The Rancor Pit Forum Index
Welcome to The Rancor Pit forums!

The Rancor Pit Forum Index
FAQ   ::   Search   ::   Memberlist   ::   Usergroups   ::   Register   ::   Profile   ::   Log in to check your private messages   ::   Log in

What Star Wars novels have you read? Liked?
Post new topic   Reply to topic    The Rancor Pit Forum Index -> General Star Wars -> What Star Wars novels have you read? Liked? Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3 ... 8, 9, 10 ... 12, 13, 14  Next
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
MrNexx
Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral


Joined: 25 Mar 2016
Posts: 2248
Location: San Antonio

PostPosted: Thu Nov 02, 2017 11:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dropped "So You Want to be a Jedi" fairly quickly. I didn't realize when I checked it out it was a juvenile book, and the tone was annoying.
_________________
"I've Seen Your Daily Routine. You Are Not Busy!"
“We're going to win this war, not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.”
http://rpgcrank.blogspot.com/
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Bren
Vice Admiral
Vice Admiral


Joined: 19 Aug 2010
Posts: 3868
Location: Maryland, USA

PostPosted: Thu Nov 02, 2017 9:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I finished Bloodline over the weekend. It was interesting from a fill in what leads up to the odd situation of Leia is a Rebel again that we have in TFA, but overall it seemed slow.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
MrNexx
Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral


Joined: 25 Mar 2016
Posts: 2248
Location: San Antonio

PostPosted: Thu Nov 09, 2017 1:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Finished Gods of Mars, so I went on to Rogue One, which checked out to me yesterday. Listening to the opening, where you can hear Galen & Lyra's internal monologues, was rough.
_________________
"I've Seen Your Daily Routine. You Are Not Busy!"
“We're going to win this war, not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.”
http://rpgcrank.blogspot.com/
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Bren
Vice Admiral
Vice Admiral


Joined: 19 Aug 2010
Posts: 3868
Location: Maryland, USA

PostPosted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 12:03 pm    Post subject: Re: What adult Star Wars novels have you read? Liked? Reply with quote

Whill wrote:
Revenge of the Sith

Kenobi (some cool ideas but it was largely boring and I was overall disappointed with it)

I just finished Kenobi. While I can see how you could have found it "largely boring," I enjoyed it. It was a quiet, contemplative tale, which is a bit anomalous for space opera in general and Star Wars in particular. We don't get to see Ben (the name he adopts in this novel) do almost any flashy Jedi stuff and he is more angsty (think Hamlet) than I prefer main characters to be in the fiction I read. But in the context that Kenobi recently witnessed his friend and former Padawan murder a bunch of Jedi kids in the Temple before he then dismembered said friend and left him to burn to death in excruciating agony on Mustaphar, a bit of angst doesn't seem out of place.

I was interested in the other main character, Anileen, and I enjoyed the slow, quiet reveal of life in the hinterland of Tatooine and the settlers' struggles with the Tusken Raiders. The story could have been taken from any number of 1930s Republic Westerns starring young John Wayne or Gene Autry but that showed that it fit with other inspirations for Star Wars. The main action is something that would make a good adventure set up whether on Tatooine or another planet. The novel makes me to want to dust off my never run copies of Tatooine Manhunt and see if I can run one for my current group of Rebel wannabe heroes.

Kenobi is not among the best of the Star Wars novels, but it avoids the annoyances of the yet another superweapon EU sequels and the utter horror of The Crystal Star. I put it solidly in the middle of the list of novels and give it a 2 out of 4 stars.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bren
Vice Admiral
Vice Admiral


Joined: 19 Aug 2010
Posts: 3868
Location: Maryland, USA

PostPosted: Sun Nov 19, 2017 4:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I picked up a copy of Aftermath: Lifedebt by Chuck Wendig at my library. Wow was that awful.

I give this book 1/2 out of 4 stars and here's why. Don't waste your time.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
MrNexx
Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral


Joined: 25 Mar 2016
Posts: 2248
Location: San Antonio

PostPosted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 1:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So, I briefly started Catalyst last night... then dropped it. I don't know if it was the narrator or what, but I felt myself losing track of anything within the first 10 minutes, checking in and saying "Yep, still babbling" and letting my mind wander again.

Maybe I just can't do audiobooks unless I'm driving.
_________________
"I've Seen Your Daily Routine. You Are Not Busy!"
“We're going to win this war, not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.”
http://rpgcrank.blogspot.com/
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Wajeb Deb Kaadeb
Commodore
Commodore


Joined: 07 Apr 2017
Posts: 1448

PostPosted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 9:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

MrNexx wrote:
So, I briefly started Catalyst last night... then dropped it. I don't know if it was the narrator or what, but I felt myself losing track of anything within the first 10 minutes, checking in and saying "Yep, still babbling" and letting my mind wander again.

Maybe I just can't do audiobooks unless I'm driving.


No, Catalyst was boring. I listened to the entire thing. It's a short story (or, really, just some background info about Rogue One) stretched into a novel.

I think the tale could lose 2/3rd the number of pages and be a much better story.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Whill
Dark Lord of the Jedi (Owner/Admin)


Joined: 14 Apr 2008
Posts: 10286
Location: Columbus, Ohio, USA, Earth, The Solar System, The Milky Way Galaxy

PostPosted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 10:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If anyone is looking for a recommendation, read Labyrinth of Evil by James Luceno. It's adventurous. It focuses on the film characters. It's fills in a lot of gaps in the films.

And it shows how Obi-Wan knows how to deactivate tractor beams!
_________________
*
Site Map
Forum Guidelines
Registration/Log-In Help
The Rancor Pit Library
Star Wars D6 Damage
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
MrNexx
Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral


Joined: 25 Mar 2016
Posts: 2248
Location: San Antonio

PostPosted: Wed Jan 31, 2018 10:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Whill wrote:
And it shows how Obi-Wan knows how to deactivate tractor beams!


I'll be honest, that was something I never really wondered. Tech in Star Wars always struck me as being very user-friendly, though not terribly technician-friendly.
_________________
"I've Seen Your Daily Routine. You Are Not Busy!"
“We're going to win this war, not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.”
http://rpgcrank.blogspot.com/
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Whill
Dark Lord of the Jedi (Owner/Admin)


Joined: 14 Apr 2008
Posts: 10286
Location: Columbus, Ohio, USA, Earth, The Solar System, The Milky Way Galaxy

PostPosted: Wed Jan 31, 2018 10:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

MrNexx wrote:
Whill wrote:
And it shows how Obi-Wan knows how to deactivate tractor beams!

I'll be honest, that was something I never really wondered. Tech in Star Wars always struck me as being very user-friendly, though not terribly technician-friendly.

That was just a bit of fun. I never wondered that either. But Obi-Wan does have to do it and thinks that he'll never need to know how to do that again. Ha ha.
_________________
*
Site Map
Forum Guidelines
Registration/Log-In Help
The Rancor Pit Library
Star Wars D6 Damage
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
MrNexx
Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral


Joined: 25 Mar 2016
Posts: 2248
Location: San Antonio

PostPosted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 12:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Whill wrote:
MrNexx wrote:
Whill wrote:
And it shows how Obi-Wan knows how to deactivate tractor beams!

I'll be honest, that was something I never really wondered. Tech in Star Wars always struck me as being very user-friendly, though not terribly technician-friendly.

That was just a bit of fun. I never wondered that either. But Obi-Wan does have to do it and thinks that he'll never need to know how to do that again. Ha ha.


Ah. I recall a similar nod when you go to Alderaan in SWTOR.
_________________
"I've Seen Your Daily Routine. You Are Not Busy!"
“We're going to win this war, not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.”
http://rpgcrank.blogspot.com/
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
MrNexx
Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral


Joined: 25 Mar 2016
Posts: 2248
Location: San Antonio

PostPosted: Thu Mar 01, 2018 2:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So, listened to Weapon of a Jedi, and it was fairly good for a junior novel. Set after ANH, it's about Luke following a force vision and learning to fight with his lightsaber and learn a lot of force skills and powers.

Now listening to "Lost Stars", which is very much a YA novel, but enjoyable for that. Unlike a lot of audiobooks, I'm finding some of the sound effects and voice acting distracting... it's single narrator, and he doesn't seem to have enough distinction for the two major voices, and the inclusion of music and sound effects seems off. There's a sequence that, if done on screen, would be an amazing flight scene, but a lot of the on-the-page action is internal, as a main character processes the relationship (he said, vaguely), so while they're playing chase-y action music, the character is processing feelings and relationship... it's a disconnect, but on the director's end, not the writer's.
_________________
"I've Seen Your Daily Routine. You Are Not Busy!"
“We're going to win this war, not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.”
http://rpgcrank.blogspot.com/
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
MrNexx
Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral


Joined: 25 Mar 2016
Posts: 2248
Location: San Antonio

PostPosted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 10:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Some thoughts from listening to Lost Stars, which I'm still going through.

There's a casual mention of beard suppressant as something Imperial officers use, which amused me.

More in depth, though, I find myself wondering how the Imperial Navy would handle married officers... as in, two officers married to each other.
_________________
"I've Seen Your Daily Routine. You Are Not Busy!"
“We're going to win this war, not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.”
http://rpgcrank.blogspot.com/
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
MrNexx
Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral


Joined: 25 Mar 2016
Posts: 2248
Location: San Antonio

PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 1:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Finished listening to "Lost Stars", a Star Wars novel set around the time of the Rebellion, following a couple who winds up on different sides of the conflict. A good book, but the audiobook had some questionable direction... the narrator didn't do a good job of differentiating the voices of the two leads, and, like most SW audiobooks, this one had sound effects, but they were handled poorly.
_________________
"I've Seen Your Daily Routine. You Are Not Busy!"
“We're going to win this war, not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.”
http://rpgcrank.blogspot.com/
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
MrNexx
Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral


Joined: 25 Mar 2016
Posts: 2248
Location: San Antonio

PostPosted: Sat Apr 07, 2018 10:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

So, I'm listening to Leia: Princess of Alderaan, and I'm enjoying it; most of Claudia Gray's YA Star Wars stuff has been enjoyable. But, listening through, I find myself thinking about future connections. Like, we know what's going to happen to Holdo, but what about Leia's love interest (side effect of listening: I have no idea how to spell his name)? What about other, minor characters? For some, you don't particularly care, but the one that's important to Leia somewhat colors her relationship with Luke (semi-romantic before RotJ), and her relationship with Han.

It's interesting to read a prequel that's so in medias res, because it so clearly builds on and towards the works that are chronologically subsequent.
_________________
"I've Seen Your Daily Routine. You Are Not Busy!"
“We're going to win this war, not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.”
http://rpgcrank.blogspot.com/
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    The Rancor Pit Forum Index -> General Star Wars All times are GMT - 4 Hours
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3 ... 8, 9, 10 ... 12, 13, 14  Next
Page 9 of 14

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group


v2.0