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Is that Dr. Doom in the third cover?
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Jun 25, 2021 17:24
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Casimir Radon posted:
This actually had a cameo in the Solo movie: 
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Jun 25, 2021 17:50
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Casimir Radon posted:
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Jun 25, 2021 23:47
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So I'm about 60% of the way through Light of the Jedi, and it's an odd duck of a book. I don't hate it, but I certainly don't love it either. It seems like it doesn't want to get to know any characters too well, which is hurting my ability to get too into it. Like, it only gets to a surface level understanding of anyone. The action scenes are impressive, in a way that feels like they were designed more for a TV show or a movie than a book. Like I'm reading a script treatment. I honestly can't tell if that's a plus or minus yet. But I love the way it describes the way the different Jedi connect to the Force. It's different than I think any other media has done it before. The Nihil...kind of suck as villains, so far. Are they the series villains? Honestly, while it's not terrible, I think it mostly feels like a detailed summary of events, until I get to an action scene, where they'll spend several chapters describing it from 5 different characters perspectives. I'm hoping the further High Republic books get better. Anyway, I'm not done yet, but so far I'd say it's a soft 3/5 stars? I've been told to stay away from Into the Dark by Claudia Gray by someone who likes basically every Star Wars book he's ever read, so I imagine that must be pretty drat bad.
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Jun 26, 2021 00:11
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Haven’t read Into the Dark myself but I’m surprised to hear that. I’ve loved everything else she’s made, so I wonder what makes it avoidable.
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Jun 26, 2021 00:15
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VaultAggie posted:Haven’t read Into the Dark myself but I’m surprised to hear that. I’ve loved everything else she’s made, so I wonder what makes it avoidable. Yeah, I was surprised, too. His exact words were, "Just don't read Into the Dark. It's a hard read, and my least favorite of Claudia Gray's books." 
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Jun 26, 2021 00:17
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thrawn527 posted:I've been told to stay away from Into the Dark by Claudia Gray by someone who likes basically every Star Wars book he's ever read I dunno, that sounds more like a glowing endorsement for it.
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Jun 26, 2021 01:51
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Kurui Reiten posted:I dunno, that sounds more like a glowing endorsement for it. …you know, this is a fair point.
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Jun 26, 2021 02:17
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I enjoyed Into the Dark more than Light of the Jedi. It's a smaller, tighter cast and I found myself getting invested in (some of the characters) more than I did anyone in LotJ.
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Jun 27, 2021 20:27
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Yeah I thought Into the Dark was pretty good. The Nihil unfortunately show up but the main attraction villains are better. If you're reading Light of the Jedi you may as well read it too.
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Jun 28, 2021 02:41
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I'm nearing the end of Light of the Jedi, and I'm liking it more than I did before, so I'm gonna dive more into the High Republic books as they come in. Thanks for convincing me to read Into the Dark, I'll check it out, too.
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Jun 28, 2021 12:49
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Chairman Capone posted:This actually had a cameo in the Solo movie: I thought the movie was making a joke about Indiana Jones and the crystal skull which is why Han shoots it and it blows up. Kind of like how in Jurassic World the trex bashes through a spinosaur skeleton (the main Dino of jp3). It was just one of those wink wink moments that show up in Lucas and Spielberg films
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Jun 29, 2021 03:41
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Noob Saibot posted:I thought the movie was making a joke about Indiana Jones and the crystal skull which is why Han shoots it and it blows up. Kind of like how in Jurassic World the trex bashes through a spinosaur skeleton (the main Dino of jp3). It was just one of those wink wink moments that show up in Lucas and Spielberg films Yeah, I think this is far more likely.
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Jun 29, 2021 13:12
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Given that the bad guy uses a martial art from a PS2 era fighting game, I think it being an inter-franchise thing is less likely than it being a reference to the old Star Wars stuff.
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Jun 29, 2021 13:52
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Noob Saibot posted:I thought the movie was making a joke about Indiana Jones and the crystal skull which is why Han shoots it and it blows up. Kind of like how in Jurassic World the trex bashes through a spinosaur skeleton (the main Dino of jp3). It was just one of those wink wink moments that show up in Lucas and Spielberg films thrawn527 posted:Yeah, I think this is far more likely. The concept art specifically references Xim the Despot. All of the artifacts in that room are taken from old EU stuff. There's even an Exar Kun reference. Just like how Lando references all three of the 80s Lando books in the movie as well.
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Jun 29, 2021 13:56
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Chairman Capone posted:The concept art specifically references Xim the Despot. All of the artifacts in that room are taken from old EU stuff. There's even an Exar Kun reference. Just like how Lando references all three of the 80s Lando books in the movie as well. Oh. Well then never mind. That's pretty awesome.
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Jun 29, 2021 13:59
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The Exar Kun reference isn't one I would have caught just watching the movie. It's rather slim a link.
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Jun 29, 2021 15:49
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Next wave of the first phase of the High Republic novels hits today. Seeing a lot of good reviews for the adult targeted novel, The Rising Storm. Also hitting is the junior targeted Race to Crashpoint Tower.
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Jun 29, 2021 21:34
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I’ve listened to a bit of The Rising Storm, it’s been good so far. Picks up about a year after Light of the Jedi.
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Jun 29, 2021 22:39
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I started reading the first Thrawn Ascendancy book, and I like how it refers back to the events of Outbound Flight without getting too much into specifics. That book is so steeped in Legends lore that I assumed it wouldn't be canonized as a whole, and this is a nice little compromise; if you want to treat them as part of the same continuity there's nothing really to get in the way of that, and it just adds to the backstory. Basically the same thing Zahn does in the original Thrawn book, where it's set in the new canon but clearly written to fit into Legends continuity as much as possible.
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Jun 29, 2021 23:37
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I feel like Outbound Flight has always had a bit of a mixed reception but I thought it was one of Zahn's strongest (Star Wars) books in terms of his writing style. It felt a lot more adept than the stuff he's written since. It's also kind of funny that at the time people thought that Anakin's inclusion was kind of forced and unnecessary, and then twelve years later he does another Thrawn book with another unnecessary Anakin insertion.
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Jun 29, 2021 23:45
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At least that second unnecessary Anakin insertion was to promote the new land at the Disney parks. Wait, that's not better 
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Jun 30, 2021 04:16
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Worth it for a scene of Anakin getting increasingly angry that Thrawn insists he isn’t pronouncing Mitth'raw'nuruodo correctly, and to just call him Thrawn. The Ascendancy Trilogy seems very much like Zahn is getting to write what he wants without any sort of mandate from Lucasfilm.
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Jun 30, 2021 04:20
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Somehow I can't get into the High Republic stuff. I can't help but think a) it'll be retconned as soon as the next big thing comes around (see the Dark Horse Old Republic stuff) b) literally none of the stuff that happens has any impact on the Star Wars I know (i.e. the movies, the TV shows) c) it's just too far removed from it all, so it may as well be any other random sci-fi franchise. Now read a lot of EU stuff in my day (all the comics from the early Marvel through Dark Horse up to Marvel about three years ago), loved some of the standalone books (Tales From..., Kenobi, Plagueis, Scoundrels), but somehow this just doesn't grab me, like at all. People who like the High Republic: I genuinely want to get into it, but find myself extremely reluctant, and even unsure where to start. Please sell me on the concept.
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Jun 30, 2021 06:23
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Dave Syndrome posted:Somehow I can't get into the High Republic stuff. For me, point b) is a feature. It's disconnected so they can tell whatever story involving the Jedi they want. It's true that ultimately it's going to get resolved and have no impact in the OT or anything but it's about the journey not the destination.
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Jun 30, 2021 10:43
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Yeah, it seems like, instead of having to tiptoe around the OT-ST trilogy era, or go over the pretty well trodden PT-OT era, they decided to pick an era where they could do mostly whatever they wanted. "Look, it's set 200 years before the PT. As long as I don't kill Yoda or, I don't know, destroy the Republic, can I do what I want now?" Lucasfilm: "Sure, whatever, I don't care." So it gives them more freedom than most other new EU books so far, which mostly had to deal within pretty strict rules on what they could and couldn't do. New characters, new villains (even if I don't love the villains so far), new storylines. All new poo poo. And new characters means they can die. And boy do they, so there are actual stakes, which is rare for a Star Wars book, where normally you know most characters are safe. You also start seeing the Jedi wrestle with just how involved they should be with galactic warfare as a group, and how their eventual downfall in the PT started. Which I find interesting. Light of the Jedi ended up being a 3/5 book for me, but I think did a decent job of setting up the larger story, and I'm looking forward to continuing. That being said, I have no idea if I should put it in the OP yet or not, so I'm holding off for now. It's like trying to judge the NJO off of Vector Prime.
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Jun 30, 2021 13:11
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I like the idea of the High Republic, and I think that the focus to make it on the Republic and Jedi at its best is a good differentiation from the TOTJ/KOTOR stuff, but at the same time, it feels like 200 years is way too close to the movies for things to be this different from the rot of TPM. I mean, Jabba and Yoda and Chewbacca and Maz Kanata and probably like half the senators of the prequels are all alive, hell it's only a few years before Dooku is born... it makes the prequels feel less like the downfall of a civilization and more like 1980s politicians reacting against their 1960s childhoods. thrawn527 posted:That being said, I have no idea if I should put it in the OP yet or not, so I'm holding off for now. It's like trying to judge the NJO off of Vector Prime. Here's maybe a hot take, but I think Vector Prime got a lot of poo poo mainly because it killed off Chewie, but overall it's not bad, there are some parts of it I think are pretty well written by Star Wars standards, and probably on the higher end of the NJO. Especially when you consider that Salvatore was writing his first Star Wars book, it was not only the first of a major new series but first new publisher and first post-prequel book, and he was a last minute replacement for the original author.
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Jun 30, 2021 14:41
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Chairman Capone posted:I like the idea of the High Republic, and I think that the focus to make it on the Republic and Jedi at its best is a good differentiation from the TOTJ/KOTOR stuff, but at the same time, it feels like 200 years is way too close to the movies for things to be this different from the rot of TPM. I mean, Jabba and Yoda and Chewbacca and Maz Kanata and probably like half the senators of the prequels are all alive, hell it's only a few years before Dooku is born... it makes the prequels feel less like the downfall of a civilization and more like 1980s politicians reacting against their 1960s childhoods. I believe Chewie was 198 in ANH, but everything else you said is true. And my only point about Vector Prime was that it would be unfair to judge all of NJO based on only the first book, because there was so much more to come. I actually like Vector Prime.
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Jun 30, 2021 17:37
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Having started on Light of the Jedi now that the paperback is available, it's nice to see that they brought Monument Plaza back into canon. That's a really niche detail from an old McQuarrie painting that I liked when I saw it in the old Illustrated Star Wars Universe. Also lol that Yarael Poof is tootling around on the council.
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Jul 4, 2021 22:42
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEVrdwZ9bEk Tie Fighter's been remastered and drat does it look good! https://www.moddb.com/mods/tie-fighter-total-conversion-tftc
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Jul 5, 2021 05:08
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First details are out on the Visions tie-in novel and hot drat does it really look like it'll be something else: https://twitter.com/DelReyStarWars/status/1413122745794183171?s=20
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Jul 8, 2021 15:08
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Huh, so it's not even going to be canon then? Seems like a missed opportunity to just place it in the distant past and flesh out the history of the Jedi/Sith a little bit more. Still looks cool as hell though, a lot of the newer Star Wars creators have come to the correct realization that ripping off Star Wars' inspirations gets you a much better product than ripping off other parts of Star Wars itself. The Ahsoka episode of the Mandalorian is probably my favorite single piece of the new canon so far, having Ahsoka's samurai duel with the magistrate juxtaposed with Din's western shootout outside was incredible 
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Jul 8, 2021 16:36
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I'm hoping that the Visions project does manage to keep a core Star Wars vibe to things. There are so many different ways to interpret star wars through animation but I'm hoping they use more than just "has lightsaber" as the connective tissue for the anime films. Aside from that straight up Ronin flick Production IG is doing I'm curious about the Droid story with the Astro Boy looking Droid.
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Jul 8, 2021 16:39
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I finished up The Rising Storm. I thought it was pretty good, but since I've only read it and Light of the Jedi there were some things that popped out of nowhere. Such as these killer plants, the Drengir, and I could definitely tell when things were happening not just off the page but in other media. Like when Gios' old apprentice pops up on the comms at the Fair or how Avar is off leading a bunch of Jedi against the Drengir.
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Jul 9, 2021 20:56
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I think the novel the Drenghir get introduced in is a YA novel too. So that could be confusing. I accidentally bought one of the kids’ novels on Audible and listened to it. At this rate they’ll probably introduce important stuff in one of those.
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Jul 9, 2021 21:02
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The Drenghir turn up in the comics at some point, and they are introduced in a way that makes sense there so I'd guess that's their first appearence.
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Jul 10, 2021 00:09
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The comics also have armored flying Hutts with war rancors, it's pretty rad
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Jul 10, 2021 04:52
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Which Star Wars book was it that had Hutts in full armour called something like shell Hutts? I have vague memories of it being a book with Boba Fett in it.
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Jul 10, 2021 09:56
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the Bounty Hunter Trilogy is what you seek, you tough barve
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Jul 10, 2021 11:03
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The Bounty Hunter WARS trilogy. Because just adding Wars makes for a completely new and non-easily confused title series. EDIT: Oh poo poo, the return of waffleimages images means the Terrible Books thread is no longer horribly broken! That means you can track the wall of backstabbing as it grows! McTimmy fucked around with this message at 22:12 on Jul 10, 2021 |
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Jul 10, 2021 22:10
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