Vector Prime

Hey guys...

I used to read all the Star Wars books back in the 90's when they first started, but stopped sometime around Darksaber. Im thinking about getting into them again and starting with Vector Prime, the first of the new series. Im hoping for opinions on weather or not the new books are any good and worth reading, or if I should stick with the old.
Thanks!
~Jay

 

I would say yes, they are good and worth reading. But like any series they have their ups and downs. I don't remember where on the timeline Darksaber is, but if you want to get into a very long series and get caught up with what's going on in the GFFA, then I would start with Vector Prime

 

Uh-oh..

(glancing at giant can of worms that just opened..)

Seriously,

it all depends on what you want out of Star Wars.
The "schtick" of the NJO, I think is to bring maturity to SW. Not just in content, but conceptually.

Also, the NJO is completely EU driven. Sure, it takes place in the GFFA, but the focus is completely extra-lucas. You won't be familiar with a majority of the EU without some familiarity of the NJO.

Honestly, I love the early stuff, the Daleys and the Jeters.
I've read about 50% of the NJO.
I don't think one is better than the other, just different.

Early novels=junk food. They taste good, but rot your teeth.

NJO=bran flakes. It is good for you, but takes some effort to get down.

 

Go for it. I think the NJO is good. Some of the books are boring, but that's almost impossible to avoid.

 

NJO, is often about mindless destruction of classic star wars planets and characters for the sake of plot devices, some would consider that aspect of series as making the NJO junk food.

 

Thanks everybody for replying. I got a lot more from this tread that I expected to. Thanks for the insights on the maturity and devotion to the films that go on in the book. Good points to keep in mind. My favorites from the old were the Kevin J. Anderson Jedi Academy Trilogy. Based on that, will I like the way the new ones flow? (And Im 25, so maturity wont be a problem for me )

Oh and also, what is GFFA?

 

Several things; either Galaxy Far Far Away, or, now, Galactic Federation of Free Alliances. Select to see the spoiler (it'll be a spoiler for you, which is why I've colored it!) - I won't spoil you further, though.

I dunno, I really don't. SOME parts you'll enjoy; others you'll loathe.

 

Personally I think NJO has been the most excitement in the EU since the early lit days. I would def start with Vector and judge for yourself.

 

yes, the NJO is worth reading. It's great for the most part (especially the first 3 books, man those are scary). Some of the books are not great but the worst are still better then a lot of the books were when you stopped reading. In a lot of ways it's much darker then the other star wars books, movies, so be prepared for that. Also, I'd advice you to read the Hand of Thrawn books before you start the NJO. They make a good set-up and will help you ease your way in if you stopped at Darksaber.

 

Some of the later NJO books aren't as good IMO, Dark Journey being the first that comes to mind

But all in all the NJO is definately worth the read, the first 9 books I loved, Dark Tide and Agents of Chaos duologies were both total goodness

And I actually liked that they destroyed a lot more people and planets in the NJO, it gets boring to read the other books about 1 planet being under attack and then they repel the invasion, NJO takes everything to a much grander scale

 

wurd. thanks dudes!

 

a little late...

I'd recommend reading Hand of Thrawn to cap off the Bantam era before diving into NJO

 

Yeah thats a good idea probably.
I dont know, I expect to be ridiculed for this, but I thought Keven J Anderson's book were way better than Zahn's. Just my opinion. did KJA write any new ones for the NJO?

 

Unfortunately not. A lot of ppl will disagree on that, but I see where you're coming from; Zahn's TTT was top-rate, but you'll find HoT isn't quite as enjoyable (imo). Anderson wrote some good, some bad (JAT = good, Darksaber bad imo).

Still, that's no difference to the NJO, I guess. The books so far include;

VECTOR PRIME - where you need to start, I reckon
DARK TIDE: ONSLAUGHT
DARK TIDE: RUIN
AGENTS OF CHAOS: HERO'S TRIAL
AGENTS OF CHAOS: JEDI ECLIPSE
BALANCE POINT
EDGE OF VICTORY: CONQUEST
EDGE OF VICTORY: REBIRTH
STAR BY STAR
DARK JOURNEY
ENEMY LINES: REBEL DREAM
ENEMY LINES: REBEL STAND
TRAITOR
DESTINY'S WAY
FORCE HERETIC: REMNANT
FORCE HERETIC: REFUGEE

FORCE HERETIC: REUNION
THE FINAL PROPHECY
THE UNIFYING FORCE

Those last three are yet to be released.

 

If you liked the old books, then you will love Aaron Allston's Enemy Lines duology. There like fruit. Taste sweet, and their good for you!

 

Just to be a devil advocate again, and paraphrase the thoughts of those that haven't shown up in this thread yet, but I've heard before, there are those in this forum that dislike the Allston books, treating them as if they are rotten fruit, still might initially taste sweet(albeit sickly sweet), but leave a bad aftertaste, and bad for you, due to odd comic book super-villain characters that seem to appear out of nowhere, such Lord Nyax.

In other words don't listen to anyone's advice, go and read them for yourself and see if you like them or not. Because opinions vary amongst the fans, the only one who can really know if it's good or not for you, is you, yourself.

 

NJO is great in my opinion as a general, even if at some time they do thing that you hate Del Rey for doing it's darker than anything and it bring back the fear that was on ESB, and was lost too an almost predictable situation in which the good guys always win without too much trouble.

You'll find all the nasty things about survival (traitors, masacres ins the sake of one person, etc), but it will caught you up like nothig. I stop reading EU even before you did, and I got back with NJO and now I'm so caught that I'm getting back with my old collection. And the best part is that is more focus on the EU characters than on the old ones (Luke, Leia, Lando, etc)

 

I'd agree that Hand of Thrawn wasn't as enjoyable as the original Thrawn trilogy, but I think that mainly stems from issues of scale and lack of a villain of Thrawn's caliber. Zahn's original trilogy visited as many (or more) locations than the original trilogy, embraced just as many new and interesting characters, most of which (Karrde, Mara, Pellaeon, the Noghri) have a lasting impact on the EU to this day. I do like that it included a lot of X-wing related stuff (the Errant Venture, Corran and Mirax, Tycho, Booster Terrik, etc.) and portrayed the Empire as a real, working government rather than just a bunch of feuding warlords.

Either way, it's worthwhile as a prologue to the NJO, as it essentially cements the galaxy's political climate and military situation.

 

You should deffinately read the NJO.