So What Are you Reading?: Generations

[Fer]

I finished Persistence of Memory and have started Imperial Commando: 501st. Next up is Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight.

[Drago-Kazov]

Hoping to finish before the new book is out?

[Fer]

Drago-Kazov wrote:

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Hoping to finish before the new book is out?

Yep. Now that Episode VII has been announced I've kicked my Star Wars reading into high gear in the hopes of getting caught up before the new movie renders them completely inconsistent. And plus this gives me the added bonus of being ready for the fourth book in the Coruscant Nights series when it comes out.

[Drago-Kazov]

I had the opposite reaction. I am not playing Swtor, despite the fact that i waited months for the free to play option.

[JD]

I'm also getting ready to get back to my SW books which I haven't read in ages. Although for me it's the new season of The Clone Wars that got me into the mood for more SW, and the announcement of the new movie has only strengthened that desire.

[Drago-Kazov]

THe EU was finallz better then ever, then the news came...

[Fer]

Drago-Kazov wrote:

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THe EU was finallz better then ever, then the news came...

That's the thing, I've really been enjoying the Star Wars Expanded Universe from the books and comics too. (Never had the time to get in to the video games.) And after my initial shock, I'm even okay now that the EU as I know it may become an "alternate universe." But I'd rather finish reading it all before the new film contradicts it, so that I can enjoy each on their own without the contradictions pulling me out of the story.

[zarkon]

Rereading the excellent Sharpe's Fortress.

Need something neeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

[bbailey861]

Just getting ready to open Brinkmanship.

[Christopher]

Fer wrote:

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But I'd rather finish reading it all before the new film contradicts it, so that I can enjoy each on their own without the contradictions pulling me out of the story.

I found long ago that the best way to avoid letting contradictions pull you out of the story is simply to accept that it's a story -- to abandon the conceit that it's somehow "real" in any way and just accept it as a piece of entertainment. There are Trek novels/comics that I accept as part of the "real" universe and others that I just consider pure fiction set in that universe, and I don't enjoy the latter any less. In fact, in recent years I find that I often gravitate more toward rereading the books/comics that aren't in continuity as I see it, since there's less baggage attached (keeping track of the continuity is too much like my work).

So just think of the Star Wars stories contradicted by the movies or The Clone Wars as "historical fiction," as it were. If you can enjoy reading a Sherlock Holmes story with the full knowledge that there never really was a Sherlock Holmes or Dr. Watson in the real late 19th-century England, then there's no reason you can't enjoy an ST or SW novel depicting a version of events that didn't "really" happen in the canonical universe.

[Drago-Kazov]

So just think of the Star Wars stories contradicted by the movies or The Clone Wars as "historical fiction," as it were. If you can enjoy reading a Sherlock Holmes story with the full knowledge that there never really was a Sherlock Holmes or Dr. Watson in the real late 19th-century England, then there's no reason you can't enjoy an ST or SW novel depicting a version of events that didn't "really" happen in the canonical universe.

I am pretty sure if Godfather 2 would had contradicted the first movie people would had benn pissed fiction oir not.

I am pretty sure even the game respects its continuity.

[Fer]

Drago-Kazov wrote:

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I am pretty sure if Godfather 2 would had contradicted the first movie people would had benn pissed fiction oir not.

I am pretty sure even the game respects its continuity.

Well, Godfather 2 and The Godfather are both movies, so it's not really the same thing. I don't expect a media tie-in to be as consistent as a film sequel.

I agree with you in principle Christopher, and for the most part I'm able to do that just fine. I would love to see the Commando series completed, even though it's a totally different interpretation of Mandalore than we saw in The Clone Wars TV series. As you say, it's all just fiction, and my goal is just to be entertained.

But I do find that I often still get that brief uncontrollable moment of jarring reaction when the out-of-date item first comes up. I can shrug it off and still enjoy the story just fine on its own merits, but it still took me out of the story for that brief moment. So I decided I wanted to get caught up on the Star Wars books and reduce the number of those moments while I can.

And besides that, I don't think I've been caught up on Star Wars books since Darksaber in 1995, so it would be nice to be caught up for a fresh start with the new trilogy.

[Smellincoffee]

Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier, Neil DeGrasse Tyson.


Halfway through he stated that he can't speak for all "Trekkers". No, Neil, you certainly can't, considering that some of us prefer Trekkie...

[Snaploud]

I finished re-reading the main series Honor Harrington books. I'm now reading Nate Silver's book The Signal and the Noise.

[Defcon]

Currently reading Wolverine: Road of Bones by David Mack.