a couple of his D&D books .... no. I agree with you on this. Outside of Drizzt or Vector Prime, I don't want to read any of his stuff after D&D.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 20:34
|
|
|
So I just started reading through the expanded universe. Is there any good books that are not about the main characters of the film, their offspring, or space monks? With a preference toward the underside/criminal element?
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2013 19:14
|
|
|
Coruscant Nights, which are also just good EU in general.
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2013 19:24
|
|
|
rocode posted:So I just started reading through the expanded universe. Is there any good books that are not about the main characters of the film, their offspring, or space monks? With a preference toward the underside/criminal element? The Wraith Squadron books are pretty good, even if you count Wedge as a "main character of the film".
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2013 20:37
|
|
|
Flagrant Abuse posted:Coruscant Nights, which are also just good EU in general. One caveat, if you care about continuity at all the first book in particular and the climax of the 3rd have some pretty bad continuity errors, not just with other EU, but with the films themselves. The author claims he was ill when writing a bulk of the first book and didn't take the time to check as much as he should have, but his editors should have caught some of the big ones. Especially given that Leland Chee (Keeper of the Holocron, the guy who catalogs all this stuff for internal use), is usually consulted. The big one is basically the position of the books relative to the Clone Wars (as an event, not the cartoon(s) or comics). Specifically, the climax of book 3 relies on a substance called Bota being carried around for a decade+ and its gone bad. However the bota was harvested about 2 years prior, at the end of the Clone Wars.. Ursine Asylum posted:The Wraith Squadron books are pretty good, even if you count Wedge as a "main character of the film". Seconding a recommendation here. All of the X-Wing books are pretty good, but the Wraith Squadron books by Allston (as well as his other entry in the original 9 book series, Starfighters of Adumar) are some of the best drat EU ever. When I saw Allston at a book signing for Outcast, I ended up turning the Q&A session into a "let's talk about X-Wing" session.
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2013 04:16
|
|
|
rocode posted:So I just started reading through the expanded universe. Is there any good books that are not about the main characters of the film, their offspring, or space monks? With a preference toward the underside/criminal element? I've just read Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina and Tales from Jabba's Palace, and I feel confident recommending them to you since most of the characters are shady criminal underworld types. I really enjoyed both, Cantina more than Jabba's Palace but the latter still had a handful of great tales. Each book has more than fifteen short stories about minor characters written by different authors. Today I started Tales of the Bounty Hunters, I'm 20 pages into IG-88's story and so far so good. I bought a bunch more comics since my last big post about all the Star Wars books that I bought. Dark Empire II with Empire's End, ruled. The five issues of the second arc of Dawn of the Jedi, which got me into it a lot more than the first volume so I'm looking forward to new issues coming out in a couple of months. Tales of the Jedi volume 1 omnibus. The Shadows of the Empire omnibus, I'm really looking forward to reading By the Emperor's Hand. And finally, the 500 page hardcover collection of Legacy, which looks great. How's Crimson Empire? Worth getting eventually? I also read the Splinter of the Mind's Eye novel, which had some interesting parts but wasn't all that great. Vader suddenly stumbling into the pit just before he would have killed Luke was a ridiculous deus ex machina.
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2013 19:28
|
|
|
Minnesota Manatee posted:How's Crimson Empire? Worth getting eventually? It's alright, but I wouldn't call it essential. The Boba Fett omnibus is probably a better option as far as comics go, and if you enjoy Legacy and Dawn Of the Jedi, I'd recommend checking out Republic, which had the same creative team.
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2013 21:11
|
|
|
rocode posted:So I just started reading through the expanded universe. Is there any good books that are not about the main characters of the film, their offspring, or space monks? With a preference toward the underside/criminal element? If you like the comics as well as the novels, give Agent of the Empire a try. It's basically James Bond meets Star Wars, and it's a hell of a fun ride. Two 5-issue story arcs have been published (Iron Eclipse and Hard Targets) and are available as collections. As no further stories are planned, it's pretty self-contained, too.
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2013 21:29
|
|
|
I have Iron Eclipse and love it, so I recommend that too. I look forward to finding Hard Targets. I'll check out the Boba Fett omnibus and Republic, thanks. Minnesota Manatee fucked around with this message at 22:15 on Aug 28, 2013 |
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2013 22:12
|
|
|
Minnesota Manatee posted:I'll check out the Boba Fett omnibus and Republic, thanks. Republic (along with related series and tie-ins) is spread across a number of omnibuses: 8-10, 15 and 24-26. It's probably the easiest and most comprehensive way of reading it. Honestly, I think one could recommend just about any omnibus, because the comics are probably the most consistently good part of the EU .
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2013 23:19
|
|
|
Reminder that the Lego Star Wars tv specials are hilarious and are more canon to me than the prequels or the last 10 years of EU novels. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFuKnXPf6xA
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2013 01:44
|
|
|
Welp finished book 3 of Republic Commando. I can't go on, I give up, The prologue chapter to Order66 at the end of book 3 is just...  I can't believe Karen Travis ruined Mandalorians for me, and I like the militant sort of races in scifi.Is there anything good in the EU that takes place during Clone Wars as far as books go? Defenestrategy fucked around with this message at 15:24 on Aug 29, 2013 |
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2013 15:21
|
|
|
I liked the MedStar and Coruscant Nights books. But Coruscant Nights is post-clone wars I guess.
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2013 15:26
|
|
|
KildarX posted:Is there anything good in the EU that takes place during Clone Wars as far as books go? The two big essential ones are Shatterpoint (it's kind of like Apocalypse Now in space with Mace Windu as Willard) and Dark Rendezvous (Yoda goes to confront Dooku and give him a second chance). The Cestus Deception isn't bad.
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2013 16:50
|
|
|
Seconding the MedStar books and Shatterpoint, the latter is the best of the Clone Wars series of books imo
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2013 18:07
|
|
|
It's technically post-Clone Wars, but Kenobi, released this week, is apparently quite good.
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2013 20:07
|
|
|
At first I read that as Clown Wars, and welp, 
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2013 21:26
|
|
|
Conquistador posted:At first I read that as Clown Wars, and welp, Fuckin' midi-chlorians, how do they work? (And I don't wanna talk to a Jedi or Sith, y'all motherfuckers lyin', and gettin' me pissed)
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2013 22:01
|
|
|
Cross-Section posted:It's technically post-Clone Wars, but Kenobi, released this week, is apparently quite good. One of the Amazon reviews compared to Firefly so now I'm picturing Adam Baldwin in a brown robe running around kicking
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2013 22:11
|
|
|
Well, it's something on the Internet, so of course someone is going to compare it to Firefly eventually.
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2013 22:26
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 15, 2024 01:03 |
|
|
Does that mean Kenobi is hilariously overrated then?
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2013 23:08
|
|