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BreederofPuppets
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Joined: 23 Aug 2009
Posts: 27
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 Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 12:09 pm Post subject: |
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I, Jedi annoyed me to no end. A man's wife gets kidnapped and he calmly goes to school to learn how to be a Jedi before rescuing her? Introduces a new tradition that has all the benefits or being a Jedi without the restrictions? And that's where I would start to have issues with the book.
My true distaste, however, is the is reserved for the Coruscant Nights. The main character was boring and cookie cutter, the villains were notoriously inept, and the Force fixed everything. The inter party arguments were internally inconsistent, and the most interesting characters was the computer jockey and reporter, followed by the "blaster Jedi" (who really didn't have a personality).
But...I also dislike Harry Potter books and the whole Twilight series, so I just may be one-of-a-kind/weird. And I'm cool with that. |
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Whill
Dark Lord of the Jedi (Owner/Admin)
Joined: 14 Apr 2008
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Location: Columbus, Ohio, USA, Earth, The Solar System, The Milky Way Galaxy
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| Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 12:13 pm Post subject: The Crystal Star |
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| Matthias777 wrote: | | I forgot to put what my least favorite was. The first one that comes to mind is The Crystal Star, by Vonda McIntyre |
| Jamfke wrote: | | That was my least favorite too, the Crystal Star that is. Talk about a hard read! It was so out of sync, I didn't even finish the darned thing. I tried to read it three times and finally gave up. |
| hisham wrote: | I second Crystal Star. I read it once, finished it, went "wuh-huh?!?" with drool coming out my mouth.... tried reading it again a year later, which caused the "wuh-huh?!?" and drooling again.
It seemed like a bunch of characters created for another novel just given the names "Luke", "Han", "Leia", etc... And yet another thing that screws around with the Force, powering down Luke.... and yet another old flame of Han.
And Waru... yeeesh. |
| Orgaloth wrote: | | I was sorely tempted to burn my copy. |
| Orgaloth wrote: | I say to Lucas, forget finding all the copies of the Holiday Special, seek out all copies of The Crystal Star and destroy them. And ban Vonda McIntyre from writting ever again!!  |
I've read a lot of SW novels I didn't like. I don't know why I keep reading them. But my LEAST favorite is definitely Crystal Star. I agree with Hish.
It's boring. There is no adventure. IIRC, there was not a single hand blaster fired. The Falcon never fired at anything. The biggest action moment is where that Dark Side/Empire Reborn dude cuts 3PO in half with his lightsaber. Laaame.
Luke got seduced by Waru way too easily. The last remaining Jedi who is responsible for restarting the Jedi order gets sucked into a wacky cult. Utterly ridiculous. It would have made more sense if it was just a Jedi apprentice and not the Jedi Master himself.
I was so upset by reading this book that I wrote a letter to the author telling her very specific feedback about what I didn't like about it, and why I felt it was out of place in the Star Wars universe. It is not space opera. I questioned whether she had ever even seen the Star Wars movies.
I told her my opinion that the story read like a rejected Star Trek DS9 episode script, and I politely requested that she personally refund my money for the book. Of course I got no reply, and I feel guilty about writing the letter expressing my dislike of her book. But I'll still bet that she really did repurpose a Star Trek story for Star Wars. It just didn't work.
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DarthBukowski
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Joined: 11 Nov 2009
Posts: 6
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| Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 11:37 am Post subject: |
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I will Echo the sentiments of many others and say Crystal Star blew chunks. Lukily it was a gift from my great aunt and I didn't pay money for it.
I didn't enjoy the Jedi Acadamy books at all. The sun crusher just annoyed me, the super genius alien lady that couldn't figure out that her designs were weapons just seemed retarded, and the fact that Kyp wasn't stood against the nearest wall and shot in the head made me phisically angry enough to throw the book across the room when I read the part where Luke forgives him.
If I choose to look at the Dark Empire series with Mara Jade's perspective (she says in one of the Hand of Thrawn books that she dosen't think the reborn emperor was palpatine) then I like it, otherwise it just seems like the only purpose it serves is to make Anakin's original sacrifice meaningless. |
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Whill
Dark Lord of the Jedi (Owner/Admin)
Joined: 14 Apr 2008
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Location: Columbus, Ohio, USA, Earth, The Solar System, The Milky Way Galaxy
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| Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 7:11 pm Post subject: |
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| DarthBukowski wrote: | | If I choose to look at the Dark Empire series with Mara Jade's perspective (she says in one of the Hand of Thrawn books that she dosen't think the reborn emperor was palpatine) then I like it, otherwise it just seems like the only purpose it serves is to make Anakin's original sacrifice meaningless. |
The Dark Empire comic is not a novel, but I wholeheartedly agree with you about it. Way too much of the post-RotJ EU spits in the face of the meaning of the films. Anakin was he chosen one and destroyed the Sith.
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Ankhanu
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Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 3089
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
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| Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 11:32 pm Post subject: |
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| Whill wrote: | | The Dark Empire comic is not a novel, but I wholeheartedly agree with you about it. Way too much of the post-RotJ EU spits in the face of the meaning of the films. Anakin was he chosen one and destroyed the Sith. |
There was no concept of "the Chosen One" when the Dark Empire was created... that idea was introduced in 1999, while Dark Empire was created in 1991. Can't spit in a face that has yet to be conceived  In fact, a LOT of the post-ROTJ EU material harkens from before the prequel recon of canon. In many ways, Lucas spit in the face of the material he approved years before when he made the most recent films.
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Whill
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| Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 11:40 am Post subject: |
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OK, forget the prequels exist for a moment...
Anakin was the Jedi who returned in Return of the Jedi, and he killed the Emperor in doing so. Bringing the Emperor back to life in Dark Empire spits in the face of Return of the Jedi alone. (No prequel trilogy needed for that.) Dark Empire is a perfect example of the EU spitting in the face of the trilogy.
Better?  Now back to reality...
On the old Star Wars.com, George Lucas, creator of the trilogy, said that in his mind, the Emperor never came back to life and Boba Fett never escaped from the Sarlaac. The Star Wars publishing universe ("EU") was created to expand the franchise to make money. It's a business, like this WEG Star Wars game we love. What is approved by Lucasfilm for the business franchise does not represent Lucas' view of the film continuity, and it never has.
Did you know that for the NJO series (attack of the Yuzugg Thongs or whatever), they wanted to kill Luke Skywalker instead of Chewie in the first novel? True story, look it up. Lucas vetoed that as a business decision. It wouldn't have had any effect on his movie continuity because it takes place after RotJ (like Dark Empire). Lucas just thought it would be bad for the business franchise to kill off Luke. Maybe it would have been. I don't know and don't care about that part of the franchise.
The only reason that the concept of an "official" EU continuity even exists is for the goal of the publishing universe to be consistent with itself, not for it to have any influence over film continuity. (I admit that they have failed miserable for the EU even being self-consistent, but that's another story).
We all have the freedom to pick and choose what parts of the EU we like and don't like, and we also all the same freedom to pick what movies we like and don't like. You can even choose to like the EU over some movies. But don't kid yourselves in believing that the publishing continuity was ever even meant to have any bearing on Lucas' creative control over his films. Just because something was "approved or "official" doesn't mean it means anything to the prequel stories. The "approved" and "official" EU franchise just kept the business juggernaut rolling in between trilogies.
It's always been George Lucas' back yard. He just let's the EU publishers and fans play in it.
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jmanski
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Joined: 06 Mar 2005
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Location: Kansas
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| Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 11:03 pm Post subject: |
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Well stated.
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GMgreatness
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Joined: 12 Mar 2010
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| Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 1:32 pm Post subject: |
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Crystal Star, the suckiest suck that ever sucked, closely followed by anything Barbara Hambley wrote, all garbage, all the time!
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remo moxey
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Joined: 20 Feb 2010
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| Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 5:13 pm Post subject: |
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| Whill wrote: | OK, forget the prequels exist for a moment...
Anakin was the Jedi who returned in Return of the Jedi, and he killed the Emperor in doing so. Bringing the Emperor back to life in Dark Empire spits in the face of Return of the Jedi alone. (No prequel trilogy needed for that.) Dark Empire is a perfect example of the EU spitting in the face of the trilogy.
Better? Now back to reality...
On the old Star Wars.com, George Lucas, creator of the trilogy, said that in his mind, the Emperor never came back to life and Boba Fett never escaped from the Sarlaac. The Star Wars publishing universe ("EU") was created to expand the franchise to make money. It's a business, like this WEG Star Wars game we love. What is approved by Lucasfilm for the business franchise does not represent Lucas' view of the film continuity, and it never has.
Did you know that for the NJO series (attack of the Yuzugg Thongs or whatever), they wanted to kill Luke Skywalker instead of Chewie in the first novel? True story, look it up. Lucas vetoed that as a business decision. It wouldn't have had any effect on his movie continuity because it takes place after RotJ (like Dark Empire). Lucas just thought it would be bad for the business franchise to kill off Luke. Maybe it would have been. I don't know and don't care about that part of the franchise.
The only reason that the concept of an "official" EU continuity even exists is for the goal of the publishing universe to be consistent with itself, not for it to have any influence over film continuity. (I admit that they have failed miserable for the EU even being self-consistent, but that's another story).
We all have the freedom to pick and choose what parts of the EU we like and don't like, and we also all the same freedom to pick what movies we like and don't like. You can even choose to like the EU over some movies. But don't kid yourselves in believing that the publishing continuity was ever even meant to have any bearing on Lucas' creative control over his films. Just because something was "approved or "official" doesn't mean it means anything to the prequel stories. The "approved" and "official" EU franchise just kept the business juggernaut rolling in between trilogies.
It's always been George Lucas' back yard. He just let's the EU publishers and fans play in it. |
I never heard that Luke was the one they wanted to kill. I just read it was a "main" character and Chewie was approved to be killed off.
And I gotta say Crystal Star sucked like a ......you know.
The thing that gets me is how Luke's Jedi powers fluctuate from book to book. Some books he's almost God like and the book that immediately follows he can't even raise the X-wing from the swamp again. |
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Whill
Dark Lord of the Jedi (Owner/Admin)
Joined: 14 Apr 2008
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Location: Columbus, Ohio, USA, Earth, The Solar System, The Milky Way Galaxy
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| Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 9:58 am Post subject: |
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| remo moxey wrote: | | Whill wrote: | | Did you know that for the NJO series (attack of the Yuzugg Thongs or whatever), they wanted to kill Luke Skywalker instead of Chewie in the first novel? True story, look it up. Lucas vetoed that as a business decision. It wouldn't have had any effect on his movie continuity because it takes place after RotJ (like Dark Empire). Lucas just thought it would be bad for the business franchise to kill off Luke. Maybe it would have been. |
I never heard that Luke was the one they wanted to kill. I just read it was a "main" character and Chewie was approved to be killed off. |
It is mentioned on Woookieepedia, but they do not state the source. It was explicitley stated in Star Wars Insider, the offically licensed fan club magazine. I haven't read a single post-RotJ novels since.
| remo moxey wrote: | | The thing that gets me is how Luke's Jedi powers fluctuate from book to book. Some books he's almost God like and the book that immediately follows he can't even raise the X-wing from the swamp again. |
Good point. That problem is even amplified by the fact that the books are so spread out over time. I don't understand why so many novels are the only canon story for that entire year of time in-universe. They should have made them more consistent with each other, and taking place closer together, so the characters wouldn't have aged so fast. They're up to 40 years after RotJ, right? Han Solo would be over 70 years old. But according to the novel cover art, the characters have hardly aged.
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Matt_76
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Joined: 16 Jan 2010
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| Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 5:23 pm Post subject: |
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I know this is an old topic; but here's my two cents...
I've never read the Crystal Star; but for me; the worst novels have to be a toss up between anything Mike Stackpole writes and the Bounty Hunter series.
I'm actually shocked so many people like the X-wing books; I'm guessing most of you are either very young or read them when you were young... if you go back and read them again, maybe you'll see what I see..
Stackpole can't write character's to save his life....they always talk like characters in a book...not like real people. There are ALWAYS certain people to whom nothing will happen.....everyone else will eventually buy it or get terrible injuries. And finally; much of the idea is total nonsense...these guys are PILOTS...why are they always on undercover missions and commando raids and have the frickin' HEAD OF THE EMPIRE hunting them....they're 12 people!
Sorry....rant over....I REALLY, REALLY can't stand Stackpole...first he ruined Battletech for me; and he's left his mark on Star Wars as well. Allston's a lot better , though....
The Bounty Hunter series is DREADFULL....just DREADFULL...
I haven't read any of the new Jedi stuff; the concept didn't thrill me and frankly; I'm getting sick of the "Han, Luk and Leia save the galaxy in thier 80s" crap.
I'd REALLY like to see a series of novels set in the time of the Rebellion with ORIGINAL characters.....much like the short stories in the West End booklets and some of the "Tales of..." series. Whoever the author was that created "Starter" and "Dirk", etc. is; is VERY entertaining, in my opinion...
Just my two cents... |
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hazardchris
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| Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 6:04 pm Post subject: |
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I was under the impression that Lucas actually liked Dark Empire.
I'm also not overly concerned with it tarnishing the whole "Chosen One" thing in that Vader didn't bring balance back to the Force. I've always been more interested in the story of Luke and Dark Empire allowed him to grow beyond his father and Jedi of old as a whole by doing the one thing they couldn't: Defeat the Emperor.
I cannot, however, say such kind things about the sequels. |
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Jame Rowe
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Joined: 10 Feb 2010
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Location: North of Boston MA USA
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| Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 4:17 pm Post subject: |
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| DarthBukowski wrote: | I will Echo the sentiments of many others and say Crystal Star blew chunks. Lukily it was a gift from my great aunt and I didn't pay money for it.
I didn't enjoy the Jedi Acadamy books at all. The sun crusher just annoyed me, the super genius alien lady that couldn't figure out that her designs were weapons just seemed retarded, and the fact that Kyp wasn't stood against the nearest wall and shot in the head made me phisically angry enough to throw the book across the room when I read the part where Luke forgives him. |
Now these sentiments I will also echo. |
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jmanski
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| Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 11:26 pm Post subject: |
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| Matt_76 wrote: | I'm actually shocked so many people like the X-wing books; I'm guessing most of you are either very young or read them when you were young... if you go back and read them again, maybe you'll see what I see..
Stackpole can't write character's to save his life....they always talk like characters in a book...not like real people. There are ALWAYS certain people to whom nothing will happen.....everyone else will eventually buy it or get terrible injuries. And finally; much of the idea is total nonsense...these guys are PILOTS...why are they always on undercover missions and commando raids and have the frickin' HEAD OF THE EMPIRE hunting them....they're 12 people! |
I only read the first one, but I agree with you from what I read. I didn't like the description of the dogfights or the tactics used (especially how proton torpedos were used).
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Whill
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| Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 12:23 am Post subject: Dark Empire |
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| hazardchris wrote: | | I was under the impression that Lucas actually liked Dark Empire. |
See George Lucas and Star Wars Canon, etc. Lucas said he doesn't read comics and novels, so I sincerely doubt that he ever indicated he liked one. However if you have a source I'd be interested in seeing it. The only references I have read that Lucas made to Dark Empire were not by name. He has stated that, in his view of the Star Wars universe, the Emperor was never cloned and Boba Fett died in the sarlacc, both characters never to return. Lucas didn't specifiy Dark Empire by name, but he seems to be aware of the return of those characters in the EU.
| hazardchris wrote: | | ...the story of Luke and Dark Empire allowed him to grow beyond his father and Jedi of old as a whole by doing the one thing they couldn't: Defeat the Emperor. |
Do you mean "they" to refer back to "his father and Jedi of old as a whole" or only "Jedi of old as a whole"? Luke's father did defeat the Emperor in Return of the Jedi.
| hazardchris wrote: | | I've always been more interested in the story of Luke and Dark Empire... |
I found the artwork awful, and the scripting severely lacking (HAN SOLO: "There's the planet where the Emperor used to hang his hat!"). I found it unorginal and uninspired to just clone the Emperor and bring Boba Fett to life instead of creating original villains. And I found Luke's plan of destroying the Dark Side by just merely pretending to join the Emperor to be lame. Luke's father hadn't pretended - he really joined the Dark Side but ended up destroying it from within. That's way more believable than the comic book. If Dark Empire were a novel, I would put it down there with Crystal Star.
Glad you liked Dark Empire though! To each his own.
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