The JC Lit Reviews Special: LUKE SKYWALKER AND THE SHADOWS OF MINDOR (Spoilers)

10/10. No question.

I haven't enjoyed a Star Wars books like this in a long, long time. LSatSoM took me back ten years to when I first read the Thrawn Trilogy, it just reminded me of why I first found Star Wars fun again.

I had huge anticipation for Shadowspawn. I went in afraid I was be massively disappointed considering all the hype and theories of him as Palpatine's Sith apprentice and so on... I was pleasantly surprised. The explanation for why Cronal/Shadowspawn can be old/young was well done, original, and going in utterly spoiler free I did not see the twist coming. I found that refreshing.

The Dark: Loved It. There's been a lot of talk from people wanting non-Sith villains and I've always been a bit sceptical. There's just a part of me that thinks "Sith = Star Wars" but this book has changed my view. I no longer feel the need to retcon everything into being part of a great big Sith conspiracy. Sure, the Sorcerers of Rhand might be an offshoot of the Ancient Sith Empire like the Sorcerers of Tund, I don't really care if a retcon like that happens one day (I admit I wouldn't be surprised, and, in fact, may even welcome the idea of Darth Nihilus having something to do with the name "Nihil Nebula", as he never struck me as truly being a "Sith"). But how different Cronal was from the everyday for-the-greater-good Sith was hugely refreshing after Revan/Haazen/PT Palpatine/Caedus/Krayt (not that I'm knocking any of them, I like them all), but it was so nice to see something different.

I've read a lot of comments that Stover used too many of his own characters... I can't say I personally minded. I would much rather authors stuck to what they know and did it right, then play in other people's sandpits and screw up. LOTF was a prime example of what happens when authors play too much in other authors' territories without the research. With how many retcons and continuity references Stover made, I was totally happy with his contribution to the EU, and don't have a problem with him taking the chance to tie up the loose ends of his own characters. I didn't really see it any different to Zahn doing Thrawn or Traviss doing Mandos. And the way Stover worked in fluidly other people's creations like Shysa I felt more than made up for him indulging his own personal creations.

I could go on... but I won't. Everything I have to say others have already said. I think I'll just sum up in saying I just loved how Stover took something that was totally unoriginal and uncreative like Mindor, where we knew what was going to happen, and gave us one of the most original Star Wars tales I have read in years. The Force powers, the villains, the setting: it may not have been "original" in the sense of that we haven't seen it before in the old days of Marvel or early Bantam, but compared to NJO/DN/LOTF (all of which I still love) it was totally different. To be original with a story when we already knew the ending was a amazing achievement: I suppose, together with ROTS, making the unoriginal original seems to be Stover's forte.

I now want to see Cronal's spirit restored into the body of an Imperial Sentinel.

It would explain why Atha Prime looks like one, after all.

I just want to see more of the Sorcerers of Rhand. And the Dark. I'd even welcome the Dark (and Cronal/the Sorcerers) being the threat that's attacking the Force in FOTJ.

Regardless of when/where, such unexplored plot teasers just seem to be begging for exploration, and I hope this won't be the last we hear of the Sorcerers of Rhand. Even if we never see another story about them, I'd enjoy seeing them make it into the next round of sourcebooks or Insider articles about the dark side.

 

I'm sorry guys, sorry for myself & I apoligize to you all, cause I have to give this book a 5 out of 10. There really was just too much of a squick factor involved with this black goo & I couldn't get my mind to grasp this concept of The Dark. I've only read it once & unfortunately that's a problem, once is usually enough for me to know whether I love or hates a SW book. I thinks I hates Cronal/Blackhole/Shadowspawn & I knows I hates the fact that most of the action of this book took place under the surface of Mindor in caves & this meltmassif black goo. Yeah, like Aeona I am a bit claustrophobic & I don't know what my aversion is to black goo, I just know that it feels nasty so I don't like it. Its like spikes of this meltmassif sticking all outta Kar Vastor's mouth poking into his soft palette & tearing thru his gums as he moved his mouth, like something outta some grisly nightmare I haven't had for at least 10 years, too much squick, too much bloody horror. I had to close the book many times & pinch the bridge of my nose extra hard until like Luke I was seeing bright stars in a sea of darkness.

I did like the characterizations of Luke, Leia, Han, Lando, the Rogues, R2 & C3P0, Shysa & Tobbi Dala who I'm sure was there at his side the whole time but just went unnamed by some minor mistake on Stover's part, Nick & Vastor. All of that was jolly good & is worth the 5 points that I score for the book, including all the holodrama business starring Luke & Han & Leia kicking girl ass allover the floor of the M.F. Yep, Matt Stover is still kings as far as I'm concerned, just not the King of Kings he was when he wrote Shatterpoint. He coulda done better work if he had a better villian, I felt.

Meltmassif. I shakes & shivers with revulsion & loud vulgar cussing!

So, uhm, how many of the Jedi & force sensitives that escaped the purge & Order 66 died when Luke chopped into their Sith alchemy crowns or when he stopped whatever it was that Shadowspawn was doing to them so that they all dropped dead? 1000's of dead force sensitives, that should've hit Luke Skywalker harder than the millions of lives snuffed out of Alderaan that hit Kenobi, right? Really man, who knew that that many Jedi survived the purges to die as captives of an ex-Inquizitorious there on Mindor, for there to still be 100 or so left around to join Luke's NJO in the years to come?

I remember turning the book over & over again to look at the back cover, wondering when that picture of Shadowspawn leading his Blackhole Stormtroopers in battle was going to happen in the book...lies bloody lies I tell you! so yeah, 5 out of 10, thank you very much.

 

That'd be tough, since he's dead and all.

 

Oh yeah, OK then. So the Mando's freed themselves from the Empire after the stuff that happened in this book, I did not know? Too many unnamed Mando's in this book, too many unnamed Shadow Pawn's/ex OJO era Jedi in this book, lots of confusion on my part.

 

Tobi Dala died between the events of EMPIRE and RoTJ. Leia is looking for Han who is frozen in carbonite in the Marvel comics story where Tobi dies.

 

Were all of the "stormtroopers" really Force-sensitives? I thought only the Shadow Pawns were. But I also think it's unlikely that a Jedi would have ended up in Shadowspawn's hands, because that should have been significant enough to warrant mention. After all, the Shadow Pawns are selected from those who are "above average," but that doesn't mean they're strong enough for the Jedi to train.

 

The Good: -- The beginning was good. I loved reading Han's musing about the Mandos in the beginning of chap. 5, comparing Mando'a to panthers hacking up furballs was just too funny. Cronal controlling people with the crystal/meltmassif stuff reminded me of the dhuryam from Traitor, which is my fav njo book. Luke, Han, Lando, Leia and the rest of the gang were characterized pretty accurate IMO. I only read shatterpoint once when it first came out but I remember Nick and Vastor, I thought they were very orginal characters and it was nice to see 'em back.

The Bad: -- I would haved preferred a battle between Luke and Cronal like the cover hinted at. All the destruction going on reminded me of the movie Armageddon, just drawn out to long, I mean we knew the system was gonna be obliterated in the beginning of the book and reading about it over and over just got boring.

The Ugly -- Kar necking on Luke, you know, if someone just happened upon them they might have thought Kar was trying to reach second base with Luke.

7.5/10

 

Im a little late with my review - I finished the book last week - but I really, really loved it. Once again Matt Stover provides us with an exceptionally well written novel that rises above your average SW book. The characterizations were dead on and he did a great job putting us in their heads, especially Luke and Lando (whom normally I cant stand but really liked in this book). Wasnt crazy about the ending with Geptun and Luke, but thats a minor quibble in what was just about a brilliant book.

9.8/ 10

 

Eh... hell. I was going to do a lengthy review, but god only knows when I'll get around to that.

So: I'm usually the first to bitch about obnoxiously high scores and rating inflation and all that, but whatever.

Mindor may have its flaws, but it's the first SW novel I've unreservedly loved reading since Revenge of the Sith. (It might even be the best Star Wars novel ever, full stop-- while there are still a few superior novels in the SW canon (Traitor, Shatterpoint), Mindor's almost certainly the best Star Wars novel.)

Where was I?

Oh. Right.

10/10.

Yeah, I'm a hypocrite. And probably a hopeless Stover fanboy.

Whatever. Bite me.

 

I don't believe the English language has words to describe the awesomeness of Mindor.

The book itself is made of pure weapons-grade awesome.

If someone invented an engine that ran on awesomeness, copies of Mindor would solve the world's energy crisis.

Matthew Stover is now the only man on Earth who is feared by Kyle Katarn.

I would give this book 15 out of 10 if the system would let me. But if the system won't bend under the sheer force of awesomeness, I give it 10/10.

 

Fact: this book is awesome.

Also fact: so is Matthew Stover.

That is all

10/10

edit: Forgot to mention: I wanna read Luke Skywalker and the Dragons of Tatooine! and Han Solo and the Pirates of Kessel! and Han Solo and the Lair of the Space Slugs

 

Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor wasn't perfect and it had one plot point that I found rather hard to swallow at first ('Emperor' Skywalker and the influence LSatJR had upon the stormtroopers) but it was, despite this, Star Wars in a way the Expanded Universe (of the novels, at least) hasn't been for a long time.

This book was, to allude to a phrase from another series of books that I adore, the first inch towards daylight.

9.5/10

 

Bloody brilliant on so many levels.

In terms of action based OT-style Star Wars, Stover nailed it. The action scenes were a heck of a lot more creatively imagined and plotted than the typical brand of saber/laser fights you tend to get with Star Wars. Han and Leia's banter was dead on, and I thought it was really refreshing to get another glimpse of them as a younger couple again rather than the aging parents of the LotF era. The book was simply fun to read in a manner that channeled the 15 year old I once was who thought the X-Wing novels were the height of literature.

However, this is Stover we're talking about, and fortunately that means the thematic substance was clearly evident as well. I loved the metaphorical/metaphysical ramifications of the Dark and the challenge and certainty these ponderings brought to Luke as he sought to confirm his own truth of self. Also loved the holothriller references, which served as astute commentaries on the nature of tie-in fiction. Sure, a lot of it isn't great. But when it's good, it can be good in a manner that's entertaining while still being honest, as all good fiction is, even when it deals with elements of the fantastic.

And Mindor was more than good. It stands with Traitor as the best EU I've read.

10/10

 

Where to begin and yet try to remain brief?

I really liked Han's characterization in this book.

"Seriously Luke, you can do this. You're easily....uh, almost as smart as me-and your a lot smarter than, say, Lando."

Great words of wisdom from Han to Luke about being a General. I also enjoyed that C3PO and R2D2 had significant, meaningful roles that made them acually utilize their skills. Leia came across as a bit uninspired, as did Lando.

Also the continuity references were all over the place, probably more than I could even identify, probably more than were even needed. All in all they were fine, but I do wonder how a new reader would handle all the obscure stuff.

A 75 years old active Clone Trooper , OK, I just wont go there.

I also think the story would have probably been better without the Mandalorian inclusion. Yeah, I realize Shysa and the Mando's had a role in the blurb on which the whole story is based, but they still seemed forced. I also kinda felt like the Mando's were portrayed as kinda stupid for the first half of the book and Shysa continually allowing Lando to mock him felt a little strange.

That said I did like the Mando's through the second half of the book, though they came across a bit too heroic for my tastes.......

Geptun, Rostu and Vastor...well the galaxy is a small place Really I thought Nick worked the best of the three. Vastor as a sympathetic character didn't work for me at all.

Meltmassifs, Melters, Gravity Weapons, Moon Hats, Old men living in life support chambers and people running around in each others heads was really what brought this story down for me. Felt in many scenes like I was back on Nam Chorios with the heores running away from the Evil Force Beetles again.

Luke kills the 39 pawns by trying to remove their hats.............Yeah, it was an accident, but I would have hoped for more from our hero.

So while I liked the liked the way Matt Stover presented the heroes in the book, I found the overall story kinda dark and real Sci-Fi like, something I'm not particualarly looking for. I'm not looking for lengthy explanations about how the Force works from inside the characters heads, or for any character to be taking leave of his own body to inhabit another, or swim for the light, or grope around in the "dark", or whatever.

Really going into this novel I would have imagines Kar Vastor much more powerful in the Force than one of the Emperor's lackeys. Untrained he was a match for Mace Windu...In short Cronal seemed a little too powerful for my tastes.

I liked Traitor, I loved the ROTS Novel, I even was OK with Shatterpoint. Three out of four ain't bad.

So much for being brief

4.5/10

 

Here we go:

Plot: The plot was a bit unrealistic (in a Star Wars setting), but I found there to be no noticeable plot holes or continuity goofs. I liked the setting of the story, though I did find the whole thing regarding "the Dark" to be a bit weird.

Characterization: I loved how Stover handled Luke, Han, and Leia. It's also been a while since we've seen Lando handled well. I liked the inclusion of Fenn Shysa. Kronal made one hell of a bad guy and Nick made a very good ally to Luke.

Story: The story was handled very nicely. The storyline flowed from point to point very smoothly and breaks were given at appropriate times.

Writing: The writing was exceptional. Witty banter between characters were handled very well and the dialogue fit very well.

Final Thoughts: This book easily tops as one of my favorite star wars novel. Stover has done an exceptional job with this and clearly is the best novel of 2008. Not only did it live up to the hype, but it superseded it, and I can only hope that there will be a 2009 novel that will be on par with this.

10/10

 

9/10

Bad things first. A Clone War trooper being there doesn't make sense. Luke asking Geptun to investigate him for war crimes impressed me at first because it was so surprising. But knowing that he doesn't do anything that qualifies as a war crime means this part makes little sense (at least there were some nice moments in the debriefing though). And I don't like the idea of Luke having an inner darkness (that would shock Leia to boot).

The metaphor about darkness was my favorite part of the ROTS novelization so Stover really played up to his strengths by expanding on it. And the twist that Shadowspawn wasn't the real villain was pure genius. Didn't see that one coming. I really loved that Cronal managed to be so over-the-top and threatening at the same time. The way he enslaved Nick and the stormtroopers was scary enough but him trying to steal Luke and Leia's bodies was downright creepy. The holothriller thing seems to be very controversial but for me it worked because it took me back to discussions of "Birth of a Nation" in history class. And how scary it was for me to learn how popular the movie's message was. Second, it was very much in character for Luke to be appalled by holothrillers about him. On a lighter note, I LOLed at the idea of krayt dragons breathing fire.

Which brings me to something else I loved about the book: humor. It showed up in the banter between the Rogues, 3PO/Lando and Han/Leia. And Luke's redhead comment (yeah right). I could name other funny parts but that would take too long.

While Stover's characterization of everyone was great, most notable is his Luke. While I have a few minor quibbles, I was downright impressed. I can't imagine having the responsibilities Luke has as the youngest general of the NR. And I'm 22 so that's not so far off from his age in the book. Poor Luke just can't get a break. Despite his doubts and other obstacles, he's a competent, wise and resourceful leader. Highlights include making friends with the Melters (and a few people he initially fought), landing a ship fragment a la Anakin in ROTS, and his objection to euphemisms. I also loved Luke's humility, although I don't think it should have went as far as asking to be investigated for war crimes. His doubts about becoming general were perfectly believable. I find it so similar to how Padme doubted that she was old enough to be queen even though plenty of people believe she did a great job.

Lastly, here are my favorite lines:
"Because unlike the Knights of old Jedi Luke Skywalker.......You are not afraid of the dark."
Enough said.

"It was so dark, Han. It was so dark for so long I couldn't even remember who I was. I couldn't remember anything. Except for you. It was like....like you were with me. You were all I had left- and I didn't need anything else."
Aaaaaaawwwww. How sweet of Leia.

 

Havoc, are you not averaging this book anymore?

 

Average score: 600.8/66 = 9.10

Feel free to double-check me...

 

Actually, you left out a negative sign. That should read: -600.8/66 = -9.10.

What a horrible disgrace of a novel!

 

Actually, I think it's 600.8/-66 = -9.10. This forum is BEYOND empty...

 

Best Star Wars novel since Revenge of the Sith. Great characterizations all around, quick-paced action, and a touch of Stover philosophy thrown in there to make you think. Especially good were the inclusion of the droids as major characters and a decisive and good Luke Skywalker.
10/10

 

Average score: 610.8/67 = 9.12

 

Just some random things I took away from the novel:

-Loved Luke in this book. Finally, he's showing off some of his power, trying to do something, instead of the emo-Luke we get in most other novels. This has to be one of the best characterizations of the Luke Skywalker that I loved after watching the movies. Apparently that Luke disappeared shortly after Mindor, and was replaced by Beverly Hills 90210 Luke.

-Loved the characterization of the movie heroes. Not just the Big Three, but the supporting cast like Lando, the Rogues, and the droids. When I was reading their scenes and their dialogue, I could easily picture them on-screen.

-Shadowspawn/Cronal/Blackhole was a very good villain. For much of the same reasons already stated by previous posters, he actually worked as a main antagonist.

-I chuckled at some of the deliberate inside jokes/commentary included. That bit about redheads not being Luke's type, for instance.

-Again, to steal another poster's comment, which sums up basically my thoughts on the book, LSatSoM is the best Star Wars novel we've had in, likely, ever. It might not have been the best novel, or best story. But it was the closest thing to capturing the movies that we've been given.

-One thing that sticks with me is one thing I can't say too often lately after reading Star Wars books: this book didn't leave me with anything I found annoying afterward.

Overall Score: 9.5/10