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

Lit Reading NJO...Again

Discussion in 'Literature' started by spicewood, Sep 17, 2017.

  1. spicewood

    spicewood Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Jun 26, 2007
    That's the goal. My friends recently sent me the entire series digitally. My books are all in the US and spread around from the parents house, old apartments and places I deployed to but didn't have room to pack up. Some of the books I've purchased multiple times (Traitor maybe five times) and some I never bought. I was in college when I started reading the series and the hardcovers were quite expensive on my budget, so I would go to a bookstore (those were still a thing then) buy a coffee and read a few chapters. I'd note where I left off and return later to continue. Destiny's Way was done like that if I remember correctly.


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  2. kalzeth

    kalzeth Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Aug 26, 2017
    I found the series dragged on, but honestly the big deaths were really done and I never felt anyone was safe after that.

    I do agree on the Han reaction. Other standout moments for me was Corran's battle vs the vong and the raid where A died.


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  3. Force Smuggler

    Force Smuggler Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    Who else from the SW universe would everyone have liked to see have a story in the NJO series?
     
  4. spicewood

    spicewood Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Jun 26, 2007
    Would have been great to get Katarn and Korr more involved.


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  5. Force Smuggler

    Force Smuggler Force Ghost star 7

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    Sep 2, 2012
    I'd like to see some of the more obscure Rebel and Imperial characters.
    Maybe get some books about the Mando's.
     
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  6. spicewood

    spicewood Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Jun 26, 2007
    Corran's duel was great, but thought his navel gazing afterward unnecessary, just an excuse to sideline him.


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  7. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    Parts of it are via flashbacks. Reason for mentioning it is it's one of the few SW books that actually acts as if NJO happened!

    I'm far, far from being a big NJO fan - JediMatteus has the claim to that, with some strong competition from Force Smuggler - they spent 5 years putting out 19 books and saw it all the way to end, then suddenly did a 180 degree flip away immediately after the finale, which was dumb, follow through on what you've done.

    Hence Legacy, because it does truly excellent stuff with the Vong and Jedi, which in turn reverberates backwards to give NJO a boost.
     
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  8. SWpants

    SWpants Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 28, 2004
    Harumph it's fiction it wasn't needed


    spicewood I agree that 1. Han's reaction over Chewie's death, especially given how he was after Anakin's death and Jacen's abduction, was overdone.
    2. I wonder if Mara+ meeting Nom Anor was in an "Insider" SS or a comic since it wasn't in any "novel-like" SS

    I think the Yuuzhan Vong were perfect antagonists, something the verse and fandom needed.

    I don't associate any music with most books
     
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  9. anakinfansince1983

    anakinfansince1983 Skywalker Saga/LFL/YJCC Manager star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Mar 4, 2011
    I loved the Vong, I thought they were some of the most convincing and scariest villains the universe has had. It is difficult to win a victory over a villain who loves pain and is not afraid to die.
     
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  10. spicewood

    spicewood Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Jun 26, 2007
    True, and the lesson of pain learned by Jacen was brilliantly demonstrated by Stover's Traitor. Brilliant book, that.


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  11. spicewood

    spicewood Jedi Master star 2

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    Jun 26, 2007
    The YV were handled really well throughout and I especially like how, in the end, they were tragically led astray really and were not eradicated.


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  12. comradepitrovsky

    comradepitrovsky Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 5, 2017
    I actually wish I could find the release threads from the various LOTF books on here - without them being cut off - to see what the responses were at the time. I was reading Star Wars but not really into the fandom, and while I distinctly remember seeing all of them at the book store as they came out, and thinking that Invincible had some kickass cover art, I wasn't reading or buying them.
     
  13. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    Well, I'll say this, I'm not sure about their response to LOTF but for FotJ:

    I was convinced, absolutely convinced that Apocalypse would break Sinrebirth. It got close but no cigar.

    @Havac's reviews became legendary for utterly eviscerating each volume. It didn't matter if you were or weren't reading the series, on the final volumes you could feel Hav's pain as he'd read the volume he reviewed.
     
  14. Dr. Steve Brule

    Dr. Steve Brule Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 7, 2012
    One interesting thing about Chewie's death is that RA Salvatore has said that if it were up to him, he would have killed Lando instead of Chewie. And apparently he never learned until years later that it actually was up to him - the basic story outline he was given had Chewie dying, so he assumed that was set in stone, but he actually could have changed it.

    Also according to Salvatore, he was brought in to write Vector Prime very late in development, when the original author (who he didn't specify who it was) bowed out/was fired at the last minute.
     
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  15. Pacified_llama

    Pacified_llama Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Sep 15, 2017
    That seems to imply then that the environment to write in was already so corporately sign-posted that the idea that Salvatore would have free reign appeared remote to him.

    Vector Prime alreadys read for me like an extended teaser trailer of a movie. Throw as many ideas / opportunities out there as possible, but clamp down on the development. Great opener - though I've always thought the continuity doesn't exactly line up to the rest of the series.

    On other matters - it's pretty well established for many that their appreciation for the NJO was tarnished by the post-TUF Denningverse. We probably would have had the same result if, instead of Lucas having released the Prequels in '99, he made a sequel instead - and then the mythos of the originals would have been retroactively weakened. Though you can argue that either way.

    Quick answer - ignore it... but that removes at least 20 novels from play, all of which aggressively try to tie in the continuity of the NJO in one way or another.
     
  16. The Supreme Chancellor

    The Supreme Chancellor Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 4, 2012
    Traitor is the consummate philosophical exploration of the Force, and a simply brilliant work of fiction. It should be required reading in high school.
     
  17. comradepitrovsky

    comradepitrovsky Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 5, 2017
    Do you have a link to any of those reviews?
     
  18. Pacified_llama

    Pacified_llama Jedi Master star 3

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    Sep 15, 2017
    It's a model case of 'take away the sci-fi label/content and it would be a classic'.

    You could say this about a bunch of sci-fi - though I'll admit Traitor is about as close as Star Wars comes to brushing truly substantial themes.
    Mostly because, again as LOTF etc. proved, it's not just fans who prefer the actions scenes, it's the authors too!
     
  19. comradepitrovsky

    comradepitrovsky Jedi Master star 4

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    Jan 5, 2017
    Because Traitor is lifting liberally from the Greek classics. Nothing bad about that, but underworld stories are common for a reason...
     
  20. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    Nope, but it probably wouldn't be hard to find as I think all of FotJ had an official review thread.

    If the board search engine doesn't work, the dark side of the Force (Google) probably will.
     
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  21. Pacified_llama

    Pacified_llama Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Sep 15, 2017
    I like how Stover went beyond themes and ideas - there's also a whole lot of imagery lifted direct from Aeneid VI then appropriately modified to fit the Star Wars context.
    The whole plot of the first of the novel has a serialised feel - as Jacen encounters elements of the 'underworld' piece by piece.
     
  22. spicewood

    spicewood Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Jun 26, 2007
    I remember enjoying Sinrebirth's fan fic during the LotF arc. I also remember reading FotJ and thinking that it came nowhere near what I had hoped would shed some light on Jacen's little trip. Just read like an itinerary and a few new Force powers then...Abeloth happened. Perhaps I had unrealistic expectations for the sojourn, but FotJ left me wanting and then it was all Legends soon after, so I'll take Sinrebirth's fan fic from FotJ period instead, if there is any.


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  23. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    In fairness, I didn't really turn on LOTF until the end. They still had enough goodwill going that I was willing to believe that they would pull off an ending. It was really only between Revelation and Invincible that I soured on the direction of the series, and Invincible, by totally failing to pull off the ending, sealed the deal. It wasn't until I went back later, with a fresh reread of the NJO and much better critical perspective, that I appreciated how badly DNT and LOTF had been executed. FOTJ, yeah, I held out some hope as of Outcast, which I genuinely liked and thought gave the series a great premise to work with, but it immediately became apparent they weren't going to fulfill any of that potential. You actually have to wait till halfway through for me to actually start eviscerating the series, though.
     
  24. Point_Of_View

    Point_Of_View Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    May 23, 2017
    I recently started the NJO after years of thinking about reading it, and I'm currently about to start the fifth book (Jedi Eclipse). Vector Prime was great, but outside of a few standout chapters I was nonplussed by the Dark Tide duology.
    Hero's Trial was fun though, and gave me a renewed interest in the series.
    I might read Rogue Planet somewhere in there as well.
     
  25. Jeff_Ferguson

    Jeff_Ferguson Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    May 15, 2006
    Reading Rogue Planet next wouldn't be a bad idea, if you can. It was released around the same time as Agents of Chaos, and it follows up with Vergere, so it would be akin to a c. 2000 reading experience where you're picking them up at the bookstore in the order that was intended. Read it before Traitor, though, for sure.