Are the SW novels better without Anakin Solo and Chewbacca?

I think Anakin should have at least remained alive. This may be a SPOILER*******

but in "Betrayal" it is mentioned (at least at the part that I am at) that Anakin Solo's DNA is being used.... I thought Anakin was a better character than Jacen, because he was more like Luke (and previous Anakin). Anyway, I don't feel to cheated that Chewbacca is gone, just feel sorry for Han Solo.

 

I don't even notice that Chewie is gone. It's now weird reading about him.

 

Yes, the books are much better off. They have a sense of danger in them that they were previously severely lacking.

People were worried that LUKE might die in TUF. I'd say without Chewie's and Anakin's death there would have been no such suspense.

 

i think so. perhaps not because those specific characters died, but certainly having even a slight chance of the heros dieing is far better than the 100% full proof character shields they used to have.

and in Anakin's case, i think it was a VERY good idea. pretty much everything that's happened since then can be traced to that one event, and i for one have liked the overall direction that the later NJO/DN/LOTF/LEGACY has taken, though i know many others have not. while obviously there were interesting storylines that could be done with Anakin still around, i fear he'd have literally ended up being Luke 2.0, the guy who is forced to act dumb for the first half or 2/3rd of each book or series to give some "suspense", then come rushing in to save the day. and if Luke isn't killed off by TUF, then that is not only boring, but redundant.

 

The death of Chewie caused a sad & useless bent for Han, something that annoyed me just as much as the action of killing the Wook. I'm glad that he finally came out of it & got back into some action, but the real Han & Chewie Han Solo has not come back yet. He's become much more of a muted character now, no matter who he's being paired up with there's just a certain element of his attitude that has failed to come back. I was glad to see it back in full force in Zahn's "Allegiance" cause it's been gone since their killed his co-pilot & youngest kid. Is it the loss of friends & family that changed him or is it cause he lost his scroundrels ways to fully embrace the Rebellion? I really don't know.

I just hope that Luke doesn't have to go that route.

 

I loved Anakin Solo and Chewbacca -- but I can't see what the books would be like with them now. I feel like if they killed Jacen instead, it would be Anakin doing what Jacen was doing now, except with a different sort of twist (or maybe even Jaina). And part of me always thought thay got rid of Chewbacca cause he doesn't translate to books as well as he does in the movies. Sadly, I always felt like every couple pages they were like, "Oh yeah! Chewbacca is in this scene! I'd better add him grumbling about something to Han!" >_<

 

That happens with Threepio and Artoo a lot. Some authors know how to use them (namely K-Mac, Barbara Hambly, Timothy Zahn ('cept for Allegiance, heh), and Troy Denning sometimes), and give them interesting roles, but they're baggage a lot of the other times. And in recent LOTF, hardly present at all.

 

Wasn't that given as one of the reasons they went ahead with killing him, in fact? That authors were struggling to give Chewie anything more meaningful than "Chewie grunted in approval!"

 

I miss Anakin, but I'm not angry that he died.

I don't miss Chewie. I doubt the authors miss him either. His character was probably a burden to write. Sometimes he was written out anyway (off on a 'sabbatical' to Kashyyyk or visiting his family or something.) He didn't speak basic so he didn't add anything to the dialogue and the only person who could understand him was Han. I sometimes forgot he was in scenes until the author threw in a 'Chewie growled warningly' or 'Chewie growled appreciatively.' There are a finite number of adjectives to attach to his growls. The same can be applied to Artoo's warbles. These characters are great in movies, but not suited for novels.

 

Well, with Chewie, he wasn't much of a character to begin with, and his death was a shocker based more on that the status quo had changed.


As for Anakin- no, for several reasons.

First, given what's happened since (rift between Skywalker/Solo's, Jacen's turn, uncertain direction of Jedi), he was the wrong Solo child to kill- Jaina works much, much better in that respect. And it also would've made her character actually relevant.

Second, DR wrote themselves into a corner in terms of the who becomes the hero. Jacen is dark side, Jaina is utterly marginalized, and Ben is 14. Either they have to have the old crowd save the day yet again, or rush Ben's development.

And lastly, if LOTF is all about circling to the PT, why the hell is Jacen not fighting his brother?

 

Are the novels better for two main charcters having died - without doubt. The death of Chewbacca and subsequent deaths of Anakin and that which cannot be named took away the seeming invincibility of the main characters, the belief that they could get into any sticky situation and still find a way out alive. Once that idea was gone it gave the stories a more believeable feel and suddenly people were wondering would Luke survive the NJO, whereas before Luke's survival wasn't ever really called into question.

Are the novels better for having lost Chewbacca and Anakin Solo - Chewbacca yes, I think he'd served his purpose and was really just becoming a piece of the scenery. It was beginning to feel like authors included him basically because they had to and he was influencing plots less and less, he was just there. Better without Anakin Solo, no, the only character that DR built up properly during the first half of the NJO and the only one who really appeared to be able to carry the EU forward as the central character. Maybe that stems from the reversal of the roles DR had originally planned for Anakin and Jacen, maybe not.

Anakin was the only character who really evoked that heroic feel associated with SW since ANH, all the darkness we currently have is fine, but we need heroes to stand against it. Jacen has fallen, Jaina has become less and less important and apart from when Denning writes is reduced to brief cameos and the rest of the NJO era Jedi have been limited to small cameos, if they even appear at all. So when you look around for a hero DR have left themselves little choice but to fall back of Luke and co. once more.

For me it would have been much better if one of the Solo twins had died in SbS, driving the other twin into the darkness, with Anakin as the heroic counter point.

 

It seems that, from what I've been reading, Anakin was the true loss. And to that, I totally agree. Probably ESPECIALLY with the point brought up by Alpha-02. Having the loss of one of the initial twins still could've set up the events for the current "Legacy" series, but the events would've had more dramatics if either Jacen, or Jaina's, younger brother were a major player. Plus, it'd make more sense in a heroic development manner, because Anakin would probably be in his 20's by the "Legacy" era, so he could hold his own in terms of power, and would've performed as a counterbalance to whatever older sibling is going over towards the Dark Side. (And actually, it would be interesting to see what side Anakin would've initially chosen in the conflict.) Although... would it have been too much to ask if, had this situation come about, Jaina would've been the one to bite the dust? "Sword of the Jedi" or not, she doesn't drive me up the wall like she used to, but she still can be hella-annoying.

Chewbacca... I would feel more of a sense of loss if he had died much earlier in the chronology. Maybe even in the original movies. But Chewie's not an easy character to write, so any attachment I may have had, due to his movie time, faded due to questionable writing. That's not to say I just didn't care about his death, because the first time I read "Vector Prime", I was SHOCKED. But upon further reflection, outside of shaking up Han's life for a while, the ripples of his death weren't that terribly far reaching. (And personally, I actually enjoy the chemistry that's going on with Leia as Han's regular co-pilot.)

 

I really want to see more OT/New Republic-era Han & Chewie action.

 

I wish chewie handt died but i completely agree that he was a bit pontless in the novels. except in the black fleet crisis where he was used properly as someone else said.

As for anakin, that was a travesty and a real honest shame. He had so much potential, they could have built the future franchise around him and i can never quite convince myself that Jacen represents a threat to either good or evil. Anakin just illuminted power and had that aura of cool about him. I mean a jedi who's part Han solo part Luke Skywalker, how could the books be better without that!

 

Unfortunately the same problem happens in the PT, specifically with Threepio.

 

Chewbacca was easily best-written in Tyrant's Test. His relationship with his son was highlighted, the true power of his life-debt to Han was showcased powerfully, and he generally kicked ass. However, for that to happen, he was absent from the first two installments of the Black Fleet Crisis trilogy. Similarly, Timothy Zahn just kind of wrote he and the Solo twins out of the Hand of Thrawn duology.

... Was he in the Corellian Trilogy? If so, I honestly can't remember what he did. Was he with the Solo kids when they went to visit Duchess Marcha? Hmmm...

 

Yeah, he took care of the kids.


EDIT: Which I just realized sums up his entire Bantam role in one sentence.

 

Don't forget about how he and Han delt with Zsinj. "Kiss my Wookiee!"

 

The fact that Anakin had great potential and was such a beloved character made his death that much more powerful. We'll always be thinking 'What if Anakin were still around?' or 'What would Anakin have done in this situation?' In life, there are always 'what ifs?' It was tragic that Anakin died. That's a tribute to the character.

 

Are they better?

Hell, no!

 

There is no excuse for killing of Anakin...he was the best non villian ever. It seemed real cool at the time but it really took away a good chance to develop a non-Luke Identity.

 

...it has, however, served to aid in the development of all the other non-Lukes.

 

That is another ramification of Chewie's death that I could've done without, Starscream Prime.

SW stories have always been so male dominated in their own way, but with the right writer's here & there Leia had really come to exemplify the strong female role model & I found that alot more exciting & sexy than when she got squeezed in to the role of Han's co-pilot. It was like when they ground Leia like that it gave them free reign to knock down all the SW females, Jaina's darkside business didn't matter & she's mindjacked by the bugs, Mara's a housewife, Tahiri's the new Queen Mother, Seba's hardly written about anymore & the list of degredation goes on & on.

There were some very cool moments with Leia & Han I do admit that & admit that it was nice to see Han's joy in being able to spend time with his wife for once, but she used to be a Jedi & Cheif of State & leader of the Rebel ALliance for christsakes! I was not bored by those stories! I didn't see a need to put the SW women in their place!

Chewie didn't have to die just to make Han & Leia a happy couple.

 

No... they didn't develop any of them. Not really.

Heck, most/all of the characters have regressed. It's... rahter pathetic, actually.

 

Don't remind us.