Lit SOS: Save Our Skywalker, Luke Skywalker (v3)

@ MasterSkywalker86 - Do you know when the Databank entries vanished for Mara and crew? Is it a recent development or did it happen a while back?

 

Yeah... I guess my main argument is still that if you reboot once, then where do you stop? I wouldn't mind rebooting Chrystal Star, Large chunks of the Callista Trilogy, you name it. In general, I probably won't mind a reboot if they put something better instead! But who says I will like it better? Thus, better the devil you know - and I'm still in principal against reboots.

I think the correct answer is: far too many. ( and I don't have the one you refer to, BTW) . Uhm... I counted to 109, comics not included Then, I have many books in general.

Did you read the news that they'll return with a female Solo descendant? http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=42465

I think it's very interesting, not least as it's quite some time now since they put a break to Legacy. Again, I get the feeling they'll try to dovetail old and new... Which gives me wary hope for the continuity. ​

According to the wook, it was from september 13, 2011.

 

Robimus

what Kataja said most to all of the EU databank entries went poof over there, which wasn't explained at the time.

geez....I didn't think there was that MUCH material with Luke in it. I probably would have had about 20 -30 books with my original collection but now I have 7 books and 2 comic trades.

that's cool news, although it kind of irks me for a descendant of Luke we get a druggie, chances are the Solo kid is hero born.

 

So just over a year ago.

Thanks.

 

MasterSkywalker86:

From the comments by that person who took Sue Rostoni's place, it seemed as though the announcement of the upcoming ST caught them by surprise too.

I agree. I actually think I would enjoy a story where Luke and Leia met their mother's relatives.








kataja :

I understand what you're saying, but I almost can't imagine anything worse than what we got from the DN trilogy onwards. Luke's character, for example, I felt wasn't handled well in nearly all of those books. Plus, I absolutely hate the dark, negative, pessimistic, bleak direction that the galaxy and characters were taken in. And don't get me started on the very idea of two groups of thousands of Sith and that abomination: Abeloth!!!!

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I'd like to keep the EU up to and including SQ, but I'd actually like to have the rest declared infinities.
I think the EU "jumped the shark" beginning with the NJO.






MasterSkywalker86 :

Yes, I agree about that. They probably will portray the Solo descendant as very heroic and likeable while Luke's descendant was a druggie and a jerk. That *is* annoying. If Luke would have had other descendants besides Cade (after Kol and Nat were gone), I wouldn't have been as disappointed. But to have Luke's one and only descendant be such a loser really irritated me. I was hoping that Cade's sister was going to be revealed to actually be a Skywalker, but that never happened unfortunately.

 

Just a small quote that Lt.Cmdr.Thrawn was so sweet to look up for me:

IMO this confirms that Lucas isn't against Luke getting a girl - which would mean we can skip at least one worry.
But of course we still know nothing about what will happen...

 

so I was right in my original post....I really am dying to know how will this effect the EU, will it be a soft reboot for Luke's adventures POST VOTF. I can't imagine a hard reboot would be the direction they would go since that basically hollows the GFFA universe. Perhaps a soft reboot would be the ideal scenario.

No offense to the Legacy comics but I'm more focused on following Luke's story than his heirs....unless Ben can step up as a character.

 

nice catch although I don't even think he remembers what he said back then....lol. Still that's a good sign that originally he was going to make them closer to ROTJ in time than further apart.

 

kataja :

Well, that gives us hope anyway that Lucas may allow Luke to marry and have a family! I really hope that he does!








MasterSkywalker86:

I think we all are!!!! We may not know though until we actually view the film, and, if so, that would be a LONG wait!

I just want to be sure that Luke *has* heirs in the new ST.

 

I think you just reboot back to TUF, and restart there. That way at least Mara is alive, and Jacen is not all screwed up.

 

Seeing as most people seem to consider TUF the high point of Del Rey, and everything since something of a Dork Age, that's probably for the best. (LOL funnily enough it's all served to unite fan opinion on the EU) Mara's always been popular with the fanbase, and she's exactly the powerful female character that new female fans will love, so I don't see why they wouldn't want to bring her back.

 

JediMatteus:

Well, I guess that would be okay, but I would still prefer that they restart after Survivor's Quest. As I have said, I don't think that the YV and their biotechnology really works all that well in the SW galaxy. Plus, Traitor was the start of Jacen getting "all screwed up". Except for a very few books, like TUF, Luke was NOT handled well at all through most of the NJO either.







DarthJenari:

For me, the "high points of Del Rey were SQ, OF, and Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor. Luke was portrayed well in SQ and Mindor, in my opinion, not so much in the NJO. And Mara and Luke were in a good place at the end of SQ. They, and most of the galaxy lost almost everything in the NJO. Yavin and Coruscant were destroyed and many friends and family and Jedi were lost during the NJO. The Solos and Skywalkers had a brighter future after VotF and SQ than they did after TUF, and things just went downhill from there.

 

TUF did resolve Jacen quite well, it was only later that Denning decides to render his epiphany into a drug high that Jacen decides to quest after like a hippie who's had cold turkey enforced that didn't take!

The other reason to keep NJO, aside from the Luke sections that are good - yeah, they exist! - is I still like greatly the idea of Anakin Skywalker taking a hand in events as a form of atonement post-death, that while the Force bestowed redemption upon him, he did not feel worthy of it thus his careful interventions in BP and TUF. Obviously this image clashes greatly with the irresponsible, broken mess of a character we saw in the PT but I still like the concept.

 

Also aside of some small minority in the general film fan base(some see Luke as asexual ) Luke having a wife I imagine would track better with audiences, as the hero gets the girl, the Skywalker line can continued into the future, etc.

true, although once we have more facts of who's directing and what the story is about I think we can make a safe hypothesis on what's going on.
So far for writers we have Lawrence Kasdan and Michael Ardnt which is good news, the third guy is the only one who's questionable but at least he produced for the latest X-men film.

agreed, other heirs than Cade. See I could have like the character if his selfishness, druggie behavior made a 180 and he redeem himself as a Skywalker we know him capable of being halfway through the series but I guess it wasn't meant to be.

What's OF ? If you're talking about Outbound Flight that took place during the prequel era. SQ and Mindor of course I agree with. I will also include the TTT, SOTE, and HoT were all great books for Luke. TTT set the stage for the EU of course and Luke with his duties as Knight and his new friendship with Mara, SOTE had a Luke struggling with the revelations from ESB and completing his jedi training to become the Jedi we see in ROTJ. And HoT is a real fitting conclusion for the Bantam era as well as the start of something new for Luke and Mara. Even though it doesn't have many if at all wow moments for Luke.

There are still some moments in NJO where Luke has great moments, you mention Vector Prime and his skills as a pilot, I would mention the entire book of Onslaught, the comic series Invasion, I think Star by Star Luke has some moments, Balance Point(or whichever book Ben is born), and of course TUF. What's the book where Luke avoided all the laser fire when his x-wing had no shields ? I mean I still didn't care for NJO all that much but it is salvageable for Luke as a character.

heck I wouldn't mind if they started from DN on, as they already have a proper jedi council(no ambassadors), Jacen could be seen as say a more unorthodox jedi at this point than a sith wannabe, and Luke and Mara still get to have great team-ups. I would have like to see how Luke and Jacen work together considering Jacen's alternative pov.


on a different topic how does everybody feel about Luke possibly becoming the keeper of the balance ? I enjoy the idea that now after defeating Vader, Sidious, Exar Kun, Cadeus, and Vong overlords that a regular sith isn't going to pose a challenge to Luke. Apocalypse reaffirms this after he defeated the One known as Abeloth albeit with help, but at this point we can't see him dying of battle. I enjoy the idea of Luke at his last moments of life "inherits" becoming the next Father to perhaps truly rid of Abeloth and then typical of Luke he does away with the entire idea of the Ones and reverts back to a force spirit.

 

Jedi Ben:

Maybe so, but Vergere did mess with Jacen's head to a degree that it makes sense that he wasn't the same anymore. And even before Denning made things worse, I did get the idea that Jacen was going to try to find a way to repeat the experience that he had during his fight with Omini.... I think Jacen's thoughts to himself sort of confirmed that, didn't they? But I will agree that Denning made things far, far worse...for Jacen.... for Luke.... for the whole galaxy really.

Yes, it's a nice concept, but I don't like that to keep it means that we have to lose Anakin Solo and we have to accept those many awful characterizations of Luke too.








MasterSkywalker86:

I agree. It's better in so many ways than having Luke be a lonely bachelor with no family and no descendants... AND, no character with the last name of Skywalker to follow...

Definitely! In fact, I hope that Legacy ends up being Infinities after the ST is made. I just don't like the darkness and bleakness and chaos of that future. I hate that thousands of Sith exist and that everything Luke did is pretty much destroyed because of Legacy.

Yes, I did mean Outbound Flight, and yes, I know that it took place during the prequel era. I was just mentioning the stories that I liked that were produced by DEL REY. That's why I didn't include stories like TTT and HoT and TaB and CoPL. Those were all published under Bantam's run.

I think Ben was born in Rebirth. Sadly though, in that book, Luke and Mara had very small roles and very little page space.

Yes, there were a few good Luke moments in the NJO, but they were extremely few and far between. I wouldn't mind losing the few good ones in order to keep Chewie and Anakin Solo and to lose all of those other terrible Luke characterizations and the Yuuzhan Vong too.

If Luke has to spend eternity serving as the father, I would hate it. I want Luke to be able to rejoin Mara in Jedi heaven someday. And, if LotF isn't canon anymore, Mara wouldn't have died anyway and they could still be together on the physical plane.

 

Wow! Now that we might see Luke in another Star Wars film, it seems that no one has anything to say about him in the EU stories anymore!

I guess I need to finish CoO so I can have something new to discuss about Luke. It has taken me SOOOOOO long to get through that book! I've read lots of other things in-between. I just can't seem to get into it all that much. I've read about half of it, and Luke has still been very scarce. I can't say that he's done anything yet, and I'm halfway through the book.

Mara really seems a LOT older and far too mature and perfect for the teenager she should still be at that point....

 

I'm ok with Mara being this over smart teengirl - she had the best training possible and she excelled to it all, never setting a foot wrong. She'd be insufferably perfect, and I know a couple of girls just like her. Only later would she realize how little she understood, even though she thought she knew everything already.

Only, with Mara, what I start to lack is that novel where she faces this fact. A post TTT story where she really is harsh with herself.

As for discussing Luke, LOL yeah, I think we wait for something to happen. I'm fighting myself throuhh BFC at the mo, chapter for chapter. Actually I rather like it so far, but it doesn't pull me in. Looking forward to your opinions and thouhhts on CoO. I just realized my post at the rew lit forum has been cut half (most long posts obviusly have due tovthe move), so I consider writing a new one. I just wish I could do so without sounding grumpy and annoying.

 

Give Luke a chance -- CoO is not that long after ANH, after all! It takes time to become a Jedi (Master)!

 

Ooh.. you'd better watch out Tim - don't get me started... I never had a problem with pre-Jedi Luke. Not before I read CoO where Jedi-wannabe is all he is. And trust me - I've read 99% of the past ANH - pre-ESB stuff that's out there... CoO is far too long after ANH for Luke to be so callow. *takes calming breaths*

 

Luke seemed a bit callow in Splinter of the Mind's Eye- which is set 2 years after ANH, whereas CoO is only 9 months after.

 

Hmm, you refer to him doubting himself from time to time in SotME? I think it was ok, though It could well have been set a bit closer to ANH IMO. But in CoO he doesn't only doubt himself contantly - he's also more or less inable to act! It's like he's bombed back to his uncle's farm in ANH. No not even that, because it's said in ANH that "Luke was in the habit of making instant decisions - for good or bad".

 

Well, there was that possibility implicit i Luceno's text but, to me, that would be the negative, depressing and quite boring way to look at it. That it would be an experience that Jacen wished he could repeat would be natural, but his arc through NJO was about him learning to know when to act or not and this is a clear case where he shouldn't. Of course, we all know exactly which road DN decided to take....

Oh and about Mara in CoO - yeah, she's too good, but that's the point, she was boosted by Sidious, but thought she was doing it all. She pays a heavy price for that later. By the by, when you've got to the end of CoO Cow, grab the 20th Anniversary edition of HTTE - I'm certain you've a copy - and read the Crisis of Faith story, it wraps up the Nuso Esva plot.

 

It wouldn't be befitting of a hero not to have a wife, I mean besides every great man is a great woman right ?

Agreed, while I like the idea of Luke fighting Force demons I didn't like the climax and the resolution in the end. And we had very few Luke "wow" moments, I mean the whole metaphysical plane fight could have had Luke achieve a state of Oneness similar to Jacen......but nope it was not meant to be. All we got was a spiritual brawl for lack of better terms.

ah I see what you mean.

yeah as much I shed a few pros for Luke in NJO there were too many cons for me to recommend it.

nah not for eternity think of it as a brief scenario where he has to both eliminate Abeloth in Luke fashion of course(with the Power of One that he inherits he resolves Abeloth's mental issues and has her die and become One with the Force, he also causes the release of all the souls she absorbed, at the end of the day he removes the font of power and fountain of knowledge and then removes the Ones entirely). I think it could work.

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hey! I have finals for the next two weeks and I'm running on the fumes of 3 hours sleep, I deserve a pass for this week ​

also ....Luke....Luke.....and Luke ​

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geez get on that already before the New Year Funny thing that book was an easy read for me, Allegiance was another story.​

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the 2nd half should have more Luke action but man did the blurb misrepresent the actual story. ​

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perhaps but she also notice her cold attitude, lack of enjoyment in life aside of the job, and loneliness, while she's a super cool assassin it's at the expense of her being an actual human being, she's basically a robot. Also on another note while she had training since she was conscripted she also borrows a good portion of Palps power. We all remember how she fumbles without his assistance.

I wouldn't say she was perfect, the faults are rather major if you know where to look.

go forth and read that do thy bidding! I'll see if I can get back to DE if I get any sleep

oh no another CoO debate

 

the NJO was AWESOME Yes i know Luke looked timid early on, but i felt the story and the never seen before force immune enemy made that somewhat undertsandable. I thought the other characters really shined though, an ambitious project with 19 books and it mostly worked. What a great accomplishment.!! and The Unifying Force is the greatest novel in Star Wars history imo.

 

kataja:

Yes, we could have used more of that. Luke's flaws (and even flaws he didn't demonstrate) are always flung in his face, and he is always more hard on himself than he deserves to be, but we don't see Mara admitting her mistakes or brought down a peg or two all that much.








Tim Battershell:

Hi, Tim! I'm not expecting Luke to be a Jedi Master or even a Jedi at this place in the timeline. What I *do* want to see though is Luke using his other gifts, like his resourcefulness and his wits and his brains to make positive contributions to the story; to really accomplish something. Luke isn't just a Jedi. He has other talents as well, and I would like to see them utilized. In Allegiance, Luke did absolutely NOTHING. Everything was done for him. He looked useless and clueless. Sadly, so far, CoO hasn't given me much to cheer about involving Luke either. In contrast, Mara seems so much older, mature, and competent than Luke, and he's supposed to be slightly older than she is.

We should still be seeing Luke using a blaster too.








kataja:

Yes, I agree with this.








Iron_lord:

I thought so too. I really didn't like SotME at all. It was a pretty ridiculous story, and Luke wasn't characterized well at all. Again, it had Obi-wan doing things FOR Luke. Plus, Luke and Vader should never have met before TESB. And it was really silly to have Luke, who was from Tatooine know how to swim, but Leia, from Alderaan who couldn't.








Jedi Ben:

It was negative, yes, but it was there as a possibility. Jacen admitted it himself.

Yes, and as with Luke, it was the worst way possible.

Do they actually mention this in the book later?

Will do! Yes, I do have a copy! First I have to plod my way through the rest of CoO though!


More tomorrow....