Books The Official Darth Plagueis Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

This is the stuff I've been waiting for: the behind-the-scenes of The Phantom Menace! It's both canon-correct AND is a VERY slight change in the canon. It's canon-correct because Palpatine clearly knew ambassadors were on the way to Naboo and had obviously been informed of such by Valorum himself, and this is as good a way as any for him to have been told and more interesting than most; it's a very slight change in the canon because the TPM novelization and the Darth Maul journal collectively gave the impression that Sidious did not know the ambassadors were going to be Jedi before the Neimoidians told him they were. It's so slight that it can easily be dismissed by saying that Sidious was play-acting for the Neimoidians (and likely for Maul, since he saw the whole thing) when he appeared surprised or angered by the news.

Little things like this are no surprise to me: at least one purpose of the combined project that is this novel, the Maul bio, and the new short stories is to organize and provide overall context to a hell of a lot of information culminating in a retelling of the events of TPM in order to generate interest in the upcoming 3D release, AND make sure it is properly reconciled with the way G-Walt wants things done for TCW episodes we haven't seen yet; you have to expect a few small changes to make the larger picture work and fit better - the revised origin of Maul's tattoos is another example of this; it won't break my back that these changes were made, but it never hurts simply to note that they happened.

 

This doesn't really have anything to do with the narrative, but I had to laugh at the "By James Luceno" page. The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles gets a HUGE all-caps series header, even though there was only one book in the series. His other books are listed immediately after The Mata Hari Affair, which might lead one to think that they are all entries in the YIJC series...

Wait, Luceno wrote a novelization of the Mask of Zorro?! This I have to find...

TC

 

Free 50-Page Darth Plagueis Preview

http://sf-fantasy.suvudu.com/2012/01/del-rey-spectra-50-page-fridays-james-luceno.html

 

okay of the book is as half as awesome as this two pages, it's gonna be best thing since Mindor...

 

I don't like the idea that Plagueis was behind Naboo...it really devalues Palpatine. I don't buy Palpatine tolerating him being alive for that long either. The idea that the Force created Anakin to counteract the Sith...that's cool. But not making Plagueis the uber-mastermind behind everything Palpatine does.

 

All is not lost.

Perhaps the end, justifies the new means.

 

Read the book first, then judge.

TC

 

Isn't Palpatine really far more of a grand opportunist than planner though? I see him as being supremely adept at taking advantage of other people's plots and plans, subverting them to his own benefit and then discarding them when they have no use to him. In a way, it makes him far more dangerous, as he doesn't have a static, big, bad Grand Plan (tm) but rather a far more fluid, shifting set of methods to get him to his end goal.

Likely get the UK edition due 19 Jan, unless Amazon ship early.

 

You won't be disappointed, Ben.

 

I saw four copies at the Wal-Mart near Regency Mall in Richmond, VA. They were in the toy section, of all places. Decided to be like Darth Maul and exercise some "Restraint" (get it?) since I have a copy pre-ordered from Amazon.

 

Why restrain yourself?! Buy a copy from Walmart and cancel the pre-order from Amazon! Considering the shipping charges on Amazon and Walmart's low prices, the price difference can't be that great. This is an awsome opportunity, you should take it!

 

Plagueis was the first Sith Lord I know of, who loved something.



His test subjects.

 

Malgus loved his Twi'lek girl in his novel.

Anyway, does anyone know if Kindle books are available at midnight? I've been thinking about pre-ordering the ebook from Amazon so I can get it at midnight and give it a quick read. If they're not, I'll probably skip the ebook and find a hard copy the next day.

 

I think so. I normally don't buy Kindle books (you can't return them, or just browse through them at the bookstore for free), but I did it with the last few Zahn books and it was available once Amazon hit midnight (I think they're on Pacific/West Coast time). I'm still debating if I'll buy it on Kindle to read it as soon as possible or not. On the one hand, it should be awesome (the two-page preview from the Revan novel was really good), but still, its a Sith book, and I'm not sure I want to buy and keep a book that's going to be mainly about them (especially a hardcover, although unlike a lot of other random stuff they've published recently, this book is definitely worth the hardcover treatment).

And I've always thought of Palpatine as both a big planner, an opportunist, very lucky at times and also very powerful (from his duel with Yoda in RotS to Dark Empire), which is how he got so far by himself (technically there were two Sith, but Maul was mostly a servant/tool and Dooku was an idiot who didn't see his end coming). Losing Maul in TPM wasn't part of his plan, but he got Dooku pretty fast after that, and Dooku was near perfect as a puppet leader for the Separatists (already a powerful Jedi, rich and a good reputation), Anakin showed up (and whether he was a product of Plagueis' experiments or not, ending up as a Jedi at that moment in time was the will of the Force), and even with the Naboo blockade ending earlier than he wanted (I think?), he was still elected Supreme Chancellor.

I'll probably glance through it in the bookstore first then maybe buy a Kindle version (don't have that much room to store a hardcover at the moment). Although if I did pre-order the Kindle version, then there's less than 24 hours left now.

 

No word from Amazon on shipping my pre-order. I'm starting to think I should have grabbed that Wal-Mart copy after all. Does anyone who pre-ordered from Amazon have a shipping notice?

 

Amazon would usually send you a shipping email, yeah.

 

I pre-ordered and haven't received notice yet, either.

 

#^?&£ Amazon. The book is coming out tomorrow, my free day is tomorrow, and I'm reading it tomorrow. Let Amazon settle its issues with people who can put up with the b#!!$!]!#.

Other than that, the first 50 pages were really good!

 

I was pretty concerned today over not getting a confirmation email, but one arrived a couple of hours ago saying it shipped yesterday and should arrive tomorrow. I wouldn't get too frustrated if you haven't got a confirmation, Amazon might just be behind on emailing people.

 

My Amazon problems are of a "regional" nature. Pity that such a great website !-%^*&*d up with this whole "Kindle" business. It's the same with Apple and Barnes and Noble and everyone in the ebook business, really. It's just that I expected Amazon to stand up to the publishers and say, "I'm the boss, I make the rules, I make the prices" (à la "I am the Senate"). (Or Al Capone.)

Ah well....

I do hope this thread starts bursting at the seams tomorrow.

 

just picked up a copy from a barnes and noble in minneapolis- now reading. swag.

 

Living outside of the US and buying a Kindle is nuts. Just saying. I have a Sony reader and luckily Google books has Plagueis for pre-order with a midnight release.

If you're living in England what are your options for ebooks other than Amazon? Can you guys use The Sony store, Google Books or Kobo?

 

94 pages in, I don't think there has been a single human character, except a quick appearance by Narro Sienar.

 

I am guessing that this doesn't include Palpatine? - in the 94 pages?

 

Yeah.

Mine hasn't downloaded yet to my Nook. Anyone know why?