Elaine Cunningham and Jania Solo *DJ spoilers*

I was actually quite surprised and pleased that Elaine Cunningham didn't go with her Danilo Thaan/Arilyn Moonblade system which basically results in true love from the start (I love trying to decode an author's style and figuring out what will happen next works best with Elaine and the author of the Brother Cadfael mysteries). There's alot of Jania getting quite a few feelings from several men that's it's amusing and personal.

It makes me question (somewhat sexist but then again Polgara got a different feeling when David Edding's wife got to write her) whether her being a female of the species gave her a perspective we haven't really had when the story was focused on her than the male authors thus far who've developed her.

While Star Soaps is not my goal I must admit I never believed that jania/Kyp had a ghost's chance in hell of comming together and personally I wanted to know where the Sith people had got the idea that they were a couple.

Elaine Cunningham rather carefully deconstructs it that Kyp honestly speaking is a normal man (even though she upfront had him use mind tricks to get Jania to attack the Vong-I didn't get that and he should be in prison if he had) with a bit of a boyish quality still there as war and horror has matured him...

While Jania is still fresh on the battlefield early on but now blistered by it themselves....neither of them "fit" the Jedi Mold and mostly exist to challenge it. They'res a curious completetion there that this is one of the first books I sensed sexual tension in without there actually seemingly being an attempt to do so.

Jag despite the romance aspects comes off not too good in this book and I get the impression that Elaine (not necessarily Jainia) finds the man a bit of a pretty boy. Maybe I'm reading too much into it but it seems that Elaine Cunningham has a problem with people who are strict in their morality and a clear black/white worldview (ie. more neutral good than lawful) that has shined forth in previous books of hers (Thornhold most notably).

She points out what Stackpole and Zahn gloss over in the fact that Jag Fel and his father are like it or not Fascists. It's never overtly stated but Jainia's free-questioning spirit constrasts badly with the fact again I point it out bluntly

Jagged Fel is a fascist

Fun stuff all round.

*waves new Kyp/Jania flag*

 

Hmmm, I actually like this more than the spoiler synopsis posted on the main page a few days ago. Thanks.

 

hey, nice overview

 

Jagged Fel is a fascist.

Hmmm. That's an interesting statement to make. Alas, I haven't had an opportunity to read Dark Journey and draw my own conclusion(s).

However, when I do get a copy, I'll keep that statement at the back of my mind when I'm reading, just to see if I can spot some fascist traits in Fel jr's character.

R.

 

this book just keeps sounding more and more interesting... now i *really* can't wait for it to come out

~Nike Skylark~

 

Nice overview, except I resent being called a Sith person. And I agree with Elaine Cunningham: Jag is a total pretty boy.

 

Charlemagne, you've single-handedly restored my faith in Deejay.

After your summary, I'm now looking forward to it as much as I was before I read RS,BF.

 

hey Charle, congrats on a conversion

 

What is IT with Charlemagne? The man is infuriatingly good at reviving one's faith in SW stories.

Very smart work!

Now, if I can resist the temptation to think:

"£6 = Two pints of stella at the local"

I might actually pick up DJ. I'm intrigued by the fascism element C19 mentioned.

Jedi Ben

p.s. This isn't the first time Charlemagne's done this, it's more like the umpteenth time, as I say, see 1st para of the post.

 

Certainly, I can see fascist attitudes in Jag considering his treatment of Borsk and the senators who represent something entirely different.

So what are you saying? Jaina is attracted to Mussolini's? Belligerent and oppressive power attracts, huh? Go figure...

 

Hmph. Jaina/Jag forever!!!

 

Charlemagne I like the way you read a book! Like me, you read between the lines. Instead of just taking what the writer says at face value, you appear to pay close attention to use of words and the writer's intent behind them.

Jag Fel a facist? That's much like I said in the past. He's an Imperial who has risen through Imperial ranks and thus must hold to the same Imperial ideals. Further, he's a follower of Thrawn. Thrawn is the same man who tried to kidnapp Jaina and Jacen when they were babies to use them. I can't see Jaina having a lasting relationship with someone who follows a man like that.

We have a new Kyp/Jaina follower. Welcome aboard.

 

Ok, I had a post written about fascism here and Jag but I erased it, because I was thinking xenophobia, not fascism. My bad folks.

JMA

 

Using the Force to sway someone's judgement is wrong whatever the circumstances. What Kyp did was wrong and it disgusts me.

 

Using the Force to sway someone's judgement is wrong whatever the circumstances

Damn that evil Obi Wan and his "You don't need to see his identification"!!!

 

That's not exactly swaying someone's judgement, that would be the mind trick which works on the weak minded. What Kyp did was more than a simple mind trick!!

 

I second Reaperfett on that one. To say it's wrong *under any circumstances* is a bit harsh. Now, if you want to say that it is wrong to sway someone's judgment to get them to attack others or something to that effect, then yeah, sure, I agree with you. I don't think that anyone can justify Kyp's actions in that regard, not even Kyp himself. And it is intersting to note that he has not really tried to. Kyp is the perfect literary character. A blend of good and bad, fostered by adverse experience, with redeemable qualities, that comes out to be very human. Which is a much easier character to identify with.

 

"Damn that evil Obi Wan and his "You don't need to see his identification"!!!"

The difference being that Obi-Wan's influencing of a stormtroopers mind did not result in the death of a worldship's worth of civilians (Which is a whole nother can of worms I know).

I've actually come to modify my opinion of Kyp a bit on that point. I still don't agree with his manipulation of Jaina, with his lie of omission, but I am beginning to see the necessity of taking out that worldship. If Kyp had gone straight to Kre'fey, or even Jaina, and had been up front and honest about the whole thing, I can't say that I would disagree with him.

JMA

 

JMA, my theory is he wouldnt have got to Kre'Fey without the Rogues. He had to lie to Jaina, Gav and Wedge. However, I would have told the truth to the Admiral

 

I agree that the worldship DID need to be destroyed. But Kyp went about it the wrong way. The end does not justify the means.

 

The worldship that Kyp destroyed was new and practically empty (not that it really matters when you're talking about civilian lives). Besides, is there a such thing as a civilian in the Vong society. From what I understand, every aspect of thier society is devoted to war, at least this one. So it could be argued that the Vong ship was a viable target. About Obi-Wan's manipulation of the stormtrooper: I have to wonder how *good* it really is to manipulate someone who is weakminded.

 

"JMA, my theory is he wouldnt have got to Kre'Fey without the Rogues."

RF,

This is highly, highly likely. But I think of all the military higher-ups, Kre'fey would have been the most likely to listen to Kyp, or to grant him a meeting. Heck, Bel'Iblis probably would have at least heard him out. The Rogues were his most direct route to a higher military power, and I understand that. I understand that he also needed Jaina to make that work. I just wish he could have gone about it a different way. Up until that point, I still admired Kyp to an extent for his willingness to fight for freedom, even if I did feel he was definitely too quick on the trigger, and had an ego that was waaaaaaaaaaaay too healthy. But with the whole lying thing, it just added a real element of deception and deceit to his character that I did not like. I was disappointed actually, and one of the main reasons I'm waiting so anxiously for DJ is because a Kyp Durron doing things the right way (Or my opinion of the right way ) is a very very powerful ally indeed. And with arguably the most powerful young Jedi dead and gone, they need all the power and support they can get. Here's hopin.

JMA

 

Why is it that every thread about who Jaina should end up with turns into a debate on whether Jag and/or Kyp are good or bad?

 

Because those are the two most popular choices of the fans to be Jaina's love interest. People are going to continue to compare the vices/virtues of the two until the decision is made by the authors. *shrug* Such is life. It's Jaina's own fault for being famous, powerful, an excellent pilot, and gorgeous.

JMA

 

The only Vong Worldship that needs to be destroyed is the one Shimrra is on, basically the capital Worldship.

I don't think the Worldships shoiuld be destroyed, because there only Kids on them, besides there dying anyway so it won't be long until they die anyway.