Ark The Book Thread

Hey all! The previous book thread has been locked, so thought I would start a new one. Did I lend Outbound Flight to anybody? Having troubles finding my copy....

Anyone read Inferno yet? I'm still reading Sacrifice ...

 

You know... You can pm a mod and they can unlock it... or if you started it you can unlock it... But, a new one is just fine.

Conduit's got my copy of Inferno... I found it about a week early at the Wal Mart and read it that night.

Girl.... You have got to get through Sacrifice already... I realzie your man just got home from overseas... but enough already.

[force_persuasion]*waves hand in front of Jaria's face (like Qui-Gon in EP 1) You will finish the book...[/force_persuasion]

Come on already... I realize that I already like totally ruined it for you... but, come on already...

Anyway...

Anybody know when the next one comes out????

 

According to the list I have the next book will be out this December and it will be titled "Fury".

You guys just enjoy reading all the new books, I'm just now on "Medstar 1", but I will catch up to you guys soon(yeah right in who's lifetime).

ShadowScout out

 

But I'm trying!!! Every time I start to read, a child comes out of no where and attaches itself to me!

 

But, thats what force lightening is for...

Just kidding... (or am I?)

It's a tough one to get through. Your advantage is that you can go directly to Inferno and get a wee bit of
satisifaction... (Not nearly enough though)...

Come on woman....

What page are you on anyways???

 

I'm a little further than you, Shadowscout, but still not on the Legacy era either.
Pretty fresh into the NJO, "Agents of Chaos 1".
So don't spoil me!

 

Wow.... I rememer the NJO... that will actually make it easier for you to get into the Legacy series (I think thats the name of it) cause all that NJO stuff will be fresh in your mind....

 

I need to borrow someone's Legacy books to get caught up...

Jaira, did I borrow your Outbound Flight book? I am nearly certain I have returned all borrowed books, but I was thinking maybe I returned that one through someone else, in which case if it is still missing you might check with Bacon. I'm not blaming anyone, because honestly I don't remember and have no idea. I just thought it might be a possibility.

 

Otis - I honestly don't remember. I didn't even realize it was missing until I was unpacking and putting everything on the shelves. It was one that was autographed, so it should be easy to find, I think. We've all been so scattered this year, it's easy to get everything mixed up.

Oh, yeah, and I finally finished Sacrifice.

 

YEAH Sharon. I finished Medstar 1 now I need to borrow Medstar 2 from someone, until I see
BJ again(she said she had it) I decided to continue with the X-Wing series, trying to get into #5 it's a little slow in the beginning I'm having trouble getting into it.

 

Isn't there some sort of book coming out in October about the death star??

Can't remember exactly...

Does the Darth Bane sequel have a title yet???

 

I don't have a clue about either one. Not too worried about it right now b/c that just means that I have even more books to read(as if I didn't have enough already).

 

Howdy Ya'll!!! The new Darth Bane Book Is Called Darth Bane Rule Of Two It comes out on the 26th of December this year!! It's a little wait but I loved the First one so much. The History of the Sith is one that will always be one of my favorite bits of Star Wars Mythology. You can see the cover image at www.randomhouse.com The novel called Death Star comes out on October 16th.




Later my peeps!!!

 

Where's the "humble pie" smiley?
Sharon, I have your book. I checked the other day, just in case, and it is on my shelf. I go to J'ville about once a month to get parts for work, so I could bring it to you then, ...but that was last week, so I won't be going again for another three weeks or so.

 

Oh, cool! I'm just so happy it was found. Just let me know when you'll be out this way.

 

Ugh... I won't spoil the NJO books (the entire Yuuzhan Vong war) with why I didn't like the series... but UGH! These newer Legacy books are better, so far. I've borrowed and read the first three books of the series from a friend of mine and while they're a slight bit predictable in some ways they have some refreshingly new ideas (and faces) that finally look like they'll remain in the forefront of the upcoming action - read: There's less of an emphasis on Luke, Leia, and Han being the primary focus (if not entire focus) of each and every really significant or major event or plot; but this doesn't mean they are left out entirely either, they're in there and have great roles... But the newer generation(s) are finally getting a crack at things (and some new faces from earlier books making more of an appearance too), and that is a good thing to see. I love the original characters, but heck when I am their age [The "Legacy" series is 40 years after ANH, so Luke & Leia are pushing on 60] I would love to be much less integral to anything of any major importance and certainly not running around with and against people less than half my age in life-or-death situations! *lol* I doubt they would want different! Well, save for maybe Han and Leia, after all they DO keep C-3P0 around.

 

I keep hearing that the NJO was terrible, but I'm halfway into the fifth book and so far I love it. It's really got me stressed out for the characters facing this overwhelming threat. My only critism so far is the science is a little off, that but that's true of all of SW.

 

I liked the NJO. I thought it was much better than the Dark Nest books. There were some that were better than average and some that were worse, but overall, I thought it was a very enjoyable read. My favorite is Traitor. I think Matt Stover is the greatest SW author.

 

I wouldn't say they are terrible, but I felt they were too over the top and over exaggerated on several elements of the key plot concept(s). 1 - these beings from another galaxy with only limited scouting & Recon. intel somehow managed to make an entire fleet of creature-power/driven ships, weapons, etc that 100% perfectly counter out everything this galaxy has in the way of weapons and vessels... 2 - Their "non-existence" in the force seems awfully contradictory to the "it penetrates everything and binds the galaxy together" concept, which is iconic and a cornerstone of the Star Wars galaxy (and by proxy all those in existence along with it). Their armor that "bends" or "deflects" the saber blade I thought was again, oddly perfect at rendering such weapons useless (in most cases) against them - when this race hadn't been in massive contact and has no mechanical or computer/electrical ability to engineer these creatures they're left with forced cross-breeding and "hit or miss" off-spring having the precisely attuned abilities/traits they want...

That and the series seemed to get to a point, after about the 4th or 5th book where it was starting to do not much of anything in any one book and really get a long process for any single major event to occur. I was in the minority that liked that they killed a significant character in the series, but only on the principle that after all they'd done and NONE of them had been more seriously wounded than Luke had fighting Vader and the Emperor and Solo in Carbonite... It is a reality check (for readers and characters) that the odds are against them and they will eventually catch up to them... But I did hate to see Chewie go... He always was a great character and a wonderful side-kick in any setting.

Oh, and the biggest gripe of the series... the enemy was so powerful and overwhelming that they basically became the original trilogy's Empire, with "Han, Luke, and Leia at the forefront leading a rag-tag band of rebels against all odds against a seemingly invincible enemy that greatly outnumbers them..." *Yawn* Yeah, seen that, it's called the plot of the original movies... Like I said, not "awful" or "horrible" just a little too over-the-top for the Vong, a little too convenient that they are so perfectly anti-everything that the galaxy has in it to throw against them, and then the whole "vong = empire; Luke, Leia, & Han (all who are MUCH older now) = major heroes doing what they did when they were 20-30's all over again" just got kinda tiring. That and after Chewie died you saw Han maybe make a coherent conversation what, twice in the next two-three books?! I understand grieving and all, but to ignore all that's going on, his wife, his kids, etc... to the extent of Leia's indifferent attitude towards Han being out somewhere (which she admits she didn't know where he was, or had been - but she shrugged it off as "something he had to get through" and just left with someone to do some mission or something pertaining to the "war" at hand). Just seemed a little impersonal for a married couple that has been pretty happily married and is very close in all other series we've read.

But that was just my impression and opinion. I will read the remainder of the series some day, for completeness sake and to see if it gets better later (I hope it does)... And who knows, maybe there'll be something I missed that will change my mind on some of the above points that I found I didn't like so much the first time reading them. *shrugs* Stranger things have happened. Heck, I've heard some people saying they've rewatched Episode I after all these years and have actually come to like it... JarJar and all... (Sorry, can't bring myself to do it... he was just.. so.. irritating!! *lol*)

 

I think you are expecting too much. They're Star Wars books. They've never been great literature and they've always been formulaic. Heck, the original Saga is based on a formula that is millenia old.

It's just supposed to be fun to read--suspension of disbelief and all that...

 

I have no problem with that, I am a HUGE sci-fi and fantasy fan and reader (and RPG-gamer, console-gamer, tv & movie watcher, etc, etc.) and the "suspension of disbelief" is not the issue. IT was the sudden appearance of an enemy that had the answer to everything the galaxy could possibly come up with to put against them and in such overwhelming fashion that I had a distaste for.

And I differ in the opinion that I was "expecting too much." There are some really great Star Wars novels out there (these three are among the best of them, IMO: Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command). And even the plots across the varied series haven't been so "crammed down your throat" {like Episode II's "love story element(s)"} and so transparent in their development in many of the earlier books.

I've read some great books, some of the Star Wars books, and see no reason that they all can't be up to that kind of standard or quality - especially since every single book goes through Lucas at some point {presumably a team of people do this, not JUST him}.

But like I said, I don't "hate" the books, or the story concept (I thought the "natural" idea was something new for Star Wars and a nice change of pace from what had been done already), and I even found their fanaticism and their origins being alien to the entire galaxy (thus a true "mystery" of an opponent for the first time) was something new and compelling for the Star Wars galaxy. Almost every major Sci-Fi title deals with the multiple galaxy thing at some point, and Star Wars hadn't until this series. It was just the level of excess I perceived that turned me off from the series, that and how each book seemed to be getting "slower" in terms of overall plot advancement {for the series as a whole}.

I've read the first three "Legacy" books and they're pretty good so far. The third was a little slow compared to the first two, but it was not because the author didn't move things, the things that were happening were largely more subtle things - and there were a LOT of things (and different characters working on different "sides" or "working different angles" of these same things - quite often actually) which made the book really enjoyable - there's always something to keep you thinking and the author was good to break from group/person to another frequent enough that you never forgot any of the multitude of characters, but kept the breaks far enough apart that you got to see things being done and not lose track of who and what is where and when it's there. *g* That had to be a monumental undertaking with the cast the books (as an entire saga series) have created over these many years!

 

Anyone read Deathstar yet? I'm wondering how it is, but gotta wait til payday.

 

The library system has a few copies on order, I'm just waiting for them to come in.

 

I finished Medstar 2 and I'm almost finished with X-wing #5, I just started the Han Solo trilogy( I think I have read the first chapter). It's kind of hard to get into, I think it's
because the older books are smaller print or something, it seems that the newer prints of older books just have bigger print or it's the paper it's printed on. If anybody has the 2nd and 3rd in the Han Solo trilogy I'd like to borrow them(I haven't found them yet for my collection), that way I will be able to continue without waiting to long.

 

I'll look for it.