The High Republic: A more civilized age...

Discussion in 'Star Wars' started by Nightowl1701, Feb 25, 2020.

  1. kirk55555

    kirk55555 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    The new canon lost any chance of me ever keeping an open mind right in the beginning, and constant disappointment since then hasn't helped.

    Well, since the comic and the Charles Soule book are the only things I'm willing to read, I certainly hope his book is the main attraction to the High Republic event/line.
     
  2. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Just posting a reminder that The Light of The Jedi, A Test of Courage, and The Great Jedi Rescue are all coming out on Tuesday. The first issue of the Marvel comic is also coming out on Wednesday.
     
  3. BillJ

    BillJ The King of Kings Premium Member

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  4. fireproof78

    fireproof78 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Am I missing something? The VR was set in Galaxy's Edge with a flash back to the High Republic era.
     
  5. BillJ

    BillJ The King of Kings Premium Member

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    Ah, okay. I didn't have all the info.
     
  6. fireproof78

    fireproof78 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    No problem. I reread the article twice to make sure I didn't miss something.
     
  7. Allyn Gibson

    Allyn Gibson Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I got Light of the Jedi at work on Wednesday; I didn't know it was street-dated for this week. I've read about a third of it. I'll give some impressions behind a spoiler tag...

    I'm a casual Star Wars fan at best, so the first third of the book is bewildering. Not because it's introducing a whole new cast of characters -- and the circumstances of the opening third of the book do serve that function well -- but I'm not conversant in which species is which or what the properties of Tibanna gas are, and occasionally I needed to remind myself that Star Wars is not hard science-fiction. (In the back of my mind, I was screaming, "What about the delta-v? What about the delta-v!")

    The set-up -- on the eve of the opening a space station (the Starflight Beacon) that will serve as an outpost for Republic law and values at the edge of the frontier (think Deep Space Nine or Babylon 5), an accident in hyperspace causes a starship to break apart and its debris, moving at near-light velocities when it emerges from hyperspace, threatens several worlds in the Outer Rim. The Jedi respond to a planetary distress call and, in true Star Trek competence porn fashion, deal with the problem. Through this, we are introduced to a whole lot of Jedi characters -- who they are, what their power sets are, how the react under pressure, etc. We see some Jedi on ships, we see Jedi on away teams, we see Jedi working with the locals, etc.

    My references to Star Trek aren't misplaced here; while Picard would have solved the problem with tech to implement the strategy he worked out in his head and with his crew, the Jedi solve it with the Force to do the same thing -- they think, they collaborate, they put it into action. The Jedi, at least in the first third of the book, are the Starfleet to the Republic's Federation -- the goers and doers, an inspiration and a light in the galaxy.

    A third of the way into the book, things change. We meet the Nihil -- the overarching threat, as I understand it -- sort of. The action shifts to Coruscant. Now the clock is ticking -- will Babylon 5... I mean, Starlight Beacon, begin operations on time?

    Soule's writing is fine, though the line from Amadeus -- "too many notes" -- would not be amiss. I'm not completely gripped by this.

    I'll read a couple more chapters before watching a streaming concert tonight.
     
  8. Tuskin38

    Tuskin38 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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  9. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I haven't watched the launch event yet, but some announcements from it have been revealed in a news story on StarWars.com.
    • Star Wars Insider will feature a series of short stories called Starlight Stories
    • Cavan Scott is writting a graphic novel called The Monster of Temple Peak, with art by Rachel Stott
    • Justina Ireland is writing a YA novel called Out of the Shadows featuring Vernestr Rwoh, Reath Silas, and Avon Starros, who I believe are all featured in one of the first batch of books.
    • Daniel Jose Older is writing a middle grade novel called Race to Crashpoint Tower
    • Viz Media is going to be releasing Star Wars manga, starting with a The High Republic graphic novel, The Edge of Balance, with a story by Justina Ireland and Shima Shinya, and art by Mizuki Sakakibara.
    • They are going to be doing a bi-monthly show called Star Wars The High Republic Show, hosted by Krystina Arielle, that will feature behind the scenes content with the creators of the books and comics.
    • They also revealed that what we are going to be getting over the next year or two is just the first of at least three phases, each of which got it's own name.
    1. Phase I: Light of the Jedi
    2. Phase II: Quest of the Jedi
    3. Phase III: Trials of the Jedi
    • Everything we've heard about so far is part of Light of the Jedi, so it looks like each one will take at least a couple years.
     
  10. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Just a reminder, Light of the Jedi and A Test of Courage came out yesterday, and now the first issue of Marvel's The High Republic comic is out today.
     
  11. fireproof78

    fireproof78 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I had read that the YA novel has possible spoilers for Light of the Jedi so bear that in mind for reading order.
     
  12. Enterprise is Great

    Enterprise is Great Vice Admiral Admiral

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    There’s some very nasty videos on YouTube that are bashing the High Republic as woke SJW garbage. I don’t think many of these youtubers have even read a single word of the first book. It’s just really annoying how people just trash stuff without even reading the book.
     
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  13. Allyn Gibson

    Allyn Gibson Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Thinking about it, the book is pretty close to gender balanced. It's a "cast of thousands" kind of thing -- dozens, really -- and there are women who are the leads in some plots and men who are the leads in others. Two of the major characters -- the main Jedi and the Republic Chancellor -- are both women. I didn't even realize that until I thought about it now, because why is it something to notice? Guess there are some people who don't like girl cooties in their Star Wars fiction.
     
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  14. thribs

    thribs Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I don’t mind that. We had male bosses in the movie era, why not female here? I would have done the same thing if I was writing it.
     
  15. valkyrie013

    valkyrie013 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    They had Mon Mothma as head of the Alliance...? She was a woman wasn't she??
    Some People, usually Tubers just want to see the world burn just to get hits.. Ugh..
     
  16. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I believe by the time we get to Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Leia was also pretty high up in the Rebellion's hierarchy.
     
  17. fireproof78

    fireproof78 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    It's just anger for attention. Ignored.
     
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  18. CorporalClegg

    CorporalClegg Admiral Admiral

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    I am a little lukewarm on this but certainly much more interested than I am the Cassian show.
     
  19. Allyn Gibson

    Allyn Gibson Vice Admiral Admiral

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    So does the first issue of the comic, which takes place near and alongside the end of the novel. The comic is fine, though it benefits if you've read the novel as you'll have context for a couple of scenes and some dialogue early on will make more sense.
     
  20. thribs

    thribs Vice Admiral Admiral

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    The YA novel and comic didn’t come out here in the uk. Probably because of the global bastard. I’ll wait for them.