Lit Reading NJO...Again

The novels say otherwise.

It certainly sounds like gathering a fleet-sized battlegroup isn't particularly difficult. The Supreme Commander is just too conservative and hidebound to want to take the fight to the enemy without a clean, cut-and-dried battle plan.

It was Lumiya.

 

Would have been interesting if Jaina either went to Coruscant in Enemy Lines or TFP.
Maybe her and Nom Anor would go back and forth on swaying the Shamed Ones?
Or we could actually get a government type thing with the Shamed Ones that ally themselves with the NR/GA like in A Destiny Altered.
Maybe they impact the battle like Ebaq 9.

 

Not for a Coruscant government with at least seven major shipyards, taxes from something like a thousand sectors, and the right to conscript all of their citizens into the military if required, plus - although the point isn't made clear here - unfettered access to all the most advanced weapons and sensor technology, and to a preponderance of the entire supply-chain of raw materials and component-manufacturing across known space.

Smaller "regional" states can certainly build up decent-sized fleets, but there are requirements - resources, infrastructure, recruits, tech-base - and above all, the political will, so I can understand their absence, expecially when the NR conception of a fleet is basically just a way to stick a hyperdrive on a starfighter hangar in order to allow the sort of long-range deployments that more local defense-forces simply don't require...

I think we agree that Sovv is an idiot. Does anyone disagree with that?

That's what we're influenced to think, but I'm trying to track down actual on-the-page proof...

- The Imperial Ewok

 

Textual uncertainty is okay. We’re supposed to read it as Lumiya, and there’s no decent reason for it to be anyone else.

 

Lumiya used more than a few false identities and deceptions to help instigate the SCGW

 

Denon was a temporary capital I believe.

In terms of local defense fleets-from naboo's star fighter squadrons to corellia or bothawui' respectable fleets-I do wonder how many of those local or sector fleets could be conscripted.

Speaking of naboo and the galactic south-what was going on with them during the Vong War?

I wish we had gotten a home front sort of series. Set far from the Yuuzhan Vong conquests.

 

Denon only became a "temporary" capital because Denning thinks that Coruscant must always be involved.

I wish Denning live-tweeted his reactions to TFA and TLJ.

 

I've always wanted to see denning interviewed about the post NJO.

"Why did you make Jacen a villain?"

"Why was Vergere retconned?"

"What was your vision for the post NJO?"

"What is your take on the moniker Denningverse a lot of fans have for the post NJO?"

"How do you respond to fan criticisms that you had a negative impact on the EU in its later years?"

I would be curious as to how he would respond to such queries and criticisms.

Because he has received criticism and his reputation amongst the fans is controversial to say the least. So I would want to know how he would respond to such criticisms.

 

I just finished FH: Reunion and all this "together" talk between Tahiri and Riina reminded me of Master Ikrit's "prophecy" about Anakin and Tahiri. It got me thinking, maybe the authors rewrote it so that the prophecy was more about Tahiri and Riina? I know it was spoken directly to Anakin so not likely but the next book after Reunion is called "The Final Prophecy" and Tahiri is on the cover............

Anyway, just wishful thinking because I love Tahiri and I love that FH authors mentioned again Anakin's visions about her after she was shaped.

Edit: Extrapolating further, couldn't Riina and Tahiri's meld represent a sort of merger of the Jedi and the Vong? That could have been taken as fulfilling some sort of larger prophecy. I know the books are already out and it's not the case but I like ruminating on stuff like this lol.

 

Prophecy isn't always right-after all Yoda says "always in motion the future is" and I recall there have been other wrong visions before-Luke and Mara having multiple children, Jacen's vision of Allana as one of krayt's acolytes etc...

 

Speaking of Kathy Tyers from a few pages back, I just finished listening to a round-table conversation between Zahn, Stackpole, Austin, and KJA from five years ago at DragonCon, and Zahn mentioned that Tyers sent him a draft of Balance Point, so he could give feedback on her depiction of Mara. Also learned that KJA and Stackpole have known each other since they were both teenagers.

 

For me, it's not such much about reading NJO again. It's more that I'm reading it for the first time now.

I'm not sure why it's taken this long for me to do so. I've been a fairly faithful reader of the EU books since Zahn's first Thrawn book. But when NJO hit, I stopped even though I was familiar with and liked previous work by Salvatore. I think the really alien designs and descriptions of the Vong were unsettling to me at first. (Though I later picked back up with Legacy of the Force which I quite liked).

I've been compelled of late to try NJO again and recently finished Vector Prime, which I thought, overall, was quite an enthralling read. The sections featuring the Solos and Skywalkers dealing with political crisis and surging mistrust of the Jedi was very well done while the sections dealing with the ExGal station's destruction and initial terraforming of Belkadan carried an almost horror-like atmosphere, very unsettling and raw (as were the scenes at the Vong's first vanguard base on Helska 4).

Of course, the biggest moment was the (in)famous death scene, climactic and rather sad. I'm not sure that I completely agree with the extremely high level of Han's outrage at his son Anakin for his part in that moment but I guess I'll see how that develops later on in this series. Maybe time seasons all wounds but I really didn't find myself too upset (or outraged) over this character's passing, rather it felt like something he would do.

As such, just started on Dark Tide I - Onslaught. Stackpole eh, it should be rather exciting then.

 

I always loved Chewie's death it was heroic and appropriate. I still get shivers when thinking of his last roar as the moon slammed down on him.

As Worf from Star Trek would say "he died a warrior's death" and that is honorable and laudable especially for as loyal and brave a companion as Chewbacca.

 

How ridiculous is Lord Nyax?

My head canon is that Palpatine had something about the Son of Mortis in his records that Roganda Ismaren was trying to turn Irek into.

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Eh, I would rather have no Mortis stuff in NJO.

But Lord Nyax is kinda ridiculous.

 

The picture of Lord Nyax is one of the default things I'd see online for years in some slow-news-day site's article on "top 10 worst things from the EU". Right there with Jaxxon, Glove of Darth Vader, and Chewie's death. Not a lot of variety in those articles.

On the subject of Mortis, I do think it's interesting that when it got mentioned in Apocalypse, the story told was only of Obi-Wan and Anakin visiting it during the Clone Wars, with no mention of Ahsoka. I always wondered whether there was some behind the scenes Lucasfilm reason for that, or Denning just didn't feel like mentioning her.

I thought I remember reading somewhere in 2012 that Denning talked with Filoni about using Mortis in Apocalypse... does anyone else remember that?

 

I never had a problem with Lord Nyax-he was a broken tool and his ties to palpatine were circumstantial at best. At least in my opinion.

I do wonder sometimes if he survived the NJO and if so what happened to him?

 

Rumours circulate he survived in the Coruscant underground (despite being largely wiped out by Vongforming) and continues to haunt the city's depths for many more years.

 

What's ridiculous about Nyax is that he has lightsabers sprouting from his elbows and knees. It's a completely bonkers concept.

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The only way he would survive that is force directed concentration/manipulation of his movements.

It's like Bane practicing in Dynasty of Evil-and not getting wet despite doing his routine in a storm.

Force users can contort and manipulate their bodies to do incredible things.

 

I'm not even talking about whether or not it's workable or realistic for thr setting. Much like the Yuuzhan Vong, Lord Nyax seems like he doesnt fit aesthetically. The official are of the character(which doesnt match his description) really drives that hole as well. It's not something that i think you could even see being put to film in a SW movie. And that's taking Grievous into consideration.

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The aesthetics of the NJO are different than the OT as the OT is different than the PT.

If I recall a lot of criticism of the NJO-was that it didn't "feel like Star Wars" and to those only familiar with the OT and its related material-then yes.

But the yuuzhan Vong do fit in within the setting even if the aesthetic varies from the OT standard.

 

Not really.

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So who agrees with me that Ganner Rhysode's last stand was cinema worthy?

That it was epic and astounding and glorious.

I still get chills just thinking about it.