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I'm kinda blindsided by how much better Edge of Victory 1 and especially 2 where after how meh Balance Point was! Now i come to the 2 books of NJO that i've had this whole and had no context for when i originally read them. These 2 books will probably be the only ones that don't have the nice LEGENDS header along the tops of spines and that annoys me slightly! But i was also dreading this moment since 600 something pages is RIDICULOUSLY more than anything else so far and just by looking at the covers of Star by Star and Dark Journey this is where things take a turn for the needlessly dark and grim isnt it?
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Aug 18, 2021 01:58
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| # ? May 19, 2024 22:36 |
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Star By Star is definitely grim, but it never really verges into grimdark, and that really says something for it, I think. Part of that is that it sets up some really interesting stuff going forward, and part of it is just it's a pretty good book by Troy Denning's standards. Outside of the Force Heretic trilogy, of which I have no memory, the remainder of the series is pretty strong. Dark Journey starts getting into anti-Vong psyops, Traitor is a stone-cold classic, the Allston books are pretty good absent a very silly character, and I remember Destiny's Way having some solid action sequences.
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Aug 18, 2021 03:38
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That's good to hear then! I was kinda worried considering the book before that ended with blowing up the world ship cocoon and Kyp Durron trying to justify killing Vong civilians/civilian infrastructure after keeping that fact it a secret from everybody. Thanks for making us all war criminals Kyp! 
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Aug 18, 2021 06:49
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The Shame Boy posted:That's good to hear then! I was kinda worried considering the book before that ended with blowing up the world ship cocoon and Kyp Durron trying to justify killing Vong civilians/civilian infrastructure after keeping that fact it a secret from everybody. it's the only thing kyp durron is good at
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Aug 18, 2021 06:54
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Also just finished Edge of Victory in my reread. Definitely a highlight of the series, although like most of the NJO's duologies, it's stronger and more focused in the first half. Rebirth is still enjoyable, although it made me notice just how much Keyes relies on end of chapter cliffhangers. Conquest, however, is probably one of the top five of the series. Just a fun adventure story that really helps to flesh out both the Vong and Anakin's character. Anakin's obviously the big highlight of these two, and it's really the point that turns him into the hero he needs to be for Star by Star to have the impact it does. Keyes feels like an old hand at Star Wars, just getting the setting and characters right off the bat, and it's a shame he didn't come back after the NJO (although since never actually got as far The Final Prophecy before, I still have one more of his left unread). Now the part I've been looking forward to going back to for a while. Will Star by Star hold up? Will it feel like a warning of Denning novels to come? Some combination of the two? I will say (though I'm reading these on Kindle), it looks good on the shelf stacked up next to rest of the Star Wars collection, this purple behemoth in the middle of a bunch of books half its size.
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Aug 18, 2021 13:57
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Cross-Section posted:I liked the bounty hunters story with IG-88 and.. Zuckuss, I think, happening upon a YT-1300 converted into a casino ship while searching for Han and crew Same. There's a few too many "random citizens on Cloud City" stories that don't really bring much to the table.
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Aug 18, 2021 15:19
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Is there a Willrow Hood story.
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Aug 18, 2021 15:20
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There is! There's also a story about the captain and Star Destroyer that gets blown up in the asteroid field.
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Aug 18, 2021 15:24
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Teek posted:There is! Yeah that's the goon project (it's great)
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Aug 18, 2021 16:40
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Teek posted:Same. There's a few too many "random citizens on Cloud City" stories that don't really bring much to the table. I had this feel about the cantina aliens stories in the first book. I like seeing these randos get their backstories explored, but shotgunning 6 or 7 of them starts to feel repetitive
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Aug 18, 2021 18:16
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Arcsquad12 posted:So interesting potential spoiler for future stuff on the finale of Bad Batch season 1. I agree that it's combined probably a big hint of where they're going, but I really hope it doesn't turn out to be Thrawn Trilogy but with everything changed so the TCW/Rebels cast takes the place of the OT cast from the books. Ahsoka instead of Luke, TCW clone troopers, Hera instead of Bel Iblis, etc.
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Aug 18, 2021 19:11
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jivjov posted:I had this feel about the cantina aliens stories in the first book. I like seeing these randos get their backstories explored, but shotgunning 6 or 7 of them starts to feel repetitive At least with them you have a face with the name, many of the Cloud City people were brand new and not easily tied to an on screen appearance.
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Aug 19, 2021 02:53
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Chairman Capone posted:I agree that it's combined probably a big hint of where they're going, but I really hope it doesn't turn out to be Thrawn Trilogy but with everything changed so the TCW/Rebels cast takes the place of the OT cast from the books. Ahsoka instead of Luke, TCW clone troopers, Hera instead of Bel Iblis, etc. So would that be Aahsoka, Ahsooka, or Ahsokaa ?
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Aug 19, 2021 03:07
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cptn_dr posted:So would that be Aahsoka, Ahsooka, or Ahsokaa ? Aahsookaa
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Aug 19, 2021 04:42
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Bless you.
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Aug 19, 2021 05:11
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How bad an idea would it be to read the Lost Stars manga instead of the book itself?
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Aug 19, 2021 16:11
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The new manga adaptations are supposed to be pretty good.
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Aug 20, 2021 01:42
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Any expected outrage over Slave 1 being renamed the Firespray?
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Aug 21, 2021 16:59
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Arc Hammer posted:Any expected outrage over Slave 1 being renamed the Firespray? Is this true?
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Aug 21, 2021 17:35
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They are renaming it to the model of ship it already is called?
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Aug 21, 2021 17:39
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This has been a point for months now ever since the new lego set for Boba Fett's ship was announced and it wasn't called Slave 1 on the box. Yesterday IGN put out this article. https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.ign.com/articles/boba-fett-slave-1-firespray-ship-new-name%3famp=1
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Aug 21, 2021 17:54
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Yeah theyre not actually changing the name, just using the model name instead or calling it "Boba Fett's Starship". I've seen lots of chud meltdowns about "political correctness gone mad" or whatever.
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Aug 21, 2021 20:22
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jivjov posted:Yeah theyre not actually changing the name, just using the model name instead or calling it "Boba Fett's Starship". I've seen lots of chud meltdowns about "political correctness gone mad" or whatever. They just call Luke's ship his X-Wing, it doesn't have its own name. And "Firespray-class patrol craft" was always a just plain cooler name than "Slave I", which came across as tryhard grim-sinister.
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Aug 21, 2021 20:41
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My only particular like about the name is finding out in Legends that his future ships were Slave II, III, IV. Kinda functions as an insight into the character in that way.
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Aug 21, 2021 20:48
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I know it's a bit redundant to say, but MAN is Star by Star long! Like it really feels like they kinda combined 2 books into 1 as it felt like the story was wrapping up at page 300 and then immediately continued to go forward. This back half going over the Jedi strike mission is kinda bumming me out a bit though.The constant running battle these kids are in as they are dying off one by one is kinda depressing to read through. I'm sure that's exactly the kind of tone they were going for in this bit but...yikes man i'm a little  right now.
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Aug 21, 2021 21:58
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The Shame Boy posted:I know it's a bit redundant to say, but MAN is Star by Star long! It's the longest Star Wars book. Almost 100 pages over the closest contenders, Unifying Force and Vision of the Future. Vision of the Future is funny because originally Zahn was going to write just one wrap-up book, but then they agreed to split it into two for him. And then the second book ended up being almost twice as long as the first. So from originally a one-book assignment, he basically turned it into a trilogy.
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Aug 21, 2021 22:22
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jivjov posted:Yeah theyre not actually changing the name, just using the model name instead or calling it "Boba Fett's Starship". I've seen lots of chud meltdowns about "political correctness gone mad" or whatever. I mean the ship wasn't even called Slave 1 until around the time of the prequels right? So it's not like it has some legacy that dates back to the original movies. Also who cares get over it chuds.
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Aug 21, 2021 23:15
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Rad Valtar posted:I mean the ship wasn't even called Slave 1 until around the time of the prequels right? So it's not like it has some legacy that dates back to the original movies. Also who cares get over it chuds. Nah it was definitely that in the early 90s Shards of Alderaan was published in early '97 and featured the Slave IV.
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Aug 21, 2021 23:28
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Rad Valtar posted:I mean the ship wasn't even called Slave 1 until around the time of the prequels right? So it's not like it has some legacy that dates back to the original movies. Also who cares get over it chuds.
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Aug 21, 2021 23:33
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The Slave I name was also used in the Shadows of the Empire game from ‘96 (And probably all the other stuff from that line) and IIRC it was something that was already well established by then too. efb with other stuff
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Aug 21, 2021 23:36
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Wait did they really just kill both Anakin AND Borsk Fey'lya in this one book  That is...not something i saw coming! Especially for the second person in the spoilers, kind of assumed they would always be around to be a convenient antagonist type for when a Capital B Bad Guy isn't around to menace people.Like, where do they even go from here? Coruscant falling was inevitable but i kinda figured they would wait till near the end of the 20 book series and not the 9th!
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Aug 22, 2021 02:03
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It’s a super bleak book. Fey’lya couldn’t be milked forever. His worst behavior is in the Thrawn trilogy, and the latter X-Wing books. I honestly don’t remember what he was up to in the NJO, other than blowing himself up. According to Luceno the decision to kill Anakin was made in 1998, so maybe they chose to kill Borsk around the same time. Edit: Ok, quick read of Wookiepedia seems to indicate he was pretty antagonistic in the NJO. I think offing him was the right decision. Thracken Sal-Solo comes to mind. Douchebag just kept turning up over and over again until it was beyond stale. Casimir Radon fucked around with this message at 02:14 on Aug 22, 2021 |
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Aug 22, 2021 02:10
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Fey’lya being an incompetent turd was probably the most realistic part of NJO. Him getting to go out with a bang and blow away a ton of Vong loving ruled though.
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Aug 22, 2021 02:21
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I still laugh my rear end off at the editorial mandate of Anakin Solo being the one to die to avoid audience confusion with Anakin Skywalker
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Aug 22, 2021 02:32
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VaultAggie posted:Fey’lya being an incompetent turd was probably the most realistic part of NJO. Him getting to go out with a bang and blow away a ton of Vong loving ruled though. I need to re read traitor sometime. That was extremely my poo poo in high school, and I want to know how it holds up. I think i quit near end of NJO actually, but still would re read Traitor.
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Aug 22, 2021 02:32
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VaultAggie posted:Fey’lya being an incompetent turd was probably the most realistic part of NJO. Him getting to go out with a bang and blow away a ton of Vong loving ruled though. Being an incompetent turd is just in keeping with his character, with which he was consistent to the end at the very least. Also killing those Vong was secondary to all the secret political poo poo he blew up along with him.  .Although credit is due to him taking a bunch of Vong with him. This series is at least consistent in major characters going down spectacularly . Anakin especially with his weird super Force Ultra Instinct thing he did before died.
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Aug 22, 2021 02:35
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jivjov posted:Yeah theyre not actually changing the name, just using the model name instead or calling it "Boba Fett's Starship". I've seen lots of chud meltdowns about "political correctness gone mad" or whatever. yeah. they are chud idiots. the only issue i have with canon changes was tarkin being a romantic person, like making tarkin into some romantic old man looking for the perfect young man to love him back and genuinely caring about the man. that just doesn't work with tarkin for me. i feel tarkin would be a "gently caress and throw away" type of rear end in a top hat and uses people as a release valve. like i don't think he would be some sadist or anything but its like he doesn't strike me as man who cares about people beyond himself. like yeah old canon had dala and such but even then he basicaly used her as a toy and respected that she was smart but the second poo poo look bad for his marriage he tossed her into a black hole to rot. but new canon, he seems way way to hosed up and broken of a person to have a real love affair. he doesn't love anyone but himself and climbing the ladder and "restoring order". its not an issue and its an ok story. its just kinda doesn't fit my view of him. http://www.scififantasynetwork.com/tarkins-gay-lover-star-wars-bizarre/
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Aug 22, 2021 05:02
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Treating that series of books as canon is really silly, since in the first one alone it contradicts itself a couple of times. Every author got complete freedom to just make poo poo up because it's all unreliably narrated. The contradictions were inevitable with them getting 40 stories out of what we saw on-screen. There's only so much you can do there. Also I'm pretty sure the statement that it's "canon" is stretching the concept to appease nerds. It sure is a book that Disney published, but that doesn't mean they give a poo poo about it being consistent.
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Aug 22, 2021 05:22
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I was having a discussion with my brother earlier today about the differences between Disney battle of endor and Legends battle of Endor. So in Canon Rae Sloane rallies what's left of the fleet and withdraws from the battle. Simple enough. In Legends the Imperial flag shifted twice in rapid order, first after Executor was sunk and then again after Pride of Tarlandia was destroyed. What surprised me was that the flag was moved down from a battlecruiser to the ISD Chimaera. Was Piett the only Admiral present at Endor? It's strange that once the dreadnought and battlecruiser were gone that Pellaeon ended up in charge. Dude was a capable officer, but the order of battle therefore puts him at 4th in line for overall command after Palpatine, Piett and Tarlandia's CO. Was there really nobody else down the chain of command, or did Pellaeon assume command of the fleet proactively to salvage the situation as best he could?
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Aug 22, 2021 05:23
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Zahn makes it out to be complete chaos after the Executor crashed into the Death Star, so I’d guess Pellaeon probably just grabbed the reins of a bad situation. Legends has the Imperial military fracture into warlords pretty fast so that checks out.
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Aug 22, 2021 05:29
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