Star Wars Novels/Graphical Novels 2

[TheRevanchist]

Considering that the other thread is closed, and I want to talk about Thrawn book.

Found it decent read, but nowhere near as good as the original trilogy, which is my favorite sci-fi saga after Hyperion. Still, interesting to see the development of Thrawn from a nobody to Grand Admiral.

From whom him and the Chiss were feeling threatened that Thrawn needed the help of the Empire? Was Zahn hinting at something like Yuuzhan Vong? Also, were the Chiss a really important and large group in the Galaxy? Always had the impression that they were some forgotten and irrelevant aliens in the middle of nowhere, but the book gave me the impression that they might actually be a strong and large Republic/Empire-like group. Or at least something comparable with Mandalorians but independent.

[C.T. Phipps]

I have a nice little article about what I think about STAR WARS and moral ambiguity up at the Fantasy Book Critic.

http://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com/2017/05/guest-post-black-and-white-or-gray-in.html

It's got a bit of an advertisement at the end but the point I wish Star Wars would embrace a little more moral ambiguity would be good.

[First of My Name]

On Invalid Date at 4:24 PM, TheRevanchist said:

From whom him and the Chiss were feeling threatened that Thrawn needed the help of the Empire? Was Zahn hinting at something like Yuuzhan Vong? Also, were the Chiss a really important and large group in the Galaxy? Always had the impression that they were some forgotten and irrelevant aliens in the middle of nowhere, but the book gave me the impression that they might actually be a strong and large Republic/Empire-like group. Or at least something comparable with Mandalorians but independent.

I've always gotten the impression that the importance of the Chiss is largely determined by whether the book you're holding was written by Zahn or not. They're not nearly as relevant as the Mandalorians in the grand scheme of things, they do indeed live pretty much in the middle of the Unknown Regions; maybe Disney has big plans for them, but it's likely that this is just Zahn talking up his own creations, which he did all the time in his post-Thrawn Trilogy SW books.

[Darth Richard II]

Ha, well, Mandolore's importance depends on what author you're reading, too.

[C.T. Phipps]

Man, the Screaming Citadel one-shot was good.

Luke and Aphra vs. Vampires!

Edited May 11, 2017 by C.T. Phipps

[Spaßvogel]

Aftermath: Empire's End heavily implies that Palpatine doted on Thrawn because of his knowledge of the unknown reaches, was there any further information on that in the Thrawn novel?  Feel free to use spoiler tags if you want.  I haven't decided if I want to read the book or not.  (Too many things in the book queue at the moment)

[C.T. Phipps]

On 5/10/2017 at 10:23 PM, Spaßvogel said:

Aftermath: Empire's End heavily implies that Palpatine doted on Thrawn because of his knowledge of the unknown reaches, was there any further information on that in the Thrawn novel?  Feel free to use spoiler tags if you want.  I haven't decided if I want to read the book or not.  (Too many things in the book queue at the moment)

It states that Thrawn gave Palpatine all of his information on the Unknown Regions BUT for the location of the Chiss and their culture. It's kind of a weird idea that Palpatine wouldn't demand that.

Then again, Palpatine "rewards" Thrawn by just putting him in the Imperial Academy as a Lieutenant getting a refresher course.

It's not exactly his weight in Corusca stones.

Here's my review of the book: http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/2017/05/star-wars-thrawn-by-timothy-zahn-review.html

Edited May 14, 2017 by C.T. Phipps

[First of My Name]

On Invalid Date at 0:46 AM, Darth Richard II said:

Ha, well, Mandolore's importance depends on what author you're reading, too.

In the old EU, very true, even if I'm a Traviss fan  But between Clone Wars and Rebels they've been treated pretty evenhandedly for the past few years.

[lady narcissa]

The Thrawn ebook was on sale over the holidays for $1.99 so I picked that up. Also one of the Claudia Grey Leia novels.  I haven't read them yet.

I find it very odd that The Last Jedi novelization isn't being released until March.  Is this the first time they've delayed like that?  I know The Force Awakens came out at the same time as the movie.  The prequel novels were all released in time with the movies - I know this because I can remember skimming through The Attack of the Clones in the bookstore for spoilers right before seeing the movie on the day it was released.

[Darth Richard II]

No, TFA novel didn't come out for a month or two after the film as well.

[Spaßvogel]

5 minutes ago, Darth Richard II said:

No, TFA novel didn't come out for a month or two after the film as well.

I think the Ebook was out on December 18th, same date the movie went wide release. Hardcover followed the next January.

[lady narcissa]

Yeah, I just double checked my kindle purchase record and I purchased it on December 18th.

[Darth Richard II]

Pffft, ebooks.

[IlyaP]

Now now, let's not discriminate again e-books. If a platform gets people reading, that's all that matters - that people are reading. (Also, for the vision-impaired, ebooks are massively helpful, as resolutions and brightness and fonts can be shifted to accommodate the needs of the reader.)

That said - with regards to the primary topic at hand: I suspect that the storygroup at Lucasfilm (e.g.: Pablo, Filoni, et al.) are playing the long game and providing readers little Doyle-like red shoes to make the larger narrative map feel consistent by having connective tissue, and also ultimately leading towards the development of a story. A kind of slow burn approach.

Am sure we'll find out more when the next Thrawn book is released in April.

[Darth Richard II]

Heh, i actually had an awful time with ebooks because of my cataracts, but I have not tried since having the surgery.

[IlyaP]

Depends on the reader you use. I've friends with visual impairments who have found technology that works for them that lets them enjoy the same text that I, as a person with 20/20 vision, am enjoying in a physical book. And more power to them!

[Darth Richard II]

Oh I don't actually have a problem with Ebooks, I just greatly prefer paper and am known for such.

[Spaßvogel]

On 1/10/2018 at 6:08 PM, IlyaP said:

That said - with regards to the primary topic at hand: I suspect that the storygroup at Lucasfilm (e.g.: Pablo, Filoni, et al.) are playing the long game and providing readers little Doyle-like red shoes to make the larger narrative map feel consistent by having connective tissue, and also ultimately leading towards the development of a story. A kind of slow burn approach.

All of the New Canon material that I had read prior to The Force Awakens (and after TFA) meshed perfectly with that film.  The Aftermath series, the two Leia books, various comics, etc etc, but where was the story group when it came to The Last Jedi? None of that synergy from the other published material that we had with TFA was present in TLJ. 

[Darth Richard II]

There's actually a lot of stuff in T:J explained in books and other tie ins, you might want to check the entertainment thread if you havne't(I can't keep track of that one some days).

Even as someone who loved TLJ to death it definitely didn't feel as tightly woven as it could have.

 

[Spaßvogel]

10 hours ago, Darth Richard II said:

There's actually a lot of stuff in T:J explained in books and other tie ins, you might want to check the entertainment thread if you havne't(I can't keep track of that one some days).

Even as someone who loved TLJ to death it definitely didn't feel as tightly woven as it could have.

 

I've read everything except the Thrawn book and the Phasma book.  There was nothing that tied in so I suppose it was mostly in those?  The ice foxes from the Rebels cartoon could count.  In Star Wars Battlefront II there were one or two things in the single player campaign and the Crait and D'qar missions, but I still say that the same amount of synergy was definitely not present this time around.