Star Wars Books Thread

[Mr Light]

I loved Legacy of the Force and Fate of the Jedi, though they had some problems of course. I thought the 9 book format was just the right length, though the first 2-3 books tended to be very time-wasting. The journey of Jacen was really well done, though the ending was terrible. And for FOTJ I really really loved the villains and it had a strong ending, but the first 3 books could easily have been done in one.

 

[Skywalker]

I couldn't stand either Legacy of the Force or Fate of the Jedi. Both stories could have been told in tight, exciting trilogies but were stretched out to nine books apiece just to make some extra money.

 

[Masiral]

I loved Legacy of the Force and Fate of the Jedi, though they had some problems of course. I thought the 9 book format was just the right length, though the first 2-3 books tended to be very time-wasting. The journey of Jacen was really well done, though the ending was terrible. And for FOTJ I really really loved the villains and it had a strong ending, but the first 3 books could easily have been done in one.

Same here - slow starts, but good overall.

LOTF's biggest problem was a lack of coordination between the three authors. Traviss wanted the Mandalorians to be a bigger part of the story than Denning and Allston did, so her entries feel out of sync with the rest (and the whole series reads better if you skip most of the Mandalorian side story).

FOTJ started slow, but after Abyss they changed plans and added in things like the slavery subplot, which really helped the series. The whole "follow Jacen's path" storyline would have better suited a series of its own, I think. But the ending was amazing.

 

[Mr Light]

I bet if they were six book series they would have been excellent throughout, though that wouldn't solve the poor ending of LOTF.

 

[Masiral]

I bet if they were six book series they would have been excellent throughout, though that wouldn't solve the poor ending of LOTF.

What didn't you like about the ending? I think it was rushed, but I enjoyed it overall.

 

[kirk55555]

Honestly, LOTF was at its best with traviss's books, although since I'm a HUGE fan of the republic commando series I'm obviously biased. Killing Mara off was BS, especially since she was killed by a character that was ruined early in NJO, so overall I think that LOTF is pretty bad, although I'll reread traviss's entries from time to time. FOTJ was ok, although I didn't like the villain, the daala stuff or the insane jedi plot.

 

[Kane2026]

'Lords of the Sith sounds juicy. We'll see'

Lords of the Sith does sound interesting until you read the entire synopsis. It reads like one of those trailers to a movie were the trailer is a lot better. The relationship between Sidious and Vader has always been a bit of a mystery, but it may not be one that I want to see explained in a cheap space opera knock-off filled with improbable events. Lords of the Sith deserves the same attention that the creators of the original Knights of The Old Republic game in 2003 gave to the Sith (an example). Proper background stories filled with mysticism. I hope Paul Kemp can deliver but I remain skeptical.

 

[Skywalker]

Paul S. Kemp hasn't disappointed me yet, so I'm still optimistic.

Although I was looking forward to Heir to the Jedi (being familiar with Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid Chronicles) and that ended up being a bit of a disappointment...

 

[DarKush]

I loved Legacy of the Force and Fate of the Jedi, though they had some problems of course. I thought the 9 book format was just the right length, though the first 2-3 books tended to be very time-wasting. The journey of Jacen was really well done, though the ending was terrible. And for FOTJ I really really loved the villains and it had a strong ending, but the first 3 books could easily have been done in one.

Same here - slow starts, but good overall.

LOTF's biggest problem was a lack of coordination between the three authors. Traviss wanted the Mandalorians to be a bigger part of the story than Denning and Allston did, so her entries feel out of sync with the rest (and the whole series reads better if you skip most of the Mandalorian side story).

FOTJ started slow, but after Abyss they changed plans and added in things like the slavery subplot, which really helped the series. The whole "follow Jacen's path" storyline would have better suited a series of its own, I think. But the ending was amazing.

I think you're on to something with LOTF and Traviss. I thought her books were well written, but I think they focused a bit too much on the Mandalorians sometimes at the expense of other characters, if I recall correctly. I also didn't like Jacen's arc. It started off cool and I thought he had great potential but then they bungled it.

As for FOTJ the villains were good as were the ties to a Dark Horse series in particular. However they threw too much stuff in there. The slavery subplot could've been a series in itself and it just felt odd and tacked on to come midway through the series. Also the political intrigue, the situation with the Jedi, all could've been the basis for series. But it was all tossed together. It made for an uneven series.

 

[Skywalker]

I also think it was a mistake to kill Jacen off. I think the story would have been better served if Jaina had cut off Jacen's connection to the Force, like what happened to Ulic Qel-Droma in the Tales of the Jedi comics.

 

[Wadjda]

I think the universe would had been batter served if the torch was truly passed after the end of the NJO.

 

[DarKush]

I also think it was a mistake to kill Jacen off. I think the story would have been better served if Jaina had cut off Jacen's connection to the Force, like what happened to Ulic Qel-Droma in the Tales of the Jedi comics.

Yes! I agree. I think they could've done some interesting things with a powerless Jacen. If it had been Jacen, Luke, and Ben on that quest in FOTJ it could've been really interesting. I mean they could've did that whole can you trust him or not thing.

 

[DarKush]

I think the universe would had been batter served if the torch was truly passed after the end of the NJO.

Definitely understand where you're coming from. However they would never let Han, Luke, and Leia go-unfortunately. I do think Han should've retired. I could see Luke and Leia still being in the books, but it felt like Han was shoehorned in.

 

[Mr Light]

I like the next gen characters a lot, but never as much as Han Luke and Leia. They were always the one I felt the strongest about and I always wanted them to be central to the story.

 

[DarKush]

^
I think that was the feeling for a lot of fans. Me, I was okay with moving on from Luke, Leia, and Han, and developing the next generation of characters. Especially moving on from Han. With Luke and Leia the Jedi connection made them more likely to be in the thick of things.

 

[Mr Light]

I might be making this up, but I think I read an interview once where they said they were positioning the next gen characters to take over the narrative in New Jedi Order and retire the Big Three, but they never got popular enough so the Big Three remained the stars to the very end. And then of course, "Crucible", written before the Disney Purchase, basically DID retire the Big Three to clear the stage for the young ones to take over.

 

[Wadjda]

I like the next gen characters a lot, but never as much as Han Luke and Leia. They were always the one I felt the strongest about and I always wanted them to be central to the story.

There was plenty of room for them between ANH and the end of NJO for more stories.

 

[DarKush]

I might be making this up, but I think I read an interview once where they said they were positioning the next gen characters to take over the narrative in New Jedi Order and retire the Big Three, but they never got popular enough so the Big Three remained the stars to the very end. And then of course, "Crucible", written before the Disney Purchase, basically DID retire the Big Three to clear the stage for the young ones to take over.

I could see them wanting to keep the Big Three prominent in terms of marketing, due to their assumed popularity. I also have to wonder how much George Lucas/Lucasfilm had a hand in keeping the Big Three prominent in the expanded universe. I've read how Lucas intervened with the character arc of Anakin Solo. And I think Anakin Solo had been set up to be the hero of the NJO and presumably the heir to Luke.

 

[Mr Light]

If I'm remembering this correctly, it was the editors running the books making the decision, not Lucas himself or anything like that.

I started re-reading the Legacy comic today. Great story and characters. It's funny to read it because it heavily features the aftermath of the Vong War a century later, while the books themselves pretty much completely ignored it after the Dark Nest trilogy

I have yet to read the second volume of Legacy II. I think I read the first issue and found it very lame compared to the excellent first story.

 

[Masiral]

I might be making this up, but I think I read an interview once where they said they were positioning the next gen characters to take over the narrative in New Jedi Order and retire the Big Three, but they never got popular enough so the Big Three remained the stars to the very end. And then of course, "Crucible", written before the Disney Purchase, basically DID retire the Big Three to clear the stage for the young ones to take over.

I could see them wanting to keep the Big Three prominent in terms of marketing, due to their assumed popularity. I also have to wonder how much George Lucas/Lucasfilm had a hand in keeping the Big Three prominent in the expanded universe. I've read how Lucas intervened with the character arc of Anakin Solo. And I think Anakin Solo had been set up to be the hero of the NJO and presumably the heir to Luke.

That was because Lucas thought people might get confused between Anakin Skywalker and Anakin Solo. The intention originally was to kill off Jacen, which was changed to Anakin, with Jacen then set up to be the hero and Luke's heir, which then changed to Ben when Jacen became Darth Caedus.