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

Books The Last Jedi by Jason Fry

Discussion in 'Literature' started by GrandAdmiralJello , Jul 21, 2017.

  1. Darth Pipes

    Darth Pipes Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 12, 1999
    I finished The Last Jedi novelization last night and I thought it was great. After being very disappointed with The Force Awakens novelization (which literally rushed the last 20 minutes of the movie into about 15 pages and just wasn't any good), LFL has bounced back strong with Alexander Freed's great Rogue One adaption and now Jason Fry's.

    I greatly enjoyed the multiple POVs and the new and deleted material. Fry did a good job explaining certain things from TLJ. The Leia/Chewie scene at the end was a first-rate, emotional scene. I also greatly appreciated getting the POV of the caretaker. He also did a much better job of working in the new EU material a lot better than Matt Stover did with his ROTS adaptation. I wish certain scenes had been longer (say Yoda's scene), didn't care for Rose's jealousy and I find Luke's post-ROTJ activities to be confusing but otherwise, this was a fantastic read.

    On the subject of the prequel novelizations, I always enjoyed Terry Brooks TPM one the best. It was a strong mix of characterization with new material. I thought RA Salvatore's AOTC novelization was lousy and while Stover's ROTS adaptation was better, I don't consider it the gold standard in Star Wars novelizations that a lot of people do. I think Stover drowned the book in continuity references to other SW works and I cannot look past or forgive spending the first 160 pages of that book on the first twenty minutes of Revenge of the Sith. I never understood that decision.
     
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  2. Ghost

    Ghost Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Oct 13, 2003
    I think in the rough cut, the Battle of Coruscant was over one-third of the film, @Darth Pipes
     
    Last edited: Apr 9, 2018
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  3. Xander Vos

    Xander Vos Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 3, 2013
    I don't think a lot of ROTS on screen needed much time in the novelisation - e.g. Kenobi's battle with Grievous, Kashyyyk, etc. a lot of that was CGI greatness on screen but didn't need to be translated into deep exploration on the page.
     
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  4. WebLurker

    WebLurker Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 12, 2016
    On the other hand, paying less attention to the later parts of the movie makes the book feel uneven and lopsided.
     
  5. Xander Vos

    Xander Vos Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 3, 2013
    I think the pay off is worth it with how brilliantly the psyche's of Anakin and Dooku are explored.
     
  6. J_K_DART

    J_K_DART Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 31, 2001
    Yeah, to me the RotS novelisation is the gold standard because of how it actually dives into the characters.
     
  7. WebLurker

    WebLurker Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 12, 2016
    Fair enough, but I'm not sure if the "this is such and such" paragraphs worked as well as say, how the Rogue One novelization did the same thing for its characters but worked it through the narrative instead hitting the pause button on the story to give us info dumps of exposition.
     
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  8. MrDarth0

    MrDarth0 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2015
    Well, for me the ROTS novelization is the greatest Star Wars novel ever written.

    But the TLJ novelization isn't bad either. Definitely much better than the TFA novelization. I had to force myself to finish that one.
     
  9. WebLurker

    WebLurker Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 12, 2016
    Fair enough.
     
  10. Darth Pipes

    Darth Pipes Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 12, 1999
    160 pages is still way too much time to dedicate to the battle and if it was that long in the original draft, they should have given Stover a chance to edit it down.
     
  11. Tal0nkarrde2

    Tal0nkarrde2 Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Apr 20, 2018
    I bought the exclusive Barnes & Nobles hardcover with stills from the film included. I'll be posting a review on my website in a few days (G-POP.net), but I figured I'd jot a few notes down here first. Did anyone notice the typos in the book - I'm a stickler for that sort of thing, I suppose, but I figure, if I'm going to pay that much for a book, I think it should be edited properly. As for the storyline, I found it quite interesting, though I don't want to post any spoilers here. It feels like we are still rebooting the original trilogy though. If you remember, in The Empire Strikes Back, our heroes were dealt a heavy blow and it felt as if they were going to have to beat insurmountable odds to come back from that...and of course, they did. In The Last Jedi, we have this taking place again and find ourselves wondering how the Rebellion can survive such insurmountable odds with the help of a less than half trained Jedi....hmmm, sound familiar? I have yet to see the movie, but I do have to commend Mr. Fry in his descriptive writing - I could almost see the entire thing in my mind's eye thanks to great writing and an active imagination.
     
  12. DarkRula

    DarkRula Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Feb 3, 2015
    I'd noticed quite a few mistakes within, and I noted here about a paragraph randomly appearing in the middle of a section as well as at the end of a chapter where it was meant to be.
     
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  13. WebLurker

    WebLurker Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 12, 2016
    I actually didn't, although I am an extremely bad speller and easily overlook that kind of thing. (The only novel I recall catching stuff was a paperback reprint of a Star Trek hardcover by Peter David that I've reread often on.)
     
  14. Pfluegermeister

    Pfluegermeister Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 30, 2003
    Honestly, having read a LOT of the FryGuy's work over the years, what comes foremost to mind is something Orson Scott Card said about writing the novelization of The Abyss, and that is that he said to James Cameron that he didn't want to write a "novelization;" he wanted to write a NOVEL. And for him, there was a profound difference between the two.

    That's what I think I got with this book; not a mere novelization, but a NOVEL.

    And I mean that in all the best ways I CAN mean that.

    Well done, jasonfry - VERY well done indeed!
     
  15. jSarek

    jSarek VIP star 4 VIP

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2005
    It sounds very familiar. It sounds like the second act of every three-act story ever.

    Do see the movie. As divisive as it is, I don't think I've seen anyone complain about the cinematography - and if I did, I ignored them because they're just plain wrong. With all due respect to Mr. Fry's awesome work, you haven't seen The Last Jedi until you've SEEN it.
     
  16. Xander Vos

    Xander Vos Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 3, 2013
    I did notice a lot of spelling and other typographical issues in the book, which was surprising considering it's slow release time seemed to suggest there was plenty of time to edit and review it.
     
  17. Jedi Princess

    Jedi Princess Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 25, 2014
    If that's really going to be a sticking point for you, start buying digital. Edits can be (and are) pushed out post-release when they're caught.
     
  18. WebLurker

    WebLurker Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 12, 2016
    Maybe the paperback will correct some as well?
     
  19. DarthInternous

    DarthInternous Editor - Del Rey Star Wars star 3 VIP

    Registered:
    Feb 7, 2017
    Typos are corrected in hardcover books as the hardcover reprints. So, if you print 100 books, and then find 5 typos, you can submit those to be corrected and they'll start appearing with the 101st book (which would be part of a reprint).

    For e-books, as Jedi Princess noted, you can simply go into a digital file, fix the typo, and push a file update that instantly fixes all the digital copies.

    All typos/corrections/updates made to a book are included in the paperback edition, since the paperback is made from the most recent edition of the hardcover files.
     
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  20. WebLurker

    WebLurker Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 12, 2016
    Tough for those of us who got the first edition hardcover, huh?
     
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  21. DarthInternous

    DarthInternous Editor - Del Rey Star Wars star 3 VIP

    Registered:
    Feb 7, 2017
    Typos happen. And they're tough for everyone. The author, the people who work on the books, everyone. The day TLJ released we were talking about how annoyed we were at ourselves for a few typos that we found. That's just the nature of making books. No one likes typos, but they happen in every book, no matter how many times the book is proofread. No matter how many pairs of eyes look at it.

    Minor clarification: you mean "first printing hardcover." Everyone who has a copy of TLJ in hardcover has a first edition. Editions don't change when you reprint.
     
  22. WebLurker

    WebLurker Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 12, 2016
    Yeah, can relate from some of the stuff I've written for college or digital.

    Oh, my mistake.
     
  23. Tal0nkarrde2

    Tal0nkarrde2 Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Apr 20, 2018
    Call me old, but I like having a hard copy in my hand. Digital is good for a book I don't have any intention of keeping or for something I'm just reading as material for my website, but there's nothing that compares to the smell and feel of a hardcover book, especially when you want it and know you will keep it and read it again in years to come. ;-)
     
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  24. Jedi Princess

    Jedi Princess Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 25, 2014
    Then how are you still "a stickler for that sort of thing"? Books have had typos as long as there have been books.
     
  25. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    Well, how much did you pay for it?