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Lit Book length

Discussion in 'Literature' started by Gorfy, Nov 4, 2013.

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  1. Gorfy

    Gorfy Jedi Padawan star 1

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    Oct 13, 2013
    I've just received a second hand copy of 'I, Jedi' (I was interested to read it straight after the Academy Trilogy) and noticed that it is by far the thickest of the Star Wars paperbacks I own.

    Star Wars novels tend to be relatively short when compared to the likes of the Game of Thrones novels, later Harry potter Novels etc...

    I wonder why this is? Tight deadlines? Audience? When a longer story wants to be told it tends to be in the form of a trilogy, or a duology, or a whole series.

    What's the longest Star Wars novel you've read, and in fact, what IS the longest star wars novel? And is it any good?
     
  2. JediMara77

    JediMara77 Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 5, 2004
    The longest Star Wars novel is Vision of the Future. Yes, it is good. (But part of a duology.)

    In general, most fiction books fall somewhere between 80,000 and 100,000 words. Science fiction and fantasy can exceed that due to more worldbuilding, but that's the general range authors are told to aim for. The reason for that is a combination of publishing costs, reader interest, and other factors.
     
  3. Gorfy

    Gorfy Jedi Padawan star 1

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    Oct 13, 2013

    Ah interesting! I've listened to the unabridged audiobook of Specter of the Past which was released this September and I believe Vision of the Future is to follow, it will be interesting to see how long the audiobook is (Specter of the past clocked in at 14 1/2 hours)
     
  4. The Supreme Chancellor

    The Supreme Chancellor Jedi Master star 4

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    Sep 4, 2012
    I read vision of the future, it kinda blows. The Camaas Document Crisis is one of the least critical crisis's EVER. Star By Star is pretty long and that's actually a very good read.
     
  5. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    It's not so much the crisis itself- as all the other ongoing crises that are expected to explode if the Republic doesn't show its worth by handling that one.
     
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  6. Gorefiend

    Gorefiend Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 23, 2004

    In that cause you sir made the very good choices of skipping New Rebellion, Black Fleet, the Corellia trilogy, all of the Jedi Academy books, Crystal star and the Callista books. ;)
     
  7. The Supreme Chancellor

    The Supreme Chancellor Jedi Master star 4

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    Sep 4, 2012
    lol Thank god I did. I do think the Black Fleet was a legitimate military threat though.
     
  8. Gorefiend

    Gorefiend Chosen One star 5

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    Oct 23, 2004
    No more then the Warlord of the week, sure it might have been a bloody campaign but the League just trolled way to hard for the Republic not to get around to crushing them.
     
  9. DoubleGold

    DoubleGold Jedi Knight star 1

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    Nov 3, 2013
    Crystal Star wasn't that long, or a bad book, not much action though and I can see why it gets so much criticism. However, when we are talking length, it's all the same, but number of pages differ between hardcover and paperback. The hardcover had 260 pages with a length of 10 inches, not sure what the paperback has.
    I'm halfway on book 1 of the Black Fleet Crisis, and it has a lot of action, and I like it so far. I can tell they are long books though.
    Speaking of long books Outbound Flight is very long, 450 pages hardcover version, but very good.
    Haven't ready Jedi academy trilogy, but wikipedia says many of the tales are retold in I, Jedi. I'd be the kind of person to say, why read 3 books when I can read just 1? I have seen I, Jedi in the library and it is about as thick as outbound flight, if not, probably thicker, and with a length of 11 inches.

    Also, another question, how can one say if a star wars books is long or not? What is considered a long star wars book? I mean with a great variance of pages between hardcover versions and paperback versions, the length of the book may be deceiving. Not to mention the variance in length (inches) in each book, as well as the font size. The Truce at Bakura was only 245 pages hardcover, but it seemed long due to small print which means you can fit more words on a page.
     
  10. Gorefiend

    Gorefiend Chosen One star 5

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    Oct 23, 2004
    I was really just referring to the very "uncritical" crisis that keep showing up in the Post Endor books, especially when compared to the one in the Hand of Thrawn. ;) I for one actually love the first Callista book and books about small conflicts, Kenobi, I,Jedi, Scoundrels and Scourge being some of the best among them.
     
  11. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

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    Sep 2, 2012
    I,Jedi only covers some of Dark Apprentice and Champions of the Force- and only the bits that take place on Yavin.

    For the other events- the Jedi Academy trilogy do provide more info.
     
  12. timmoishere

    timmoishere Force Ghost star 6

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    Jun 2, 2007
    I, Jedi only directly overlaps the JAT in a couple instances: the students' vision in the underwater grotto, the aftermath of Kyp defeating Luke, and the students planning how to deal with Exar Kun. All other events of JAT are referenced indirectly. So to get the full picture, you'll need to read JAT too.
     
  13. jSarek

    jSarek VIP star 4 VIP

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    Feb 18, 2005
    I would reread Vision of the Future a half dozen times before I reread Star by Star.
     
  14. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

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    Sep 2, 2012
    I had reread Vision of the Future a half dozen times before I reread Star by Star :)
     
  15. The Supreme Chancellor

    The Supreme Chancellor Jedi Master star 4

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    Sep 4, 2012
    Star By Star introduces longtime characters and has pivotal scenes that change the SW landscape. To each their own, but I consider SBS a must-read, and VoF a skip-over.
     
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  16. _Catherine_

    _Catherine_ Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Jun 16, 2007
    I am blanking on anyone besides Saba Sabbatical.

    Unlike VotF.
     
  17. Grey1

    Grey1 Host: 181st Imperial Discussion Group star 4 VIP

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    Nov 21, 2000
    I'm not even sure if I enjoy the fact that a book is long anymore. Friends wanted me to read Martin, and I've still got the thirs Otherland on my shelf. But with so much else to do in life, I'm not quite sure if I'd like to be tied to a book for, what, a month or two if things turn out bad. Especially since these long mapped-out epics only truly work if you get sucked in and keep your mind in the game (which is why I also find waiting for the newest mega-huge entry in a line of huge books complicated; I might forget what all the little plots that might be important later on are). Even with a must-read (for me) like Stover's 800-page Blade of Tyshalle, I can remember going through it in three phases.

    Now, with SW, I think it's one part schedule (this isn't someone trying to sell his art or create his obsessive master piece) and one part lack of depth. Vision of the Future is, for all purposes, something that would have worked as books 2 and 3 of a trilogy as well, and then you'd have "regular" length. I, Jedi would work as two volumes. Then again, you could create a mega book by bundling up the X-Wing novels to a somewhat cohesive story. But aside from these examples of authors obviously wanting to write "more than they are supposed to", there's no way to compare these to your regular fantasy epic or great american novel that someone obsesses over for a decade, trying to find a way to get that one thing in as well. You don't write franchise if you want to write your master piece.

    Also, where did I just read a comment on readers believing that fat books are better...? Got it - Chandler. The Long Goodbye has a romance novelist sneering at his audience that wants huge books because they think they get a better deal out of it. Ironically, The Long Goodbye is twice as big (long?) as every other Marlowe story.
     
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  18. Gorfy

    Gorfy Jedi Padawan star 1

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    Oct 13, 2013
    I'm close to Star by Star in the NJO, just got edge of victory II first, I'm also attempting to get through Courtship of Princess Leia first...then I, Jedi arrived...so much to read!
     
  19. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
  20. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

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    Jul 19, 1999
  21. DoubleGold

    DoubleGold Jedi Knight star 1

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    Nov 3, 2013
    Agreed, I had to make a check list to keep track. At first I went on Wikipedia for a list of all star wars novels, but it gives you unnecessary stuff, fun but unnecessary, as in you don't miss out on much if you skip them. For example, the Galaxy of Fear series sounds like fun, but you aren't really missing any important info that pertains to the rest of books if you skip it, and they seem like children's books. So the other idea was to take a recent book I own, for example Darth Plaguies paperback published in November 2012 and look in the front for a list of all the star wars books. I leaves stuff out like Galaxy of Fear. And write them all down on paper 1 by 1. If you need to save space, condense. Instead of writing down each Fate of the Jedi book, write down Fate of the Jedi series, and put a dash next to it, Fate of the Jedi - 9 books. When you are done writing down all the books, check off ones you've read and x out any that don't seem interesting to you. That's my advice to people who are new anyways, a checklist is always helpful.
    And one more thing about using a recent book for reference. It left out the entire Last of the Jedi series, in which some people say is a good read of 10 books. Not to be confused with the book The Last Jedi which features Jax Paven instead of Ferus Olin
     
  22. anakinfansince1983

    anakinfansince1983 Skywalker Saga/LFL/YJCC Manager star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Mar 4, 2011
    It's too bad that iTunes apparently no longer offers the Star Wars Books app that I have on my iPhone. It lists books in chronological order, links to their Wook pages, and allows me to mark off what I've read. I haven't gotten an update on it in quite awhile so apparently the developer has taken it down and is no longer working with it. I'm pretty new to the EU so I can still use it though.

    As far as book length...Star by Star was pretty long but I much prefer it to Vision of the Future. I've never read I, Jedi and don't know that I will.
     
  23. Gorfy

    Gorfy Jedi Padawan star 1

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    Oct 13, 2013
    Wow, this has really taken off, interesting stuff guys n gals!
     
  24. AdmiralWesJanson

    AdmiralWesJanson Force Ghost star 5

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    May 23, 2005
    3 Million words.
     
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  25. The Supreme Chancellor

    The Supreme Chancellor Jedi Master star 4

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    Sep 4, 2012
    Sabba and Alema. The voxyn. Some other minor Jedi.

    Death of Anakin, Fall of Coruscant, Jacen's capture, Borsk's suicide, Numa's death, Jacen and Anakin's last moments....there's a lot of gems in that book.
     
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