Fanclub Jacen Solo Fan Club: Forever in the Light

I'm not sure how many of us there are out there, but I thought I'd try and give this a shot. Considering how many "Jacen-haters" there out there, I'm not sure.. =)

Anyhow this thread is intended for people who satisfy any of the following conditions:

1. Fans of Jacen Solo in any respect
2. Agree somewhat, in part or completely with the idealogies, philosophies and/or actions of Jacen Solo
3. And finally, wish to defend him on the Lit board

Enjoy...

Keralys edit: renamed by user request during Civil War

 

Uh.... General, count me in

 

Sweet, ForceAlly, good to have'ya

Great job debating over on that Kyp thread btw...

 

Just wanted to post something here from SW Insider confirming a "Jacen-focus-book" later in the series:

"Conquest marks something of a change of emphasis for the New Jedi Order, stepping back from the grand sweep of galactic warfare to focus on Anakin. (Never fear, Jacen Solo and others will be focused on later in the saga.)"

Sweet!

By the way, can anyone appropriately sketch out Jacen Solo for me before the NJO (from each of the books)? I'm not really familiar with his character in JJK and YJK...

 

It's been years since I last read YJK. Kind of hard to remember what exactlt happened in each book. Maybe I can find sometime to compile something like Genghis12's work this weekend.

Anyway, in YJK, Jacen was a creature addict. He loved to collect small animals, and had a special gift to communicate with animals.

Jacen, Jaina, Tenel, and Lowbacca formed a small groud, which Zekk joined later, and shared some adventures. Jaina was always the leader, and Jacen was the one to provide endless bad ideas. Together, they stop the rising of the Shadow Academy, the Diversity Alliance, and some Black Sun acativities.

Jacen was notorious at making bad jokes (they were so bad that they really make you chuck,) and was determined to make Tenel Ka laugh, who never laughed in public. They soon became close friends. Even Jacen accidentally cut off Tenel's hand in a lightsaber practice, this event only made them closer to each other. Unlike Anakin, Jacen and Tenel Ka kissed each other in front of everyone

That's what crossed my mind right. I'll try to make this more complete this weekend.

 

Oh, and thanks

"Great job debating over on that Kyp thread btw..."

 

Thanks for the brief character sketch, ForceAlly! Quite interesting stuff about Tenel Ka and Jacen. I would really look forward to reading a Jacen Solo biography if you ever get the time.

Anyhow, I've PM'ed a few people so hopefully we'll see more support for this thread in the future. Thanks for your support here. I will certainly try to keep it afloat as much as I can

 

"I'm with you too."

 

Good to have'ya here, Balance_Point! =)

So far, we have the following people on the infamous Jacen Solo "team" :

• ForceAlly
• Balance_Point
• -Vergere-

Just wanted to mention that in the free time that I have, I'll be putting together a Jacen Solo history in the NJO. So look out for that... Since I'm not familiar with the JJK & YJK series, maybe someone (ForceAlly?) could put together a more comprehensive biography of Jacen Solo preceding the NJO (starting with his birth).

 

Also I want to point out team prospectives, if you will (I've PM'ed them so hopefully we'll be seeing them soon). I've compiled this list from debating over on the Lit board:

• I-poodoo
• JediJSolo
• Gandolf the Grey
• _admiral_kettch_
• JoJo
• mj
• Jedi_Aub
• Asyr Handor
• MaceWinducannotdie
• Alderaan_
• Atman
• GirlJedi
• Piett_clone

Now I'm sure there are more potentials out there for our team, so if you know of any or run across anyone, definitely let them know If anyone else feels this could be a place for you, don't hesitate to join us!

Now, moving onto a more general discussion, many Jacen Solo "fans" feel the NJO does a serious injustice to his character. I honestly cannot answer this question since I have no previous history of Jacen prior to the NJO to compare with. What do the rest of you think?

 

Thanks for the warm welcome, -Vergere-!

If anyone wants, I've made a point of collecting every Star Wars work with Jacen in it from the Thrawn trilogy through YJK through the NJO (although I don't have any of the JJK books--does anyone know if Jacen and Jaina make any cameos in that series as Anakin does in YJK?), and I would be more than willing to reference something if anyone wanted. I'd offer to assist in writing the biography too, but I'm not sure if my writing/compiling skills are up to the task.

I do have a complete list of Jacen's jokes in the YJK books, if anyone wants that.

 

"Now, moving onto a more general discussion, many Jacen Solo "fans" feel the NJO does a serious injustice to his character. I honestly cannot answer this question since I have no previous history of Jacen prior to the NJO to compare with. What do the rest of you think?"

Hm... well, I have to admit, the first time I read Jacen in the NJO (which was actually in the Vector Prime excerpt printed in an issue of Insider), my first thought was, "Is this the same Jacen here?". In YJK, Jacen's character is very cheerful, optimistic, and generally pretty happy-go-lucky. If there's a tense situation, he's usually the one everyone else can rely on to at least attempt to lighten the mood. Occasionally, we'll see a glimpse of the more serious Jacen Solo when the situation calls for it, but rarely, if ever in the series does he ever brood about things, or take the time to very seriously consider his actions. His character in YJK strikes me as kind of a cross between Anakin in NJO and Han--in fact, we see Jacen imitate his father's famous "lopsided grin" almost reguarly.

Then, in NJO, all of a sudden he's almost the exact opposite. There's no more joking, no more clowning around; instead, he's a grim, focused Jedi Knight-in-training... he's actually debating philosophy with his uncle and brother! Definitely a huge change. But not one I minded too much, and certainly not an injustice to his character.

The only thing I really didn't like was that this change in Jacen's character is either completely dismissed or only briefly acknowledged (I believe Mike Stackpole's attempt in Onslaught went something like "Jacen had been blessed--or cursed--with a sensitivity that he once hid behind labored jokes.") throughout the NJO. I think there's an interview with R.A. Salvatore somewhere in which he acknowledges that when writing the Solo kids he skimmed a bit through YJK, but figured that, since there is a difference of more than two years between the beginning of YJK and the beginning of NJO, the characters had plenty of time to change a lot. The problem with this is that, although the beginning of YJK does indeed take place two years before NJO, the series ends no more than a few months--at most--before NJO. So apparently, in the mere span of a couple of months, Jacen's personality does a complete 180. This always frustrated me a bit, at least until Elaine Cunningham's short story in Gamer #5 helped to bridge the gap between YJK and NJO, and not even that story fully explains what happened with Jacen during those few months between YJK and NJO, since it mostly focuses on Jaina.

I've read that Troy Denning is a YJK fan, so hopefully Star by Star will help to shed a bit of light on this. If not, then I'll just have to hope that this upcomming Jacen novel we've been hearing about will help. But even if neither does, I suppose I won't mind too much. Anyways, that's my two cents on the topic.

 

Hey I'm here too now.

Thanks for considering me for this.

I'm glad there is Jacen fan club. Since most of the lit forum is full of people who want him dead. It's good to know there are some people out there who understand and to some degrees root for the much maligned Solokid.

 

Thanks for the invite Vergere.

?Now, moving onto a more general discussion, many Jacen Solo "fans" feel the NJO does a serious injustice to his character. I honestly cannot answer this question since I have no previous history of Jacen prior to the NJO to compare with. What do the rest of you think??

I think I agree with Balance_Point about this. I?m not going to say much about it because I would just end up repeating what she said. Jacen was a youthfully happy animal lover, who took the universe at face value in the YJK books. Now he is a contemplative and insightful lover of all life in the GFFA. That is how I have seen him at least. I see no injustice done to Jacen by making him what he is. I think that R.A. Salvatore and Kathy Tyers have done wonderful jobs with portraying Jacen?s character, and I don?t have too many complaints about how Michael Stackpole, James Luceno, and Greg Keyes have portrayed him (I do have some, but not many).

If Troy Denning is truly a YJK fan I think I will enjoy Star by Star very much. I here that Tenel Ka and Danni will both be in that book also, is this true, or is my information too old and been proved to be wrong by now? That could be interesting.

If Balance_Point isn?t around, I can also answer any questions or reference anything from the YJK if needed. I?m fairly well versed in that series and I have that entire collection of books less that two yards from where I am now (like in the same room).

Balance_Point, do you know if anything happened to Jacen in Children of the Jedi and Planet of Twilight? I tried to read Children of the Jedi about three years ago, and I just couldn?t get through it for some reason (I?m honestly not sure why), and I never tried to read Planet of Twilight.

 

Yeah Balance_point I too have noticed the differences between Jacen in YJK and Jacen in NJO. Obviously something pretty critical must've happened to Jacen in the two or so years between YJK and NJO to cause his character to do such a direct 180.

Recently in an issue of SW gamer they had a short story about Jaina in which she talks to Jacen and he alludes to this change. It was set roughly a year or a few months after the last YJK book during their graduation to Jedi knights. as well as his apprenticeship to Luke and her apprenticeship to Mara, and his increasing argumants with Anakin about the nature of the force.

I'd like some great event to have happened that caused such a shift for him, however there is the possibility that he came to that conclusion after seeing his brother using the force so brashly and without considering the consequences as Anikan was prone to do before Mara taught him differently on Dantooine in Darktide.

 

Updated team:

• ForceAlly
• Balance_Point
• I-poodoo
• JediJSolo
• -Vergere-

Welcome's go out to I-poodoo & JediJSolo! More comments regarding general discussion and logistics later...

 

Hi all.

Im not a Jacen liker in any way, but Ive only seen him grown up in the NJO. What was he like in the YJK?

Asking here because Id guess Id get a good answer

 

RF: Check out ForceAlly & Balance_Point 's posts for an answer to your question...

 

Actually JediJsolo I think there was not much if any mention of Jacen in Children of the Jedi or Planet of Twilight.

Though I may be incorrect. It is possible that I'm repressing memories of those books.
Nothing against Barbara Hambly i liked one of her non-SW efforts (A short story I forgot where). it's just I don't think she should've written Children of the Jedi like she did. Took me the longest time I have ever took to read a SW book beating the Crystal Star, and the before mentioned Planet of Twilight.

 

When I saw Reaperfett here (knowing him like I do from our debates.) I was about ready to yell shields up.

But I'm relieved to know he was just a cordial neighbor asking for a cup of sugar.

Anyway Reaperfett, in answer to your request about info on Jacen in YJK. He was alot like Anakin is now in the NJO, just not conflicted with guilt over Chewie, and lectured by Mara Corran or Jacen.
Del Rey or Lucas books has not yet fully explained what caused him to mature from brash and eager adventurer to introverted and conflicted jedi. Though i can imagine his love of all life was from his deep empathy with animals, Just like Jaina's interest in mechanics and spaceships is why she is in Rogue squadron now, or was a while ago.

 

actually, he doesnt sound as bad now

Hes below Corran, Thrawn and Jag on my dislike list now

Thanks for the help, may look for them now

 

Haha RF, glad we could demote Jacen on your Dislike List!

 

Couldn't ignore a private invitation, so here I am. Thanks Vergere.

Since I haven't read any of the JJK or YJK books, I can't speak intelligently on what Jacen's character was like before the NJO. However, I have no problem talking about some more general ideas. So here goes: I think it's important to realize that first and foremost, Jacen is a teenager who's grown up in a universe that's pretty much been consumed by turmoil. He's seen some good things, he's seen some bad things. He's had a lot to digest, as have all the Solo kids. Think about this too, they're the offspring of the galaxy's most famous heroes. On top of that, they're force-sensitive. Expectations are rather high, I'd say. Back to my general ideas though. Who out there doesn't change quite a bit during the adolescent to teenage to young adult years? I know that my likes, thoughts feelings, impressions, etc. all changed. (Well, except for my love of SW, that is.) So here we're witnessing Jacen just trying to make sense of it all. I could drop cliches all day about "finding one's self" and "developing a personal morality", but the point is, Jacen just doesn't know who he is and what niche in the universe belongs to him. All that is unfolding through this series. Have I been frustrated by him? Yes. But tough decisions are part of life, and sometimes incorrect choices are made. My prediction though, is that Jacen steps up soon and does something heroic. Not a rumor, not a spoiler, just a hunch.

That's my two creds for the time being.

 

As the founder of the "Noble Followers of Jacen Solo", I am glad to accept and be a part of this.

 

Updated Club Members:

• ForceAlly
• Balance_Point
• I-poodoo
• JediJSolo
• Jedi_Aub
• Piett_clone
• -Vergere-

Glad you could make it, Jedi_Aub & Piett_clone!