main
side
curve
  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Books STAR WARS: A NEW DAWN (September 2014)

Discussion in 'Literature' started by CooperTFN, Apr 25, 2014.

  1. CooperTFN

    CooperTFN TFN EU Staff Emeritus star 7 VIP

    Registered:
    Jul 8, 1999
    That's Amazon's modus operandi--it lets people skim a decent chunk of a book without being able to just read straight through.
     
  2. revan772

    revan772 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 5, 2014
    Yeah, she was there, though as Cooper said, it looks like a cameo. The prologue is on the amazon link that Ventrix linked, so unless it is omitted out you could see it. :) I hope she comes in later, I had originally thought that Depa was gonna be the friend of Kanan, as mentioned on the back, that would be killed. Thinking it might be Skelly now. o.o
     
  3. themetresgained

    themetresgained Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 23, 2013
    Careful. I might hold you to it.
     
  4. spicer

    spicer Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 14, 2012
  5. Zorrixor

    Zorrixor Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Sep 8, 2004
    Awesome artwork.

    Alas, Kanan still looks like a doofus. :p
     
  6. GrandAdmiralJello

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

    Registered:
    Nov 28, 2000
    Hm, wonder what the other two are.
     
  7. themetresgained

    themetresgained Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 23, 2013
    I see a bit of Freddie in that drawing.
     
  8. Weston

    Weston Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Jun 28, 2014
    My hardcover copy arrives on Monday, looking forward to A New Dawn!
     
  9. themetresgained

    themetresgained Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 23, 2013
    I can't wait to read this on my Kindle. How much longer?
     
  10. EternalHero

    EternalHero Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Feb 17, 2014
    Don't know if anyone has posted this but it's the New Dawn panel at SDCC. Vanessa Marshall moderates John Jackson Miller, Shelly Shapiro (editor, Del Rey), Frank Parisi (editor, Del Rey), Jennifer Heddle (senior editor, Lucasfilm), Pablo Hidalgo (Lucasfilm Story Group).It's very informative and kind of elucidates what the Story Group does and how it functions.



    Interesting to note that Tarkin is based on material GL created for "Underworld" and Ventress is based on a story Lucas brought to the Clone Wars writing team! It seems that GL left behind quite a ton of story material to be mined :) And don't forget he's still Creative Consultant.

    My copy of A New Dawn was mailed today!
     
  11. GrandAdmiralJello

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

    Registered:
    Nov 28, 2000
    Posts merged. Don't double post, and especially don't triple post.
     
  12. JediMatteus

    JediMatteus Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Sep 16, 2008
  13. Matthew Trias

    Matthew Trias Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Sep 8, 1999
    Creative consultant = crazy old coot the minions finally freed themselves from.

    All the minions rejoiced.
     
  14. Revanfan1

    Revanfan1 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 3, 2013
    [face_laugh]
     
    themetresgained likes this.
  15. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    Gorefiend likes this.
  16. EternalHero

    EternalHero Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Feb 17, 2014

    Uh, yeah, whatever you choose to believe, if it makes you feel better.
     
    cwustudent likes this.
  17. CooperTFN

    CooperTFN TFN EU Staff Emeritus star 7 VIP

    Registered:
    Jul 8, 1999
    I think George is gonna be busy with his museum for a while.
     
  18. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    He got lost once in his own museum!
     
  19. AndrewPascoe

    AndrewPascoe Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 26, 2014
    Book Depository is excellent for anyone looking for books. Free shipping [face_dancing]Thanks for the heads up though. Ordered! Should have it sometime next week!
     
  20. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    They are very good, despite being a covert offshoot of the Evil Empire Emporium (aka Amazon), but unlike their dark master, they're willing to flog US editions which, courtesy of the £-$ conversion, tend to be cheaper than the UK editions.

    The only others I know that do it are Foyles.
     
  21. EternalHero

    EternalHero Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Feb 17, 2014
    Got my copy of A New Dawn today :) The book is beautiful. Now this whole "new era" feels official.
     
  22. Kablob

    Kablob Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 24, 2014
    How.
     
  23. EternalHero

    EternalHero Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Feb 17, 2014

    It's a comp, booksellers get them as a sales incentive, it's been sitting on my friend's desk for a month.
     
  24. EternalHero

    EternalHero Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Feb 17, 2014
    So far so good. I'm 100 pages into it. I won't spoil anything but I'll say that Del Rey/Lucasbooks were making steps in the right direction in 2013 and now they seem to have committed to that direction. New Dawn is kind of a hybrid: it was started before the regime change but I know that it was overhauled. Reading it I can imagine how much longer and slower it would be if it was old EU. What I like:

    + Stand-alone story
    + Reasonable word count
    + Short chapters

    + Brief character introductions (Good Writing 101: introduce your character and then define them by their actions - dumping a four page bio on the reader before they get to know the character is usually a mistake - a mistake SW authors were making far too often for my taste)
    + The prose has been gutted of the endless bulk that was weighing down SW books

    Now I love a good long read. But a book - even a fun read like a SW story - has to be well written to sustain a long narrative. For my taste, the SW books got off on the wrong foot after Zahn. Zahn is a particular kind of middle-of-the-road mainstream science fiction author, good solid stuff but that became the template and for me the bulk of the old SW books read more like 80's mainstream SF or Star Trek stories. SW needs to move fast and deliver its exposition on the run if it's going to feel like the movies do. I did enjoy some of the Old Republic, Prequel Era and Clone Wars books but overall, picking up a SW book was more likely to inspire yawns from me instead of thrills.

    A New Dawn really captures the excitement of the Brian Daley Han Solo Trilogy and the Thrawn Trilogy when they were first released. You really can feel the dead weight of 20 years of continuity dropped away. I really like what I read of Tarkin and Lords of the Sith (from the Sampler) - they seemed even punchier and tighter than New Dawn. I hope the books remain short, tight, bright and fun. There's plenty to explore and expand upon and this is definitely the template they should follow, IMO.

    P.S. JJM based New Dawn on studies he did in college on Soviet history. If you know anything about 20th century Russian history you'll get a lot more out of the book.
     
  25. Weston

    Weston Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Jun 28, 2014
    Just got my copy on Monday but I hadn't had the chance to read it until today. The future is looking bright for the new dawn of Star Wars literature!!
     
    EternalHero likes this.