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Books EMPIRE & REBELLION: RAZOR'S EDGE by Martha Wells: The Official Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

Discussion in 'Literature' started by Havac , Sep 6, 2013.

  1. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    [​IMG]
    Times are desperate for the Rebel Alliance. Harassment by the Empire and a shortage of vital supplies are hindering completion of a new secret base on the ice planet Hoth. So when Mid Rim merchants offer much-needed materials for sale, Princess Leia Organa and Han Solo lead an Alliance delegation to negotiate a deal.
    But when treachery forces the rebel ship to flee into territory controlled by pirates, Leia makes a shocking discovery: the fierce marauders come from Leia’s homeworld of Alderaan, recently destroyed by the Death Star. These refugees have turned to pillaging and plundering to survive—and they are in debt to a pirate armada, which will gladly ransom the princess to the vengeful Empire... if they find out her true identity.
    Struggling with intense feelings of guilt, loyalty, and betrayal, Leia is determined to help her wayward kinspeople, even as Imperial forces are closing in on her own crippled ship. Trapped between lethal cutthroats and brutal oppressors, Leia and Han, along with Luke, Chewbacca, and a battle-ready crew, must defy death—or embrace it—to keep the rebellion alive.
    Hardcover, September 24, 2013​
     
  2. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Sep 29, 2005
    To continue from the previous thread: The idea that Leia is boring is silly. She's often badly written, but so's Luke. But she's an interesting, deep, and fun character. Just because she's into politics and has girl cooties doesn't mean she's not interesting.

    Anyway, I did really like the excerpt in Kenobi. It's hard to get a picture of the quality just from an excerpt, but it felt like a throwback adventure. And it had General Willard. What an incredibly underused character.
     
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  3. DigitalMessiah

    DigitalMessiah Chosen One star 6

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    Feb 17, 2004
    The problem with Leia as a character is that her character has become redefined as a Jedi and in the process all her character traits from before 2005 have been discarded.
     
  4. Dr. Steve Brule

    Dr. Steve Brule Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 7, 2012
    That doesn't exactly change.
     
  5. krtmd

    krtmd Jedi Master star 4

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    Sep 5, 2012
    I really liked the first 50 pages that I read online today, but I love Leia. I think she's a great character, and I'm actually thrilled her novel is released first.
     
  6. GrandAdmiralJello

    GrandAdmiralJello Comms Admin ❉ Moderator Communitatis Litterarumque star 10 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Nov 28, 2000
    I think that beginning segment really gets Leia's stubbornness (or determination) across pretty well.
     
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  7. Lazy Storm Trooper

    Lazy Storm Trooper Jedi Master star 4

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    Sep 18, 2012
    From what we have is there any continuity errors?
     
  8. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Sep 29, 2005
    Appearing at all is way more use than he usually gets.
     
  9. CooperTFN

    CooperTFN TFN EU Staff Emeritus star 7 VIP

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    Jul 8, 1999
    But you do admit she has girl cooties. [face_nail_biting]
     
  10. GrandAdmiralJello

    GrandAdmiralJello Comms Admin ❉ Moderator Communitatis Litterarumque star 10 Staff Member Administrator

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    Nov 28, 2000
    Cooties are just another word for midichlorians.
     
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  11. instantdeath

    instantdeath Jedi Grand Master star 5

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    Jul 22, 2010
    For those that have read it: what's the tone of the novel? Straight action adventure featuring Leia? More of a character study? Are there other prominent point of view segments, or does it take place almost entirely from Leia's POV?

    I'm definitely interested in this, though I'm forcing myself to finish the early Bantam books (basically the KJA stuff) before I can move on to Kenobi and this *grumble*
     
  12. Dr. Steve Brule

    Dr. Steve Brule Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Sep 7, 2012
    It's largely from Leia's POV, but there are other characters viewpoints also, both original characters and OT. I'd say it definitely leans more towards an adventure story than a character study. There's a bit of insight into Leia, but this is not something like Traitor.
     
  13. Arrian

    Arrian Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Aug 15, 2011
    I will try and get a copy from my library, but I would be much more interested if the timeframe of the novel was 3BBY.
     
  14. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

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    Jul 19, 1999
    Here:

    [​IMG]
     
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  15. Grey1

    Grey1 Host: 181st Imperial Discussion Group star 4 VIP

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    Nov 21, 2000
    I only just realized that while I don't have any real interest in these "Empire & Rebellion" novels, I don't actually know why that is. It's as if they are Rebel Force novels to me. I don't read a lot of new stuff these days, but with information about books like Scourge, the Jaden Korr stuff or even the TOR tie-ins, I get more of a "true SW novel" feeling than from these three. Curious.
     
  16. Nobody145

    Nobody145 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Feb 9, 2007
    Huh, forgot this book was coming out already. Usually its about a month gap between novels, if not longer. On one hand I appreciate the fast pace, but I'm not so happy when most of those novels turn out mediocre or horrendous. Well, quite a few turn out decent or pretty good, but the bad ones leave me a lot more cynical.

    The summary sounds ok, but no idea about the author, and the plot mostly sounds like just another post-Yavin, pre-Hoth novel. Having Leia as the star could be interesting, and I hope it turns out good. Somewhat more positive after the last novel, but we'll see. Hm, maybe I'll go read the previews then, there was one in Kenobi? Never looked as I was too busy rereading that one.
     
  17. Barriss_Coffee

    Barriss_Coffee Chosen One star 6

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    Jun 29, 2003
    Same here. I thought they were young adult books until recently, probably because there hasn't been much in the way advertisement.

    (Ok yeah, all Star Wars books could be considered "young adult", but you've got your GODVs and Galaxy of Fears on the one side and then you've got your Jedi Trials on the other. .........Wait. Bad example.)
     
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  18. Jeff_Ferguson

    Jeff_Ferguson Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    May 15, 2006
    I have no interest in them either, but I do think we should all be celebrating the unprecedented idea these novels had that stories set in between Star Wars and Empire don't have to be in the first six months after Yavin.
     
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  19. Gorefiend

    Gorefiend Chosen One star 5

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    Oct 23, 2004
    Somehow I can’t shake the feeling this would have made a better comic book.

    Though if I am not competently off there is a lesbian Twilek Pirate in chapter 6 [face_mischief]
     
  20. krtmd

    krtmd Jedi Master star 4

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    Sep 5, 2012
    The first 50 pages are available to read here. I'm assuming that's more than the preview in Kenobi.

    Also, the diversity scale seems pretty good, at least in the beginning. Lots of women, at least two women of color, as I recall, and some mention of non-human characters.
     
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  21. DigitalMessiah

    DigitalMessiah Chosen One star 6

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    Feb 17, 2004
    You're saying you get more of that feeling from Scourge and the Kemp stuff than these?

    I don't really get it from any of those novels. I feel like the direction the novel side of the EU has taken since 2006 has emphasized certain elements that are found in the prequels (*coughjedisithcough*, and some intangible quality that was in the OT and a lot of the earlier EU has been lost. There's been exceptions, and this novel doesn't sound like it has that problem, but I suppose I'm not all too interested because stories involving Han, Luke, and Leia set between Episode IV and Episode V have been done to death? There's not really a lot of room for character growth or even altering the status quo. And I would say that the 1-3 ABY iteration of the Big 3 isn't really my favorite version of them.

    I miss the balanced adventures of the New Republic era where Luke had his mystical subplots, Han had his underworld subplots, and Leia had her political subplots, and the story was pretty balanced between the three. Now it seems like we only get one at a time, typically Jedi focus which I'm hesitant to call mystical, and sometimes we get the underworld stuff in books like Scoundrels but again it's only one at a time. Sounds like this one is politically focused.

    Where's the balance!? [face_dunno]
     
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  22. Gorefiend

    Gorefiend Chosen One star 5

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    Oct 23, 2004
    Actually Scourge has a pretty good mix of Underworld and the Force. :) Whilst Scoundrels also mixed in politics.
     
  23. DigitalMessiah

    DigitalMessiah Chosen One star 6

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    Feb 17, 2004
    I haven't read Scourge, but I have read the Kemp novels. But it seems like these side novels which aren't Big 3 focused still require that Jedi hook.

    But when I meant balance I meant Big 3 novels more specifically, which is why I mentioned each thing is sort of the arena of a specific character.
     
  24. Gorefiend

    Gorefiend Chosen One star 5

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    Oct 23, 2004
    No, some just choose to have it :)


    And trust me I rather they skip trying to do politics in the novels again after LOTF and FOTJ. [face_sigh]
     
  25. DigitalMessiah

    DigitalMessiah Chosen One star 6

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    Feb 17, 2004
    The politics in those stories are just lifted from the prequels. NJO did politics just fine in Destiny's Way, incidentally without Leia but with Luke, which was interesting.
     
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