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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Lit Books/stories you had doubts about reading but then enjoyed? [AND VICE VERSA. ONE THREAD FITS ALL.]

Discussion in 'Literature' started by YoungBossk, Dec 30, 2014.

  1. Darth_Pevra

    Darth_Pevra Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    May 21, 2008
    I had my doubts about a novel about Yoda, but YDR turned out really good!
     
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  2. DarthJenari

    DarthJenari Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 17, 2011
    Speaking of Knigth Errant, I didn't have doubts about it per se, but it was far, far better and more interesting than I expected it to be. One of my favorite standalones by far. Would've loved even more novels with Kerra.
     
    Jedi Ben, Revanfan1, spicer and 2 others like this.
  3. Darth Dreadwar

    Darth Dreadwar Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jan 26, 2010
    The Old Republic. I took a dim view of its interpretation of the True Sith, its vitiating (ha) of beloved characters, and of course the Sith Emperor himself, but when I played it I immensely enjoyed it, although I did pretend it was set in the New Sith Wars and close my eyes whenever Revan made an appearance...

    And as for the vice versa, Path of Destruction. While its sequels are some of my favourite EU works, I found POD's interpretation of Bane to be very[​IMG] different from the far superior dark side worshipping old contemporary of Kaan that was portrayed in Jedi vs Sith, and disliked the origin story and every retcon it introduced. Suffice it to say, I was expecting, with great anticipation, something more faithful to JvS.
     
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  4. Obie-2-Kenobi

    Obie-2-Kenobi Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2008

    Don't get me wrong I liked it, it just wasn't as bad ass as the cover!! I thought the bad guy was a little weak. Here I thought he was gonna be the crazy looking Samurai guy on the back cover and he turns out to be some crumpled old skin bag. Cronal?? More like Scronal!!
     
  5. cthugha

    cthugha Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 24, 2010
    Okay, boring Sunday, so here's my list:

    BOOKS THAT WERE LESS MEH THAN I EXPECTED:
    #1 The Clone Wars: No Prisoners
    I hadn't planned on reading any of the TCW tie-ins because the series didn't really catch my interest -- but when I heard that this one had Callista in it, I just had to give it a try. And boy was I surprised -- both by the way the characters were handled & the insights into their relationships, and by the extremely clever re-integration of Djinn Altis' crew into the new Clone Wars canon, using their "heresy" as a foil to put Anakin's non-attachment troubles into perspective. (Also, that moment when you realize that the title actually refers to the renegade Jedi not being prisoners of the Jedi Code.)

    #2 Ruins of Dantooine
    Included here mostly because of the difference between how bad everybody said it was and how much I enjoyed it. Not having played the game it ties into, I have no idea of how it relates to that; but taken as it is (and without considering the cover) I found it to be a fairly entertaining story, not least because it tells one of those "minor stories" set during the Galactic Civil War that I've always wanted to read, and because I felt it breathed the spirit of the WEG galaxy, reading much like a novel-length version of an Adventure Journal short story.

    #3 Fatal Allegiance & the Force Heretic trilogy
    Because I really enjoy the way Sean Williams brings a genuine SF spirit into Star Wars -- something we haven't really gotten since the Black Fleet Crisis trilogy.

    #4 LSATSOM
    For all the obvious reasons ("what, another Luke Skywalker adventure set shortly after the Battle of Endor?"), but especially for Stover's mind-blowing descriptions of the monumental forces tearing the planet apart.

    #5 Republic Commando: Hard Contact
    Because it's like Interview with the Vampire compared with everything else Anne Rice/Karen Traviss wrote after that.


    BOOKS THAT WERE MEHER THAN I EXPECTED:
    #1 Darth Plagueis
    Because I felt like I didn't get most of the EU references in it, which was frustrating; because the plot didn't convey a sense of urgency or more than mediocre suspense to me at any point; because it dragged on far too long, page-wise as well as timeline-wise; and because all the thrill I'd expected to get out of it I had already gotten from The Tenebrous Way in the Insider.

    #2 Coruscant Nights & followups
    I was so thrilled about this series when it was announced. The premise was exactly what I'd always wanted to read: a story set in the bowels of Coruscant (my favorite ecumenopolis ever); a film noir-esque detective novel in the Star Wars Universe; and set during the Dark Times to boot. -- But then? A Jedi (meh). Coruscant feeling like it could be any random terrestrial metropolis, with nothing of the sense of scale and three-dimensional urban density I'd hoped for. (And no, the mention of n Jax Pavans didn't help there; quite on the contrary, because the ecumenopolis angle was so underdeveloped in the series, it felt completely out of place and utterly absurd.) Also, side characters and backstories from Reaves books I'd never read; and they were not presented in a way that I, as a new reader, could really make sense of who they are and where they're coming from. And the plots? meh.

    #3 The Force Unleashed I & II (novelizations)
    I don't play video games, but the trailer with that crashing Star Destroyer had looked kind of awesome. Also, it was Sean Williams, so how bad could it be? (Answer: very. Apparently the books were just a scene-by-scene transcription of the game, so there was none of Williams' usual crazy inventiveness in there; and the novels failed to convey even a spark of the grandezza that the game seemed to be about.


    BOOKS THAT ARE SUPPOSEDLY GREAT BUT THAT I COULDN'T FINISH FOR SOME REASON:
    # Yoda: Dark Rendezvous
    I remember loving the bivalva contemplativa; but that's as far as I got. The style was great, I think, but the plot didn't really pull me in at that point, and I suppose I was busy with other stuff. My bad.

    # Shatterpoint
    Something about naked men in the shower? -- To be fair, I had trouble getting through "Heart of Darkness" back in the day, too.

    # Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
    Who are those Jedi, I thought this was going to be a book about Vader?

    # Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void
    Something something Bogan. Oh, wait, childhood memories. Right? A sister hunting her brother who's supposed to be a terrorist? -- Maybe I should get back to that one at some point, after all the comics were awesome.
     
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  6. Rogue_Wraith

    Rogue_Wraith Jedi Padawan star 1

    Registered:
    Jan 21, 2015
    Books that were better than I expected: A New Dawn, BFC, and Yoda: Dark Rendezvous

    Books that were worse than I expected: Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Minor (quite possibly my least favorite SW book ever, even though I like Stovers other stuff), Crucible (barely finished it), and Truce at Bakura.
     
  7. Sniper_Wolf

    Sniper_Wolf Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 26, 2002
    For a negative, I never understood the cult of Jedi vs. Sith. I read it after years of everyone praising it here on this board, and my brain does not compute.

    For a positive, I do understand the cult of Black Fleet Crisis. I think I tried reading the trilogy in middle school and not caring for it, but when I read the books a few years ago I pleasantly impressed.
     
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  8. Barriss_Coffee

    Barriss_Coffee Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2003

    I suspect the reason a lot of people on this site like the comic, based on what I've seen when the subject comes up, is that it does two things: 1) set up a cheerful Goonies-style romp that quickly turns really, really, unexpectedly dark, and 2) fill in this era of the EU (which previously didn't have much prior to the comic) with lore/a "culture". In both respects, it stood out because it did something unique that the reader didn't anticipate.

    But I've also seen these two points being cited as reasons others didn't like the book (it was too dark/went overboard on the dramatics; the art was weird to the point of goofy and didn't jive with the plot; WTF goatmen flying sail boats?)
     
  9. Darth Dreadwar

    Darth Dreadwar Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jan 26, 2010
    For me, the first reason I like JvS is that it's different. Tales of the Jedi and JvS are very different from the movies (and most of the EU), and not just aesthetically. They give off strong fantasy vibes, perhaps more appropriate for the era, as opposed to KOTOR or the Darth Bane trilogy. Sometimes this isn't done well (The Crystal Star is different in a bad way), sometimes it is...

    And the focus on the children invokes ANH, with its early focus on the seemingly insignificant droids. Characters who would, at first glance, belong to the background of the epic war between good and evil are instead awarded the spotlight, and we see only snippets of this greater conflict against which our protagonists' tale is highlighted.
     
  10. DurararaFTW

    DurararaFTW Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 5, 2014
    A New Dawn, kinda mehish going into it. Kept that feeling for a while, got better halfway through. (Or fixed it's most glaring problem).
     
  11. StoryWorthTelling

    StoryWorthTelling Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Jan 8, 2015
    I was surprised by how much I enjoyed:
    Shadow Games
    Scourge (I expected this to be terrible and enjoyed it)
    Knight Errant (I couldn't get through this due to time constraints. Second time I attempted to read it, I loved it)
    Crosscurrent

    I was surprised by how much I didn't enjoy:
    The Unifying Force (it seemed so surreal)
    Attack of the Clones novelization
    X-Wing Mercy Kill (which I was expecting to love and felt was ok)
     
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  12. PCCViking

    PCCViking Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Jun 12, 2014

    I liked the Leia vs Yevetha storyline the best. I wish the NJO had an actual scene where the Yevetha fought the Vong. They referred to the outcome, but never actually showed any battles.
     
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  13. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    Also because it's a brilliantly-written interrogation of the Jedi, the Sith, the nature of heroism, and the spiritual cost of war with a lot of cool ideas about the setting.
     
  14. YoungBossk

    YoungBossk Jedi Master star 1

    Registered:
    Aug 30, 2014
    Haven't been on here for a while, been getting stuck in to FotJ, currently half way through book 6 and....

    I'm loving them! I admit there's a few things that seem a bit weirdly off and random but on the whole I'm really enjoying them. I like the Lost Tribe tie in, the politics of the GA, Luke and Ben's earlier adventures and even Abeloth (Callista mention).

    However I can't stand Kneth Hamner & still find Ben as annoying as I did in Legacy!

    This series has really surprised and impressed me though.
     
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  15. Shadow Trooper

    Shadow Trooper Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 18, 2013
    Books that were better than I expected: Knight Errant. Kerra Holt was an awesome protagonist! I really wish that the novel and the comic went on longer. I initially avoided it since I was bored of reading about Jedi/ Sith stories but I decided to try it out because a close friend told me it was really good.
    Disappointing books: Kenobi. I decided to read this book because of all the praise it got here and I really did not like it. I tried to get through it but it just seemed like a boring western in Space! If they wanted to do a space western, they should have made a Clint Eastwood-esque Boba Fett novel IMO. One of the first times JJM let me down.
     
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  16. Darth Dreadwar

    Darth Dreadwar Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jan 26, 2010
    I'm glad I'm not the only one who didn't think Kenobi was anything spectacular. And if you want a Star Wars Western, one can always just say Firefly is a story of ex-Confederation independents who lost their war with the Galactic Alliance and now fly around the galaxy in this... [face_whistling]
     
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  17. Darth Vindicaa

    Darth Vindicaa Jedi Padawan star 1

    Registered:
    Mar 11, 2015
    It used to be Death Star, but now I enjoy all most of them.

    I started reading EU novels when I was eight, which attracted a lot of stares on the subway. Especially considering I live in Hong Kong:English is not my first language.

    As for something that I had high expectations of, Allegiance was pretty boring.