Lit GENERAL QUESTION THREAD (What to read? Where to start? What's canon? What's not? Duros, etc.)

Hi all!

It's getting close to the holiday season, and as always, there are some older SW trades that I'm interested in picking up. You guys gave me some great advice last year, and I hope that you're in the giving mood again.

Mainly, I'm wondering if the stories contained in the X-Wing Omnibus Volume 2 are skippable. I got Volume 1 last year, and was... not too enthusiastic about most of the stories within. Rogue Leader seemed to try too hard and yet not accomplish anything, and The Rebel Opposition had archaic seventies comic art that was really difficult to get past (not to mention atrocious characterization of Winter). The Phantom Affair was actually quite good, though. I want to continue with the X-Wing comic series, but I'm definitely most interested in the Rise of Isard Arc and the Baron Fel stuff, which I know is entirely contained within Omnibus Volume 3. Can I go right to Volume 3 without reading what's in Volume 2? Even if I can, are the stories in Volume 2 at least as good as The Phantom Affair and worth checking out anyway?

Edit: Is there any Sate Pestage stuff in Volume 2? I'm interested in that too.

My other question is about Crimson Empire. I'm still interested in it... I asked about it last year, and this was the advice I got:

Havac: I personally am Omni-waiting it, and I don't see much reason for anyone else not to do the same.

Excellence: Commendable.

The2ndQuest: Crimson Empire is high one action. Good "single badass taking down the bad guy's forces in revenge" fun.

Any other thoughts on this series?

 

Well, the thing to keep in mind about Rogue Leader is that it was done by a wholly different team than anyone who ever did anything with X-wing, and The Rebel Opposition was a bad first start where Stackpole hadn't conveyed what he wanted that well to the scripter. The Phantom Affair, to a much greater degree, establishes the tone for the rest of the series; it's the only one of the three that's not an anomaly. Still, it's definitely the best story until the Rise of Isard arc. Go Macan. However, the Omni 2 stories aren't bad -- just undistinguished. They focus on developing secondary characters like Dllr and Plourr, and introducing new ones like Nrin and Feylis Ardele. The overall McGuffin plots driving the Rogue Squadron series have never been great, but the characterization and action is solid, and it's the same here. Battleground: Tatooine is the cheesiest of the stories, but contains some points of interest -- it's got great Tycho/Winter and makes the most of the return to Tatooine by actually exploring Huff Darklighter and Bib Fortuna (the only link to Pestage comes there, with Eidolon being built for him). The Warrior Princess is cheesier in concept (Anastasia . . . in space!) but the execution keeps it interesting, and it delivers good characterization of the secondary cast. Requiem for a Rogue plays around with Sith magic and develops some of the secondary characters in fun ways, overall creating a pretty good entry.

That said, they're enjoyable stories but not on the level of the stuff in Omni 3, and not necessary to understand it. I'd recommend you get Omni 3 and, if satisfied with that, go back and fill in. The stuff in Omni 2 is, at least in my Rogue-crazed mind, definitely worth checking out, but if you're dubious, then go straight to the quality and come back later if you're sold on Omni 3.

And while I haven't read Crimson Empire, I've skimmed it in the shop, and it's pretty bad art married to a middling, action-centric story. People go gaga over Kir Kanos and pages and pages of fighting, but it's really not that great. It's got some momentous events in it, but it's not really anything to seek out. I would put it on a level with the pretty middling Boba Fett stories -- it's just action, unexceptionally carried out, with thoroughly undistinguished art, and a thin, conventional plot to hang it on.

 

X-Wing Omnibus 3 was the first omnibus I had. I had never read an X-wing novel at that point either and I was fine. It is so worth getting. It's awesome. I have 2 and I'm not sure if I finished it so it mustn't have mattered much to me. 1 is pretty good but The Rise of Isard and Fel stuff is choice. Really good.

I also have CEI and it's okay. It has the baddass element but it isn't the deepest arc by any means. I will say I do enjoy the art quite a bit. It is worth having is you're getting low on the must have list. I would say don't get it until you have every Clone Wars trade, Empire 2, 3, 6 and 7. Then Rebellion 1, 2 (The Akhiska Gambit is awesome!), Jedi Vs Sith. Not sure how huge your collection is, Jeff.

 

Hey, thanks for the advice. I'll definitely pick up Volume 3. That'll probably be it for SW trades; there's a growing list of other graphic novels that I want to read. Year One and The Dark Knight Returns are calling my name, as are some of Alan Moore's lesser-known titles... anyone read his Saga of the Swamp Thing?

To answer your question, Manisphere, I have all of Rebellion (as well as every other SW comic published since the beginning of 2006, save for the most recent issue of Clone Wars ), as well as Volumes 1,2,5,6,7, and 9 of Clone Wars.
I really want to get my hands on Light and Dark and The Last Siege, The Final Truth, but I think my LCS back home might have them in stock. Jedi Vs. Sith I got last year, largely based on the advice of Havac. Haven't read any of Empire.

 

Come on. Requiem is way better than B:T. The Ryloth half has almost nothing to recommend itself other than showing Ryloth. Requiem has the Bothan-shagging. You just can't beat that.

 

Tavira? No, The Warrior Princess has Tavira. B:T just has the Twi'lek portmaster from The Krytos Trap and Sixtus.

 

Karen Traviss's Republic Commando books. Are they any good or are they skippable?

 

I haven't read Order 66 yet, but I can comment on the first three books. They're skippable in the sense that none of the major characters (Anakin, Obi-Wan, etc.) appear in them. However, for entirely new characters (except for the Deltas from the Republic Commando game), they're quite good. I thought Hard Contact was a little slow, but that may have been because I kept forgetting which nickname went with which character.
Triple Zero was quite interesting, since it explored a lot of Mando stuff which I was unaware of (since I haven't read the LotF series yet). And the intrigue and action in True Colors was very good. I'd recommend them.

 

As the Canadian dollar plummets and the price of comics and trades climbs sky high I thought I should ask before it's too late:

Star Wars Tales. I have 1, 2, 3 and 6. Just got a sweet deal on 2 for the handful of treats within (which explains my current icon)

As a completist I feel a need to own Tales 4 and 5 but I can't find a good reason. Now it's probably an esoteric question but I know a couple of mods that might be able to answer. Worth getting? Worth skipping despite my completist nature? Any advice would be most appreciated.

 

Thanks Quest but no mention of 4? Or not worth mentioning?

 

Five has some solid Fett stories, the excellent The Apprentice, and a couple other stories that are pretty decent. Four is a lot sketchier -- some decent stories, but nothing that really rises above that. Four's definitely skippable, but Five is a tossup.

 

Hmm. Might pick up 5 with Legacy next week if I'm all desperate. Thanks, Havoc.

 

4 doesn't really have anything going for it. 5 on the other hand has quite a few great stories. "Phantom Menaces" is about Luke's encounter with Darth Maul (read it and you'll understand) and there's a short but morbidly funny comic called "The Apprentice". There's also an NJO comic in there called "Revenants" about Han and Fett which I thought was pretty cool.

 

Hey guys.

I'm going to the library today and was wondering if I could get some help choosing what Star wars book to get. I've narrowed the list down to:

Survivors Quest
Yoda: Dark Rendezvous
Shatterpoint
Tatoonie Ghost

Any opinions on which to pick up are appreciated.

 

My number 1 pick would be without a doubt, Yoda: Dark Rendezvous. It's on my top 10. Love it. Many would also recommend Shatterpoint. It wasn't my cup of tea but those two are among the most loved in this forum.

 

Shatterpoint was great, probably my favorite CW era book right up there with Dark Rendezvous which was also good.

 

I cannot say enough good things about Dark Rendezvous, so instead I will say none and just tell you not to believe a word Excellence says (generally about anything, but YDR in particular).

 

Quest, you haven't read YDR?? How did this happen?