SHES BACK ON THE BOARDS!!! And with a SbS Review too! Spoliers..

HI EVERYONE!!! The Mara-Maniac is back!!!

Yes, here I am, back on the boards again, after about a two month hiatus due to parental squabbling...giving you MY OWN PERSONAL OPINIONS on Star by Star as a little Christmas present! I know the book came out three months ago, but my parents yanked my internet access right after i got the book, so i never really got to share my opinions! So here they are, please read and comment...

Ok. First off...this was one of the best EU books that I have ever read. For me, the longer the better, so this was fantastic. I thought that this book had just the right mix of good and bad, ending on a HUGE cligffhanger which is definitly keeping me reading the NJO. This book, for me, is the best of the whole series so far.

The (Major) Good Stuff:

LUKE SKYWALKER!!! Back where you always belong, in the cockpit of an X-Wing kicking bad guy butt! All of the Eclipse scenes where, IMO, fantastic. There writing was good, and I could always picture exactly what was going on. And the fact that ALL of the Jedi are DOING THINGS...wow. Just great. Those battles were excellent. Danni was also back, and she was actually a really decent character. In Vector Prime, I really didnt like her, but I really liked how they described her mind.

Barabel Jedi. Enough said. Just fantastic. Those scenes with Saba and her squadron were great.

The whole climax of the book. The battle for Coruscant, and the rest of the political stuff in the Senate. Since I am really interested in that stuff, I really liked the way Borsk Fey'lya was portrayed. All of the political machinations that he was using were spectacular, and his sacrifice at the end were so different from how I would have expected him to go...it was just done really well. (Speculation: Will Kyp's demise be something simmilar? Some great noble sacrifice?)

The Vong culture. This book, like Conquest, goes really far into how the vong operate, and what drives them on. I also liked the glimpses we got of Lah eating, for instance, and just more scences from Vong daily life. (Speculation: Are we meant to think that there is something between Lah and his villip-girl, Seef? There was that comment by..Shimrra, I think it was, and there were aproximatley five times when Lah could have killed her and he didnt...who knows?)

Leia's reaction to THE DEATH. I thought that that was done very, very well, and was the most powerful scence in the book.

JAINA. Oh boy oh boy oh boy...I cannot WAIT for Dark Journey to see where this one goes!

The (Minor) Good stuff:

Han and Leia. Their relationship was rebuilt really in Rebirth, so this goes in the Minor good stuff catagory, but I just really liked their banter, adn the way they were working undercover together.

Humor. In general, this book just had much, much more banter and jokes then previous books.

Voxyn. A really great idea by the idea-makers of the NJO. They were pretty intense.

A MAJOR BIG thank you to Troy Denning for finnaly SMUSHING those "Mara and Luke never sleep togehter!" threads that pop up every so often on these boards, very tastefully and well done.

Jaina dumps Zekk! HAHAHAHA! (Speculation: Jag is going to be in Dark Journey! Think about it; Denning could have just said that Jaina likes Zekk like a brother, he didnt have to mention that the only person Jaina is attracted to is JAG...I'm telling you, its foreshadowing!)

C-3PO! Alright! Saving the Day!

The (Major) Bad:

The main thing that I had a problem with in this book was the whole Voxyn mission. I had nor trouble with who went, their characterizations were fine, but the writing just wasnt as good as the rest of the novel. A lot of the time I was REALLY confused as to where the strike team actually WAS, and it was only on a second or third rereeading that I figured it out. I also thought that Anakin's death was not that powerful in the actual moment.

The (Minor) Bad (Pet Peeves, in other words):

Fact. Fact. Factfactfactfactfact. JUST STOP IT ALREADY! ITS NOT FUNNY A

 

Whoa, I'm only on chapter eight of it, and it's my first time reading the book.

 

I agree with you on most of it, but Anakin shouldn't have died in the first place, assuming he has.

 

JadedofMara, you want to get a glimpse of how "dark" Jaina's journey's going to get? Read Rogue Apprentice from Star Wars Gamer 8. If you don't get the magazine, look at the thread I posted here - Jaina Solo - Dark Apprentice.

 

Thanks JediAlly...I DONT get gamer, and I want it, but my parents are weird about things like Star Wars mags. Sigh...they are weird about a lot...

 

Did you see the thread though? It should be somewhere within the first five pages or so.

 

Don't forget about. Lando's YVH droids. Or Tendra actually making an appearence in another EU book. Hah they even mentioned the Wraiths.

Man I loved the Barabel Jedi. I'm still mourning for Bela and Krasov. I really hope they don't kill Tesar.

About that Gamer #8 is it really out. I haven't been able to find a copy anywhere in my town.

 

JadedofMara: I agree with pretty much everything you said but Anakin. No way should he have died. But on the other hand, my parents are pretty weird about SW stuff too. They roll their eyes and think I'm obsessed (ok, so maybe they're not totally wrong) and won't let me watch the movies! I have to watch them in secret!!! They just don't understand the true lure of the Force, eh?

 

Don't let you watch the movies!!!!!!!!!

 

All right... just some commentary...

1. I've never been all that fond of Danni Quee as a character. I just never really thought they did all that much with her, and so there wasn't all that much to really like. <Shrug>

2. Barabel Jedi. Indeed. Which is why it's such a shame that only one of the three on the strike team survives. Then again, casaulties all around were -quite- horrendous.

3. Coruscant seems to change hands far too often in Star Wars novels, but if there's anything that can really capture the idea of a galaxy in turmoil, it's the major governmental power being ousted from its capital for... what is it, now? The third time? Fighting in the streets, widespread panic... again, good stuff.

4. Ditto on the Fey'lya scenes. I've always been back and forth on him as a character. Sometimes, I'm more than willing to write him off as a waste of skin. Other times, he seems to exhibit some tiny bit of a redeeming quality, and I can't bring myself to just unilaterally hate the fleabag.

Probably a testament to just how well the character is written... and I'm actually kinda glad that they chose to end it the way they did. I only wish the gambit worked, but I never really expected it to. I doubt Fey'lya did, either. Such is the nature of the gambit.

5. Parents coping with the loss of a child. Perhaps one of the hardest things an author could ever attempt to write, and I agree that Denning did a pretty decent job given the circumstances.

Although, as some are saying, it would have been nice if that situation had never arisen in the first place.

6. Humor: The NJO could certainly use some of that. I think we've all come to realize that the NJO is intended to be far darker and more grim than any other SW novels, and in that, it succeeds. Almost too well. While I'm not advocating some rampant insanity, a well-placed quip or some cleverly written banter is in order.

Anyways, Star by Star is pretty gritty. I expect Dark Journey to be more so. (Obviously the title is a pretty strong indication) I only hope, however, there's a light at the end of that tunnel, and there seems to be. Isn't Aaron Allston supposed to write a pair of novels after Cunningham's? I sure hope so. The Wraith books were, by far, the most humorous SW novels I've ever seen. I only hope that Allston does take the opportunity to lighten things up. The Republic's on the ropes, and so are we as SW readers. At least I am. I'm definitely enjoying the novels, but we need to win one... a big one... and soon.

Of course, while Aaron Allston can do the humor value incredibly well, he's also got a flair for the dramatic. When a Wraith died, it seemed to matter more than the deaths of a whole host of other characters by other authors. If one of Stackpole's Rogues bought the farm, it didn't matter so much, but when Falynn Sandskimmer or Ton Phanan was lost... it HURT.

It's because of this that I'm a bit apprehensive about what's on the horizon. Sure, the man can write funny stuff, but he can also write death... lots of it. And I'm not sure I'm looking forward to that.

Anyhow, this has been an excessively long rant... but it's also been quite a while since I've dropped by these boards, so I think I'm allowed.

 

Um...I dont remember you. And I dont remember Luke and Mara sleeping together. Isent that a little racy for a book intended for all age groups?

 

Considering you've only been here since July of this year, and my last posts before this one were back in April, yeah... you likely wouldn't...

 

yeah but see she was here in sept. so i should remember.

 

Tsavong_Lah: I know! It's horrible! It's a crime worthy of the Imperial Torture Chamber but they give me my allowance, so what am I supposed to do? Besides, it's not like I actually listen-you know, skip school (oops, I mean go home sick. Yeah, that's what I meant to say) or during the holidays when they can't catch me! Mua-ha-ha! They can't stop me!

 

I agree with most of what you said, and I definitely agree that Leia's reaction to Anakin's death seemed very real. The most poignant part of it, for me at least, was when Leia and Han were sitting together and there were several passages of Leia thinking how she just wanted him to go, how she just wanted to be alone. And then, when he actually does get up to leave for a moment, she grabs him and says something like, "Don't leave me." That broke my heart.

 

"Humor: the NJO could certainly use some of that."
------
I agree. Aside from a few exchanges between Han and Droma, there's been precious little comic relief from all the gloom and doom.