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Plagueis is good...but does it have Lord Nyax in it? http://theforce.net/books/story/Your_Lord_Nyax_Renditions_65700.asp
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Oct 24, 2013 06:31
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While rereading the Lord Nyax article I happened to notice a citation from a source manual published in 2009 reporting that he might have escaped. I can't wait until Troy Denning brings him back too.
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Oct 24, 2013 07:47
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I've said it before I really didn't enjoy Darth Plagueis, maybe I need to revisit it. It just seem to go on and on, and as others have noted is really more the story of Palpatine than anything. And the things that were dealt with were not handled well in my opinion. Like Anakin being created by Plagueis, it was barely even a footnote. Oh there's a boy born of the force, must have been me!?! I read on Wookieepedia the original version was a race between Plaguies and Qui-Gon for immortality. I think that would have been more interesting.
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Oct 24, 2013 15:29
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Cru Jones posted:I've said it before I really didn't enjoy Darth Plagueis, maybe I need to revisit it. It just seem to go on and on, and as others have noted is really more the story of Palpatine than anything. And the things that were dealt with were not handled well in my opinion. What's wrong with Palpatine back story? I would have liked to have read more about Darth Tenebrous as well, who seemed like an odd, techie Sith. I found everything about the Sith in this book wonderful, because for most of the time, you're kinda rooting for them. They're not monsters - but then! Mass killing, or assassination, or force choke, or have some lightning. And yes, they are monsters. It's a neat aspect of the book in that you almost get lulled into pulling for the Sith simply because they are fairly represented as the protagonists of the story.
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Oct 25, 2013 01:22
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redshirt posted:What's wrong with Palpatine back story? I would have liked to have read more about Darth Tenebrous as well, who seemed like an odd, techie Sith. I found everything about the Sith in this book wonderful, because for most of the time, you're kinda rooting for them. They're not monsters - but then! Mass killing, or assassination, or force choke, or have some lightning. And yes, they are monsters. It's a neat aspect of the book in that you almost get lulled into pulling for the Sith simply because they are fairly represented as the protagonists of the story. I don't know, that's why I think I might need to revisit it. I just remember thinking we didn't seem to learn all that much about Plagueis, it was more the rise of Palpatine, which was actually interesting. But, for some reason I wasn't impressed with that they had to layer it all over the Phantom Menace time frame.
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Oct 25, 2013 15:05
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So does anyone think Disney will release a Blu-Ray set with the unaltered editions of the original trilogy at some point like Lucas did with the DVD's a few years back? It's been the only reason I've held back on buying the blu rays. I would imagine it would make the most sense to release something like that next around next Christmas as a build up towards the new movie.
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Oct 25, 2013 15:41
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redshirt posted:What's wrong with Palpatine back story? I would have liked to have read more about Darth Tenebrous as well, who seemed like an odd, techie Sith. I found everything about the Sith in this book wonderful, because for most of the time, you're kinda rooting for them. They're not monsters - but then! Mass killing, or assassination, or force choke, or have some lightning. And yes, they are monsters. It's a neat aspect of the book in that you almost get lulled into pulling for the Sith simply because they are fairly represented as the protagonists of the story. This sums up why I love that book so much - and yes, I love political drama, so I enjoyed it ever more because of that focus.
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Oct 25, 2013 15:52
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redshirt posted:What's wrong with Palpatine back story? I would have liked to have read more about Darth Tenebrous as well, who seemed like an odd, techie Sith. I found everything about the Sith in this book wonderful, because for most of the time, you're kinda rooting for them. They're not monsters - but then! Mass killing, or assassination, or force choke, or have some lightning. And yes, they are monsters. It's a neat aspect of the book in that you almost get lulled into pulling for the Sith simply because they are fairly represented as the protagonists of the story. I really enjoyed the idea of Palpatine being a reckless young noble entirely convinced he's better than the peasantry from the beginning - he's like something out of Victorian era British literature, as well as Naboo being explicitly set up as an isolationist world until shortly before TPM. Plagueis manipulating the galaxy through his cover as a shady CEO of a very wealthy holding company was cool too. I think the highest praise I can give Darth Plagueis is that it's very believable - a lot of the time in Star Wars stories, stuff just happens due to cartoonishly good/evil motivations. This book, on the other hand, feels real - even the famously awful and unexplained Naboo vs. Trade Federation treaty conflict makes so much more sense now. The Sith have realistic motivations beyond just killing Jedi for the hell of it. They're good characters for the same sort of reasons Thrawn was so good. What I'm saying is read Darth Plagueis.
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Oct 25, 2013 20:37
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Handsome Ralph posted:So does anyone think Disney will release a Blu-Ray set with the unaltered editions of the original trilogy at some point like Lucas did with the DVD's a few years back?
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Oct 25, 2013 22:37
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Jazerus posted:I really enjoyed the idea of Palpatine being a reckless young noble entirely convinced he's better than the peasantry from the beginning - he's like something out of Victorian era British literature, as well as Naboo being explicitly set up as an isolationist world until shortly before TPM. Plagueis manipulating the galaxy through his cover as a shady CEO of a very wealthy holding company was cool too. Indeed. For the most part it's a political/corporate thriller. Plots, backstabbing, hostile takeovers, and Force lightning. I enjoyed the relationships shown with the Sith - that is, the other folk who work for them, knowing they are Sith or not. For example, it puts the Hutts in a different light - their criminal enterprises are backed, financially and morally, by the Sith. You can see what is the downfall of the Republic - the inclusion of corporate interests directly in the Senate. And then those corporate interests could bring in other worlds, that they controlled. And these Guilds and Federations and Clans are all working with the Sith, mostly unknowingly. Finally, I really liked Plagueis's personal relationships - with Larsh Hill, for example. But especially 11-4D. He really dug that droid. Also, he got killed by getting drunk - which was an interesting turn of character - he goes public with Palpatine as his bud, and he starts drinking (through his nostrils). I'm re-reading it, I enjoyed the book so much.
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Oct 28, 2013 03:14
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This blooper reel is supposedly brand new. There's some good stuff in there.
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Oct 28, 2013 07:41
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Casimir Radon posted:This blooper reel is supposedly brand new. There's some good stuff in there. Oh my God, that bit with the stormtroopers trying to get through the hole in the door is amazing. Especially because I'm pretty sure in the movie one of them just falls down in the gap, they cut away, and in the next shot all of them are through the door.
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Oct 28, 2013 17:52
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For me Peter Cushing going out of character was the best part, then Alec Guinness doing it too, and Harrison Ford getting flustered and cramming his headset into his mouth.
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Oct 28, 2013 18:59
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Tiny Death Star has the Lucasarts splash. I thought they were dismantled?
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Nov 10, 2013 16:21
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Unctuous Cretin posted:Tiny Death Star has the Lucasarts splash. I thought they were dismantled? It was almost finished when they were dismantled.
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Nov 10, 2013 17:12
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Wikipedia posted:LucasArts was acquired by The Walt Disney Company through the acquisition of its parent company Lucasfilm in 2012. On April 3, 2013, Disney halted all internal development at LucasArts and laid off most of its staff. However, LucasArts remained open so that it could retain its function as a licensor. Wikipedia furthermore posted:Star Wars: Tiny Death Star is a business simulation video game developed by Disney Mobile and NimbleBit, and published by LucasArts
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Nov 10, 2013 17:42
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Lucasarts still exists as a brand, they just have no internal development anymore.
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Nov 11, 2013 03:52
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Yesterday in my political science class some guy raised his hand and went off on some tangent about how the training the Guardians in Plato's Republic is kind of similar to Jedi. Cue a 5 minute argument about their relationship with the civilian government among other things, while I kept my mouth shut didn't talk about Saberknees.
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Nov 16, 2013 00:11
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Casimir Radon posted:I kept my mouth shut didn't talk about Saberknees. It is so hard to do that sometimes. Back in college I sat through a presentation on Brazil's Old Republic and learned not a goddamned thing because I spent the whole time trying and failing not to think about the prequels.
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Nov 16, 2013 01:10
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I haven't read a lot of Star Wars books, so maybe I'm missing some recurring theme, but what was up with the droid 11-4D in "Darth Plagueis"? Darth P seemed to love the droid from the start, and they were pretty much an inseparable pair for 40 years or so. Even Palpatine treats the droid with respect.
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Nov 17, 2013 23:13
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I want to say that its simply a droid without any morals whatsoever. You'd think more droids would be amoral but I guess not. As an aside, Darth Plagueis was the first Star Wars novel I've read in probably 10-15 years. I really enjoyed it.
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Nov 18, 2013 03:05
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Thwomp posted:I want to say that its simply a droid without any morals whatsoever. I've read it 3 times in a row now. I love it! Darth Plagueis is the coolest Sith Lord. What's the spoiler rule here? Can I talk openly about plot points, or does everything need a spoiler?
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Nov 18, 2013 04:30
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redshirt posted:What's the spoiler rule here? Can I talk openly about plot points, or does everything need a spoiler? Generally, if it's pretty common knowledge such as vader is luke's father go ahead (don't laugh, someone spoilered that in this thread a while back...ok, continue laughing). Something relatively recent, however, it'd be nice if you spoilered it. I don't read 80% of the EU, so I don't mind FoTJ spoilers or whatever the current series is, but some people might.
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Nov 18, 2013 14:18
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I just started reading Darth Plagueis yesterday solely on the praise that's been heaped on it by this thread and so far it definitely does not disappoint. I really, really enjoy it when Sith are portrayed as something other than superficial comic book villains, and I'm definitely getting a good vibe from the places this is going. So far, Plagueis is just a hyper-rich capitalist power-hungry rear end in a top hat, and it's great.
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Nov 21, 2013 20:53
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Drone posted:I just started reading Darth Plagueis yesterday solely on the praise that's been heaped on it by this thread and so far it definitely does not disappoint. I really, really enjoy it when Sith are portrayed as something other than superficial comic book villains, and I'm definitely getting a good vibe from the places this is going. quote:So far, Plagueis is just a hyper-rich capitalist power-hungry rear end in a top hat, and it's great.
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Nov 21, 2013 22:03
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I almost feel the book should be called something other than Plagueis, about 50% of the book deals with Plagueis and the other 50% deals almost exclusively with Sidious and it starts right after Plagueis becomes the Dark lord and doesn't tell about his trials under Tenebrous. This doesn't detract from the book, but I feel it would be made better if Sidious got his own book in the same vain as Plagueis and you got much more of Plagueis' origins instead.
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Nov 22, 2013 07:23
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I think it's the best title because otherwise it'd have to be called "Darth Plagueis and Sidious and their connections with the entire prequel EU".
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Nov 22, 2013 17:24
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KildarX posted:I almost feel the book should be called something other than Plagueis, about 50% of the book deals with Plagueis and the other 50% deals almost exclusively with Sidious and it starts right after Plagueis becomes the Dark lord and doesn't tell about his trials under Tenebrous. This doesn't detract from the book, but I feel it would be made better if Sidious got his own book in the same vain as Plagueis and you got much more of Plagueis' origins instead. Fair enough, but the biggest revelation of the book for me was the fact that Sidious was still the apprentice during most of the events of The Phantom Menace, and Maul really was nothing but dark side muscle. Plagueis may not be the focus of the entire book, but he is involved from beginning to end. Additionally, this makes thematic sense as in after one of the time jumps - after the assassination attempt on Plagueis - he kinda checks out of the normal world and focuses on the Force (creating Anakin in the process), while it's Sidious who's now out there doing stuff in the real world. Also, from a movie context perspective, Plagueis is a background character, whereas Sidious is the main antagonist of all Star Wars movies. Finally, this book is overall about the Sith and their Rule of Two, and as such it makes sense to focus on the Master/Apprentice relationship between Plagueis and Sidious. Maybe another book could be written covering Darth Tenebrous and eventually his apprentice, Plagueis (I'd read it), but I think we got enough of his backstory here - it is covered, including Tenebrous' ultimate disappointment in Plagueis. Not in great detail, granted, but it hits all the key points. But in sum, we only know about Plagueis because of that one anecdote in ROTS, and so it makes a lot of sense to me to structure the book the way it is, because Plagueis could never be a main character in the same story that Sidious is involved with, since, again, Sidious is THE antagonist of the entire Star Wars universe. I know it's a pipe dream, but man would I like to see this book made into a movie.
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Nov 24, 2013 03:07
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Just over a third of the way into Darth Plagueis, just checking in. This book seriously rocks. I'm just now getting to see Palpatine in his late-twenties as Ambassador for Naboo. I gotta say, James Luceno is thoroughly surprising me with just how well he writes evil characters like this. Plagueis is motivated by all the things that make sociopathic corporate CEOs (a redundant term?  ) tick, and young Palpatine is just portrayed superbly as almost this Damien kid from the old Omen movies.It's really, really wonderful and I want to see more like this.
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Nov 26, 2013 19:10
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If you like Plagueis, you may like his section of the Book of Sith. There's a lot of quibbles to be made about that book (e.g. pretty much all the high-fantasy elements), but his journal is one of the good things about it. It shows his scientific, empirical approach to Force study, complete with Da Vinci-style illustrations: (okay so the picture is a little small but you get the point, right?) Pththya-lyi fucked around with this message at 10:05 on Nov 30, 2013 |
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Nov 30, 2013 10:02
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So I'm reading Hand of Thrawn and I'm a bit confused on what stuff is detailed and where. So: Thrawn appears and dies - 10 years before book Star Fighters of Adumar happens, I think.. Luke establishes the Jedi academy on Yavin, is promptly attacked by dead Sith Lord(or lords)[Sounds cool, is this a book]. Sun Crusher.[Sounds rad, is this a book] Mara Jade and Lando gently caress about doing stuff for Karde.[Sounds rad, is this a book] Enough Jedi are trained enough to go be mediators or something, enough so that pirates have traps specifically to catch Jedi.[really?] The events of Hand of thrawn
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Nov 30, 2013 17:44
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The answer to all your questions about rad stuff is 'yes, it's a book' but unfortunately they are unadulterated garbage.
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Nov 30, 2013 17:45
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General Battuta posted:The answer to all your questions about rad stuff is 'yes, it's a book' but unfortunately they are unadulterated garbage.  , but those all sound like neat premises.
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Nov 30, 2013 17:47
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KildarX posted:So I'm reading Hand of Thrawn and I'm a bit confused on what stuff is detailed and where. I believe I, Jedi is the book in the first question. It is okay, has some decent moments. The Sun Crusher stuff and Lando macking with Luke's future EU wife not as cool as you'd think it is though.
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Nov 30, 2013 17:47
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KildarX posted:So I'm reading Hand of Thrawn and I'm a bit confused on what stuff is detailed and where. I think Starfighters of Adumar happens after almost everything in your list except the Hand of Thrawn duo, but I could be misremembering. Pretty much everything else happens in the Jedi Academy Trilogy. They are kind of lovely books written by KJA. edit: I, Jedi is a Stackpole book that retcons the Corran Horn into the jedi academy stuff. It's a better book than the KJA trilogy, but it doesn't include the sun crusher and mara + lando poo poo.
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Nov 30, 2013 17:52
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I, Jedi is best appreciated after you've forced yourself to read the Jedi Academy Trilogy. The downside is that you'd have to read the Jedi Academy Trilogy. ^^^ Yeah, what he said.
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Nov 30, 2013 17:56
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Basically the only important things from a timeline/canon standpoint that happen in the Jedi Academy trilogy are: 1. Kyp Durron blows up an entire star system and murders like a billion people but it's ok he's a Jedi and Luke says he's sorry so all is forgiven  2. All the future Jedi Master characters are introduced, but really in the big scheme of things none of their backstories matter aside from Kyp's. 3. Wedge Antilles dates some alien scientist lady (ok this isn't really important but seriously  Wedge?)Oh yeah and there's another Death Star for whatever reason.
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Nov 30, 2013 18:02
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astr0man posted:
Not just any scientist but the woman who designed the Death Star. Although he technically has the excuse that she's since lost her memory and was told the Death Star would only be used for peaceful purposes. Yes the excuse is that stupid. You also missed the Hutts building their own version of the Death Star. Which then blows up due to crappy quality control. Admittedly it's probably the best Kevin J Anderson book but that's a pretty low bar. Ferrosol fucked around with this message at 18:13 on Nov 30, 2013 |
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Nov 30, 2013 18:09
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astr0man posted:1. Kyp Durron blows up an entire star system and murders like a billion people but it's ok he's a Jedi and Luke says he's sorry so all is forgiven  Second greatest killing spree next to Palpatine I guess.
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Nov 30, 2013 18:11
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Also the people he blew up were all Imperials not peaceful Alderaanians so that's another reason he gets a free pass
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Nov 30, 2013 18:12
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