Category Archives: Retrospective

EU Retrospective: Revenge of the Sith

Posted on by

Here we are.  At last, we’ve arrived at the book I’ve been dreading because it is just that good.  (Thanks for that, Matt Stover.)  In 2005, Del Ray published a novelization of Revenge of the Sith and two novels that take place on either side of it, forming an unofficial trilogy.   I’m also including another book in this post just because it needed a place to go.  This is also the review where I finally did post some reaction pictures so I could properly express my anguish.  (Enjoy the spam of my face.)  However, if you’re going to take nothing else away from this and the past few posts, take away that I would positively love to see both Stover and Luceno write more books in this era.  Please.

Labyrinth of Evil
This is by far the prequel lead-in book that has the most to do with its film.  (So, in retrospect, my decision to go to the bookstore and read through this hardcover I couldn’t afford the day before the movie was released was a good one but then again 15 year old me probably should’ve had the good sense to get it from the library weeks before.)   Because it goes directly into the film, it ends up being one of the most worthwhile of the lead-in books to read.  However, even though it’s a lead up, the book still has its own story to tell and that tale never really drags.  Luceno’s action sequences are well done and he has an excellent grasp of all the characters.

Speaking of which, no one writes Palpatine like James Luceno and no one has the ability to make the Prequels make more sense like him either.  He drops in some references, like the one to Plagueis, that apparently went right over my head when I originally read that book but that had me nodding and going “ohhhhh” as I read it this time.  He also references tons of things from the rest of the Prequel books without it ever being heavy handed.  What’s even more impressive to me is that he manages to write the best Palpatine in a book that was still under the ‘LOLZ DON’T TELL ANYONE THAT SIDIOUS IS PALPS’ gag order.  The writing accolade obviously extends to how he writes Sidious.  Luceno does keep up the ruse for those who live under a rock and weren’t aware of Palpatine’s secret identity but he doesn’t sacrifice characterization to do so.  Applause all around really.

Luceno also writes a pretty good Anakin and Obi-Wan.  I love that Obi-Wan’s plan of attack to find this pilot is to go drink in every bar until they can find her.  Best plan ever, Boozy-Wan.    This era is absolutely his forte.  Actually, I’d love to see him write a political Amidala book or even an early days of the Rebellion book based purely on how he handled those characters in this book.  Actually, I don’t have any complaints with how he handled any of the characters, even the ill-fated Captain Dyne.

Overall, it’s actually a pretty good read.  It tells the story that it needs to tell and never lets the reader get too bored.  It’s a nice mix of action and politics and the hunt for Sidious.  If you skipped this, it’s one of the Prequel books I would recommend going back and giving a shot.  Honestly, I’m thrilled to have rediscovered this book.

Continue reading →

EU Retrospective: The Clone Wars Part II

Posted on by

It’s a shorter post this time as the Clone Wars books begin to wrap up.  Once again, we have a pretty stark contrast between two books which is a shame.

Jedi Trial
Wow.  This book has some of the worst pacing ever.  The book is basically one giant battle on a planet and Anakin and Nejaa don’t even get there until 100 pages in.  To top it off, about half the book is centered around two soldiers from the planet that I never end up caring about.  If this is supposed to be the Anakin book to balance out the Obi-Wan book… it kinda fails because of that ratio.  Oh.  And the villain is just one big tropefest and not in an entertaining David Eddings sort of way.

This might be the first book that I’ve reread for this project that is worse than I remember it being and I honestly have always wanted to like this book.  I remember being incredibly excited when I heard that it would also be featuring Nejaa Halcyon and he really is the saving aspect of the book.  I do actually like the friendship between him and Anakin and it’s nice that they are this little fraternity of Jedi Who Shouldn’t Be Married But Are.  (Mark Nejaa down as another friend that Anakin desperately needed and should’ve chatted with BEFORE making horrible life decisions.)  Unfortunately, Nejaa never really gets much character development outside of the mission and his friendship with Anakin.  It would be nice if we could get an e-short story about him one day.  (HEY DEL REY.  MAYBE GIVE STACKPOLE A CALL.)

Bottom line is that it’s not terrible but it’s not good either.  To take that a bit further, I think that the moral of my Clone Wars book reviews has been that most of these books are good… except for the ones focusing on our main heroes from the films which is rather unfortunate.

Continue reading →

EU Retrospective: The Clone Wars Part I

Posted on by

We’re neck deep in the Clone War books now and in case there was any doubt, the war really sucked but we got some pretty great books out of it.  This week, I started a love letter to Matt Stover, continued the one to Barriss Offee, and there was some other book that got lost in the middle.  Oops.

Shatterpoint
This book is one of my favorite books in not only the entire Expanded Universe but of all time.  Why?  Two words: Matthew Stover.

Matthew Stover… How do I begin to explain Matthew Stover?  Matthew Stover is flawless.  I hear his writing hand is insured for $10,000.  I hear he does lightsaber commercials… on Coruscant.  His favorite movie is ‘How To Destroy A Reader In 300 Pages’.  One time he met GRRM on a plane and he told Stover that he was good at killing people’s emotions.  Lots of times he punched us in the feels… it was awesome.

Mean Girls joke out of the way, I positively adore Shatterpoint because this is the book that really establishes Mace Windu as an incredibly powerful Jedi Master who should not be messed with.  The best part?  It has absolutely nothing to do with SLJ playing him.  Mace Windu is a force to be reckoned with and he is going to get his former Padawan off Haruun Kal or else.  He’s also going to deal with this war and secure the planet for the Republic but that’s just quick task for after lunch.

Before we get into the book itself, I have to briefly mention the perfection that is Nick Rostu.  I am forever sad that no one decided to write more about Mace being a general and Nick as his military aide.  They are honestly the last two people who should probably be getting along and yet they have this wonderful dynamic.  (“Are you crazy?” “Shut up, Nick.”)  Plus, how can you not love someone with that sense of humor?  Of course, there’s a lot more to him than just his ability to crack jokes.  Underneath, he’s hardened by the lot in life he was dealt and he’s also a pretty good shot and cares about his friends.  He’s one of those characters that I would happily buy books about on a routine basis.  Or even short e-stories.  Please?

Right from the start, this book never fails to draw me in.  I get chills every time I read the recording of Depa: “I use the night and the night uses me.  I have become the darkness in the jungle… Because nothing is more dangerous than a Jedi who’s finally sane.”  Stover deconstructs both Mace and Depa but only one of them makes it out intact. It’s told almost purely from Mace’s point of view and even includes some first person entries and really puts you into his head in a way that no other Star Wars novel has really done.  This book is Mace Windu.  It’s honestly very difficult for me to describe why I love this book so much because it’s more of an experience than anything else.  This is what perfection looks like.

Besides that, the only other thing I’ll say is that this book never fails to make me want a book set pre-Phantom Menace where we get to see Mace and Depa on a mission together, either as Master/Padawan or else after she’s on the Council.  Not only could it be something unaffected by the new films but we’d get to read more about one of the most underused Jedi Masters.

Continue reading →

EU Retrospective: Republic Commando

Posted on by

When I first started this reread, I couldn’t decide if I was looking forward to or dreading getting to the Republic Commando books.  It wasn’t because they were controversial in some circles of the fandom but rather because I knew they were going to kick me in the gut with feelings.  Omega Squad and Etain Tur-Mukan found their ways into my heart and never left.  Needless to say, I was absolutely not looking forward to rereading Order 66 but more on that later.  At the end of the day though, I think I’m rather glad that I took the time to reread these four books because gosh do I still love them even if they did make me have an emotional meltdown on Twitter.

Hard Contact
Overall, Hard Contact remains a solid action book.  I actually think that it could serve as a decent starting point for someone who’s really interested in the Clone Wars.  There’s not much continuity that you need to know outside of the films.  Additionally, it’s only peppered with the Mandolorian culture that fills the next three books.  In short, it can stand-alone and that’s a good thing in the epic Expanded Universe.

I still really like how Karen Traviss gives each of the clone commandos a distinct personality.  It’s been awhile but I think that this might’ve been one of the first Clone War era novels I read that really did that.  At the same time, she doesn’t shy away from presenting the mentality that the clones are raised with: they are soldiers who follow orders and they are expendable.  Plus, these are the early days of the way and the Jedi and the clones are still trying to figure each other out.  It’s some nice insight into that thought process.

I’ll also freely admit to loving Etain because I am a total sucker for the underdog.   Heroes of the Jedi Order are great and everything but I like seeing the everyman too. (Sorry.  I’ll stop giving Anakin a hard time for being the Chosen One some day.  Maybe.)  She’s a good kid who just wants to prove herself to the world and you have to respect that.

Continue reading →

EU Retrospective: Attack of the Clones

Posted on by

I took a few days off for Thanksgiving (and so I won’t completely kill Brian with my fast reading speed) but we’re back with more Prequel Era books!  This time, half of the books were obvious tie-ins to books from much further down the timeline and two of them were, well, Attack of the Clones based.  This one’s a bit more of a mixed bag than before.

Rogue Planet
Okay so you know how some people hate Boba Fett and get annoyed by how fans adore him and he gets all these appearances etc etc?  Yeah, that’s me except with Tarkin and the building of the Death Star.  Honestly, what is this obsession that EU authors have with him and the Death Star?  I mean, I know it was a cool looking space station that blew planets up but can we not credit everyone and their mother with its construction?

Overall, the book’s okay but it’s so obviously there for the New Jedi Order that it feels far too much like an extended short story sometimes.  Character-wise, it’s good.  I actually really enjoyed getting some insight into the early years of Obi-Wan and Anakin’s Master/Padawan relationship.  I also rather enjoy Thracia Cho Leem because anyone who can out sass Mace Windu and have his respect deserves your respect.  It’s too bad that she leaves the Jedi Order because wow is he going to need her in about a decade when Shatterpoint happens….  The only thing I’m really not fond of is getting beaten over the head with “Oooo Anakin’s going to fall to the Dark Side one day!”.  I get what Greg Bear was doing but at times, it felt like a bit too much.  Also, I will be forever sad that Anakin didn’t get to keep his ship.  Poor baby.

Continue reading →

EU Retrospective: The Phantom Menace

Posted on by

I finally gained a better grip on my sanity and decided to break these reviews up into slightly smaller chunks so next up are the Phantom Menace related books!   The good news is that not only did I not hate any of them but I actually loved one of them.

Darth Plagueis

I have Sith Fatigue and apparently the only cure is more Sith!  (They’re like cowbell.)  Seriously though, I loved this book!  Granted, I’m a bit of a political junkie but there really wasn’t anything I disliked about this book except that I would’ve loved another one hundred pages of it which really doesn’t count.  I positively loved how James Luceno takes everything that happened in the Prequel Trilogy and weaves together a background for it that not only makes sense but helps flesh out the story.  It’s the Long Con, folks, and it pays off so gosh darn beautifully.  After reading this book, all of the questions I had about Palpatine working both sides of the Clone War were answered.

It’s not just the storyline and the writing that I liked.  I was also rather intrigued by getting to see the characters we know from different angles.  In particular, I enjoyed the parts with Dooku and how his departure from the Jedi Order came about.  Palpatine himself was another character that I enjoyed getting to know better, much to my surprise.  What can I say?  I’m a sucker for a good descent into darkness tale.

Applause must also be given to James Luceno for handling the midi-chlorian situation well because those parts of the book had the potential to easily come off as ridiculous.  On top of that, I’m pleased that Anakin was NOT the result of Palpatine doing creepy things with the Force to Shmi.

Finally, I’m now left desperately wanting a political intrigue book about either Padme or Leia more than ever.  Come on, Del Rey.  Let’s do this.  Episode VII shouldn’t effect a book like that too much.  Pleeeeease?  I know at least a dozen people off the top of my head who would throw their money at you for such a book.  (I’m pretty sure that includes the entirety of the Tosche Station Staff so… please?)

Cloak of Deception

They may be by the same author but I’ll admit it was hard shifting from the perfection that was Darth Plagueis to Cloak of Deception.  That’s not to say it was a bad book but, well, everything else was going to pale in comparison for a little while.  Actually, I think that reading the two in rapid succession actually helped me enjoy Cloak of Deception more than I had previously.  The first time I read it about ten years ago, it made such an impression on me that I couldn’t remember any of the plot details.  This time, I enjoyed getting to see this specific focus of the political intrigue along with some more of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan as a Master/Padawan team.

I also like how it sets up the political events in The Phantom Menace in a way that helps them make more sense.  For example, I always found that the vote of no confidence in Valorum was passed a little too easily but seeing the political mess that leads up to it helps seem more logical

I’d also like to mention that after reading two books in a row where he’s mentioned, this whole Bail Antilles and Bail Organa thing is ridiculous.  Can we just retcon all mentions of Bail Antilles and make him Bail Organa instead?  Bail Organa is much handsomer anyways.

The Phantom Menace

First things first… Jar Jar Binks is JUST as annoying in print as he is on the screen.  I’m writing this note only 100 pages into the novelization and I already want to strangle him so he’ll stop assaulting my eyes with his weird accent/dialect.  Pathetic life form indeed.

As for the book itself, I think it’s a pretty decent adaptation of the film.  It doesn’t follow the film word for word which I think adds something to it.  Plus, you get a chance to go inside Qui-Gon’s head and see that he definitely had suspicions about Amidala’s ruse from quite early on.  Speaking of the decoy queen, I’m just going to pause here and say how much I LOVE the Handmaidens.  Seriously.  These ladies are the BEST.  Of course, I can’t read this book without wondering how things would’ve turned out if Qui-Gon had survived.  There’s probably some alternate universe where he, Obi-Wan, and Anakin are one big happy family, right?

I’m not going to turn this part of the review into an essay defending the prequels because Bryan Young has you covered there but I am going to take a moment and talk about how I actually rather liked how Anakin was portrayed here.  He’s a kid who acts like a kid but has amazing abilities with both the Force and piloting.  Let me emphasize again… HE IS A KID.  This is chapter one in the story of Anakin Skywalker’s life and it’s the chapter that shows that no one is born evil which is another story type that I am apparently a sucker for.  And I’m sorry but if the part where Anakin has to leave Shmi doesn’t tug at your heartstrings at least a bit, then I really don’t know what might make you emotional.  Either that or you’re somehow immune to John William’s music (if we’re talking about the film.)

Rant over now.  I promise.  In short, I think all three books are decent reads especially if the Prequel Era is what interests you and I think that Darth Plagueis is worth the read no matter what.  Next up are the books that lead up to the Clone War!  As always, if you’d like to keep a real time eye on my progress, you can follow me on Twitter @chaosbria or the hashtag #WaruExpress.

EU Retrospective: The Really Old Republic

Posted on by

It’s taken slightly longer than anticipated thanks to some difficulties with the library but I’ve finally finished the first leg of my Expanded Universe reread.  The short version?  There were certainly some ups and downs and WOW am I glad to be getting out of these eras and away from these old school Sith.  (Sith Fatigue is a real and dangerous disease, folks.  It claims hundreds of readers every year.)

The Old Republic: Revan:

I’ll freely admit to being a HUGE KOTOR fangirl back in the day.  Somewhere, buried on a harddrive, is probably a lot of half-written fanfic about the characters.  I was obsessed with Revan and had slightly ridiculous crushes on both Carth Onasi and Atton Rand.  (That was totally my right as a 14 year old girl.)  If you’ve never played either of the Knights of the Old Republic games, the one thing you should know is that your character (Revan in the first game and the Exile in the second) is essentially a blank slate.  You decide their gender, their looks, and their personality.  Therefore, I spent most of the first half of the book trying to reconcile the Revan in my head (a very snarky lady) with the canon Revan who is decidedly not her and is, in fact, a man.  (Curse you, canon!)  Also, I insist that Natalya Donn is totally a better name for the Exile than Meetra Surik.  I mean…. Meetra?  Really?

As a whole, the book left me feeling mostly underwhelmed.  The basic premise?  Great.  I’ve always been intrigued about what made Revan originally turn to the dark side and where he disappeared to in the time between games.  I wasn’t as thrilled with the execution.  For starters, the book falls just short of 300 pages; something that makes me glad I didn’t purchase this book as a hardcover.  I also felt that the many of the action sequences fell victim to video game syndrome where paragraphs often felt like they were queues of action commands.  Additionally, I found myself missing the presence of characters like HK-47 and Jolee although I can understand why they were left out of the book.

My biggest issue was with the pacing.  Obviously Karpyshyn was aiming to answer some of the questions players had about the gap between games which, as one of those players, I appreciated.  However, the ending felt rushed, weirdly open ended and I still don’t really know what happened.  (I’m also a bit miffed about the Exile’s unceremonious exit but that’s another rant entirely.)  Two-thirds of the book occurs in the gap between games and the last third post-KOTOR2.  It certainly could have benefited from a more even split and more pages.  Actually, upon further reflection, I’m comfortable with saying that I hated the ending.

This all isn’t to say that the book is horrible but it won’t be making my ‘Essential EU Reads’ list any time soon.  It’s certainly worth the read if you were a KOTOR player and if your Revan was male, you’ll probably have a much easier time getting into the book than I did.  I did enjoy the parts with Canderous (even wished there had been more of them) and I especially appreciated the nods to the Mando language.

At the end of the day, it’s not a replacement for KOTOR3 (honestly, nothing really could be) but at the very least, it’ll help fill the KOTOR shaped void in your life for a little bit.

Continue reading →

Jedi Prince Retrospective: Prophets of the Dark Side

Posted on by

A JEDI PRINCE.

A DEVASTATING BETRAYAL.

AND THE DESTRUCTION OF THE LOST CITY?

(My favorite part about the teaser is the extraneous question mark at the end.)

(Also, confession time: 12-year-old Nanci thought that Ken the Jedi Prince was a total hottie on that cover. It’s Drew Struzan’s fault, okay?! Don’t judge me!)

Continue reading →