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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Lit The 181st Imperial Discussion Group: headquarters thread

Discussion in 'Literature' started by Havac , Apr 3, 2008.

  1. Abalore

    Abalore Jedi Grand Master star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 19, 2001
    I'm throwing my hat in for the Corellian Trilogy. Like Havac said, they're very overlooked, yet spawned so much stuff that has affected later EU.
     
  2. beccatoria

    beccatoria Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 8, 2006
    Okay! So first off, people still seem to be focusing more on books, although the idea of expansion doesn't seem horribly unpopular. That's great - we'll keep on with the books for now, and we can always start throwing out other suggestions if we ever feel the need in future.

    Survivor's Quest seems to be a popular suggestion and that's two recent suggestions for the Correllian Trilogy too, which I'm also good with.

    I do want to do the final two X-Wing novels at some point, yes, but I think we should have a break for a bit first then go back to them as we did between the Rogues and Wraiths series.

    Hard Contact is a difficult issue - I definitely get Rob's concern. I think I kept it in there because Hydro suggested it as one of the more popular novels Traviss wrote and definitely one that gets less play than the others. I didn't want to be in the position of throwing a good suggestion off the list because of some complex issue surrounding personal feelings re: the author, and if we did it, I would definitely try to be very firm about keeping comments of that nature off the table, but it's also a fair comment that historically this has been difficult to achieve. So...we get back to my discomfort about not wanting to accept a suggestion due to ongoing concerns about divided opinion because it seems counter to the nature of a discussion forum, especially when the book is, by most accounts I've read, really quite good, but I also don't want the thread to turn into a slanging match. So perhaps we should table it for now and see what opinion is like in the future?

    So how do people feel about slotting Survivor's Quest in after MedStar and then possibly the Corellian Trilogy (although maybe another standalone before that trilogy?)
     
  3. RC-1991

    RC-1991 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 2, 2009
    That sounds like a good plan to me, particularly because I can grab most of those novels over the holiday break;). In regards to Hard Contact, Rob has a good point. However, out of all of Traviss's works, HC is probably the least controversial. If everyone can agree to stay civil, stay on topic (or, at least, relevant tangents), and keep in mind that the moderators are going to keep an eye on the discussion, then a discussion of Hard Contact should be able to remain amicable.

    I'd love for Comic discussions to return, if enough people can be convinced to partake in those discussions. Another thought with the Hyperspace stories- rather than having a month of Hyperspace stories, it might be a good idea to start with incorporating the stories that relate to books currently under discussion into those book discussions, and see where that goes. For example, the short story "MedStar: Intermezzo" fits in between the two novels of that duology (and, it originally appeared in Insider, so it has a slightly greater availability, in theory). If the Force Heretic Trilogy ever gets discussed by the 181st, the short story "Or Die Trying" could be incorporated into that discussion.
     
  4. Zorkel567

    Zorkel567 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 20, 2010
    What about Outbound Flight between Survivor's Quest and The Corellian Trilogy?
     
  5. Abalore

    Abalore Jedi Grand Master star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 19, 2001
    Do people consider Outbound Flight and Survivor's Quest to be a duology? I kind of do.
     
  6. Jeff_Ferguson

    Jeff_Ferguson Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    May 15, 2006
    I'm not too keen on the comics idea. Nobody was interested in Read Squadron, and the three or four other comic-discussing-groups that popped up before that were never very popular either. We have an ever-expanding list of novels that people want to discuss; probably better to stick with what works.
     
  7. Lord_Hydronium

    Lord_Hydronium Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 11, 2002
    To defend the suggestion and address Rob's concern:

    Well, actually, becca said most of it. :p However, I think there is valid discussion to be had regarding Traviss' role as author (emphasis there), and how HC is a reflection of it. I'd actually be really curious going back to HC after having a better idea of her faults as an author; do they appear in HC, if so are they less stated, or would they stand out more on a read-through than they did the first time? I certainly don't think such things should be off the table; after all, previous discussions have had plenty of discussion of writing and authorship, positive and negative.

    Of course, there's the whole elephant in the room on that whole subject, so with my mod hat on, I'd say we would be sure to keep discussion on topic. Discussion of Traviss herself, or any other role her authorship played in the franchise, would be off-topic, since it's a Hard Contact discussion. Usual author-bashing stuff applies, and so forth.

    HC itself, as RC-1991 notes, is not a particularly controversial work on its own. It was before any three million stuff, before almost any Mandalorians appeared, long before LOTF entered the picture: really, most of the topics people could start slagging on would be off-topic by their very nature.

    Long story short, I think it could be done, and I honestly think there would be a pretty clear line on what discussion is contributing and what's just stirring the pot.
     
  8. JediMara77

    JediMara77 Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 5, 2004
    I do, and Zahn does. I'll read either of them or both of them, I don't care, they are both awesome. :)
     
  9. beccatoria

    beccatoria Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 8, 2006
    http://boards.theforce.net/literature/b10003/31456903/p1/

    Medstar I discussion is up!

    Next month we're doing Medstar II.

    Given the previous novel suggestions, I'm currently planning on doing Survivor's Question in March. Do people want to move on to another series - perhaps the Correllian Trilogy or the last of the Rogue Novels? - after that? Or do we want to do Outbound Flight in April in a "duology" set-up?

     
  10. JediAlly

    JediAlly Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 31, 2000
    First off, Happy New Year.

    Next, there's a short story set during the Medstar duology that was released in Star Wars Insider and later placed on the Star Wars website. It's called Intermezzo. I seem to recall you saying that you don't like to review those types of stories because very few people would have access to it. I like to suggest that perhaps we consider Intermezzo next month and Jedi Healer in March. If you don't like that, then I could post a summary of what happens in the short story so we could add it to our discussions either this time or next time.

    Finally, you know in June it'll be the 20th anniversary of the release of Heir to the Empire - the novel that basically kicked the EU into high gear. I believe they're planning on releasing a special edition of the novel to commemorate this event. It was the first of the Thrawn Trilogy, and that trilogy introduced us to Thrawn and Outbound Flight, and we know that the history of those two are intertwined. In view of this fact and the forthcoming anniversary, I think we should have the following schedule:

    June - Heir to the Empire
    July - Dark Force Rising
    August - The Last Command
    September - Specter of the Past
    October - Vision of the Future
    November - Survivor's Quest
    December - Outbound Flight

    Now what we do between Jedi Healer and June is up for grabs. Assuming we don't do a month review for Intermezzo, we could do the Corellian Trilogy, or we could do the last two X-wing novels and I, Jedi in this sequence:

    March: Ambush at Corellia/Isard's Revenge
    April: Assualt at Selonia/I, Jedi
    May: Showdown at Centerpoint/Starfighters of Adumar
     
  11. beccatoria

    beccatoria Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 8, 2006
    Cross-posted from the discussion thread for further debate over here.

    In general I've been avoiding the Zahn trilogy because the 181st is generally set up for lesser known EU works, but I do appreciate that the 20th anniversary of HttH is a pretty big deal, so if no one else minds, I think it would be reasonable to suspend that principle temporarily to do that trilogy if there's interest. Especially given its historic interest in terms of kicking the EU back into, well, existence in some ways.

    However, I think a six month schedule might be a bit repetitive, especially given it'd be six months of straight Zahn. I think my preference would be to leave SQ in place of March, leave April and May as free slots, then do the Zahn trilogy in June, July and August before moving on (perhaps the Corellian Trilogy?) for later in the year?

    As to what we'd then discuss in the "free slots" of April and May, I'm open to suggestions. It might be a good time to finish up the X-Wing novels with a last Stackpole and Allston one? Or is there another duology someone would like? We could schedule Outbound Flight for one of them, but I'd be somewhat concerned about overdosing on a style with five Zahn novels in six months. Though that's not really a huge issue if others are in favor of the idea? I know that Ally suggested I, Jedi, but we did already discuss that.
     
  12. JediAlly

    JediAlly Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 31, 2000
    First off, we did I, Jedi? If so, then I forgot about it. Skip it then.

    In light of what you said, I think we should have Survivor's Quest for March, Outbound Flight for April, Isard's Revenge for May, then the Thrawn and Corellian Trilogies respectively, with Starfighters of Adumar finishing off the year.
     
  13. RC-1991

    RC-1991 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 2, 2009
    I like the idea of finishing off Rogue Squadron during the free slots. Just to play devil's advocate, we could discuss Republic Commando in, say, April, then do another Tales Anthology in May. Or, we could use that month to experiment with the Hyperspace stories or Omnibuses. And this year I resolve to actually take part in discussions :p
     
  14. Zorkel567

    Zorkel567 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 20, 2010
    What about doing the Omnibus: X-wing: Rogue Squadron Volume 3 in April, and Isard's Revenge in May. Isard's Revenge follows up some of the plot points of that Omnibus, collectively called the Rise of Isard arc. It might be nice to experiment with it, especially since it's a pretty popular arc and Omnibus. Test the waters. If it doesn't do well, we can skip any others. But it could be done like this:

    April
    Week 1-In the Empire's Service
    Week 2- The Making of Baron Fel and Family Ties
    Week 3- Masquerade
    Week 4- Mandatory Retirement

    And then May could be Isard's Revenge. But just a thought.
     
  15. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    I'd suggest doing Intermezzo just later this month, once discussion has died down. Two or three weeks in.

    I also like the idea of fitting the last Rogue novels into some gaps quite a bit. I propose the following schedule:

    March: Survivor's Quest
    April: Outbound Flight
    May: Isard's Revenge
    June: Ambush at Corellia
    July: Assault at Selonia
    August: Showdown at Centerpoint
    September: Starfighters of Adumar
    October: Heir to the Empire
    November: Dark Force Rising
    December: The Last Command

    That will break up the Zahn pretty well. However, with such heavy Zahn content supplemented by Stackpole and Allston, who write in the same corner of the universe, it might still be overwhelming. Maybe not. If it's still too much, it might be worth putting both off for another year (I think SQ and OF should be done together, or at least only one or two months apart) and dipping into The Cestus Deception, Hard Contact, Ruins of Dantooine, Tatooine Ghost, The New Rebellion, Death Star, or some other such standalones to pad out the schedule. Or possibly an NJO duology. It works either way for me.
     
  16. Jeff_Ferguson

    Jeff_Ferguson Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    May 15, 2006
    I'm actually warming up to the idea of doing Timothy Zahn's nameless trilogy, too. It's the beefiest SW trilogy ever in terms of content, subplots, and characterization, so each month would give us a lot to talk about. And I agree that it would be great to do Survivor's Quest and Outbound Flight in a one-two punch. As far as the remaining Rogue novels go, I'm finishing them up now myself, so I would love to discuss them as soon as possible, buuuuttt it may be better to wait a while for variety reasons, like how we split up the Rogue and the Wraith novels. Hav brings up a good point about a Zahn-Stackpole overdose.

    We haven't dipped into the NJO since Dark Journey nearly a year ago, so a duology, or Destiny's Way, which was suggested ages ago but we've never gotten around to, would be wonderful to do. Sooooooo if we did SQ, OBF, the Corellian trilogy, Destiny's Way, some other standalone, and then Zahn's trilogy, we could call it a year! :D Or we could do Edge of Victory instead of DW and a random standalone. Ooooh, I like that.
     
  17. beccatoria

    beccatoria Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 8, 2006
    Okay guys - Medstar II discussion is up: http://boards.theforce.net/literature/b10003/31516537/p1/

    Meanwhile as to next month and the rest of the year since no one's brought up any major issues and it appears to cover a lot of the popular choices, I'm going to go with Hav's suggested list for the rest of 2011. With the caveat that if we feel like we're starting to drown in Zahn-Stackpole, please raise the issue and we can throw in an NJO or PT-era standalone to give ourselves a break for a month here or there.

    So, with that in mind, next month is Survivor's Quest! :)
     
  18. beccatoria

    beccatoria Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 8, 2006
    http://boards.theforce.net/literature/b10003/31570507/p1/

    Survivor's Quest is up! :)

    Next month, Outbound Flight!
     
  19. RC-1991

    RC-1991 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 2, 2009
    ...Crap I forgot to read that before March. Yay, something else to do instead of pay attention in Stats lecture :p At least it's a book I enjoy this time.
     
  20. Cwej

    Cwej Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Feb 12, 2011
    AWESOME!

    I'm nearly finished with Champions of the Force then I'm jumping into I, Jedi!

    Great timing
     
  21. beccatoria

    beccatoria Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 8, 2006
    Outbound Flight discussion is up!

    http://boards.theforce.net/literature/b10003/31627928/p1/

    Next month we move on to Isard's Revenge! :D
     
  22. beccatoria

    beccatoria Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 8, 2006
    http://boards.theforce.net/literature/b10003/31684127/p1/

    X-Wing: Isard's Revenge discussion is up! :D
     
  23. beccatoria

    beccatoria Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 8, 2006
    http://boards.theforce.net/literature/b10003/31739698/p1/

    Ambush at Corellia discussion thread is up! :D

    Next month, Assault at Selonia!
     
  24. beccatoria

    beccatoria Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 8, 2006
    Assault at Selonia discussion up!

    http://boards.theforce.net/literature/b10003/31791249/p1/

    Next month is Showdown at Centerpoint.
     
  25. JediAlly

    JediAlly Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 31, 2000
    Hey, becc, I know the rest of the year has already been scheduled, but what about next year? Has any thoughts been made yet? If not, then maybe we can go back the YJK series and deal with the Diversity Alliance and Black Sun arcs.