Tucson What Recent Star Wars Novel Have You Read? What was there about it that you enjoyed?

I just finished Courtship of Princess Leia and Tatooine Ghost this week. I have to say that I really liked both books. I loved how Dave Wolverton toys with his readers by have Leia threaten to dump Han and marry some other guy. Of course, we all know that's not the case, but for a first time reader of the series, there is a great sense of relief at the end.

Tatooine Ghost was a very impressive book. It was written after the NJO series was in full bloom, but also published after Episode II came out. I loved how Troy Denning brought the OT and the PT together in this book. Leia gets to know Shmi, and it just solidifies the fact that Anakin is a tragic hero and not a villian. The only thing I have to complain about Tatooine Ghost is that the story is lacking, a lot. Spending 400 pages about chasing a painting is a bit redundant, but the exploration of Leia getting to know her grandmother at all makes the book well worth the read. The book also explains a lot of what happened on Tatooine after Anakin left, like how Shmi met Cliegg and got her freedom, what happened to Podracing between the trilogies, and even what happened to the podracers that survived the Boonta Classic. One more thing I liked about the book was the fact that Leia finds out all of these things, and not Luke. Leia has been the one going through the struggle of accepting her father for who he was, and this book continues that struggle. Though she doesn;t accept the fact that Vader was her father, she begins to realize tat Anakin wasn't as bad as she thought he was.

That's about it for my quick reviews when I'm half asleep. Tomorrow I start the trilogy that rekindled the EU, the Thrawn Trilogy.

 

I read NJO Dark Tide II:Ruin by Michael Stackpole. It was good, I have read it before but I started the NJO series over in order. I think that the showdown between Shedeo Shai and Corran Horn rocks because Corran has this cool trick with his lightsaber I won't give away. I am currently reading Agents of Chaos 1: Heroes Trial and there is a part where Bossk and Han meet up that makes the book worth it just for that.

 

I'm rereading the Thrawn Triology. On Book 2 right now.

I love Zahn for his characters but some of his writing just makes me go ! People are growling and rain is greasy!

 

Last book I read was Labrynth (?) Of Evil, and am now starting on Hard Contact.
I kinda stepped aside and was reading some Icewind Dale Trilogy...

Im really looking forward to the new darth vader book this winter.

G0ggy

 

Ok, juts finished the Thrawn Trilogy. I just have to say that I liked the trilogy a lot. My second favorite character made her first appearance in Heir to the Empire, then she continued on and kicked some major ass in The Last Command by killing not one, but two powerfully twisted Jedi. I am of course talking about the one and only Mara Jade. She is only second, in my life, to Yoda. I just love that little green guy. Back on track. This trilogy was very laid-back in terms of action, but Zhan just kept me into it. I liked how the New Republic was squirming for the first two books trying to figure out who the hell was attacking them. This really helped keep the reader interested. In all of the previous books, the New Republic knew exactly who they were fighting before the events in the book took place. Not so in this trilogy, and that introduced a new flavor to the party. If memory serves me, something similar happens in Vector Prime, but not to this extent. There was also A LOT of new information in these books that sometimes overwhelmed me. It could have been just trying to read them after three hours of straight lecture as well, I don't know.

Now I am backtracking in the SW saga and going to read Jedi Trial. This is the final Clone Wars novel I have to read, and I really want to know how Anakin ever became a Jedi Knight. After all the speculation in Ep. II about Anakin, what changed the Council's mind?

 

Thrawn Trilogy remains one of my all time favorites. Mara Jade has become a character that is recognized as such a part of the SW saga even without ever having made her movie presence known. I find that ability for a book character to rank with movie character's very impressive indeed.

 

OK, I finally finished Jedi Trial. I had to cut back on my reading becasue by the time I got to it after all my studying, I was just way too tired to read more than a chapter or two a night. I have some real issues with this book. First of all, I just have to sya that soldiers should never write fiction. The two authors of this book are former Vietnam vets that cannot write interesting fiction. As of now, this book is one of my least favorites. The book is supposed to be about how Anakin becomes a Knight, or so I thought. Anakin might as well not even been in the book for what it was worth.

The second this that just iritates the heck out of me with this book is: That was the reason Anakin became a Knight? Well no duh he turned to the Dark Side! My God, I would have thought the Council would hve more sense than that. You do not give a Padawan the rank of Knight for imersing hinself in the Dark Side in order to win a friggin' battle. No wonder Anakin turned out the way he did.

On a brighter note, there was one thing I liked about the book. That was the fact the I could tell these two authors were fans of the X-Wing series under Michael Stackpole. The main Jedi in this book was Neeja Halcyon (for those that do not know who this is, read the X-Wing series). The authors also brought in Armand Isard, and his relationship to Palpatine. Wonderful. It also addressed how Halcyon did what he did.

That's about it for my SW reading for now. I am taking a break to focus on my studies. I have many tests in the next couple of weeks that need my attention. I am also starting Eldest. It is a bit long (700 pages) and between it and my studies I might not return to the SW galaxy for a month, hopefully sooner.

 

all of those books I have yet to read.. and have been awaiting Eldest for two years now!! Finally it has arrived right in the middle of prickly pear season.. and the shaak ti remake. ugh.. will it ever end??

 

Whew, finished Eldest last night, then went straight to bed becasue I was so tired. Overall, the book was pretty good. There were definately some slow parts and some eally in your face parts that you could not put the book down for. This book was full of information and a lot or revelations. YOu find out Eragon's father, Saphira's ancestry, who the heck that new dragon on the cover is, Arya's parentage, just about everyone's past. You find out a lot more about Brom and his past. It was just so good to finally know this stuff. The ending was great, and it really set up the final book in the trilogy. I kinda felt that I will go into the next book knowing what it will be about, what is going to happen, just not HOW it all happens (which is the fun part). I just hope that it doesn't take three years to write the next book. Good thing I finished this book now, I have many more tests, midterms, and papers to write and that book would have distracted me way to much. I now will venture back into the SW universe and pick up where I left off with the reading of Isard's Revenge.

 

I am having issue with fearing what direction Roran is going to take..I am about three chapters in.. and getting very involved in Eldest at this point.. but work beckons as always. I am thankful for the first chapter summary of Eragon.. as I would have forgotten the book having read it over a year ago

 

Wow, I had not idea my studies took this long to let me finish Isard's Revenge. My next three books will definately get done faster. Isard's Revenge is another great book by Michael Stackpole. He delivers his usual batch of characters from when he wrote the X-Wing series, as well as some of the stuff that Aaron Allston wrote. He brings up the memories of Lt. Kettch, as well as the trials of Thrawn. I loved the first chapter where he "revised" the Battle of Bilbringi to include the names of the Rogues. It definately let you know where the book sits in the timeline of SW history. This book also resolves the issues that The Bacta War left once it was over, like where the heck are the prisoners. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Now I am off to read the Jedi Academy Trilogy. This should go fast for me because I have the omnibus edition, so reading about 100 pages a night from a 700 page book will get me done by next week. Until then, TTFN and keep reading.

You know, at our next meeting, maybe we should initiate a "book club"-like event where we read a certain SW book, and discuss it as a group. I think that would a lot better than trying to get our true feelings about a book typed onto this thread. Anyways, I already said TTFN and haven't left, so TTFN.

 

I hate this thread......because...I CANT READ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

the last ones that i read were of the NJO with the yuzahn vong or however you spell it. they were pretty good but theyve gotten like 20 more books since i stoped lol. time to visit the library and catch up i guess.

 

I right in the middle of Dune, and I never noticed how much Lucas took from it for the names and ideas in Star Wars

 

I like SW better than Dune though.. I had a hard time reading Dune.. but I do well with all the SW novels.. not sure that bodes well for me though.. I just like more romanticism I think.. it's not about brain power or anything... I am however really looking forward to "the rise of lord vader" it should be out on the 22nd of this month.. now that I am hoping makes me happy.. and shows a deeper understanding of vader.

 

I'm not saying I like dune better, jsut that I'm finally getting around to reading it. It's a hard read like LoTR, so much inside that world and so many things to assiciate and remember, very complex.

 

I agree.. more complex

 

WARNING!!!!This IS NOT a STARWARS book that I am beginning to read.

I was notified the George R.R. Martin's A Feast For Crows just came out. I had been anticipating its arrival for some time now. He has writen A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, and A Storm of Swords...this is his 4th book of the series, "A Song of Ice and Fire"

good reading...might be worth a look.

 

hey.. I thought you just said you didn't know how to read

 

picked up "A Feast for Crows" and read the prologue and 1st chapter..but been so damn buisy to sit down and read it! Seems awesome so far though.

 

Last book I read/reading is Heir To The Empire

I give it a 2/10

ALL I am reading are the same "i got a bad feeling about this" crap and like leia and han always having some inside joke.. All this "zahn" whatever guy does is rehash everything already done.. Yeah, ok. STOP GOING TO DAGOBAH AND stop talking about Bespin and crap..
I will give him a thumbs up for Thrawn.. which is what the story is about anyways.. But still.. I hope his upcomming novel is something good. Dare I finish the whole heir to the empire trilogy?

 

the book im reading is book threee of the black fleet crisis
in all 3 books luke is trying to find about padme,
but in these books her name isnt padme its kinda wierd but they are still some good reads

 

The Dark Nest series was a very good read. It also helped to point the Jedi off in a new and better direction with an emphisis on 'vision' brought about by the Force.

 

Man Vangarian, have not seen you around these parts on a long time, How R U?

 

So, I finished reading the Jedi Academy Trilogy about a week ago, but have been without internet since then. Long story short, modem fried and Comcast could not replace it until today. I really liked this trilogy, though it did bring up that I need to go back and read Dark Empire. I had no idea how much Dark Empire impacts the novels, even though it is a comic. I liked how Luke finally gets off his ass and starts training some new Jedi. I also like the fact that we are now introduced into the minds of Jacen and Jaina. I don't know, after reading Traitor, I really like Jacen as a character. I was kind of confused by Wedge's relationship. After Isard's Revenge, Michael Stackpole led me to believe that Wedge was in love with Iella, though in this trilogy, he is dating another woman. This conflict was addressed in I, Jedi though, so all good there for me. I am currently about a third of the way through I, Jedi. I took me a little while to get used to the writing style. This entire book, so far, is written in first person. It just took me a while to get used to this. This is definately a book that gets really in depth to Corran's character. Well, TTFN.