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Lost Stars is fantastic. Bloodline, by the same author, is also really good. Thrawn was pretty good, but the other Zahn books about Thrawn have been pretty poo poo. The Aftermath books are...mostly god awful bullshit, with slight glimmers of wonderful. They introduce Sinjir, who is one of my favorite new characters ever. He’s great. And honestly, the depths of which they’re bad reach a level that I think has to be seen to be believed. And some of the Interludes they do are fun. If you listen to podcasts a lot, I’d recommend given the audiobooks a listen as a change of pace for a laugh. Then the present tense doesn’t bother you as much either, because it sounds like a radio play, with sound effects and score and all. But seriously, they’re loving nuts. The standalone Ahsoka book doesn’t get much love around here, but I really liked it. It helps that I listened to the audiobook for it as well, which was read by Ashley Eckstein. Aces, and fits the mood of the recent episode of Mando rather well. Beyond that...it’s a bunch of forgettable nothing. They’ve smoothed out the rough edges of the old EU. That means nothing truly terrible like Children of the Jedi or Crystal Star, but nothing really great either.
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Dec 1, 2020 01:07
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Isn't Cobb Vanth from Aftermath?
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Dec 1, 2020 01:21
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Arcsquad12 posted:Isn't Cobb Vanth from Aftermath? Yeah, but in a series of Interludes. Nowhere near a main character, or even a side character. Barely there, though what’s there was good. Just kind of peppered in here and there over three books. That’s one of the rare gems I mentioned.
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Dec 1, 2020 01:24
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thrawn527 posted:Lost Stars is fantastic. Bloodline, by the same author, is also really good. Thrawn was pretty good, but the other Zahn books about Thrawn have been pretty poo poo.
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Dec 1, 2020 01:31
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Lord Hydronium posted:Do you include the first book of the new Chiss trilogy he's been doing in that? After reading Thrawn (which I enjoyed) I wasn't really in a rush to read either of the two sequels, but that one sounded cool. To be fair, no, because I haven’t read it. The last couple (Alliances and Treason) burned me out, and just made me sad.
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Dec 1, 2020 01:36
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Some other highlights from the new era canon: Alphabet Squadron, also heard good things about its recently released sequel. From A Certain point of View ANH and the ESB 40th anniversary short story collections. Phasma (Not loving with you, kind of like a Mad Max meets The Long Walk tale of Phasma as a teenager.)
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Dec 1, 2020 03:05
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Dec 1, 2020 07:57
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Teek posted:Some other highlights from the new era canon: These are all a bit more recent than thrawn's recs, and are pretty delightful. Alphabet is basically a newer take on the old Rogue/Wraith paradigm, but with a smaller cast and darker tone. Both FACPOV books go full tilt into the old EU trope of "every side character has a rich and relevant backstory" and it's great, just in the insane diversity of approaches to that premise. Plus the ESB one has a story written by a goon I remember being surprised over how good the Phasma book is, though it is disappointing how much of a jobber she is in the movies compared to her depiction here. I also enjoyed the Thrawn Ascendancy prequel novel; heavy Brian Daley, "here's a solid sci-fi work technically set in the Star Wars universe but different in many ways (except the main character)" vibes.
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Dec 1, 2020 15:39
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The guy doing the fan animation of Dark Empire uploaded the trailer for his second episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLDgyOqL2Kc For those who don't know, he's using the audio from the official Dark Empire audio adaptation (which is a bit different from the comic itself) and animating it in a style that combines the actual DE art with the Holiday Special animated segment, with some visual nods to various things from both the EU and movies that came out since the early 90s (in that trailer for example, its design of the Imperial Palace is from the Rebels spinoff products).
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Dec 7, 2020 16:49
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Any thoughts on the Alphabet Squadron books? I've heard some ok things, but I don't want to pull the trigger if they suck. Also I've read the Thrawn trilogy and will bite the bullet to check out Chaos. I'll report back if its ok or not.
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Dec 12, 2020 17:47
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Alphabet Squadron is the spiritual successor to the old X-Wing books - characters with a bunch of baggage and interpersonal issues coming together to form a squadron. The overall tone is a bit more grim than X-Wing ever was, and the squadron is more "black ops" than "heroic fighter commandos", but they're very much worth a read - and hey, we don't have too much longer to wait for book 3!
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Dec 12, 2020 18:07
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RC Cola posted:Any thoughts on the Alphabet Squadron books? I've heard some ok things, but I don't want to pull the trigger if they suck. They’re good. Most of the reaction to them from goons and elsewhere has been positive. I thought the most recent one was pretty dark at times, but it’s a good story and I’m really looking forward to the last one whenever it comes out (Next year?).
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Dec 12, 2020 18:07
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fartknocker posted:They’re good. Most of the reaction to them from goons and elsewhere has been positive. I thought the most recent one was pretty dark at times, but it’s a good story and I’m really looking forward to the last one whenever it comes out (Next year?). March 2, 2021
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Dec 12, 2020 18:16
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I dunno why, but I started rereading The Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy recently and am midway through the second book now. These books were not my favorite growing up, but I do remember liking them a lot and I guess they survived my 2013 purge of 80% of my EU books. I feel like, moreso than any other old EU novels I can remember, these books are the best mixture of godawful writing but interesting concepts. Boba Fett is such an awful edgelord character in these books and every character is just constantly fellating him like he's Poochie. It makes Bossk very likable, actually, because this poor lizard himbo is just getting bullied by Fett. I love the concept of Kud'ar Mub'at, although the author telegraphs in his first loving scene what's going to happen with Balancesheet and then just keeps drawing a gigantic red arrow pointed at Balancesheet for every single scene of his afterward. I also love me some Kuat of Kuat. Just some technocrat dude who likes being in the family business of war profiteering. Finally, the degree to which all of the galaxy's most powerful people are just sitting around thinking and talking about ~~~bounty hunters~~~ is hilarious, as is the idea of loving Bossk heading up an offshoot to a lovely trade union. I honestly don't think that these books could be improved. edit: imagine if President Obama spent half of his time in office talking with his national security council about Dog the Bounty Hunter surf rock fucked around with this message at 22:26 on Dec 12, 2020 |
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Dec 12, 2020 19:47
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you're the only one who can read them without falling asleep
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Dec 12, 2020 20:54
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The second book with the rogue stormtrooper section was completely insane. Fett just happens to have Zuckuss stuck in his ship for the sole purpose of screwing over Bossk.
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Dec 12, 2020 22:00
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That Bossk wins in the end by virtue of being more pathetic than anyone can imagine is the crowning moment of that series. I was genuinely happy for him.
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Dec 12, 2020 22:45
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Bossk got owned by a rodent man who spends the whole series shoving his fingers into sniffing salts. He gets punked out of his own ship by a fake countdown voice and then just to troll him Fett puts the "bomb" in the escape pod after Bossk fled.
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Dec 12, 2020 22:52
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Jazerus posted:you're the only one who can read them without falling asleep look at this guy who doesn't know the old songs, the ones our spawn-fathers knew the rest of us will do the lizard dance all around the courtyard
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Dec 13, 2020 14:35
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Positive impressions for the first three High Republic books from Alex at Star Wars Explained, who has not always been a fan of some of the books over the last few years. Reminded him of the Bane trilogy, different but familiar enough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--LqIRls-Cc I had been pretty much getting Kindle versions of the all the novels in the Disney era (Slightly burned by having all the Legends books now packed away... hahah). Maybe I'll dip back in to physical purchases for this era. Teek fucked around with this message at 19:10 on Dec 14, 2020 |
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Dec 14, 2020 19:06
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jivjov posted:Alphabet Squadron is the spiritual successor to the old X-Wing books - characters with a bunch of baggage and interpersonal issues coming together to form a squadron. The overall tone is a bit more grim than X-Wing ever was, and the squadron is more "black ops" than "heroic fighter commandos", but they're very much worth a read - and hey, we don't have too much longer to wait for book 3! I'll second that. The first one deals with the aftermath of Operation Cinder and how it broke a lot of people on both sides. It also sets up a vendetta between an Imperial and an Alliance squadron that continues into the second book. I like the characters, and the books have some of the best space combat in any of the novels, old or new. It reads very much like the author is an old school X-Wing/TIE Fighter player, I could visualize the action from the cockpit. I would love, but we will not get, Alphabet Squadron single-player content for Squadrons.
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Dec 14, 2020 20:19
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Over the last couple years, I've kind of drifted away from reading Star Wars books. Still read the occasional comic, but I think the new books have been diminishing returns both quality and creative-wise. Not that the old EU ten years ago was any better but I think I'm at a stage in my life where I can't keep justifying putting in time reading about the time Grand Admiral Thrawn went shopping at Galaxy's Edge. Plus in the last year, The Mandalorian and the newer EA games have filled the EU-shaped hole in my heart more than most of the recent books. I also realized it's almost five years to the day since Force Awakens came out. Feels like a different era. Still, cynical as I am (and hell, as I was then) it was still fun to get swept up in the hype and the feeling of being in the theater opening night. I actually still think that the first hour or so of TFA is perhaps the most enjoyable of the Disney movies.
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Dec 14, 2020 23:36
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Teek posted:Reminded him of the Bane trilogy, different but familiar enough: In basically every way the Bane trilogy is just as bad as any of the Bounty Hunter trilogy so idk.
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Dec 15, 2020 18:56
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I didn’t get the sense he meant quality by that, mainly more the vibe of it.
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Dec 16, 2020 04:09
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I used to like Star Wars books a lot when I was a child. I haven't read any in years, I largely stopped caring about the franchise after I saw The Phantom Menace, but I see that they're doing novels in the new continuity and I'm kinda interested. Are any of the new ones any good? I should say, what I really liked about the Star Wars books as a kid was how they'd be about wild stuff not in the movies, like Leia's kids or X-Wing squads or weird aliens. Are the new books branching off into uncharted territory like that or are they sticking with "Here's what this major character did in between the movies!"
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Dec 17, 2020 04:21
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It's been a mix. Some focusing on some of the major characters, a few others about new characters (Alphabet Squadron, Lost Stars, Doctor Aphra [comic series]). They'll be launching a new multi-book series in a few weeks set a few hundred years before TPM. It's a big cross promo thing, with both adult and young adult novels, as well as comics. It's called the High Republic, and I think they have it sketched out for the next two years at the minimum. It'll also be getting a TV show set around that era within the next two years or so.
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Dec 17, 2020 04:46
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Teek posted:It's been a mix. Some focusing on some of the major characters, a few others about new characters (Alphabet Squadron, Lost Stars, Doctor Aphra [comic series]). I'll be interested to see how they manage to include Stormtroopers in that setting.
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Dec 17, 2020 14:38
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Gripweed posted:I'll be interested to see how they manage to include Stormtroopers in that setting. Same way they did in KOTOR; just shove somebody into full armor with a face-obscuring helmet 
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Dec 17, 2020 14:41
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Gripweed posted:I used to like Star Wars books a lot when I was a child. I haven't read any in years, I largely stopped caring about the franchise after I saw The Phantom Menace, but I see that they're doing novels in the new continuity and I'm kinda interested. Are any of the new ones any good? This isn't really directed at you, but drat, the OP really needs to be updated because this question is asked on occasion and we get basically the same answers every time. Again, not directed at you, the answers get buried, and the OP is 10 god drat years old. That's before the loving Disney buyout. And the questions that are answered in the OP aren't even canon anymore. It may be time for a new book barn thread, because we can't really update the OP, since the author of the thread hasn't posted in here since 2011. Anyone object to me making it? If everyone is good with a new book barn thread, please put your ultimate recommendations that should be included in the OP here again so I can try to make a consensus (ha). Put anything from Legends as well that you think is still worth revisiting. thrawn527 fucked around with this message at 14:52 on Dec 17, 2020 |
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Dec 17, 2020 14:49
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Gripweed posted:I should say, what I really liked about the Star Wars books as a kid was how they'd be about wild stuff not in the movies, like Leia's kids or X-Wing squads or weird aliens. Are the new books branching off into uncharted territory like that or are they sticking with "Here's what this major character did in between the movies!" If anything I think the focus of books since the Disney purchase has been a lot more limited in scope than the old EU, with a few exceptions. Maybe that's starting to change now that the sequel movies are over.
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Dec 17, 2020 15:02
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thrawn527 posted:This isn't really directed at you, but drat, the OP really needs to be updated because this question is asked on occasion and we get basically the same answers every time. Again, not directed at you, the answers get buried, and the OP is 10 god drat years old. That's before the loving Disney buyout. And the questions that are answered in the OP aren't even canon anymore. A year or so ago I had some Audible credits I had to burn and I spent them on Alphabet Squadron, Black Spire, Phasma, and Aftermath. This was based on searching for "best canon star wars novels" as well as thrawn527 's posts since you have pretty good Star Wars opinions.
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Dec 17, 2020 15:28
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I think I'm just gonna go ahead and make a new Book Barn thread. I'm actually almost done with it, scanning back through the thread to grab recommendations for a few consensus books I haven't read. Should be up soon. I'll have a section on how bad the Aftermath books are, and whether that means you should read them or not.
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Dec 17, 2020 15:52
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thrawn527 posted:If everyone is good with a new book barn thread, please put your ultimate recommendations that should be included in the OP here again so I can try to make a consensus (ha). Put anything from Legends as well that you think is still worth revisiting. I've got some Legends recs here: Shatterpoint (Mace goes home to Space Vietnam and it The Medstar Duology (well-nuanced Star Wars MASH during the Clone Wars) ROTS novelization (I don't think I need to make an argument for this one) The Thrawn Trilogy (ditto) The Han Solo Adventures (Brian Daley single-handedly outdoes the whole of the EU in 1979) The Lando Calrissian Adventures (Some of the weirdest SW stories put to paper, referenced in the Solo movie)
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Dec 17, 2020 15:53
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The aftermath books are good, actually
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Dec 17, 2020 16:16
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 New Star Wars Book Barn Thread Here! The time has finally come. 10 years and almost 700 pages here is long enough. Head on over there, please, and have your Star Wars Book discussions there.
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Dec 17, 2020 16:23
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whoops wrong thread
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Dec 22, 2020 01:39
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Looks like they finally gave Cara Dune the boot.
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Feb 11, 2021 11:42
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Good riddance.
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Feb 12, 2021 01:04
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VaultAggie posted:Looks like they finally gave Cara Dune the boot. Gina Carano. The character may stick around, I'm hoping they recast with a Jewish trans woman just to really piss off Carano
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Feb 12, 2021 01:12
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I'm sure that's going to happen.
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Feb 12, 2021 16:05
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