Lit Dawn of the Jedi: Force War #4 (of 5)

Just to clarify, the comic series came out before the novel. The novel's timeline coincides with the first arc.

 

Really? To me it felt more like a non-franchise fantasy story, and I'm explicitly not saying this just because of the different setting, use of metal swords, and flying dragon things. There's a hardness to this that I don't see in the original SW DNA. The world, while having been mapped out with a lot of different elements, seems quite small, and the planet-hopping could easily be changed to different places in one city, for example, and there would be no impact on how it all feels. I'm not even sure if that would have been remedied by having a longer series, as the second arc doesn't seem to have been a victim of the "licence issue" acceleration.

But even then there's still the hardness. It probably would have been more fun for me if it hadn't been "SW back in a time when SW wasn't SW" but simply not SW instead.

 

I agree to some extent. This is an interesting subject to me, and I think maybe even if it doesn't "feel" like SW to some extent, it's still kind of a switch because I feel like Star Wars has become largely homogenized across the eras with what KOTOR and SWTOR have done to the largely distinct time period that TOTJ had established, and what LOTF did to Bantam's very OT flavored post-ROTJ era which was surprisingly maintained by the NJO. Even SW Legacy with its kitchen sink nature has this sense of homogenization IMO.

I feel like this did creep into DOTJ with the Forcesabers which are basically lightsabers is all but name and which I think if done by other writers would be something people would complain about.

 

People complained about them with these writers plenty.

 

I picked up the run sans latest issue from my local shop and especially with #0 under my belt had a much better handle on things and just started the novel over and felt much more engaged.

I do feel like the novel was in a tough position of jumping into this new era that's familiar but different and didn't have the benefit of being able of being a comic. It's much harder to info-dump in a prose novel without feeling unnatural to the story or bringing the story to a halt...and that's not how you want to kick off a book.

That said, feeling much more comfortable with the setting, the book and comic compliment and add to each other and my thanks to Havac and everyone else who recommended picked up the comic (esp the #0) before jumping into the book.

The book could stand alone, but for a SW fan the comic really helps lay things out.

 

orly

I just feel like if it was TCW that did it, it would lengthen that thread by a good twenty pages.

 

Black. Forcesabers. With powercords.

 

Darkforce Sonic-Vibrasabers powered by HAAAATE.

 

Thanks Filoni

 

It was quantum discussion disagreement - you just didn't see it as you weren't looking at it!

 

I actually kinda like Forcesabers---they're consistent with darkside Rakata tech and with the potential to corrupt its users--we've seen this with Je'daii overusing them. Also takes a lot of darkside energy to keep them lit---very different from a lightsaber. In context they make more sense IMO, esp. when we see the effects they have on the characters.

I also like how this issue ties back to the other arcs with Je'daii having different tasks, a revisit to the holocron and Tython reacting to the darkside energies. The slave riot scene was a nice addition and we finally get some other Rakata fighting Je'daii, but I'm kinda curious about the symbols on them and the hair-like thing--mutations of some kind? They seem pretty diverse in this era....could be only a small part DOTJ is showing.