Sniper_Wolf posted:Judging from Children of the Jedi(as I have yet to read Planet of Twilight, Barbara Hambly weaved a tale with a distinct style that makes COTJ my favourite standalone post-ROTJ novel. Written with a maturity far beyond many current EU novels, Hambly surpases her contemporaries. If you have not read any of my previous novel reviews, I consider the actual writing to be equal in importance to the story. How the prose presents itself matters a great deal. Outside of the EU I dig Chuck Palahniuk and Garth Ennis. Anyone that reads Fight Club or Preacher will comment on the individuality of the prose. Within the EU I enjoy Stover and McDowell, who both stand out stylistically. Speaking about Hambly, her writing puts the reader into a near dreamlike state with her poetic usage of the written word. Sentences like "He could see his lightsaber. He exerted his will toward it. It wobbled on the floor and began rolling toward him." never show up in Hambly's work due to her having a mastery of English higher than a sixth grade level. Seriously look at other EU novels from a pure writing POV. George Zahnmero rewrites Heir to the Empire of the Dead everytime. Luceno without his lists shows how skeletal Luceno writing is. From a pure style perspective, Hambly trumps virtually everyone. Leia's and Han's characterizations in Hambly's work outshines every other EU writer. Leia and Han actually act like a couple in Hambly's writing compared to the horrific portrayal in New Jedi Order. Hambly portrays Leia as someone confident in her Jedi heritage but not in a over-the-top manner. Denning has Leia act like Leia-El, Last Daughter of Alderaan. Superpowered Jedi showing inferior writing aside, Leia not going "uber-1337" supports both G and C canon. Very rarely a Jedi goes Kryptonian, the few instences usually falling under dubious reasons. Hambly acknowledges Leia going the Jedi way in earlier sources, yet Hambly does not fall on the Force powered cruch. Hambly excels in that catergory. Luke finally receives proper treatment. He does not act like a god as in Denning's novels, nor does Luke act underpowered like he does in Zahn's novels. Under the circumstances, Luke acted in character. Operating with an injured leg shows strength of will on Luke's part. The quickness of the romance with Callista reveals the part of Luke's character that had not been nutured- his love life. Luke never had a serious long-term relationship before the events of COTJ. Luke hooking up with Callista paints the portrait of a man who has everything except what matters most, a lover. Callista spent the several decades stuck in a computer along with living a life that shuns love. Inexperienced lovers act hastily. The two falling quickly makes perfect sense due to the characters' histories. Hambly also writes the interaction perfectly. Hambly does not need a Force bond cruch like Luke and Mara, just the written word. I applaud Hambly for managing to write relationships well when most of her fellow authors fail. Concerning the Eye of Palpatine, it serves the macguffin role. The superweapon of the month is not the focal point of the Luke sections. The Eye symbolizes Luke's literal and symbolic journey into the unknown. On a literal level, Luke must deal with unpredictability of the various brainwashed aliens onboard the Eye along with surprises a decades old battle station. On a deeper level; Luke confronts the history of Jedi(why the Eye was built), what makes a person a Jedi(Callista's sacrifise), and his empty love life(seeing Cray's love of Nichos juxaposed against Luke's yearning for love). Hambly takes a symbolic spin on a trite plot line, making it interesting. Those traits symbolize a mature writer, which Hambly is. I know this will make me sound like Excellence 2.0, but Hambly's writing clearly outshines the teen drive Del Rey premotes. Hambly's novels requires the reader involvement, not sitting back and allowing a simple reading of the novel(Allston, Luceno, Stewart, Denning; you guys stand guilty). For producing novels that live up to the adult novel name, Hambly forever has my thanks. For producing a quality read, Barbara Hambly is one of my favourite EU authors.
Crox posted:I think Sniper_Wolf was joking.
Havac posted:I . . . disagree. I found nothing whatsoever exceptional about her prose. Even if it was, so what? The story was weak, the feel off, and the characterization unremarkable. Really, it's no more mature or insightful than many other books, and far less enjoyable. I think you're really underselling all the other authors too. At any rate, I think Hambly provides some good and original ideas, but ultimately fails with a boring and un-Star-Warsy execution (especially bad execution in POT). She's not the worst author to write Star Wars, but I don't feel the need to see her back.
Commander5052 posted:Her premises are laudable, but some elements feel either like they don't belong in Star Wars (Dzym and the Drochs)
Thanos6 posted:Much of CotJ is written in an odd, stream of consciousness flow. I LOATHE stream of consciousness.