Star Wars Books Thread

[fireproof78]

Not sure I buy the cult analogy. Most Imperials aren't even what I'd call fanatics. Misguided patriots at best, opportunistic sociopaths at worst. Most are somewhere in the middle, typically venial and cowardly self-serving climbers. Remember that the Empire is a machine designed to encourage greed, corruption and make sure the mid-level players are too busy feuding with each other to pose a threat to the Emperor or allow anyone able to affect real change from climbing too high.

In the case of 'Inferno Squad' I think most earnestly believe in the rightness and necessity of what they do and mostly for good reason. They really wouldn't be very interesting (or all that well written!) characters if they were just unabashedly evil.

That's the information I grew up with from several different SW sources, and the like. I get that it isn't canon anymore, but the idea that the Empire was always cowardly and greedy without "true believers" in terms of the Emperor's power is one that I question. There may have been very few of them, and, like I said, the vast majority might be more of the "Admiral Motti" or the infighting moffs, but I also think that cult status could be achieved among some more elite units.

 

[David cgc]

This discussion is just reminding me that, in the video game TIE Fighter, if you performed well enough you joined a literal cult dedicated to the Emperor. Robes and glowing tattoos and everything.

 

[Ithekro]

Aside from that the old EU had COMPNOR with canon having it now as well (Commission for the Peservation of the New Order) which included the ISB, as the not so secret police and various agencies to make them very late 1930s era Germany inspired.

 

[Reverend]

That's the information I grew up with from several different SW sources, and the like. I get that it isn't canon anymore, but the idea that the Empire was always cowardly and greedy without "true believers" in terms of the Emperor's power is one that I question. There may have been very few of them, and, like I said, the vast majority might be more of the "Admiral Motti" or the infighting moffs, but I also think that cult status could be achieved among some more elite units.

The Red Guard maybe and whatever the deal is with Vaneé can probably fall under that category. I'm not sure the elite Death Troopers really count since it's implied they've had "things" done to them to ensure loyalty and obedience.
Even so, we're only talking about a group of people in the dozens, or hundreds at most in an Empire of *quintillions*. It's certainly not typical, nor could it really even be said to be the Emperor's powerbase or means of control. Just the ones closest to his person.

That's not even a safety concern since we know full well he can handle himself, I tend to think it's mostly just a matter of convenience. Less distracting to be surrounded by utterly loyal and devoted servants who *aren't* attempting to assassinate you every five minutes. That and secrecy, since even after he took power he was still careful to hide the fact that he was a Sith.

As for the rest of the leadership being greedy, power hungry little so-and-sos: that idea goes way back to the early drafts of Star Wars (in the form of "greedy trader barons"), was still present in the novelization and doesn't appear to have been significantly changed in the new canon. Just look at how the likes of Tarkin, Pryce and Krennic rose to power. Mostly though ruthless backstabbing. Or I suppose I should say being *more* ruthless and backstabbing than the competition since the Moffs are always at it.

Also note how there's a huge amount of overlap in power, responsibility and jurisdiction at the mid-level? At certain points it seems military and government positions are interchangeable, the ISB and the NIA share an ecosystem and probably expend as much resources watching each other as the populous. All this is by design. It keeps any one mid-operator from being able to accumulate enough power to threaten the Emperor's grip on the throne and ensure that if anyone tries, they get eaten alive by the competition.

 

[fireproof78]

The Red Guard maybe and whatever the deal is with Vaneé can probably fall under that category. I'm not sure the elite Death Troopers really count since it's implied they've had "things" done to them to ensure loyalty and obedience.
Even so, we're only talking about a group of people in the dozens, or hundreds at most in an Empire of *quintillions*. It's certainly not typical, nor could it really even be said to be the Emperor's powerbase or means of control. Just the ones closest to his person.

That's not even a safety concern since we know full well he can handle himself, I tend to think it's mostly just a matter of convenience. Less distracting to be surrounded by utterly loyal and devoted servants who *aren't* attempting to assassinate you every five minutes. That and secrecy, since even after he took power he was still careful to hide the fact that he was a Sith.

As for the rest of the leadership being greedy, power hungry little so-and-sos: that idea goes way back to the early drafts of Star Wars (in the form of "greedy trader barons"), was still present in the novelization and doesn't appear to have been significantly changed in the new canon. Just look at how the likes of Tarkin, Pryce and Krennic rose to power. Mostly though ruthless backstabbing. Or I suppose I should say being *more* ruthless and backstabbing than the competition since the Moffs are always at it.

Also note how there's a huge amount of overlap in power, responsibility and jurisdiction at the mid-level? At certain points it seems military and government positions are interchangeable, the ISB and the NIA share an ecosystem and probably expend as much resources watching each other as the populous. All this is by design. It keeps any one mid-operator from being able to accumulate enough power to threaten the Emperor's grip on the throne and ensure that if anyone tries, they get eaten alive by the competition.

No argument here

 

[JD]

I read the Star Wars # 19, the second Journal Of Obi-Wan issue, and it was pretty good to. It was kind of cool seeing Obi-Wan secretly helping Luke again, and the confrontation between him and Owen was a pretty good scene. It's also been interesting getting to get into Obi-Wan's head as he tries to get used to his exile on Tatooine.

 

[Tuskin38]

Outside of the Infinities series and the Mara Jade/Emperor's Hand comics, I haven't actually read any Legends comics.

I know there hundreds of them, but are there any suggestions? I'm going to start Dark Empire.

 

[JD]

I've read and enjoyed some of the Knights of the Old Republic series, which takes place several thousand years before the Original Trilogy and ties pretty significantly into the KTOR games, and Legacy, which follows Luke's great-times-something grandson 100+ years after the OT. Of the two I did like Legacy just a bit more, but I wholeheartedly recommend both series.
I've also read some of the trades of the pre-TV series Clone Wars comics that were pretty good.

 

[WebLurker]

Outside of the Infinities series and the Mara Jade/Emperor's Hand comics, I haven't actually read any Legends comics.

I know there hundreds of them, but are there any suggestions? I'm going to start Dark Empire.

Never read Dark Empire, but I've heard good things about it. To get the full story, you do have to read the sequel comics miniseries, Dark Empire II and Empire's End. As I understand it, those are not so good, sad to say.

I'm a huge fan of the Knight Errant comics. The whole series is collected into three trade paperbacks, Aflame, Deluge, and Escape (in that order). There's also a novel, just called "Knight Errant" that is set between Aflame and Deluge that you should read for the full story.

If you like Ewoks, the Ewoks: Shadows of Endor digest is a fun little prequel story that acts a bit like a finale for the old Ewoks cartoon, while bridging the gap between it, the Ewok TV movies and ROTJ. (It avoids the silly aspects of the cartoon, while remaining something you can share with your children or young relatives.)

If you liked the Genndy Tartakovsky Clone Wars micro series, Dark Horse also did ten digest books based on that art and story style, Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures. I thought they were decent, which is saying something, since I don't like the Tartakovsky cartoon it was based on.

Star Wars Tales was also really cool; It was an anthology series that had various short stories, from serious to funny, to parody. Some were meant to be canon within Legends, others were just "for the fun of it."

Visonaries was a fun trade paperback. Like Tales, it was an anthology of short stories set in various time periods. There was more emphasis on the art (it was produced by concept artists from ROTS who were given free reign to write and illustrate whatever they wanted). Some stories are canon, others may not be. It is worth reading if nothing else for the non-canon "Old Wounds" story that was a heavy inspiration for Maul's roles in The Clone Wars and Rebels.

I've only seen bits and pieces of them, but the Infinities of ANH, ESB, and ROTJ were pretty interesting. They imagined what could've happened had a pivotal moment in each movie gone differently (they're not sequels to each other, so each one assumes that the previous movies happened as they did onscreen).

 

[Ithekro]

Dark Empire is good, though it is a bit over the top on some things. While bits and pieces of it were mentioned in various novels set after those events, it is mostly ignored by the majority of the old EU authors.

 

[Reverend]

I know it's not actually intended as such, but I like to view 'Dark Empire' as more of a "what if" type story than an integral part of a larger narrative. Mind you, for all the perpetual status quo of the rest of the post RotJ EU, the same can be said for majority of such works.

Outside of the Infinities series and the Mara Jade/Emperor's Hand comics, I haven't actually read any Legends comics.

I know there hundreds of them, but are there any suggestions? I'm going to start Dark Empire.

I'd say check out the 'Tales of the Jedi' books. It's a nice departure from the source material while still honouring it and I just love the almost Conan-like fantasy aesthetic the world has. Fair warning though, while it starts off strong, it just sort of tails off near the end with some of the more promising characters never feeling like they fulfilled their potential. (*cough*NomiSunrider*cough*) Also, there's something very screwy with the pacing of the 'Golden Age of the Sith' book. Like you get the feeling the story was meant to take place over the course of a decade or two, yet since they crammed it all into six issues it's more like a couple months at most.

 

[JD]

I've flipped through the previews of Dark Empire a couple times, but the weird one color art just bugs me to the point that I haven't been able to get myself to buy and read it.

 

[Reverend]

I've flipped through the previews of Dark Empire a couple times, but the weird one color art just bugs me to the point that I haven't been able to get myself to buy and read it.

You get used to it, and after a while you probably won't even notice it anymore. It's like watching an old black and white movie...or reading 'The Walking Dead'.

 

[Ithekro]

Lots or purples and greens in that comic.

 

[JD]

I used my birthday Amazon digital gift card to get the Kindle version of Rebel Rising and some other non-Star Wars books and comic. I just watch RO yesterday and that made me really want to learn more about Jyn.

 

[WebLurker]

I used my birthday Amazon digital gift card to get the Kindle version of Rebel Rising and some other non-Star Wars books and comic. I just watch RO yesterday and that made me really want to learn more about Jyn.

If that's the case, the novelization and Marvel comic adaptation of Rogue One would be worthwhile reads (a lot of new material; the novelization in particular gets into Jyn's head and there's a lot going on in there). The Catalyst prequel novel also has some interesting tidbits, although its more about her parents and Krennic. The main Marvel Star Wars comic series also has a storyline in the works were Luke and company go to Jedah and learn about what Jyn and the others did in R1.

 

[JD]

Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm going to read all of that stuff eventually, but Rebel Rising was the one I found myself most interested in at the moment.
Was Catalyst any good? I thought I remembered it getting kind of a "meh" reaction when it came out.

 

[Reverend]

Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm going to read all of that stuff eventually, but Rebel Rising was the one I found myself most interested in at the moment.
Was Catalyst any good? I thought I remembered it getting kind of a "meh" reaction when it came out.

It's a good book in it's own right, but it's a great compliment to the movie as it adds some valuable context to Jyn, Galen & Krennic's motivations. It also has these neat little supplements in the form of Galen's dispatches that show how he snuck in the design flaws.

If you've not read either yet, then I'd recommend reading them in chronological order: so 'Catalyst' first, then 'Rebel Rising' and finally the Rogue One novelization. It's like a mini Star Wars Saga of it's own beginning with Jyn's birth and ending with her death.

 

[WebLurker]

Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm going to read all of that stuff eventually, but Rebel Rising was the one I found myself most interested in at the moment.
Was Catalyst any good? I thought I remembered it getting kind of a "meh" reaction when it came out.

I thought it was pretty good. It is more of a character study, though, than an action story.

It also has these neat little supplements in the form of Galen's dispatches that show how he snuck in the design flaws.

That's actually in the novelization, not Catalyst.

If you've not read either yet, then I'd recommend reading them in chronological order: so 'Catalyst' first, then 'Rebel Rising' and finally the Rogue One novelization. It's like a mini Star Wars Saga of it's own beginning with Jyn's birth and ending with her death.

Good idea. One way to get the full effect would be to read Catalyst, then the Rogue One novelization prologue (pp. 3 - 18) which covers Galen Erso's capture, then Rebel Rising, the the rest of the Rogue One novelization. That puts all the pieces together in order.

 

[Reverend]

That's actually in the novelization, not Catalyst.

Which just goes to show how much these three books have blurred together in my brain!