Havac posted:The Evil Thingy In The Maw can be the main threat without the Lost Tribe being a red herring. Perhaps the Lost Tribe join the Jedi in fighting the Evil Thingy. Perhaps they're both equal-level threats, with two major threats confronting the heroes at once. Perhaps the Evil Thingy is the main threat, but the Lost Tribe plays a major supporting role, along the lines of Alema in LOTF. Perhaps the Evil Thingy is the main threat for the first half, and the Lost Tribe the main threat for the second half. Perhaps the Lost Tribe allies with the Evil Thingy, and they become one threat. I wouldn't go so far as to say the Lost Tribe is a great big red herring just because the Evil Thingy (hypothetically) gets top villain billing.
Zorrixor posted:I'm expecting the Maw threat to be the main one too, yeah. What amazes me is that they'd pay JJM just to write a free tie-in purely about a red-herring, but maybe the Lost Tribe will acutally end up having more to do with Crosscurrent or something? I can understand Precipice has probably helped FOTJ snare some extra interest, even if it is a red-herring, but it still just strikes me as an expensive red-herring. As far as the Mind Drinkers go... didn't the blurb say they had become some kind of outer body spirits? That would make me think they're not Anzati... but I suppose it's possible they are Anzati who have reached a new level or something. I'm expecting an all new race though, tbh. As for the Abominor idea... I like that. Maybe trapped inside the Maw is the Beast Planet: The Celestials being the Silentium could be rather neat too. I was reading their wiki page the other day, and noticed how they were rumoured to have been behind the creation of the Sharu a long, long (999,999 BBY or something?) time ago. That puts the Vong-Machine war one seriously long time ago. It'd be nice though if they did indeed turn out to be a race we already "know" but "don't know", if you get my meaning. The Silentium are an enigma that I've long wanted explored. But... I really, really like Dan Wallace's suggestion that they're not the nice guys they make themselves out to be, but kind of "the cosmic overlords who think they know best". So, if they do bring the Silentium into things, then while I totally think having something about them pretending to be the "good guys" and working with the Galaxy to stop the Abominor; I think it'd then be good as a set up for a backstabbing by the Silentium in the subsequent series (something along the lines of: the mortal races have proven they cannot be trusted by naively having awoken the Abominor after all this time). Wait, having just written "cosmic overlords"... Celestials? I'm in. I also very much like your suggestion of Denning returning to Raynar and having him spill the beans of what he learnt from his time in the Colony.
Darth-Ghost posted:Time to start the speculation on ABYSS by Troy Denning, due out on August 18! (The next book, BACKLASH by Aaron Allston, won't come out until January.) Front Cover: Leia Solo Back Cover: Ghost of Mara Skywalker Back Cover Blurb: Peace is the way of the Jedi. But with deadly enemies on every side, war may be the only way out. Luke and Ben Skywalker arrive in the mysterious part of space called The Maw in search of more clues as to what caused Jacen Solo's downfall into the dark side. But they are not the only ones exploring The Maw: a Sith Master and her apprentice arrive there, too, having followed the delinquent ancient Sith ship found by Ben in The Legacy of the Force - and they're thrilled to find Luke there, because they are determined to kill him. But there's another powerful being hiding in The Maw. It's enormously strong, purely evil, and it has its own plans for Luke Skywalker... Tensions are heightening across the galaxy as more Jedi Knights seemingly go insane and anti-Jedi sentiment, fed by fear and mistrust, spreads from world to world. Han and Leia Solo have their hands full helping the Jedi Order keep the affected Knights out of the grip of government security—whose only solution is to freeze the offenders in carbonite. Meanwhile, Luke Skywalker and his son, Ben, arrive in the mysterious part of space called the Maw, in search of more clues to whatever it was that caused Jacen Solo's fall to the dark side. It is here, in the Maw, that they will confront the members of a lost Sith tribe who are determined to kill Luke. And it is here, too, where Ben will meet the Force ghost of his dead mother, Mara Jade. Following a trail of clues across the galaxy, Luke Skywalker continues his quest to find the reasons behind Jacen Solo’s dark downfall and to win redemption for the Jedi Order. Sojourning among the mysterious Aing-Tii monks has left Luke and his son Ben with no real answers, only the suspicion that the revelations they seek lie in the forbidden reaches of the distant Maw Cluster. There, hidden from the galaxy in a labyrinth of black holes, dwell the Mind Walkers: those whose power to transcend their bodies and be one with the Force is as seductive and intoxicating as it is potentially fatal. But it may be Luke’s only path to the truth. Meanwhile, on Coruscant, the war of wills between Galactic Alliance Chief of State Natasi Daala and the Jedi Order is escalating. Outraged over the carbonite freezing of young Jedi Knights Valin and Jysella Horn after their inexplicable mental breakdowns, the Jedi are determined to defy Daala’s martial tactics, override Council Master Kenth Hamner’s wavering leadership, and deal on their own terms with the epidemic of madness preying on their ranks. As Han and Leia Solo, along with their daughter Jaina, join the fight to protect more stricken Knights from arrest, Jedi healers race to find a cure for the rapidly spreading affliction. But none of them realize the blaster barrel is already swinging in their direction–and Chief Daala is about to pull the trigger. Nor do Luke and Ben, deep in the Maw Cluster and pushing their Force abilities beyond known limits, realize how close they are–to the Sith strike squad bent on exterminating the Skywalkers, to a nexus of dark–side energy unprecedented in its power and its hunger, and to an explosive confrontation between opposing wielders of the Force from which only one Master–good or evil–can emerge alive. Original FOTJ series preview: In this new era, Luke Skywalker finds himself battling control of the very order he founded. After Jacen's fall to the dark side, much of the galaxy sees Jedi Knights as rogue soldiers too dangerous and unstable to leave unfettered. It is a view shared by Chief Daala, who has sworn to bring the order under government control--or disband it entirely. But the greatest threat to the Jedi remains unseen, a faceless menace even more lethal and insidious than the Sith who have plagued the Jedi for millennia. Awakened by Jacen Solo during his five-year odyssey, this hidden peril is reaching out from the darkest corner of the galaxy, assaulting Jedi Knights in ways that even Luke has yet to perceive--but which he must quickly thwart if he is to have any hope of redeeming the New Jedi Order. Speculation time: ABYSS reminds me of "Byss," with Palpatine in DARK EMPIRE. I think both the Lost Tribe of the Sith and the Mind-Walkers are red herrings, there is something else in there. Could these Mind-Walkers be the Anzati? The real question is: does Daala know? She was in the Maw for years too, developing very-advanced superweapons, and she emerged in the was against Darth Caedus with the "Maw Irregular Fleet." These Force-crazed Jedi were there in the Maw too, during the Yuuzhan Vong Invasion. Ben is presumed to be safe, because he withdrew from the Force, but you never know. What did Jacen know about it, how did he "awaken" it? What does it want with Allana? With Raynar Thul having been spared by Luke and in the Jedi Temple, and the Killiks claiming they helped build the Maw... could he have some information on the Celestials or the true purpose of the Maw? Will we find out what the nanotechnological "Fizz" was? Were the energy bogeys on Kessel working for the Celestials? Could the evil being hidden in the Maw have been trapped there by the Celestials, and have been freed after the destruction of Centerpoint Station? The Tribe are called the 'Protectors' by the Keshri, and the Jedi are called the 'Protectors' by the Killiks. Will Jedi and Sith, along with the Aang-Tii and Baran Do (and possibly other Force cultures), have to join forces to defeat this threat? Is this the same mysterious presence linked to Tython, hinted at in the previews to upcoming THE OLD REPUBLIC game? Is this the same threat linked to the book CROSSCURRENT, going back to the Great Hyperspace War with Naga Sadow? Will it be connected to the the untitled NOMI SUNRIDER novel, which takes place between the Great Sith War with Exar Kun and the Mandalorian Wars? Is this threat responsible for the de-evolution and decay of the Kwa, Sharu, Killiks, Rakatans, Gree, Columi, and other powers of the Pre-Republic Era? Could the Celestials/Architects have contained it in the Maw, being responsible for letting the Republic not face the same threat for 25,000o years? Could the Celestials be the Silentium, and the threat in the Maw be the Abominors? Also, where was Lumiya between BETRAYAL and her last appearance in Marvel Comics? Both Lumiya and Daala were missing Imperials, presumed dead for years. Lumiya starts a war. Daala comes out as ultimate winner of the war. Lumiya hinted that a plot would be continued, even if she died, and she was not talking about the One Sith. Could Vergere have sensed something was amiss with the Maw when she returned, and visited during that "missing year"?
Back Cover Blurb: Peace is the way of the Jedi. But with deadly enemies on every side, war may be the only way out.
Darth-Ghost posted:As much as people hate Waru, I would love for him to be retconned into being related to some other menace, in a way that makes sense out of CRYSTAL STAR (if that's possible).
Zorrixor posted:But... I really, really like Dan Wallace's suggestion that they're not the nice guys they make themselves out to be, but kind of "the cosmic overlords who think they know best". So, if they do bring the Silentium into things, then while I totally think having something about them pretending to be the "good guys" and working with the Galaxy to stop the Abominor; I think it'd then be good as a set up for a backstabbing by the Silentium in the subsequent series (something along the lines of: the mortal races have proven they cannot be trusted by naively having awoken the Abominor after all this time).
Zorrixor posted:I think Waru is why I actually really like the Abominor idea. For some reason, I find the idea of a superpowered organic lifeform appearing out of nowhere silly; but I don't have that problem with an imprisoned sentient doomsday machine. I guess it's just because the supreme organic story has been done, whereas the machine story has--thus far--barely been touched in Star Wars. To just discover this big Force monster just sounds too Waru-like to take its seriously, I guess. Evil machines also seem to be the "in thing" right now for sci-fi stories.