I'm back and I'm scared.

Hey Lit fans.
I haven't posted here since 1998, so noone will remember me.. my name back then was like Dak Ensenn or something. THe only familiar face is DL, but he is like the Old Ben of Lit I guess
Anyway, I just picked up Dark Journey on my way home from school today.. its the first NJO book I've read since the Agents of Chaos duo.. and man I'm creaming my pants. The Vong have Coruscant man, what the shiznit?
What the heck is happening.. I haven't been able to put it down, I'm up to CHapter 11 already. Gotta say one thing though the Chiss and that Fel boy rock.
When I looked at that map at the start tho, I almost screamed in the bookstore. People were lookin at me weird cos I was sweating profusely and tapping my foot nervously. That arrow is scary, I'm gonna have nightmares about this this big arrow coming into my room and subjugating me tonight
ANyway cheers all

 

Welcome back. Maybe now you can return the five dollars I leant you.

Yeah, you have some catching up to do with the NJO. Then you can whine and moan like the rest of us.

 

Hello! And we welcome you back. Though, I'm wondering, why did you stop posting? I'm so addicted to this thing that I don't think I could.

 

Hey welcome back, and it sure looks like you have some reading to do just remember, that you have to sleep a while, and BTW there are more shocking eventes in Vector prime (the first book of the series wich will be aroun 20 - 24 I think ) and SbS, in wich you wouldn't beleive what happens to some charcters.

 

Yeah, SbS is excellent and surprising. I consider it a must-read.

 

yeah, if you think Dark Journey was an eye-opener, read Star By Star.........

 

I don't remember you?

 

go read the greg keyes duology that came out last summer, then read SbS and the events of SbS will make even more since, right now it is the best NJO book since VP.

 

I remember you when you were Dak. I'm pretty sure the second word in your screen name was spelled differently though.

Anyway since Jedi Eclipse there was Balance Point followed by the Edge of Victory duo (Conquest and Rebirth) and then Star by Star and then you'll be caught up to Dark Journey.

To break up the gushing about Star by Star I have to say I found it to be the worst NJO book by far. Easily surpassing Ruin. What makes it even worse is how important this book is in the NJO series as a whole.

 

how was it the worst? i can see it as not somone's favorite but the worst. to me it was a great story told not only from a hand to hand combat POV but also intergalactic battle that told a tale of both great loss and slight victory with a little bit of hope for the future thrown in.(yammosk scrambler and the YVH droids, those guys were bad ass!!!)

 

Well, everyone is entitled to their own opinions, and, with that said, I found SbS to be amzing, the best of the NJO to date and arguably the best all time of the EU.

 

Agreed DVader, if you can't take the death of characters, you don't have to read it, or go become a movie purist.

 

i only hope that the following books are as good as SbS and take you throughthe emotional rollercoaster that SbS did.

 

Chissdude10 it's a waste of time to talk when you have no idea what you're talking about. The fact that there is/are death(s) is SbS has nothing to do with my like liking it. It's the pathetic, lame, forced setup and the worst death scene I've read in years. I'll throw out a few titles I doubt you'll have read but I mention them because they are both books I loved and some of the best Literature I've ever read and there was more death (not even discussing the quality or lack of quality of the deaths in SbS, if I still cared enough the stupid idea for Fey'lya's death would have turned my stomach, truly sad that was even considered) than in SbS or any other piece of Lit LFL will let out.

A Game of Thrones, the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn Trilogy and The Adventures of Luther Arkwright.

The fake darkness is a minor annoyance. To me after reading other things outside of SW the "darkness" in the NJO looks like a 'PG' Disney movie.

 

i think i am siding with chissdude,but the SbS was great not b/c of the death in it or whose death it was but b/c SW is about celebrating life and the effects its power has over certain people. not death dismemberment and desruction and i really don't believe this is the first cheesy scene you have ever seen in SW, book, movie, or comic.

 

Nice point Cmulligan. My favourite contrast to NJO's supposedly dark tale is to put it up against Peter F Hamilton's Nights Dawn epic. At which point NJO's darkness looks like its been fed to a mincer on speed.

Jedi Ben

 

Why does it have to be "dark" to be good?

And comparing it to other "dark" stories doesn't mean anything. You have to compare it to other SW stories. So far, the only "dark" story (not counting AotC) is ESB, and so far, NJO has blown that out of the water.

wk

 

totally agree with wild karrde, we are comparing apples and oranges. for SW SbS was very dark and sad and that is the context in which it must be read.

 

" My favourite contrast to NJO's supposedly dark tale is to put it up against Peter F. Hamilton's Nights Dawn epic. At which point NJO's darkness looks like its been fed to a mincer on speed. "

Agreed, Jedi Ben, although we are truly comparing apples and oranges where SW and the Nights Dawn Trilogy are concerned. In terms of 'darkness,' if you will, Hammilton's epic practically redefines the term when placed in a 27th century setting. Everything about Hamilton's story contains heavy dark overtones, from the plot down to the characters, an ensemble which consists of mainly amoral characters -- and those are the heroes. And Hamilton's satanic dark messiah, Quinn Dexter, is one of the most cold and calculating villains in recent sci fi memory (for me, anyway). There aint one good bone in that boy's body.

That's to take absolutely nothing away from the NJO in terms of 'darkness', though. Considering where we were with the Bantam line growing stagnant in many ways, the NJO has been the shake-up the GFFA needed...and much much more. It has generated huge controversy which has spawned numerous debates on these very forums since VP, and provided myself and many others with a drastically new EU, one which Ive been enjoying a great deal.


EDIT -- Hey, Ben, would you happen to know when Hamilton's next book is coming out ? If so, could you tell me a little about it ?

 

I'm sorry to say I don't remember you, but I didn't do too much posting back in the day.

By arrow I assume you mean the claw-like shape the Vong's invasion path has taken. I always thought that this was a direct rip-off from WWII. Hitler viewed Poland as a dagger striking the heart of Germany.

 

What IS your favourite SW and NJO book then CMulligan?

 

I never said a story had to be dark to be good. In this case if a story purports to be dark than it better deliver and imo the NJO has only truly delivered less than a handful of times.

I don't buy the arguement that you have to judge what is dark in SW by ESB. When looking at the movie as a whole I don't find it particularly dark. One way of putting it very simply is none of the good guys died and the bad guys failed (at killing or controlling Luke and destroying the Alliance, neither was done).

With the NJO 'darkness' from me it inspires the same type of response I'd give to something trying to act scary but not (a age analysis would be a 10 year old dressing and trying to act like and pass for a 30 year old, it doesn't work and maybe inspires a sad laugh).

 

Frankly DVader316 it was the Nights Dawn concept that drew me in, rather than the author.

That said I do know Hamilton has since written Fallen Dragon, which is out in the UK, no idea about the US, you lot seem to have much bigger waits for books than us Brits. Go to Amazon.co.uk for basic plot info as I can't tell you anything off the top of my head.

As to the darkness issue, I think it's easier if we accept we see NJO's darkness differently, I see it as artificial in comparison to other, not necessarily SW, stories. You, however, seem to be seeing it in relation to SW stories hence the difference.

Jedi Ben

p.s. you are right about Dexter, one evil little m**********r! Quite literally in his case in all likelihood too if he ever got the chance.

 

"its the first NJO book I've read since the Agents of Chaos duo.. and man I'm creaming my pants. "

Are you sure you meant to say that? Creaming your pants is etirely different from crapping in your pants....