Books Heir to the Jedi by Kevin Hearne

As do 50 years of Doctor Who.

 

Not quite 50 if you count the long hiatus between the 8th and 9th doctors, but that series' longevity is still extremely impressive. Its universe is vast and awesome.

 

35 seasons of Dooctor Who or so if my calculations are right.

 

I still wonder who Luke's friend is and what Luke learns about the Jedi and The Force. I also wonder if the Great Canon Purge has resulted in any changes to this novel.

 

How would you even spot those, assuming they were even made?

 

I didn't say we'd be able to spot them. I just said that I wonder if any were made.

 

So, I've got the Kindle digital sampler for the upcoming books. The excerpt we got before is literally the first few paragraphs of the book, the "flowery intro" as it were. A lot of the narration still kinda seems off to me, it's a little too precise I think, but the book does get a bit better as it goes on, you can hear Luke's voice more and more in the prose when there's actual action going on and not just narrative musing. Luke mentions that Han and Chewie lost the reward money they got from the Alliance but doesn't say how, while he, Leia and the fleet go into hiding in the Sujimis sector (where Orto Plutonia from TCW is for the curious), and Captain Ackbar is mentioned several times. Apparently, he calls what Luke is doing in media res "opening secret supply lines" rather than smuggling; Ackbar's distrust of smugglers from way back in TTT is still canon.

There's a Rebel frigate named Promise that's mentioned without a specific class or model. Luke, since he's on a covert mission, flies a custom yacht that belongs to a Nakari Kelen, a "tall woman with dark skin and a cascade of tightly curled ringlets framing a narrow face" from what I think is a new (desert) planet named Pasher. We're already 2 for 3 on these new books having prominent women of color in prominent roles just from the excerpts I've got, Tarkin being the lone exception. Llanic is mentioned in detail, as are the Llanic Spice Run and the Triellus Trade Route, as well as the Moff in charge of the sector, Abran Balfour (someone apparently did their homework, since all of those are from "legends" material and the Moff is only mentioned in old WEG stuff). A "Bothan Spynet" is also mentioned, and TIE fighters still don't have shields.

The best bit: Luke realizes that he never did pick up those power converters from Tosche Station and wonders if they're still there gathering dust.

 

MOFF BALFOUR IS CANON

 

The_Four_Dot_Elipsis -- Please don't leave the EU yet! Come back! Look, Moff Skittles is back! See it's like peer pressure -- all the other kewl kids are returning to the so-called "new" EU. You gotta do it to. We can wallpaper the new EU with all the old retro EU decor. Like Balfour. Maybe they'll slip the TBT in there eventually. It'll be awesome, like all the best parts of the old EU never left.

 

Not only does it mention Orto Plutonia (which started in the RPG but was used in TCW) but it gets the sector right. Go Atlas!

 

Ugh. In the classic EU, the power converters would've ended up in the hands of dashing smuggler Garee Stu (Han Solo's other best friend) and, after several complications, they would have played an enormous role in the Battle of Endor. Are we never going to see that kind of storytelling again? THANKS FILONI. ALL IS LOST. GOODNIGHT SWEET PRINCE.

 

Wake me up when the Jeby are back.

 

I'm impressed that a new author spent so much time digging up old references and characterzations to get them 'right'. However, given that this was the original third book in Empire and Rebellion these carrying over into the NEU is pure coincidence IMHO. This was originally intended to be part of the EU, so those details aren't a surprise. I don't think we're likely to see that again after these first couple books that were likely all written before the disney decanonization happened.

 

Being part of the EU didn't mean he had to do that much research--plenty of new authors didn't.

 

I didn't mean to imply in any way that he did.

Simply that when he started writing, he had no reason to believe that there would be a complete reboot, and would be aware of the last 36 years of material (at least in passing) and the holocron from which he could look for background material. He would have therefore assumed that his work had to fit in with all of that and decided to look into it for that reason, even though he didn't have to.

Whereas a new author will be aware that the EU is no longer canon, and will have no inclination to look back for reference material because 'it doesn't matter if it fits with that' because they have a blank canvas to expand on.

So I think that its extremely likely that these references by a new author are likely a one-shot lucky event.

Luceno has been around long enough, and interested in continuity, that he may decide to dig references up for Tarkin, but sadly its not likely to occur with new authors henceforth IMHO.

 

I generally agree, while hoping some of the old mainstays like Luceno use references they already have in the back of their memories, that it may very well end up like that. But it depends how they want to play things out in the story group. It may very well be that the structure and terminology (Moff, Bothan spynet, unshielded TIEs) may be something they keep around, if only to avoid reinventing the wheel.

It may very well they sat, or sit, down to see what they are going to do going forwards... and realised exactly how much they had shrunk the universe and how much basic and boring stuff (to them) would have to be re-established. Or they may even have never intended to be rid of this stuff at all, only characters and important events.

I'm also hoping for at least an offhanded mention of characters like Mara and Thrawn in Tarkin, and Rebel equivalents in Heir. Because even if these books are the only ones to do it, due to their nature as transition-written stories, and the characters never actually turn up in later lit, they still exists in the NEU somewhere. Sure, they may not end up as part of the main casts lives, or join the main cast, but they are out there somewhere and are alive. And frankly, after the NJO, Killik-trilogy, LotF, and FotJ, can anyone actually argue staying far, far away from the Skywalker and Solo family isn't the healthiest thing to do? Hell, even the tv shows and films. Ahsoka has thus far survived (and full-stop in the Legacy setting, as there will be no new additions to kill her) due to parting ways with Anakin and the Order, and if she does turn up and die in Rebels, it will likely be in an episode that Vader appears in. Seriously, proximity to a Skywalker or Solo is a terminal illness in the GFFA. With symptoms like Falling Moonitus, Limb Loss, Difficulty Breathing, Hermitage, and loss of the will to live/depression.

 

Confirmed: the new Skywalker/Solo children will be named Adam, Hoss, and Joe.

 

Alas.

 

One thing I noticed in the excerpt? It called a TIE fighter an "old, unshielded model" implying that there are new, shielded versions. Well, that's a slight variation from what we're used to, but no biggie. Nothing TCW or Rebels wouldn't have done. It doesn't bother me, just interesting to note. Also, I absolutely loved the power converters line. Too funny!

 

Öh...

 

Preordered it today, loved the excerpt and think Hearne wrote Luke's dialogue well and his thoughts even better, I just hope we find out how Han lost his Jabba Debt Credits (I'd love to here what happened)

 

I hope that this novel takes a "best of" approach to all the legends material set in between ANH and ESB.

 

I wonder how long after ANH this takes place.