A&A The Official James Luceno Discussion Thread

In my opinion, I take the view that Labyrinth of Evil is more canon than Clone Wars (not that canon matters--the view of which fiction is more "real"). I believe Lucas had more involvement in the novel, so I tend to accept that as the actual course of events.

It is the less of two evils--I can't stand the cartoon. If I wanted to see flashing scenes go by every five seconds--I would just flip the channels on the TV.

-Seldon

 

Seldon, I understand that not everyone will like everything about Star Wars, and you have every right to state your oppinions, but remember to be polite because there are many people that love the things you say that you hate. I have not yet seen you post anything that I think would offend anyone, but you have cut it a little close. I'm not asking you to like stuff you can't stand, just to be respectful of those that do. After all, they may hate some things that you love.

 

I am so glad they moved Darth Vader's Dark Lord up. It will be great getting a book on him now that we've seen the human side of his story told. I can't wait for much angst and character dimension, as only Luceno can do it. I loved his Anakin Skywalker in LoE, he gets the character and a whole bunch of folks don't. I cannot wait for this book! Have I said that already?

 

^^^^^^^^^

So true. I think rhonderoo is the one who wnats this book the most. (All her fan fcis are about Vader or Anakin)

 

How'd you guess? Although in the EU, I read just about anything.

 

There's an article on DARK LORD in the latest issue of INSIDER (#83, p. 12), which contains quotes from Luceno. It also has the cover art (guess who's on the cover?

 

Jar-Jar Binks? It's Jar-Jar, isn't it? Jar-Jar, it's Jar-Jar!

 

Mr Luceno
what happends to Bossk and his stupid Trandoshan gang after they are put in jail in Jubilee Wheel?

 

They moved Dark Lord up? This is awesome news, I can't wait to read this book..This is IMO the most anticipated book of the year, besides for Half Blood Prince , of course..

Whats the new date? sorry if it's been repeated a trillion times..

 

I'm surprised no one has posted in so long. Especially with DARK LORD out. What did you guys think of it?

I thought it was good. Not Luceno's best work, but it was a cool continuation of ROTS. It was interesting to read about the early days of the Empire. I liked the way Vader was handled; Luceno really knew what he was doing with him. The character selection in the book is also very good.

It's a really good set up for future books in this post-ROTS era. Hope to see some more. And more Luceno, too.

 

I haven't picked up Dark Lord, I have no intention of it. I just wanted to condense some of my thoughts about Luceno. If you like him, please don't be offended. For me, It boggles my mind why DelRey and Lucasfilm still publishes him, it also destroys my trust in all SW lit.

LoE was not only the last Luceno novel I will ever read, it is the last EU novel I'm likely to read. What is so bad about Luceno?

He can't write, seriously I think Paris Hilton on crack could produce better prose then Luceno on a great day. Now, some might argue that this doesn't have to be fine literature, it is only a star wars book after all. Perhaps if he has an interesting plot like Zahn, or if he conveys colorful character emotions like Stover, then his prose can be excused. The problem is that Luceno doesn't compensate with anything special. On every page, he attempts to remind us of the six films, to stir sentiments and to produce mental images from the movies, he does this, but he never contributes anything to the canon. His stories are always superficial character studies, where tons of brave but one dimensional characters travel to a thousand different worlds where they accomplish nothing. There is no narrative voice, no direction, and no purpose (besides financial gain.) Some fans find it amusing, but for me it needs to be more then that. Luceno has the depth of a puddle during a drought.

-Seldon

 

Seldon, I think you have made it crystal clear on a number of occasions that you hate Luceno. I fail to understand why you continue to beat a dead horse. We get it. We got it a while ago.

Then Luceno came here personally and you said you felt guilty about your character assassination. But I guess that guilt is long gone and you're back in attack mode.

You remind me of a rabid attack dog that we see in the political world, pounding and pounding away. I can understand that you want to make your opinion known. That's fine. But we're well beyond that. I could see if you read DARK LORD and wanted to criticize that. But you're just recycling your old opinions in a new package.

Why not focus on things you do like?

 

I don't hate Luceno, I hate his works and his writings. Personally, I don't know the author and can't judge whether I hate him or not (I don't really hate any individuals.)

-Seldon

 

Y'know, I think I heard this somewhere before.... hmmm....

I love the, "If you like Luceno, don't be offended" and then you go and compare him to Paris Hilton on crack.

Gee, no need to be offended or anything.

 

For a person who spews such hatred, I find that somewhat unlikely.

 

I don't see how an obvious distaste and frustration accumulates into an apparent hatred which spews out of me. There is no hatred--a negative tone and an exaggerated post, yes, but not hatred.

It is really sad that if someone disagrees with an author's style (or lack thereof) he is suddnenly labled as a miserable hater who is trying to obstruct an otherwise productive thread.

The only thing I hate here is that publishers continue to hire James Luceno for novels. He would excel in the informational type book world, but he just can't sustain himself in the novel format.
His books are amusing, and I understand why some like them, but on most levels it is trite rubbish.

-Seldon

 

As compared to what other great Star Wars literature? The Crystal Star? Darksaber? The Jedi Academy Trilogy? I, Jedi?

 

Wow. Just wow. I don't enjoy many authors' works but that's just nasty. I think you need to excuse yourself from this thread.

 

I can't comment on Crystal Star or Darksaber as I didn't read them.

The Jedi Academy Trilogy: Despite major flaws (which can be almost excused as it was written in the early days of EU) it did present new and interesting characters and lots of new stories. It may have been childish at times--but it did give us new stories with interesting characters.

I, Jedi: I felt this was well written (as far as EU goes) and it was a great character study of an EU character. In my opinion this is what an EU should be.

I don't know why you brought up those specific examples. There is EU which is worse then Luceno, but I usually just critize him because he is so widely praised.

-Seldon

 

Seldon, I think you need to reread some of your own postings. There is nothing tactful or helpful about anything you've posted. It's just inflamatory and makes you look like a moron.

 

Mr. Luceno, congrats on a job well done. Dark Lord was everything I had hoped for and more...

 

What do you expect from a guy who supports Ted "the Swimmer" Kennedy?

 

I'm generally a fan of Ted Kennedy too...but what does this have to do with anything?

 

It may have something to do with Seldon's sour attitude.

 

...how?