Reviews Books The JC Lit Reviews Special: THE RUINS OF DANTOOINE (RoD spoilers)

Sorry I'm late with this one. I've been out of town.

But you all know the drill:

Rate THE RUINS OF DANTOOINE on a scale from 1 to 10. Please don't rate the book until after you've finished it. Thank you.

Also, please supplement your rating of THE RUINS OF DANTOOINE with a few words (or a lot, as you see fit).

Links to previous review threads, in case you missed 'em:

Shatterpoint
Tatooine Ghost
Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream
Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand
Traitor
Destiny's Way
Force Heretic I: Remnant
Force Heretic II: Refugee
Force Heretic III: Reunion
The Final Prophecy
The Unifying Force

 

This book is already out?!?!? Yikes I'm behind in my readings.

 

I would give it an 8.5/10. I really liked it for the most part. However, the begining seemed to take to long. I also wish that a few characters would have been expanded on more, like Inquisitor Loam Redge.

Dusque Mistflier and Finn Dartkrin were pretty interesting characters, as was the Ithorian bioengineer who's name is escaping me right now. Leia, Luke, Han, Lando, and Vader all seemed believable to me. I was glad that Starfighter's Nym got a cameo as well.

 

Counting 1 review: 8.5/10

I got the book last night; I'll try to have my own review up by tonight or tomorrow sometime.

 

I really enjoyed the book. I liked all of the original characters especially the Inquistor. The ending was a very cool twist but it did drag just a little at times.

9.2/10

 

Counting 2 reviews: 17.7/2 = 8.85

 

Anyone else finished it yet?

 

Up. My own review coming sometime today.

 

Does anyone else LOL when they see "RoD spoilers" in the title of this thread?

 

I don't get it.

 

I wanted to like this book. I really did. I'm on record saying I'm looking forward to it more than most of the upcoming CW books. After TUF, I was ready for a smaller, more character-oriented book, and this seemed to fit the bill. And usually when the books depart from the main movie characters it turns out quite well -- in fact, it was quite refreshing to see just a person from GFFA. A protagonist who's not a crack pilot, or a great warrior, or an über bounty hunter or anything, but just a woman trying to live her life. And I like the name Dusque (I assume it's pronounced Dusk?). But ROD just doesn't work, mostly because it just isn't well written. It's fast, sure, and it's not begging to be put down as unrelentingly as the Force Heretic books, which while I was reading them just about bored me to death, but as one of the resident lit fiends, I was literally wincing and cringing my way from page to page, because from the evidence presented here, Voronica Whitney-Robinson is simply not a good writer (I must admit to being quite interested to find out what "with Haden Blackman" means. Did he actually do any of the writing here, or is his name on the cover because of his involvement with the game itself?)

So, when I say it's not well written, what do I mean. Here are some examples:

There's far too much expository dialogue, particularly near the beginning, with characters saying things for the sole benefit of filling in gaps for the reader, and it's annoying.

Speaking of dialogue, it's weak. It doesn't sound right. Tip to all writers: when writing dialogue, read the lines out loud and determine whether they sound like anything anyone would ever actually say. If not, try again.

There are too many characters thrown in just to show up. Luke, Leia, Vader are forgivable, but Han and Lando and Wedge and Threepio and Artoo is just too much. Further, Luke, Leia, Threepio and Vader all felt too out of character. And it's such a busy time for these guys that there's no reason for them to be there. But it was nice to see Nym, I'll say. I do have a question, though: I'm not much of a continuity guru, but since when is there a Rebel base on Corellia so shortly after Yavin?

Similarly, there's too much name-dropping, particularly out of the Galaxies game itself. Why are there Zabraks everywhere? It seems that the only species in the galaxy are those playable in Galaxies, with the exception of a very few who showed up in the movies. And although there's a whole lot of name-dropping, the author betrays a lack of knowledge of the material when she talks about C-3POs walking around, or checking the radar. And "reptavian" is about to join "barve" on the most overused word list. And what's with Dathomir? From CoPL, I got the feeling Dathomir was a very obscure planet that nobody knew about. Then came the early ongoing comics on Dathomir, and I was a little upset about that, but I could forgive it -- maybe it was somehow forgotten in those intervening decades. But now, we have common people with Dathomirian beasts, a common biologist with detailed knowledge of Dathomirian fauna, a rebel and a pirate who've apparently seen some action on Dathomir . . . is there perhaps another Dathomir, remarkably similar to the one in CoPL in all respects except that it's well-known?

There are far too many clichés in the book, and far too many awkward sentences and phrases. For example: "Although he was surrounded, [he] was making no attempt to flee. (99)" Huh? Why is that "although" there? Is it common practice to attempt to flee when you're surrounded by armed troops? Another word for that is "suicide." "His arms fell limply to their sides. (139)" Again: Huh? His arms fell to their sides? Perhaps they fell to his sides. . . ". . .there seemed to be something sinister about it, like unspoken betrayals. (148)" I think this qualifies as the most ridiculous simile since the infamous "He collapsed like a sack of steak knives" from the StarGate novelization. Most of the book is writte

 

Counting 3 reviews: 21.2/3 = 7.07

 

It was only so so.

There were a few good parts, especially those with Vader or Leia, but the rest of the book just dragged on.

So I give it a 5.

 

Counting 4 reviews: 26.2/4 = 6.55

 

6.55? Ugh. I loved that book and look what it gets.

 

The first chapter was pretty strong. Dusque is pretty likable. Luke, Leia, Threepio, Artoo, Han, Vader, and co. were all well characterized.

But I think overall, the book did not live up to expectations. I think that I agree with just about everything Mastadge had to say, and I?ll leave it at that. That things are open for a sequel is pretty obvious.

4/10.

 

...and my desire to read this book diminishes.

 

Disappointed by the book. I liked the prologue but after that it all went downhill.

4/10.

 

I was looking for the book at the local bookstores and they didn't have it. I was in a bad mood over it, but I guess I can take consolation that it's not a good book and one I can afford to miss.

The only I'm curious about is does Luke and co. learn anything about Adi Gallia, including the circumstances of her death?

 

The only I'm curious about is does Luke and co. learn anything about Adi Gallia, including the circumstances of her death?

Nope.

 

Counting 6 reviews: 34.2/6 = 5.7

 

Hm. Starting tomorrow I'm going to be out of town for a while; would someone volunteer to keep this thread up and visible for a while as reviews continue to trickle in?

 

Anyone else read it yet?

 

[up]

 

Okay, I'm leaving for a while, so I won't be here to bring this thread up. . .