Lit A Cynical Walk Through the NJO

Nah, just his foot.

 

re: Vergere, I'm beginning to suspect it's too much to ask for people to try to look at the Force objectively rather than through the lens by which they either project personal beliefs onto it, or through the lens of the early EU where the writers of said EU did just that.

 

So, I'm four chapters through BP, and, to be perfectly honest, I'm enjoying it thus far. In one of my previous reviews, I noted that I thought the Sky-Solo clan deserved some time to heal and recover from their experiences. The first four chapters, thus far, have been as close to that as I've seen. It's been two months IU since Fondor and Centerpoint, Jacen and Han are helping with a refugee camp, Leia is on the same planet but has no idea that either of them are there (how likely is that? Is she really so busy that she doesn't look up the name of the man in charge of the Ryn in the other dome?), Luke is apprenticing Anakin, Mara is almost back to her old self (even getting a "point" in, which made me smile), and we get our first look at someone who has been mentioned, but never featured: Warmaster Tsavong Lah.

This book's pacing is slow. I'll say that up front. It's a legitimate gripe some might have. But I don't mind at all. Like I said, it feels like the characters actually have the time to breathe, to think over what's going on. Jacen's personal musings and Force-asceticism aren't unwarranted, he's been given a lot to think about since the invasion began, and this is really the first time he's been able to step away from the war and the Jedi and ponder what his purpose in the galaxy actually is. Thus far (keep in mind, only four chapters in) he's not annoying, he's confused, lost.

The other high point thus far: Mara. Her characterization in this book is much better so far than in earlier installments. Her POV through chapter 4 is great. She ponders the events of the previous books, noting how her disease caused her to withdraw into herself in the Force (explaining why she didn't reach out to Luke while fighting Yomin Carr: she needed all of her strength to keep both him and the disease at bay) and the fact that, while her wishing for children has not gone away, she can still content herself with her talented niece and nephews. Even her interactions with Luke aren't as smothering as they were before. She's still not the Mara I would like, but it's closer than it's been in the series aside from Luceno's two scenes he gave her.

I'm actually liking Tyers' writing style, as well. The book is paced, but not plodding (at least so far). She's got a good handle on the characters, on how to write both Jedi and starfighter combat, and she wrote my second-favorite of the Bounty Hunters' tales: Bossk's. I have read Truce at Bakura as well, though with as alien as the Ssi'ruuk are in that book, it might as well not be a Star Wars book at all, so I can't really compare the two. So far, so good.

I'll put up more of my thoughts tomorrow.

 

Record keeping could easily be faulty, as the whole thing seems to be a very ad hoc effort anyway.

 

True. They do seem to be holding the efforts at refugee settlement and environmental repair together with duct tape and fervent prayer. Leia's efforts have to be focused on trying to get things to run smoothly rather than looking through personnel files, even if they are accurate. Then again, it's been two months, and both of them are reasonable well-known across the camps, surely there must have been some point in those two months where they've at least been close to each other, or even heard each others' name.

 

You know, on my second or third watching of ROTS I wished, that at the szene, where Yoda and Obi-Wan find the dead younglings in the Jedi-temple, Anakin would appear down the corridor and ask: "Why the long face, Master Yoda? Shouldn't you be happy for those, who became one with the Force? Why don't you follow your own useless advice and rejoice?"

Just to push the muppets face into his own hypocrisy.

 

I never got the impression people actually got the leave the camps and the only contact would be via coms to the Administration. Afaik Han even mentions how his camps supplies keep getting cut short because the leader of another camp keeps talking the Admins into sending it there instead.

 

Yeah, that's true, and even communication between camps is spotty thanks to the cables being cut by the local wildlife. Contrived, I suppose, but not impossible.

 

The "leader of another camp" being Leia, right? I loved that he never knew he was basically having a supply war with his wife!

 

I'd read Vector Prime to Agents of Chaos before, and Edge of Victory to Star By Star. So BP was the only pre-SbS novel I'd not read. Not too bad, although it definitely doesn't feel like a big, game-changing novel as it was marketed.

A lot of stuff happens in it: Tsavong Lah puts his bounty/call out on Jedi, the YV have a foothold in the Core and are planning to hit Coruscant, the Peace Brigade start to become a major thorn in the heroes' sides, Mar's pregnant, we get the Nom Anor reveal, etc. It just doesn't feel like much happens, which is strange.

SbS was good in this regard; after that, you really get the sense that, in the words of Martin Lawrence, "**** just got real".

 

Who was it that decided that we had to strip-mine and devour every planet in our galaxy?

I think it was the priests, and I think they were the same who decided that we have to use biological mater for everything, giving us less to eat.

You know this amphi' soup may be a bit more... eatable, if we had the priests look into it.

 

After the king and the Brythonic tribe?

 

Yep. It has that ancient-world-barbarian vibe.

 

Reminds me of Asterix's moustache.

 

Is the vong to the far right caring a harp?

 

Why is contributing to the home front dismissed by the likes of Jaina? Because that's what Jacen's doing. I liked what he did in BP, I would preferred it if he had been able to have his little epiphany before 250,000 Hapans died but I'll take what I can get. In the wake of that disaster, he's removed himself from the area where he caused most damage - the war.

That there is deemed to be no contribution outside of being a warrior is troubling. In a war, the warriors are a major part of it but so are those who supply them with weaponry. Plus today's refugees, once their families are safe, may well become tomorrow's soldiers if only to get revenge on the Vong.

 

Centerpoint Station was never supposed to be used as a weapon, which is why Jacen and Anakin were there -- to activate the systemwide interdiction field when the Yuuzhan Vong arrived -- but then they were Nas Choka'ed.

Still not sure why we're blaming Jacen for Anakin's lack of backbone.

 

Jacen was influential there because he was in the role of big brother and knew it, which is why he does what he does in BP, he removes himself from that sphere of temptation.

 

Nep
http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120928214916/starwars/images/7/72/Jacen_vs_Tsavong.jpg

 

Aha, I see. What is it?

P.s. I found it a little sad that it was not a harp, that would have been cool

 

My guess would be some kind of Amphistaff though could also be a battle shield of some kind or one of their Ranged Weapons.

 

Now I'm picturing Tsavong Lah having a group of lowly minstrels follow him around everywhere, doing chants and playing harps and drums to make everything he does more dramatic. Blast you both.

 

And that group is managed by Simon Cowell.

 

It's been over a decade since I read it, but I do remember Leia hearing the Warmaster's party playing some sort of ominous, dreadful song on their instruments. It's entirely possible what they're holding are for music.

 

Tsavong Lah, Tsavong Lah
and his foot of vua'sa!
Gives his men to maw luurs
aboard his koros-strohna!
Mr. Lah, Mr. Lah, Mr. Lah!

Tsavong Lah, Tsavong Lah
Flying through the night,
Soon every minstrel in the land
Will be in his mighty hand;
He gives his men to maw luurs
aboard his koros-strohna!
Mr. Lah!