Lit Regarding Planet of Twilight...

... am I the only person who likes this book? A lot? It's one of my favorite novels in the post-ROTJ EU. Sure, it has its campy aspects. (Space tape, coffeine, etc.) But overall, I think it has a good story to tell. I can see why the book could fall flat for some fans, but I don't understand why it only has two stars on Amazon. Here are the things that stand out for me:

- The focus on Leia and her Jedi training. Aside from the Thrawn Trilogy, not many Bantam-era novels focus on this aspect of her character. I love the fact that the book explores her relationship with her father, and how she deals with the fact that she and her children are naturally in danger of the dark side. Having Leia as the main character brings a fresh perspective to the "Skywalker Family" story.

- Hambly really knows how to write Threepio and Artoo. Their mannerisms and dialogue seem to have been taken straight out of the OT. The sections of the novel that focus on the droids always get some big laughs out of me, which is unusual considering the number of times I have reread this book.

- Callista is a likeable character in this story. Darksaber nearly ruined the character for me. She was self-centered, whiny and downright annoying in that novel. Hambly did a great job of redeeming Callista for me. She was wise, strong and Jedi-like, which is what I wanted from the character since the beginning of the trilogy.

- Hambly did an excellent job of ending Luke and Callista's relationship. Their parting makes sense, especially when you take the prequel trilogy into account. Luke had a lot of work ahead of him rebuilding the Jedi Order, and Callista had to go on a journey of self-discovery. In order to complete the tasks in front of them, they had to let go of their attatchment. Luke succeeded where Anakin failed: he recognized a dangerous attatchment and did what he had to do to make sure he could fulfill his destiny.

What do you guys think? Do you love or hate this novel? Does anyone else think that this novel receives undue criticism? Post your thoughts here!

 

It has its interesting moments. I like that it's set over a entire sector rather than just the eponymous planet, and has some historical elements in a time when most SW material shied away from that. It also gave a satisfying, if somewhat "deus ex machina" ending to Daala's story, if it had actually ended there.

I was never a big fan of the whole Callista arc, though. Overall, it represents one of the 'middle of the road' books of the Bantam era - not as bad as, say, Crystal Star, but nowhere near the X-Wing or Thrawn books.

 

I enjoyed this aspect as well, a rare treat.

I read this relatively recently, within the last two years, and I don't remember a single thing about the droids in this book.

While I didn't like her any better in this book, what really helped was that she wasn't really the focus. Luke and Leia have other things going on and Callista just happened to be on the same planet. She even had a mysterious ninja thing going when she was in disguise.

I found their departure satisfying, quick and painful, like a bandage. I don't really think of it in terms of attachment, I just think it was made clear that it just wasn't going to work out.

I can imagine Callista fans disagreeing, it was quite a sudden way to be rid of her forever (almost).

I don't hate it, but I think it's pretty poor overall. It drags at several points, getting very boring for long stretches, making it difficult to stick with it.

Most of the entertainment I found were of the ludicrous variety. The Hutt Jedi Beldorion, the drochs, Seti Ashgad, etc.

I actually found Taselda quite compelling as a fallen Jedi, I was very intrigued with her. Too bad it didn't really go anywhere.

The death seed plague managed to come off threatening enough, and the drochs were downright disgusting at times, making my skin crawl.

lol I just remembered Daala and Liegeus' reunion at the end. Good times.

 

Planet of Twilight gave us Hutt porno...I'll let that speak for itself.

 

Planet of Twilight is very much a middle of the road Star Wars novel. It has good points and bad points, and works decently on its own terms. I think it is unpopular with fans for a number of reasons that aren't entirely fair to it: First, it is very inaccessible if you haven't read the previous material since Callista serves as a catalyst for the whole series of events but her importance to Luke and co. doesn't become clear until much later. Second, several elements rubbed people the wrong way, notably Beldorion. Many anti-Planet of Twilight comments focus on the 'Hutt Jedi' idea as if that was somehow an unholy concept, even though it is in fact perfectly reasonable (there's no good reason why Hutts shouldn't be Force sensitive at rates similar to other species after all). Third, it involves an insect plague. Fear of insects is a surprisingly common trait among humans, and some people just can't take the idea.

Still, at the end of the day Planet of Twilight is so much better than Darksaber. A true pity Hambly didn't write the whole 'trilogy' of Callista books I think it would have worked out much better for everyone involved.

 

I love the part where C-3PO and R2 travel through the plague-stricken sector, the description of 3PO's ruminations and the deserted spaceport... (it's been more than ten years since I last read that novel though, so I might misremember some things). I also found the idea of the tsils and the CCIR needles very intriguing, and I think the overall atmosphere of the book was very special.

Didn't care for Beldorion much, though, and Callista's lightsaber-fighting advice to Leia ("in and out: it's the only way for a woman to fight") annoyed the hell out of me.

 

Never read it, but from what I saw of it in FOTJ the setting doesn't seem interesting enough to support a 300 page Star Wars story. The drochs were a cool idea but it seems hard to utilize their full potential without making the story a bit... darker than most.

Wait, what?

 

I think the intent was that, since women are (on average) slightly shorter and lighter than men- even in Star Wars- it's not a good idea to get in close for long- leads to blade lock and the other fighter using their height and weight.

 

Always liked the cover & title. Don't really remember what happens in the book, though.

 

yeah... out of context quotes really give me the creeps

 

I loved the idea of the Drochs myself.

 

Why didn't they just give Hambly a trilogy instead of shoehorning a horrible KJA novel in between her duology?

 

this is the worst book of all time.

 

My first time reading the Callista trilogy, I only liked Darksaber. Now, having reread them, while Darksaber is still my favorite, the trilogy as a whole wasn't that bad. There's stilla bit of a soap opera feel in the first and third novels, but otherwise...

 

I read Planet of Twilight more than ten years ago. Just about the only thing I remember about it is the whole bug thing, which creeped me out. I remember distinctly disliking Darksaber. I don't remember it being good, plotwise, and also I think I was annoyed at the way they

Spoiler

killed Madine. Do I even need to spoil this at this point?

 

First time a film character was killed off in the books.

 

Beldorian, Leia, and the Drocyhs (Probably misspelled) are the only things I can truly remember liking about the book. At the same time though, I remember I read it at a time when I was throwing out books I didn't like (Now I keep them all or at least donate the truly awful ones to a library) so that says something I suppose. I've always loved the cover, but a major turnoff for me with the book as a whole was the way Callista and Luke's relationship was handled. I felt the ending itself was good, but the relationship needed more focus throughout the novel. Callista's always been my favorite Luke girl so this is probably more of a personal issue. Out of the trilogy i've always liked Children of the Jedi the best.

 

First was Gen. Madine in Darksaber



I'm actually thinking of picking this up because it is one of the few Bantam books I don't have.

 

Yeah, I just said that. Is there an echo in here?

 

Oh sorry I thought your post was about PoT. My bad.

 

Um Children of the Jedi is great. great story, well written.