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Dr. Lariat posted:You like frontier westerns? It's pretty decent, dumb at times but by no means bad. And don't get your hopes up, it's less about the exile and more, his first adventure on tattooine post ep. 3. I haven't seen "Shane" but I'm mostly certain it's just "Shane".
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Dec 3, 2013 07:28
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Jazerus posted:"Well, I'm blogging on starwars.com so I can't take an entirely unambiguous poo poo all over this book...I guess Han dumping all his problems on Chewie and jumping into the action is pretty in-character! I just won't mention that Han is a whiny rear end in a top hat the rest of the book." Hey, he said it, I'm just reporting it.
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Dec 3, 2013 13:18
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Kenobi is no Thrawn trilogy, but it was at least fun to read.
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Dec 3, 2013 15:36
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I liked Kenobi a lot. The Tusken interludes weren't great and seemed to drag the book a bit, but still 7/10.
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Dec 3, 2013 19:51
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Visions of the Future was released unabridged on Audible today. It seemed like the delay between their release of Spectre of the Past was really long so I dug up some news post on TFN that said it was supposed to be released in October, so who knows what happened there. It clocks in at almost 26.5 hours so it should keep anybody busy for a while. I figure they'll either do Choices of One or the X-Wing series next, probably both. It's going to be interesting to see if they bother with some of the lovely 90's books.
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Dec 3, 2013 22:16
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KildarX posted:I liked Kenobi a lot. The Tusken interludes weren't great and seemed to drag the book a bit, but still 7/10. I didn't mind the Tusken parts nearly as much as the forced romance parts that we KNOW aren't going anywhere since we know Obi Wan's history pretty well at this point. The earlier labeling of Kenobi as a "frontier western" is pretty drat spot on. I enjoyed it, 7/10 - it was a fun audiobook to drive to and from work with.
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Dec 5, 2013 04:44
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Just finished Darth Plagueis. Plagueis is probably one of my favorite anti-heroes in Star Wars, and second only to Palpatine himself as my favorite Sith. He's just so well written and such the antithesis of your stereotypically cartoonishly-evil bad guy. His motivations are of a type we see every day in the real world: a hyper-rich dude who wants to pull the strings and never die. He's not in it for genocide or some exaggerated lust for UNLIMIIIITED POWEEEERRRRRR, he's just in it for the esoteric mysteries of the Force. I really loved how James Luceno wove this story into The Phantom Menace, and the idea that Plagueis is still alive during the events of Episode I is really, really appealing to me - for some reason I really loved the parts where he's observing events that we see happening on-screen in the movie. That being said, I kinda hate how he died. I expected some pretty great murder scene between Sidious and Plagueis, and found it really off-putting that Sidious basically just got him drunk and then hosed up his respirator. Pretty lame, and though it made sense on the eve of Palpatine's rise to the office of Supreme Chancellor, there didn't seem to be much motivation for it beyond "I'm a Sith apprentice, and apprentices have to kill their masters." I mean, later in the EU we see Palpatine just as obsessed with immortality as Plagueis had been, so I really fail to understand why he would kill Plagueis before learning the secret, or at the very least try a bit harder to get it out of him. Throughout most of the book, Sidious seems to basically worship the ground Plagueis walks on, barring a few comparatively minor incidences where Sidious gets, at best, a bit miffed at misinterpreting Plagueis's actions as rebukes of Sidious. That being said, it's the best Star Wars book I've read since the Thrawn Trilogy, and it did what I didn't think possible: actually got me interested in the Rise of the Empire Era again. I want more.
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Dec 9, 2013 01:08
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Heh. This guy still exists.
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Dec 9, 2013 01:29
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That site's Episode 7 summary posted:Traveling through hyper space, Han Solo, Leia Solo, R2-D2, C-3PO and Chewbacca are on their way to Han's home world of Corellia to attend Han's mother's funeral. After securing a docking bay for the Millennium Falcon, the group exits the Falcon and hires a transport to take them to Han's mother's residence. There are many hundreds of people at the Solo's abode. Suddenly, Dark Jedi cyborgs attack the proceedings. A dramatic fire fight envelopes the Solo home. Han and Company duck for cover. Where've you been all my life??
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Dec 9, 2013 03:01
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Renzian posted:Where've you been all my life?? Dark Jedi Cyborgs, I've only recently started reading into a lot of EU and it's still not the stupidest/silliest idea I've ever seen written. Looking at you Death Troopers.
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Dec 9, 2013 05:25
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You know who else was a dark jedi cyborg? That's right.
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Dec 9, 2013 05:27
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Aren't there enemies in JK2 or Jedi Academy that are basically dark jedi cyborgs? I can't remember which game it was, but it was the one where the sith are creating a mass army of dark jedi by sticking dark side powered crystals into their troops or some poo poo.
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Dec 9, 2013 05:37
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Wouldn't Darth Vader be a dark Jedi cyborg, seeing as he's, y'know, a Jedi who fell to the dark side and is "more machine now than man"?
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Dec 9, 2013 06:40
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Flagrant Abuse posted:You know who else was a dark jedi cyborg? That's right. ... Well, and Darth Vader.
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Dec 9, 2013 08:18
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Here's something else. Some of the stuff the EU comes up with never ceases to crack me up.
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Dec 9, 2013 14:01
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astr0man posted:Aren't there enemies in JK2 or Jedi Academy that are basically dark jedi cyborgs? I can't remember which game it was, but it was the one where the sith are creating a mass army of dark jedi by sticking dark side powered crystals into their troops or some poo poo. They were making the army of dark jedi by throwing them into a Force fountain thing. I don't remember there being cyborgs, but there was a type of enemy that had cortosis armor with some sort of crystal in the chest, that might be what you're thinking of.
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Dec 9, 2013 23:10
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In defense of JK2 and Academy, those games ruled.
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Dec 9, 2013 23:28
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Drone posted:Just finished Darth Plagueis. quote:I really loved how James Luceno wove this story into The Phantom Menace, and the idea that Plagueis is still alive during the events of Episode I is really, really appealing to me - for some reason I really loved the parts where he's observing events that we see happening on-screen in the movie. quote:That being said, I kinda hate how he died. I expected some pretty great murder scene between Sidious and Plagueis, and found it really off-putting that Sidious basically just got him drunk and then hosed up his respirator. Pretty lame, and though it made sense on the eve of Palpatine's rise to the office of Supreme Chancellor, there didn't seem to be much motivation for it beyond "I'm a Sith apprentice, and apprentices have to kill their masters." I mean, later in the EU we see Palpatine just as obsessed with immortality as Plagueis had been, so I really fail to understand why he would kill Plagueis before learning the secret, or at the very least try a bit harder to get it out of him. Throughout most of the book, Sidious seems to basically worship the ground Plagueis walks on, barring a few comparatively minor incidences where Sidious gets, at best, a bit miffed at misinterpreting Plagueis's actions as rebukes of Sidious. quote:That being said, it's the best Star Wars book I've read since the Thrawn Trilogy, and it did what I didn't think possible: actually got me interested in the Rise of the Empire Era again. I want more. Same for me. I'd love to read stories of other Sith Masters and Apprentices if done in a similar manner.
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Dec 10, 2013 04:44
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redshirt posted:Same for me. I'd love to read stories of other Sith Masters and Apprentices if done in a similar manner. Totally, I picked up Darth Bane after reading Plagueis but it was well, kinda lame.
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Dec 10, 2013 09:13
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redshirt posted:Same for me. I'd love to read stories of other Sith Masters and Apprentices if done in a similar manner. I'd love to read a sequel to Darth Plagueis just all about Sidious and Dooku, especially since Dooku's character (like just about everyone in the prequel trilogy) seems so drat stale in the movies.
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Dec 10, 2013 12:06
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Drone posted:I'd love to read a sequel to Darth Plagueis just all about Sidious and Dooku, especially since Dooku's character (like just about everyone in the prequel trilogy) seems so drat stale in the movies. Dooku's part in Plagueis was really understated but I enjoyed it quite a bit. A sequel book involving the two new Sith would flow really well, especially if they kept the same tone of antagonism/mutual respect between Dooku and Sidious that Plagueis and Sidious had.
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Dec 10, 2013 14:50
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Thwomp posted:Dooku's part in Plagueis was really understated but I enjoyed it quite a bit. A sequel book involving the two new Sith would flow really well, especially if they kept the same tone of antagonism/mutual respect between Dooku and Sidious that Plagueis and Sidious had. Dooku is yet another Sith who seems to have deeper motivations than just unlimited power bullshit. He's a complex villain (and you know, looking back on the prequel movies now, he wasn't really that villainous at ALL), and I want to see him developed a bit more. Going off of the events in Plagueis, for him becoming a Sith isn't so much about his desire for power or conquest or evil as it is about the Sith just being a different sort of philosophy about the Force and its role in galactic governance. More gushing about why Plagueis is a really great book, basically.
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Dec 10, 2013 15:12
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To a certain extent, Dooku has already been addressed fairly extensively in Dark Rendezvous, but obviously it's focused on how he relates with Yoda rather than Sidious. It was probably the best Clone Wars book (jointly with Shatterpoint) so check it out if you haven't already.
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Dec 10, 2013 16:07
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Zoran posted:In defense of JK2 and Academy, those games ruled. JK2 was 30% of a good game
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Dec 10, 2013 19:03
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Dr. Lariat posted:Totally, I picked up Darth Bane after reading Plagueis but it was well, kinda lame. That stinks. Was it just lame, or actively bad? I've been thinking of picking it up.
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Dec 10, 2013 19:21
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Drone posted:I'd love to read a sequel to Darth Plagueis just all about Sidious and Dooku, especially since Dooku's character (like just about everyone in the prequel trilogy) seems so drat stale in the movies. I'd like to know more about 11-4D. Such a weird character - like he was a Sith droid. Plagueis seemed to really like him/it.
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Dec 10, 2013 19:22
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redshirt posted:That stinks. Was it just lame, or actively bad? I've been thinking of picking it up. I finished the first book and am currently middle of book two and it's a bit underwhelming, sorta like you get the cliff notes version of things. It's 300 pages that covers Bane from horrible teenage years till becoming Darth Bane after Thought Bombing the Brotherhood. I wish they could have expanded on his time in the Sith Army as a grunt and expanded on his Apprenticeship[I am a sucker for training sequences].
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Dec 10, 2013 19:42
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redshirt posted:I'd like to know more about 11-4D. Such a weird character - like he was a Sith droid. Plagueis seemed to really like him/it. I don't think he was inherently good or bad either, just an obedient droid who obeyed his master and did his job well. He never seemed like your HK-47 deprived morality type.
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Dec 10, 2013 20:40
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Drone posted:I don't think he was inherently good or bad either, just an obedient droid who obeyed his master and did his job well. He never seemed like your HK-47 deprived morality type. I found their relationship interesting. Plagueis seemed to take a big shine to the droid. Like they were best friends. So is it confirmed that both Plagueis and Sidious created Anakin? They refer to a shift in the force that they accomplished, and then 8 years later they learn about Anakin.
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Dec 10, 2013 20:58
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11-4D was definitely cool for just being amoral. Operated totally without regard to the ethics of anything. Tenebrous' death simply meant it was without a master and Plagueis offered new work. It did seem to have a curious interest in the impossible things Plagueis attempted to do which actually fits a semi-intelligent droid. *Logic circuits advise death = permament state.* *Error in observation circuits as subject switched state from dead->alive 10 times.* *ERROR ERROR ERROR* *New factor in life equation = theForce* redshirt posted:So is it confirmed that both Plagueis and Sidious created Anakin? They refer to a shift in the force that they accomplished, and then 8 years later they learn about Anakin. The shift was this "astral plane" battle between the two Sith and the Force itself. They manage to tip the balance of the Force towards the Dark Side, increasing their own power over the Jedi and weakening the Jedi at the same time. New life was their attempt to create a new life form purely through manipulation of the Force itself. This was a failure in that their actions didn't directly create the lifeform. However, the Sith have this mentality that the Force can "bounce back" against a user if they are not careful enough in their manipulations. A Sith must completely subjugate the Force in order to fully express its power. Despite all his knowledge, Plagueis still didn't have enough total control over the Force to create life. In his attempt though, a "bounce back" created Anakin. At least, I think that's what happened. It's a bit strange that such important events happened entirely off-page. Thwomp fucked around with this message at 21:11 on Dec 10, 2013 |
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Dec 10, 2013 21:03
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Thwomp posted:11-4D was definitely cool for just being amoral. Operated totally without regard to the ethics of anything. Yeah. 11-4D even says once "If only I had a tool as powerful as the Force". I really just liked the adventures of Plaqueis and his best friend, 11-4D. A true odd couple.
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Dec 10, 2013 21:05
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redshirt posted:That stinks. Was it just lame, or actively bad? I've been thinking of picking it up. I guess the first one's okay, even though Bane is a bit of a Sue in it. It retcons out a lot of stuff that people didn't like about the Jedi vs Sith comic (granted, some of the stuff in that comic is a bit  ), but the second one is a bit naff (the way the Sith manage to avoid being caught is beyond stupid) and I've not read the third one but haven't heard great things about.I read the first two when they came out and didn't re-read them. I'm not sure how long ago that was. Two or three years?
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Dec 10, 2013 23:05
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redshirt posted:That stinks. Was it just lame, or actively bad? I've been thinking of picking it up. I actually really liked the first half or so. It's the approach to and climax that landed with a thud. I'm unsure how to explain it without spoiling things but it seemed like a string of conveniences both for the characters and really lazy plotting to wrap it up. It's a shame because as I thought about it more I was really high on the first half but once Bane gets to sith school and the events afterward it became obvious it was written by a video game writer. Bane does a lot of leveling up and moving on to the next level and it falls flat.
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Dec 11, 2013 01:35
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One of the big problems I had with the Bane books, especially the first one, is that it's written by the guy who was the lead writer on KOTOR 1, so everything just seemed really focus on rehashing stuff from KOTOR. Off the top of my head the fact that Bane is basically the apprentice of Revan via a hologram, that Revan is the one who actually developed the rule of two, the battle at the end of KOTOR is stated as being the greatest defeat the Sith ever experienced in their history, Revan is stated as being the last 'real' Sith lord, etc. Also a lot of the planets and species that were prominent in KOTOR kept getting reused. Then there were a few other more nerdy continuity points that irritated me, like the fact that this was supposed to be set at the end of a thousand-year war that basically destroyed galactic civilization, but the war is referred to only as the 'rebellion' which has only gone on for a few years. Or how Bane, Githany, and Kaan were written in the most boring way possible. If someone like Luceno or Stover had written the Bane books I think they would have been EU classics (although really, after Traitor I imagine Stover probably doesn't have a lot more he'd want to say about the Jedi/Sith split*), but even if they had been written by an author who wasn't Karpyshyn (with both his limitations and his need to constantly make sure we all remember he wrote KOTOR) I think they would have been a lot better off. *Speaking of Darth Plagueis, back in Star Wars Insider #130 Stover wrote a short-story tie-in for Darth Plagueis called "The Tenebrous Way", which was about Plagueis killing Tenebrous from the POV of Tenebrous. It was a cool little story that added a whole new dimension to the Plagueis-Tenebrous relationship but sadly I don't think it was ever included in any paperback reprints or anything beyond the magazine issue itself.
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Dec 11, 2013 02:25
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n62S2dNYbg#t=7
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Dec 11, 2013 03:55
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Chairman Capone posted:If someone like Luceno or Stover had written the Bane books I think they would have been EU classics (although really, after Traitor I imagine Stover probably doesn't have a lot more he'd want to say about the Jedi/Sith split*), but even if they had been written by an author who wasn't Karpyshyn (with both his limitations and his need to constantly make sure we all remember he wrote KOTOR) I think they would have been a lot better off. I agree about Karpyshyn. God, it would be amazing if Stover had been able to get involved with that story, or as you said even Luceno would be awesome. They both are great at the "subtle" elements that make the Sith great reads. Shame about that story, I would LOVE to find a copy of that. edit: Found a copy of it, can't wait to give it a read.
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Dec 11, 2013 15:07
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Reminder that the A plot to book 2 was literally: Sith lord finds Sith magic armor. Sith magic armor turns out to be Sith cursed. Sith lord goes looking for Sith magic to remove Sith magic armor. Sith lord removes Sith magic armor.
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Dec 11, 2013 15:50
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Chairman Capone posted:*stuff about Karpyshyn* I didn't mind the first Bane book (I never read the comic it was based off), but the second book was terrible and the third marginally better. This is also the guy who wrote the Revan book a while back and decided to take a massive dump on everything to do with KOTOR 2. It wasn't even about Revan for half of it!
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Dec 11, 2013 21:59
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api call girl posted:Reminder that the A plot to book 2 was literally: There's also the bit where a bunch of Jedi find a one-handed lunatic waving a lightsabre at them and make the completely logical conclusion (and the narration, unless I'm much mistaken, basically goes out of its way to emphasise that this is a completely logical conclusion) that he must have been the mystery Sith who killed a strike team, which included two or three Jedi who were explicitly identified as the best lightsabre experts available, as well as the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order, while Bane and his apprentice are hiding under the floorboards they're standing on.
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Dec 12, 2013 00:10
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chaosrefined posted:I didn't mind the first Bane book (I never read the comic it was based off), but the second book was terrible and the third marginally better. This is also the guy who wrote the Revan book a while back and decided to take a massive dump on everything to do with KOTOR 2. It wasn't even about Revan for half of it! But he's always been a hack, and I'm convinced that Mass Effect was some kind of fluke (or the result of having several other writers). His novelization of BG2:ToB was pure piss.
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Dec 12, 2013 01:58
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