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Author	Topic: Ready to form Voltron! Er, I mean, a group project to make a NJO/LOTF prep guide for newbies
The2ndQuest Title: : -Games -LACWAC -Lit Mod of Death Registered: Jan '00	Date Posted: 5/18 1:59pm Subject: Ready to form Voltron! Er, I mean, a group project to make a NJO/LOTF prep guide for newbies - Date Edited: 5/18 2:18pm (2 edits total) Edited By: The2ndQuest
	A thought that's been occurring to me lately, based on comments we've seen in various "what to read/can i start NJO/LOTF" posts from newer readers/users here over the last year or so, is that most people feel the amount of backstory and titles preceeding the NJO and/or LOTF make it difficult, or at least a little daunting of a prospect, to jump onboard to these newer series (not saying people haven't done this and succeeded, but it doesn't strike me as a common occurance), and it's probably disappointing to people who want to read one of these newer series to have people suggest they have to read 20-40 other books first before they can read what they were curious about. Now, I think most people in that scenario would recommend the NEC or other Essential Guide as an alternative to that suggestion, but that's going to have a lot of secondary info a new reader may not necessarily need if their intent is to just get the needed backstory for a particular series. So, what I'd like to propose (and I think dp even suggested something along these lines to me a few years ago, so some credit to him) is we work together to assemble a prep guide for these series that a newer reader can reference to bring themselves up to speed on the people, places and things that come into play for these series. Think of it like a larger version of the Legacy #0 comic guidebook (or a "Who's Who, What's What" ). I think it's best to start with tabulating some lists of the most prominent elements that appear in these series where having a brief reference source on their specific history would help a new reader better understand the element or it's context. Once we have a fairly complete list, we can start focusing on the actual entries for them. In other words, we'll form the feet and legs, then arms and torso, and then- the head! Also, before we get started, I want to emphasize two things: 1) We're not trying to assemble a list of every damn thing that appears in the NJO or LOTF, so don't just be reposting reference lists from the Wook! 2) We are NOT discussing your opinions of these series', so I don't want to see comments like "Tell them not to bother", "Read something else". The point of this project is to help people who've already decided to read these series. I'd like to start by focusing on the NJO, partially because the NJO draws upon a great number of elements from the Bantam era, but also because we can eventually use our NJO work as a basis for the LOTF work. So, I guess we should start by identifying categories and element titles to go in them. I think the following should cover everything people will need to know: -Events (founding of the Jedi Academy, treaty with the Imperial Remnant, etc) -Factions (New Republic, Imperial Remnant, Chiss, etc) -Characters (focusing on EU-introduced characters, though obviously we'll touch on the major events to the movie characters since ROTJ) -Locations (planets, galactic regions, etc) -Technology (starships, vehicles, weapons, devices, etc) Remember, the guide is meant to serve people who are about to read Vector Prime, so we only need elements that reappear in the NJO (like Bakura, Duros, Tenal Ka), not elements actually introduced in the NJO (the Vong, their tech, etc)- we'll let the NJo books introduce the NJO information for us So, thoughts? Suggestions? Contributions? To kick things off from my end, looking at the factions involved, the following come to mind as being mosty important to at least one book in the NJO: -New Republic -Imperial Remnant -Jedi Order -Hapan Consortium -Chiss Acendancy -Ssi-Ruuvi Imperium -Mandalorians -----signature----- K'Kruhk, 140 ABY: "Why haven't I come forth earlier to share my Jedi knowledge with Skywalker? Well, it's kinda a long story, see, I had this freaking sweet hat..." "If I don't die, I don't feel like I'm getting my money's worth." - Drew_Atreides
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J_K_DART Registered: Dec '01	Date Posted: 5/18 2:36pm Subject: RE: Ready to form Voltron! Er, I mean, a group project to make a NJO/LOTF prep guide for newbies
	A few contributions: THE JEDI As the New Republic struggled to its feet as a galactic power, Luke Skywalker accepted his responsibility to be the founder of the New Jedi Order. He searched the Galaxy, seeking those who has the power to use the Force, and he brought them together at a new Jedi Academy (or Praxeum) based on Yavin 4; from an initial class of twelve, by the time of the New Jedi Order series we have a hundred Jedi traversing the galaxy. Up until now Luke has allowed them free reign, but this strategy seems to be beginning to backfire as, out on the Rim, a handful of Jedi cause some political problems for Luke that he must resolve. CHARACTERS: KYP DURRON When the Empire struck Kyp Durron's family, they killed his parents and sent him to the Spice Mines of Kessel. His innate skills in the Force enabled Kyp to survive until he was finally rescued by Han Solo, and sent to the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4. Unfortunately, while on Yavin 4 Kyp fell thrall to the ancient Sith Lord named Exar Kun, and went on a Dark Side rampage that destroyed whole solar systems using stolen Imperial technology. Only Exar Kun's destruction freed Kyp from the Dark Side, and Luke, the only one who believed in him, issued something of a "life sentence" for Kyp to live as a Jedi, in a sense atoning for his sins. By the time of the New Jedi Order, Kyp is at the forefront of a move among the Jedi who push for them to be active in the Galaxy on a level that Luke Skywalker is somewhat uncomfortable with. Although Kyp has a deep debt to Luke, this will not stop him disagreeing with Luke if he feels he must. MARA JADE SKYWALKER When Palpatine was Emperor of the Galaxy, he had certain key agents, known as Emperor's Hands; these were Force-sensitives with espionnage and combat training, able to hear Palpatine's Force-commands across the Galaxy. One such agent was Mara Jade, and after Palpatine's death Mara was submerged into the criminal world. She became a smuggler in an organisation run by Talon Karrde, and did her best to stay out of things as the New Republic rose to power. Finally, in a period of Imperial expansion under Grand Admiral Thrawn, she met Luke Skywalker; initially struggling against Palpatine's final command to kill him, Mara formed an uneasy friendship with Luke. After years of friendship, love blossomed, and Mara left her criminal haunts to become a Jedi Master. As the New Jedi Order series begins, Mara struggles with a new enemy; a mysterious illness that ravages her body... -----signature----- "Victory without risk is like a pizza without pepperoni." "I like my pizzas without pepperoni." "Sir master of the long post" - Excellence
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Saber_Leader Registered: Jan '03	Date Posted: 5/18 4:04pm Subject: RE: Ready to form Voltron! Er, I mean, a group project to make a NJO/LOTF prep guide for newbies
	Just off the top of my head: Characters Borsk Fey'la Gilad Pelleaon Wedge Antilles Tycho Celchu Face Loran Kell Tainer Soontir Fel Syal Antilles/Fel Mara Jade Skywalker Jaina Solo Jacen Solo Anakin Solo Tenel Ka Zekk Lowbacca Tahiri Veila Corran Horn Kyp Durron Kam Solusar Tionne Events Founding the Jedi Academy New Republic captures Coruscant Luke and Mara's wedding Peace treaty with the Empire Locations The Maw Borealis Coruscant Yavin 4 Ithor Yag'Dhul Technology Errant Venture -----signature----- "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than speak up and remove all doubt." "The ability to speak does not make you intelligent." "The truth is always bigger than the words we use to describe it." Dual Draft Winner
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Jeff_Ferguson Registered: May '06	Date Posted: 5/18 7:42pm Subject: RE: Ready to form Voltron! Er, I mean, a group project to make a NJO/LOTF prep guide for newbies
	I would love to help with this. If this ends up being something where we want to split the workload, let me know what you want me to do! I'm back home from school for the summer, so I have all of my Bantam & NJO books here to peruse. How about a short summary of each book/series from the Bantam Era? We could stress that it's optional to read each summary, but in all honesty, I feel like every one has at least some sort of impact on the NJO. Even Children of the Jedi, due to the reappearance of Irek Ismaren and Luke's musings about the Eye of Palpatine; X-Wing novels for some of the elements of the Dark Tide, Enemy Lines duologies... Well, maybe not Crystal Star, but re: Planet of Twilight, one of the Agents of Chaos books has a military officer telling stories about the Death Seed Plague, doesn't it? But yeah, a short summary of every novel & novel series, as well as Dark Empire, Union, Crimson Empire II (the latter for Nom Anor's sake)? -----signature----- "We are Imperial Knights. We do our duty by the Emperor and by the Force—no matter the cost." --- Sigel Dare Hey, I'm excited for the next issue of Legacy!
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The2ndQuest Title: : -Games -LACWAC -Lit Mod of Death Registered: Jan '00	Date Posted: 5/18 10:07pm Subject: RE: Ready to form Voltron! Er, I mean, a group project to make a NJO/LOTF prep guide for newbies - Date Edited: 5/18 10:08pm (1 edits total) Edited By: The2ndQuest
	I'll be glad to share the workload once we organize what is essentially the table of contents. Thanks! However, I think a summary of every novel wouldt be overkill- like we should certainly include info from those, but, for example, the Eye of Palpatine could get a brief entry as to what it was and it's function, and perhaps the nature of it being found years later, but we don't need to include info about what Luke did aboard, Callista, the overall plot of COTJ, etc (AFAIRecall, at least). Likewise, Irek could get a brief character entry (but I would imagine 2 sentences should be able to sum up his relevant backstory). Nom Anor would probably fall in the middle between Irek and a "main" like Kyp or Corran. I think it's best if we focus on the elements that later play a role in the plot of an NJO book (so, again, stuff like Eye of Palpatine & Irek would qualify since they are key to certain subplots), and discard the fat from there. We don't need to make a mini-NEC or mini-Wook with tons of plot summaries, just more of a reference and introduction guide (and even with that alone, we're gonna have quite a bit of material)- or at least a more focused mini-NEC or mini-Wook, if you want to look at it that way. -----signature----- K'Kruhk, 140 ABY: "Why haven't I come forth earlier to share my Jedi knowledge with Skywalker? Well, it's kinda a long story, see, I had this freaking sweet hat..." "If I don't die, I don't feel like I'm getting my money's worth." - Drew_Atreides
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