Lit Journey to The Force Awakens: Twenty new books upcoming this fall

Despite my Mon Calamari cruiser preference, I'm a Fleet Junkie first & foremost. And I actually do like Star Destroyers too. The ImpStar and NebStar in particular. This ship, unfortunately, is non-descript, unimaginative, and boring.

--Adm. Nick

 

Maybe it will be red. JJ was flipping through some comics one day and got inspired. Even though Pablo/Leland et al tried to convince him that was a particularly bad source of inspiration.

 

9/9

 

If I had to think of a problem with it, it's that the engine layout is essentially identical to that of the Impstar. They just added a couple smaller engines to the sides. Big whoop. And the bridge tower is asymmetrical. But the profile is pretty good; it has some of the vibe of all the other Imperial starships we've seen be turned into digital models, some of which appeared in the Essential Guide to Warfare.

Why does it look so close to the Impstar, in-universe? We know the OOU explanation is apparently that they were very conservative in extrapolating new starship designs, that they played it safe, so to speak. The TIE fighter is the same way. But IN-universe? Perhaps they went all ST:TMP with it, and these were older Impstars that the First Order decided to uparmor and refit for new use; you'd think there were plenty around to be used.

And it's not like there's no precedent at all; in the EU, the Pentastar Alignment did pretty much the same thing; so did Zsinj. Even Daala refit her TIE fighters when she commanded Maw Installation, if only to give the people who read and played out of the Jedi Academy Sourcebook something a little different to fly/play with. All of that's non-canon, of course, but again, it's evidence that this isn't something COMPLETELY new to Star Wars.

 

Maybe it's a late Imperial era ship that had been decommissioned. "Finalizer" would be a funny name if it was literally the last SD that they made.

 

I think it looks great but the asymmetrical bridge is going to make me squirm for the rest of my life.

 

Just gonna leave this here.

 

Is it just me or is this... kinda terrible? Things just seem to be labeled randomly, with none of the "function follows form" that fascinated me for hours in the original books.
The "Ion Cannon Targeting" seems to be in the same place as the (multiple) "Turbolaser Cannon" (unexpectedly historical artillery terminology, or just poor editing?), "Communications" is just vaguely pointing at the bridge - although I guess that's roughly where both the Comm Center and Comm Array would be, so... eh.
Does it have the usual broadside turrets? Maybe, I don't know.
Where are the Ion Cannons? Somewhere.
What's the pokey thing that seems to be in different locations depending on the perspective? It's just a thing, apparently.
Color me unenthused. Is there anything in the book we haven't seen already?

 

I'm pretty sure this is supposed to be a simple little kid's book.

And the new Star Destroyer looks fine.

Sheesh.

 

Who says no one noticed? I don't get the impression that the First Order is an unknown quantity.

 

don't post spoilers in this thread

 

don't quote spoilers

 

Apparently that's going to be in the upcoming Battlefront game.

True enough. Judging by the existence of a Resistance, though, it may be possible that the galaxy just isn't expecting them to "unleash their forces."

 

I'm wondering if they're, to the general galaxy, known as a small government, when really they've been quietly consolidating power (with the help of Snoke and the Knights of Ren?) and they're ready to take the galaxy back and put it under Imperial (or a facsimile of) rule.

Battlefront refers to the Battle of Jakku as a decisive fight between the New Republic and Empire, so I'm hoping that the NR is the established government, and the Resistance is their forces in the First Order-aligned systems.

 

SO basically, what if there's like a milquetoast joint New Republic Empire, and both the Resistance and First Order don't think it goes far enough in either direction?

 

Victory-class ships had a certain asymmetry as well.

 

Exactly why I'm not even covering it on my site. This isn't Incredible Cross-Sections caliber material (which will come on Dec. 18). This is a book aimed at kids aged 6-9 (grade level 1-2 according to Amazon), it's not even middle grade like the Rebels chapter books.