Lit A Chronological Journey Through the EU: Currently Disc. Interference

Yeah... just gonna say I disagree with this. I'll take his worst over Troy Denning's best any day of the week.

 

If given the choice, I too will prefer Anderson over Denning, because he's more entertaining (Denning is gloomy and his manuscripts need an extra dose of editing), but in terms of prose? I'm sorry, but no one beats Kevin J. Anderson. Try saying his dialogue out loud. The tongue refuses to comply. When Denning's Star Wars characters talk, I can recognize them. (Of course, Anderson may have gotten immeasurably better, I'm talking about his earlier Star Wars-era works.)

 

Timeline 12: The Great Hyperspace War



5,000 BBY

*So, okay, this is the first review I’m posting about one of the videos that’s part of the Old Republic timeline. This project, which ties into the Old Republic MMO, is a series of videos, of approximately six minutes apiece, which goes far back into ancient history in order to set the stage for the MMO. Think of it as a sort of Cliff Notes version in video format.

*This is the oldest video created for the timeline. Originally, the timeline was going to go way back into the tens of thousands of years BBY. Unfortunately, in my opinion, they eventually decided against that and so this video, at 5,000 BBY, is the oldest video on the timeline.

*Oh, yes, they’re narrated by Lance Henricksen. In other words, awesome.

*Seriously, Henricksen as a Jedi. How perfect is that? Pretty darn perfect, my friends.

*So, this one is essentially a quick version of the events of The Golden Age of the Sith and The Fall of the Sith Empire. This video is about six minutes long.

*The animation style is rudimentary, but with some nice touches. With the full music and Henricksen’s dignified readings and sound effects, there is some genuine coolness going on in these videos.

*So, as this one starts Henricksen’s character, Gnost-Dural, remarks that he’s relating these events because they tie directly into the current threat from the Sith that the Republic faces. I haven’t read much of the stuff directly related to the Old Republic MMO era, but I guess the Sith are back in it.

*So, the Old Republic that we see in this video is very different from the version we see in the actual comics. This is part of what seems to be a concerted effort to make the 5,000 BBY period less archaic and more like the Old Republic seen in, for instance, TPM. There’s a shot of Coruscant here that could be right out of TPM.

*I love the way Naga Sadow slides in from the side when Gnost-Dural tells about his sneaky liberation of Gav and Jori.

*Gav and Jori aren’t even named in this video. In other words, good video.

*I love the animation on Sadow’s flowing cloak. That’s pretty cool.

*So, the video says that Sadow was betrayed “by his apprentice.” It took me an absurdly long time to realize they were talking about Gav. I’m not sure Gav should really be called an “apprentice.” I mean, pawn maybe. But not apprentice. I mean, was he ever really committed to learning the ways of the Dark Side? I don’t think he was. And did he ever know how to do anything beyond make a little illusion in the palm of his hand?

*So, Gnost-Dural knows that Sadow went to Yavin 4 after the war. That’s interesting. How would he know that exactly? At the end of Fall of the Sith Empire, the Republic has no idea where Sadow is. However, I do recall that Exar Kun knows it quite a bit later. Is it common knowledge by the time of the Exar Kun War? How would anyone have found out in the first place though? Huh. Well, whatever.

*So, we’re given some information here that I don’t recall from anywhere else, namely that after the war the Old Republic basically carried out a war of annihilation against the surviving Sith people on Korriban and the other Sith planets. According to Gnost-Dural, they basically destroyed the entire civilization, which would have included a lot of civilians, no?

*Gnost-Dural says that this is the reason that some of the Sith fled into deep space and set up a new Empire and that this is why that Sith Empire has returned to get revenge. Gnost-Dural wonders what might have happened if the Old Republic had handled the end of the Great Hyperspace War differently.

*Huh, okay, so they’re going for a more nuanced thing there. Okay, whatever.

*Okay, well, that’s that. I can say the story makes more sense when you go through it like this. Some of the retcons, like making Gav a literal apprentice and not just a pawn of Naga Sadow or making the Old Republic carry out genocide after the war, kinda work.

*CANONICAL STATUS: While there are perhaps a few errors in this work, it is to be considered largely accurate. This serves as an excellent alternative to other, more famous and less accurate, retellings of these events. This work is RECOMMENDED as a historical resource.

** out of **** stars.

*Let’s see, what’s up for next time? Oh, it’s more of the same, kind of. We’ll take a look at another Cliff Notes version of this story as we turn our attention to The Sith Lords Chronicles – Part I: A Golden Age.

Star Wars Reviews!

 

The retcon, or added detail, of the Republic carrying out genocide against the Sith people is pretty crucial. It explains why the Sith, despite having persisted as a species for TOR, no longer inhabited Korriban during KOTOR and had to recapture it (as seen in the SWTOR cinematic).

I just discovered the Timelines the other day and I found them pretty helpful. Nice to know where TOR's Sith Empire actually came from. And then the later discussion about Kun, The Emperor, and the spirits of the ancient Sith Lords...interesting stuff. I'll be sticking around this thread

 

The Republic overreacting and genociding the Sith is interesting and I like that bit. It's wrong and probably the most evil thing the Republic has ever done but I like to think they learned from that mistake. Btw, the Republic was founded as a military alliance against the Rakata and anyone like them attempting to take over brutally. Do you think they basically had Rakata flashbacks when the Sith attacked, thought the Sith would be just as bad and decided to end the threat once and for all? Only they didn't get them all - I imagine one reason some Sith got away was because they Jedi were disgusted by the genocide and intervened. I can just imagine a quest for the Sith Warrior in TOR where he finds evidence that they escaped due to the Jedi standing between the refugee ships and the Republic Navy - then you have to decide what to do with that evidence. That would be fun.

 

do you think its more enjoyable to read in chronological order or release date order?

 

One of many reasons that I wish the Great Hyperspace War occured around the time that the Republic was formed instead of 20,000 years after the Republic was formed.

 

I agree that the time gap is ludicrous, which why I just threw it out as an idea. It's clear they overreacted to something but I've no clue what. When Jori returned from the Empire and first warned people, the guards treated the news about the Sith as you and I would if someone ran into the room and cried about gremlins or vikings busting up his car or whatever. So maybe the scars are from the last Schism - I think that would be more plausible, right?

I originally thought of the Rakata because they are someone who should give the Republic nightmares and in TOR I stumbled over enough of their stuff - I forgot the damn time gap. Anyway, I think the Republic overreacted but maybe back then they were simply just that ruthless - it took the Jedi to soften them up a bit (that sounds horrible).

 

Actually, I am intending to build a reading order as I go here, where you read only the good stuff and read it in something approaching a workable order. I don't have it with me, but I'll post what I have at the moment, though it's only the first few books at the moment. I'll post it tomorrow.

Chronicles of the Old Republic: A Golden Age

5,000 BBY

*Alright, as we press on, we end up taking a look at the Chronicles of the Old Republic. Now, I hadn’t even heard of this project until I found DinoJim’s timeline. It’s a short background sketch of the history of the Sith that was originally written as background material for KOTOR II.

*The original website where these little summaries were hosted has gone the way of the dodo, but you can still find them. Actually . . . and I don’t like bootleg stuff, you know, but the official website was originally intended to be read for free anyway, so you can find the entire project at the link above. Some dude managed to archive the whole thing and posted it on the forums over at Neoseeker. They may also be available elsewhere. Probably are, as a matter of fact, being as short as they are, but that’s the one I found most easily, so it’s the one I linked to.

*Seriously, go read the section we’ll be talking about today. It’s three frigging paragraphs. It’ll take you two minutes and then you can actually talk intelligently and specifically about it.

*Not that there’s much to actually talk about . . .

*Oh, I should note that this doesn’t appear on Wookieepedia’s Timeline of Media, but this is the moment when it appears on DinoJim’s timeline, so I’m putting it in here. I should also note that DinoJim’s timeline refers to the project as The Sith Lords Chronicles, so there may be some confusion if you go check out his timeline. But Wookieepedia, which does have an article about the project, refers to it as Chronicles of the Old Republic and it seems that’s the accepted title, given, for instance, the website I linked to above. Not sure if it was originally called The Sith Lords Chronicles or where DinoJim got that name, but I have defaulted to the official title as given by Wookieepedia.

*We’re talking about the first one here, A Golden Age. Now, what we have here are Cliff Notes. Even more so than the video we talked about last time. Way more so, actually. They cover the events of The Golden Age of the Sith and The Fall of the Sith Empire in three paragraphs. That is not a lot of time.

*Only one real comment about the text itself. It refers to the fight Sadow and Kressh have at Ragnos’ funeral as a “bloody duel.” That’s overstating a bit. I mean, they both waved their swords around a bit. I’m not sure anybody even got hurt.

*Well, what is there to say? I mean, quite clearly there are no new insights here. However, the story makes more sense flown over at thirty thousand feet.

*I don’t know how to rank this . . .

*CANONICAL STATUS: While it features some textual corruptions due to the longer works that preceded it, this brief summary is fairly accurate to the details of the Great Hyperspace War. Since those events, however, are covered much more deeply and accurately in the holojournal of Master Gnost-Dural, this work is NOT RECOMMENDED as a historical resource.

0 out of **** stars.

*So, at this point, I would typically be crediting the main author, but this is the second entry in a row, after the video from last time, that doesn’t have a credited author on Wookieepedia. That’s interesting. I mean, even if it was just some low-level tech or something that banged these out in hour, I’d say he or she still deserves some credit. Oh, well.

*Next time, it’s a new medium: audio! Join me next time as we hit up an audio drama called Parallels: Kiran! Ever heard of it? I certainly hadn’t. Find out why, next time.

Star Wars Reviews!

 

very nice. I like that you also have your own page for these reviews. It will be very handy for future readers who want an opinion on all the things that is Legends Star Wars.

 

Yeah, once this thread gets longer, it's not going to be easy to navigate around it to find particular reviews people might be looking for. The dedicated page will be helpful when it comes to that.

Here's my recommended list. Thread Spoiler: I loved the Dawn of the Jedi stuff I've read so far; I haven't read the trades yet, so they might end up on the list as well, I don't know yet. But here it is as it stands today. The Hyperspace War is a great example of why I wanted to do a list like this. It's kind of essential that you know the broad strokes of the story if you're going to read on. It'll help with things like Crosscurrent and the Lost Tribe stories, for sure. But I recommend you watch the Timeline video and thus avoid the horrid comics while still getting the basic story. Those kinds of things are why I wanted to make a list like this.


ROGUE’S READING LIST

25,793 BBY
Dawn of the Jedi: Eruption
Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void

5,000 BBY
Timeline 12: The Great Hyperspace War
Crosscurrent (Part 1)
Lost Tribe of the Sith: Precipice
Lost Tribe of the Sith: Skyborn

4,985 BBY
Lost Tribe of the Sith: Paragon

4,975 BBY
Lost Tribe of the Sith: Savior

 

Parallels: Kiran

5,000 BBY

*Okay, so Parallels. Have you heard of this? I hadn’t, until I started going through Rob Mullins’ EU Chronology. I saw it and thought, “Wait, what?” It’s so odd for there to be a Star Wars thing that I haven’t even heard of.

*So, what is it? Well, Mullins includes the non-official works of Nathan Butler, based on the fact that Butler is an author who has written officially and he thinks it is of interest to look at an author’s entire franchise based body of work. And so, since Butler has official stories on the list, here too is one of his non-official fan-based works.

*This is a work originally distributed through Butler’s ChronoRadio site. Parallels is a three part audio story. It isn’t exactly a drama. Butler, who wrote the story, serves as narrator and there is no music, outside the intro and outro, or sound effects. But the three characters in the story are voiced by different actors. So, it’s a sort of audio book with numerous readers. I guess that’s the easiest way to think about it.

*So, today, we’ll talk about the first section of the story. Oh, yes, by the way, it’s still available for free download at the above link. So, listen along with me; could be fun, right? Something totally new and different that no one’s probably talked about much in this forum?

*This first section is nearly fifteen minutes long. It opens with a brief introduction that states that this story is going to tell of one of the events that was most influential in causing the Jedi to institute the rule about Jedi not having any romantic relationships. You can basically stop listening now and you’ll already have a very accurate view of the story that’s about to be told.

*So, this is a fan production, much like this whole project I’m doing. And I think we all respect Nathan’s achievements. But I must say that the production is pretty bad here. The music that plays under the intro and outro is played incredibly far back in the mix. Is it not a copyright violation if you play it really, really quietly or what?

*So, Kiran is a Jedi Knight returning to his home on a planet known as Perdition. He’s been away fighting in the Great Hyperspace War against Naga Sadow’s legions.

*Huh, it’s mentioned that he was laid up in hospital for the entire month of “Melona.” This is the first month name I think I’ve ever heard for the GFFA. Anybody know the others? How many are there in a standard year?

*Kiran is thinking, as he arrives, about the only two people he cares about in the galaxy. His lover, Taleena and his “brother in all but the biological sense,” Danner. If you can’t see where this is going, go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars.

*So, Kiran has been reported dead and while in transit on his way back to Perdition, another Jedi planted the idea in his head that Taleena and Danner had “mourned him together” and become *ahem* lovers.

*Kiran is pretty melodramatic: “Now in the color of her hair he could see only the striking color of the blades of the Sith warriors he had tracked to the edges of known . . . etc etc etc.”

*Wow, the actor’s voices are mixed way louder than Butler’s narration. That doesn’t seem right. I mean, it’s striking how much louder they are. I had my stereo cranked up pretty loud to catch Butler’s narration, which is pretty quiet. And then they just about blew me out of my seat.

*Speaking of being melodramatic . . .

*So, then, after seeing his girl and his friend again, Kiran seems about to let the rumor go. He’s glad to get home and he wants to believe they’re innocent.

*But then, the Force screws things up again. He picks up on Taleena’s perfume through the Force and then he realizes that some of the scent is coming from behind him, where Taleena is leaning against his shoulder and some from in front, where Danner is standing.

*Cue violence.

*Kiran confronts Taleena, if by “confront” we mean starts slamming her into the wall repeatedly.

*She admits that she has indeed been unfaithful. Danner arrives to defend her and the two brothers fight.

*When Kiran sees Danner coming, he thinks, “Let him defend his whore.” Has that word ever been used elsewhere in the EU? That actually shocked me.

*So, Kiran does a little too cool for school somersault thing and manages to sever Danner’s hand and then his head. He’s very cool about the head severing thing. Takes his time with it. Savoring the moment.

*This is very overwrought. “. . . slicing up through Danner’s left sleeve, searing the flesh underneath like the twin suns of Tatooine. He’d make sure that the next time the pain would more closely resemble one of those stars going nova.”

*At least neither of them says, “From my point of view.”

*So, Kiran moves to kill Taleena too, but then suddenly a Republic security agent comes on the scene and Kiran takes a blaster shot to the face. “His last thought was of her, twirling with contentment in a flowering field on Alderaan . . . Rain began to fall on the field. Rain the hue of blood.”

*So, at approximately fourteen minutes, Part I ends. All the legal stuff. And “May the Force be with you.”

*Well, I think it’s pretty obvious that in Part II we’ll discover the innocuous reason why that perfume was coming from both of them. And I’m going to go ahead and call it. Taleena was actually unfaithful, not with Danner, but with the Jedi who told Kiran the story in the first place. Yeah, that’s right, I’m goin’ there.

*Okay, well, this is a nice change of pace, I’ll admit that. I enjoy spoken word audio, so it was fun to get some Star Wars not from reading or watching something, but in this form. There are, of course, other examples of this, but it’s been a while since I’ve listened to any of them, so it was a good change up.

*The story itself was simpler than I was hoping. I was hoping for a more complex story. But when you only have fourteen minutes, I suppose it’s best to keep things simple and even predictable.

*CANONICAL STATUS: This work is fairly explicit in its introduction that the tale about to be told is a myth, used to illustrate the reasons behind the Jedi vow of non-attachment. It is NOT RECOMMENDED as a historical resource.

** out of **** stars.

Nathan Butler

*Next time, of course, we’ll see what Danner has to say for himself when we move on to part two of this one with Parallels: Danner!

Star Wars Reviews!

 

That is the ******* stupidest list of month names imaginable.

But thank you.

 

That list of months? THAT is why going too far into the 'call a rabbit a smerp' trope is dumb.

 

I don't see why the names can't be used. Those names break my Suspension of DIsbelief and take me out of the story way quicker than if they used March.

 

You know Palps renamed a few of them when he took power: Palpuary, Palpember, Febuatine.

EDIT: I think I agree with RK on this one. But some people were incensed about hot chocolate. For me, however, it's an obviously fake, stupid sounding name that takes me out of the story. It just seems like it would be easy enough to come up with a few names that didn't all have the exact same structure and rhyme like that. I mean, maybe a Melona and a Elona, but also something like a . . . Tavis and Prevon or something.

Did I just come up with two names off the top of my head that are better than the ones on the list? Yes, yes, I did.

 

I hate you I'm laughing so hard...

 

The profession is hinted at now and again - but not usually stated in such blunt terms.