Books Journey to TFA: Moving Target by Cecil Castellucci and Jason Fry

Thanks heaps, Nick! I really hate to be a bother but...

Spoiler

Out of curiosity, does the novel drop any casual lines about Massa's background before that moment? He was the one Admiral who popped up out of nowhere and I was always a tad rankled that they introduced a new character just to kill him off, instead of doing that with a character that had already been introduced. So, you know, I'm really hoping this novel does something with him, even in a casual throwaway line kind of sense.

That said, even if there's nothing, it's beyond awesome that the NR fleet admirals from EGTW are showing up as previous members of the Alliance High Command. It's such an obvious fit, but wonderful to see it confirmed. I imagine that the Force Commander general is Tyr Taskeen?

Also, thanks in advance.

 

Just finished. This was amazing.

Spoiler

Great expansion on the higher-ups in the Rebellion, perfect characterization of Leia and Mon Mothma, and some nice murky territory morally for the Rebellion.

I really liked Leia's crew. Nien's greater presence since the reboot has done wonders for him as a character. Antrot, Lok, and Kidi were fun and unique characters. Hope they turn up in future stories (well, past ones for Antrot and Lok).

Nice to see another competent female Imperial officer. Also a interesting new spin on how the Tydirium was stolen.

 

Spoiler

Admiral Massa (there is also a typo where he is called "Vassa") is just described as a "top" admiral. The general I was thinking of is General Tantor.

.

--Adm. Nick

 

Read it. You'll be glad you did. (Although in many ways, Raising Steam shares the title of 'last Discworld book').

Also, if you haven't seen it, the Guide to Ankh-Morpork is amazing.

Alright, my derail is over.

I shouldn't be surprised. I might pick it up based on what I'm hearing here.

 

It is quite good. You wish it was a full length adult novel, but Jason's style doesn't even make you notice it is a young adult novel. Nice sprinkling of EGTW references too!

--Adm. Nick

 

I recently acquired that and yeah, it's quite a piece of work. Have the Atlas pre-ordered too.

 

It's really interesting to me that the new canon material targeted to younger audiences seems to be more universally well-received than most of the older-audiences stuff. I'm not sure if that's due to anything substantive, or to something about expectations.

 

Well…. A lot of it having been written by Jason Fry of course helps a lot, since he has that talent of writing children books that are way smarter, thoughtful and deeper than anyone would expect. For example there is a really small scene between Luke and a young local girl in Weapon of a Jedi that perfectly sums up everything that is wrong the Empire and what the Rebellion is about for Luke.

 

Spoiler

I found it intriguing that Sarco Plank is on the backcover. Since nobody mentioned him again, does he have anything substantial to do?

 

Spoiler

Afaik he is not even in this book, but is rather important for Weapon of a Jedi

 

Spoiler

Some TFA hints I've noticed...

Leia is leading the Resistance

The Resistance is made up of mamy form leaders from fhe Rebellion.

Leia mentions being on the brink of war. At the same time the Resistance is currently fighting the First Order. There has already been battles and i got the impression that there has been a large amount of fighting. This makes me wonder if there is still a New Republic. In that case, the current conflict doesn't count as galactic war because the NR hasn't been brought in, so it's just a side conflict. This could be substantiated by the fact that we know the FO is looking to show itself to the galaxy. This implies that they aren't a large, well known faction. In that case why do we have a resistance? It seems unnecessary; the major galactic power wouldn't be a resistance against a presumably minor power. Also, if the First Order is fighting the Resistance, I'd assume they have already shown themselves to the galaxy, unless the Resistance is also not the main power. Thus we would currently have a conflict between the FO and a Resistance, with a larger faction representin the rest of the galaxy on the outside and about to be brought in. Does this seem plausible to anyone else?
[\spoiler]

 

Spoiler

I am almost certain that it will turn out that there is a New Republic, but like the Old, it sucks on the military front/ doesn’t really have one, since it assume the Empire to have gone, but they just hid out on the Rim and have now come back. The Resistance is what fighting forces they can throw together to counter the returned Imps, which presumably are diehard leftovers leading new recruits.

 

Oops, wrong book, only saw the image in here.

 

Spoiler

I can see that too. I will say that's not quite what I'm hoping for. From what I've heard, the idea of the NR getting rid of its military has already been set up in one of the new novels. I would say this isn't unbelievable. It fits with the idealism that I'm sure much of the leadership has. I could see them wanting to bring in another 1000 years of peace. So that works for me, but what I don't want is the NR to be a repeat of the OR's other mistakes. Unfortunately I can see thay happening.

With the Resistance I hope they are a group that is funded and supported by the NR, in order to stop the threat of the FO before they bring on another full scale war. In that case, former Rebel leaders like Leia could have been sent by the NR senate to make sure the Resistance runs efficiently.

 

Lovely book. All three books are pretty good.

As I'm sure no one else will appreciate this better than Lit I got some extra kicks from the appearance of some old friends from WEG times,

 

Just finished this one. Great stuff. It's like Razor's Edge only better, despite being a lot shorter. It's definitely the one that the most consequence-heavy of the three (so far, haven't gotten far into Smuggler's Run) and probably has the closest ties to the events of TFA (or at least the clearest allusions to them). But it's still an effective, uncompromising story, just like Jason's other work, but with a little extra introspection and flavor that I suppose was Castelluscci's work. Top marks.

 

I really enjoyed this one. Some highlights (spoiler-tagging everything, just in case):

Spoiler

1) I'm a sucker for Ocean's Eleven-style ensemble casts. I thought all of the members of Leia's crew were well done, though at times they veered a little into caricature, especially Antrot. That said, every character got their moment to shine, and all of them pulled at my heartstrings at one point or another.

2) When they arrived on Sesid, I thought it was a shame that they weren't in beach attire to try to blend in. I was prepared to imagine them in beach attire anyway for my own edification... then they miraculously responded to my lulz-seeking desires and got into beach getups anyway. I know the book depicted her with a flowered shirt, but I ignored it and my mental image will forever be of Leia in a bikini, a towel around her waist, with sunglasses and a big, floppy straw hat looking thoroughly unimpressed. *shrug*

3) Leia's characterization was so good. I'm glad we have confirmation that Bail basically raised her to be a rebel; I like that, in a sort of roundabout way, it parallels Padme's experience. They were both children brought up in politics who grew into their roles as leaders--but where Padme was trained to support and grow the government, Leia was trained to tear it down to its foundations and build anew.

Beside that, I think Leia's adherence to duty above all is a pretty fitting interpretation of the character. In the flashback in Marvel's Princess Leia, she's clearly a bit headstrong and self-interested, something Bail tries to curb. Then she witnesses the destruction of Alderaan and loses him and her mother, and clinging to that sense of duty helps her get through it and hold onto what she's lost. This book, I think, is the point where Leia clicks her fractured self back together after that tragedy. She's not quite the same impetuous child she was before, but she's also moved past the impulse to push her own wants and needs to the side. For such a short book, there was really a surprising amount of growth for her, and I really love the driven yet content-with-herself Leia we have at the end of the book.

4) Ugh, the Leia-Mon Mothma scenes were really fantastic. I am 100% there for Mon Mothma becoming a surrogate parent-figure for Leia, given the relationship she had with Bail Organa (and with Padme, who I'm guessing she knows or suspects is Leia's birth mother, based on her comments re: knowing Leia basically since Bail and Breha brought her home). Whatever poster commented (somewhere on this forum) that they want to see that conversation between Mothma and Leia about Padme... I undersign that sentiment, and I want Castellucci and/or Fry to write it.

Downsides:
1) I think the authors should have committed to either The Empire, as an entity, as the villain, or built up Khione to be a little more than what she was. The villainy was just a little underwhelming.

 

So after reading this and Smuggler's Run, I've concluded that

Spoiler

Emmat is basically introduced like


HE IS THE KEY

 

Who is that? Taalcon

 

Spoiler

Spoilers for BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER - if you plan on watching it.

Spoiler

That's Dawn Summers. In a later season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the younger sister of Buffy Summers suddenly shows up ('Dawn')as part of the cast, and all the characters seem to believe she's been there all along.

It turns out this is a big plot point, that this identity was 'created' and retroactively inserted into their memories as a protective shell for a hidden All Powerful Key that the Big Bad was seeking out. For the first few episodes of that season, the viewer is wondering what the hell is going on, and why everyone seems to think that Buffy having an annoying littler sister MAKES SENSE, and why was she never referred to in past seasons?

 

I see, figure it was something Buffy related ^^ never got into the show, just hate the genre.

 

Action/Dramedy?

 

Mystery/Super Natural