Star Wars Novels/Graphic Novels

[Maia]

Very interesting. Leia's parentage gets leaked by Snoke/The First Order and it ends her political career in the New Republic? Intriguing premise. Not a fan of tie-ins, but I might be tempted to try this one, if it has good buzz.

It is also promising to hear that they may  be considering exploring Leia's relationship with Ben and her reaction to his fall in the movies, rather than quietly side-lining/killing her. I found Ben's focus on daddy issues (like, for  a zillionth time in entertainment and even SW itself) slightly grating in TFA.

I have recently had a couple of hours to kill and luckily a big bookstore to do it in ;), so I stumbled on a comic made from an early script of Star Wars - the one where Han Solo was  an alien and Luke Skywalker an older man, celebrated general and Jedi master of a young protagonist called Annikin. Very sexist, of course - proto-Leia was quite useless in every respect, albeit a heir to the throne over her kid brothers,  and she was the only woman with halfway significant presence, while there were even more heroic bad-ass dudes than in the films.

But interesting in some other areas, particularly re: how many of  these early ideas made their way into  OT and even PT. Like, movie Vader was an amalgamation of 3 proto-characters, and although his arc in the OT was full of ret-cons, it turns out that the end result was just a near-perfect fusion of the arcs of the 3 proto-characters that he was based on to begin with. Etc.

[Calibandar]

Synopsis for New Republic Bloodline:

 

Quote

From the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Lost Stars comes a thrilling novel set in the years before the events of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

WITNESS THE BIRTH OF THE RESISTANCE
 
When the Rebellion defeated the Empire in the skies above Endor, Leia Organa believed it was the beginning to a lasting peace. But after decades of vicious infighting and partisan gridlock in the New Republic Senate, that hope seems like a distant memory.
 
Now a respected senator, Leia must grapple with the dangers that threaten to cripple the fledgling democracy—from both within and without. Underworld kingpins, treacherous politicians, and Imperial loyalists are sowing chaos in the galaxy. Desperate to take action, senators are calling for the election of a First Senator. It is their hope that this influential post will bring strong leadership to a divided galaxy. 
 
As the daughter of Darth Vader, Leia faces with distrust the prospect of any one person holding such a powerful position—even when supporters suggest Leia herself for the job. But a new enemy may make this path Leia’s only option. For at the edges of the galaxy, a mysterious threat is growing. . .

 

[Spaßvogel]

 

For those who have read Twilight Company, check out some of the "Outer Rim" videos from the Star Wars: Battlefront video game.  If you had trouble picturing Sullust, there are some new Sullust maps that are built around a factory.  The main Sullust map even seems to be on a volcano. 

[First of My Name]

On ‎24‎-‎3‎-‎2016 at 11:16 AM, Calibandar said:

Synopsis for New Republic Bloodline:

Sounds interesting, I'm keeping my eye out for this one.

[Magnar of Skagos]

Picked up some Golden Age of the Sith comics at Toronto comic con. Been looking for these for a while

[Joe Pesci]

There's a new novel announced for October I believe, following Ashoka Tano and her adventures from TCW to her becoming Fulcrum and her initial involvement in the Rebellion with Bail Organa. 

[Calibandar]

5 hours ago, Joe Pesci said:

There's a new novel announced for October I believe, following Ashoka Tano and her adventures from TCW to her becoming Fulcrum and her initial involvement in the Rebellion with Bail Organa. 

Maybe it is this one, billed as a Rogue One prequel?

http://www.amazon.com/Catalyst-Star-Wars-Rogue-Story/dp/0345511492/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1459498666&sr=1-5

[Joe Pesci]

http://makingstarwars.net/2016/03/ahsoka-tano-novel-announced-for-october-2016/

Here's the link for it. October will be a busy month for SW books it seems.

[Calibandar]

Synopsis for Chuck Wendig's second book in his trilogy, due July 19th

 

Quote

Set between the events of Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, the never-before-told story that began with Star Wars: Aftermath continues in this thrilling novel, the second book of Chuck Wendig’s New York Times bestselling trilogy.

The Emperor is dead, and the remnants of his former Empire are in retreat. As the New Republic fights to restore a lasting peace to the galaxy, some dare to imagine new beginnings and new destinies. For Han Solo, that means settling his last outstanding debt, by helping Chewbacca liberate the Wookiee’s homeworld of Kashyyyk.
 
Meanwhile, Norra Wexley and her band of Imperial hunters pursue Grand Admiral Rae Sloane and the Empire’s remaining leadership across the galaxy. Even as more and more officers are brought to justice, Sloane continues to elude the New Republic, and Norra fears Sloane may be searching for a means to save the crumbling Empire from oblivion. But the hunt for Sloane is cut short when Norra receives an urgent request from Princess Leia Organa. The attempt to liberate Kashyyyk has carried Han Solo, Chewbacca, and a band of smugglers into an ambush—resulting in Chewie’s capture and Han’s disappearance.
 
Breaking away from their official mission and racing toward Kashyyyk, Norra and her crew prepare for any challenge that stands between them and their missing comrades. But they can’t anticipate the true depth of the danger that awaits them—or the ruthlessness of the enemy drawing them into his crosshairs.

 

[Joe Pesci]

Interesting premise, but unfortunately I'll have to get used to reading 5 word sentences again...

[Darth Richard II]

Or don't buy it or read it because the author is a shitshow.

[First of My Name]

The liberation of Kashyyyk sounds like a story I'd love to read about, but the mere preview of Aftermath was enough to turn me off Wendig (and the reviews didn't do him any favors either).

[Maia]

Hm, this info about "Bloodlines" sounds really enticing :

http://www.starwars.com/news/8-reasons-star-wars-bloodline-will-be-essential-reading?cmp=smc|448013539&linkId=23885603

But beyond some very few things I have been only disappointed by tie-ins of any stripe so far... Must stay strong.

[Joe Pesci]

Anyone reading Bloodlines yet? I'm about halfway through it, not your typical SW book, more of a politically oriented story but good nonetheless. Haven't gotten to any big revelations or anything in it, but does say what Han and Chewie are up to at the time.

[Spaßvogel]

 

I'm about two-thirds through.  It's okay so far, but the political stuff is a bit repetitive to me.  Finally getting to the meat of it.  Someone's finally mentioned the First Order.

[Calibandar]

On 7-5-2016 at 4:02 AM, Joe Pesci said:

Anyone reading Bloodlines yet? I'm about halfway through it, not your typical SW book, more of a politically oriented story but good nonetheless. Haven't gotten to any big revelations or anything in it, but does say what Han and Chewie are up to at the time.

I'm going to give this a pass. I wasn't that excited when the synopsis came out and I've read several reviews not, indicating pretty much what you guys are mentioning as well. I don't think I'm going to enjoy this even a bit. Which is a shame given how limited the number of new canon SW books is.

[Spaßvogel]

Yeah, I've made a commitment to read all of the new canon novels, but some of them are a bit of a slog.  I just don't think Claudia Grey was the right author to produce what should have been a political thriller.  Bloodline is a lot of meetings and talking, broken up a bit by some action.  There are very few characters from any of the movies.  In fact other than Leia, the only characters from The Force Awakens are Temmin (Snap) Wexley, and Korr Sella.  (The latter was her envoy who was killed when the First Order blew up Hosnian Prime).  C3PO is around, and Han Solo shows up a couple times but only via space-Skype.

I think the actual amount of back story that's relevant to The Force Awakens would have taken up about 10 pages at most.  It would have been far more interesting if Leia had seen the need for the resistance much farther ahead of time and had been trying to save the New Republic from itself internally, but still planning to have her resistance ready should it be needed. but the pace is just so bloody slow that you slowly coast to the end of the book and still nothing has really happened. 

They also didn't tie in very well to the back story items that have been mentioned in other new canon novels.  Both the Force Awakens novelization and the Poe Dameron section of Before The Awakening, had some bits of backstory, but I don't feel like they tied in very well.  It also seems like there needs to be a sequel to this book.  There are hints, for example, that the New Republic made peace with the Imperial Remnant but there is no mention of that here.  The Poe Dameron prequel also talks about the universe being divided into territory that the New Republic and First Order share.  This was the book where that vagueness could have been cleared up, but there's nothing.

We all love Leia as a character, and she's still fun to be inside the head of, but this book is just boring.  I know a lot of people enjoyed Lost Stars a lot, I think I had it at a 3/5, but I feel like Grey has taken a step backward here. 

[C.T. Phipps]

I absolutely love Bloodline. It's an amazing book.

http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/2016/05/star-wars-bloodline-review.html

 "Today is the end of the Republic. The end of a regime that acquiesces to disorder. At this very moment in a system far from here, the New Republic lies to the galaxy while secretly supporting the treachery of the loathsome Resistance. This fierce machine which you have built, upon which we stand will bring an end to the Senate, to their cherished fleet. All remaining systems will bow to the First Order and will remember this as the last day of the Republic!"
-General Hux, The Force Awakens

    I love the First Order as baddies as this speech implies a rather interesting new galactic status quo. Who are the First Order? What do they want? Where did they come from? Who is the Resistance? What do they do? Where did they come from? How do both of these relate to the New Republic. A lot of this can be inferred but we really don't have a context for it all and I was hoping the new Star Wars Expanded Universe would fill it in.

    It hasn't until now.

    I was a big fan of Claudia Gray's Lost Stars (reviewed here) so was excited about this book. I felt she had an excellent ability to get inside character's heads and was interested in her take on Princess Leia. Honestly, I think this is probably the best Princess Leia book ever done. Leia has long been the most overlooked member of the Big Three and with the exception of her recent comic book series as well as Star Wars: Razor, she doesn't get much in the way of attention.

    Bloodlines provides a lot of necessary context to The Force Awakens. We find out the First Order has been a conspiracy within the Republic for some time as well as     the seeds which are laid for a complex relationship between it and the rest of the galaxy. We also find out how Leia has gone from being one of the most respected people in the galaxy to a virtual pariah leading another ragtag resistance.

    Claudia Gray creates a complex political situation which is familiar enough to be understood by American readers. We've all been troubled by political gridlock in the past as well as a knowledge of two separate political parties at each other's throats. The addition of a secret Imperial conspiracy within one of them preparing an "evil plan" to take over reminded me more of Captain America: The Winter Soldier than anything resembling RL politics.

    Fans who want a shoot-em up, bang-bang adventure may be disappointed by a more cerebral take on the franchise. On the other hand, this is a great deal less boring than the Prequels politics as well as a good deal better-written. Those who enjoy political thrillers, conspiracy, and spy fiction (like me) will find this quite entertaining.

 

[Spaßvogel]

12 minutes ago, C.T. Phipps said:

    Fans who want a shoot-em up, bang-bang adventure may be disappointed by a more cerebral take on the franchise. On the other hand, this is a great deal less boring than the Prequels politics as well as a good deal better-written. Those who enjoy political thrillers, conspiracy, and spy fiction (like me) will find this quite entertaining.

 

The only problem is that it's *not* cerebral at all.  Everything gets spelled out, there's no subtlety.  There's almost zero suspense either, for what is supposed to be a political thriller, it's just not thrilling.  The conspiracy also isn't really very complex.  In fact, The dots don't even need to be connected because they're introduced in order!  And the person who turns out to be directly involved with the First Order is telegraphed from a zillion miles away. 

[Calibandar]

In other news, Wendig's third novel is called End of Empire and comes out in January 2017.