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From: Armage Bedar  <gregory@e...>
Date: Tue Feb 6, 2001 6:55am
Subject: SPOILERS: Observations in NJO - Dark Tide I: Onslaught - part I


I've just finished reading Onslaught, and as you all know, it's time for the customary round of observations and stats-updates.   Remember, this is a SPOILERS: topic, so keep that in the subject and Jae won't FZOOK us for spoiling it.   Ready?   Let's go...

---

Those who know me from the VP discussions can foreguess my view of DT:O...

I loved it.   No offense intended to R.A. Salvatore, but Onslaught is a VAST improvement over Vector Prime.   I felt that things were just...more unified than in VP.   There was more action, more suspense, and more of what we have all come to know and love in a Star Wars novel (except for that slightly outrageous price that Del Rey sees fit to charge...)

Here's my list of pros and cons of Onslaught...

Pros:

- Continuity.   Stackpole DEFINITELY knows the SWU - much more so than either RAS or Del Rey.   When I first read it, I was stunned - Stackpole had included Urias Xhaxin from Pirates and Privateers (awesome touch!).   RAS wouldn't have come close to adding these little touches that lend much more realism and continuity to Onslaught (and the upcoming Ruin).

- Correction.   This is the great part - Stackpole fixed the "mistakes" that I felt RAS had made in VP.   The Praetorite Vong assault force and Nom Anor were shown to be bumbling fools, which explains away a lot of inconsistencies, like their treatment of Danni Quee.

- Suspense.   Nothing can come close to what I felt when I read the end of Chapter 31: "Corran's dead?!   Noooooo! (insert Bespin Luke scream here)"   I had a feeling that Stackpole would kill someone, and because of many people complaining of Corran's "invincibility" throughout the series, I felt safe to say that it would be him.   I'm glad he WASN'T killed, as he is still useful to the storyline, but I do think his time will come, and soon.

- Luke and Mara.   Stackpole did MUCH better than RAS - it shows he knows the characters.   No more cold Mara, no more aloof Luke - they actually show emotion towards each other.   Little touches like mentioning their Force bond only add to his understanding of Luke and Mara.

- Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin.   They seem more in tune with what we know from YJK, but MUCH more mature.   When I read that bit when Anakin was playing around with a transmitter, I leapt for joy - RAS didn't include these little tidbits of continuity and characterization in VP.

- Han Solo.   Everyone else is right - this ISN'T his book, and so he shouldn't (and didn't) play a major role.   His "cameo" was fine, and I would have been disappointed in Stackpole if Han had been shown any more than he was.   To add to that, he was drunk and angry - which is exactly what I thought he'd do after Chewie's demise.   Though it saddened me to read it, it was very much in character.

- Surprises.   That Bothan admiral was great - he showed how not ALL Bothans are selfish fools (like Fey'lya).   I also was pleasantly surprised at how there now seem to be two "factions" in the praxeum/academy: Kyp's side, which favors proactiveness and offensiveness; and Luke's side, which favors the TRUE Jedi qualities of defense and not using the Force as a crutch.

- A Brave New World.   Yes, it truly is - the galaxy isn't the same.   We have Padawan trainees at the new academy, how the NR has totally changed since Leia resigned (it has become much more xenocentric thanks to Fey'lya), and all of the new faces in Rogue Squadron.   Having Gavin lead is just the kind of thing I wanted to see - and I got it.

- Yuuzhan Vong.   This is no-holds-barred, my friends - the Vong mean business.   They actually fight like true warriors, rather than comically screw up things (in the grand scale) in VP.   A motive for their invasion is becoming more and more clear, which is good - VP didn't come close to explaining how the Vong love inflicting and feeling pain.

The only major cons were:

- Price.   US$6.99 for a book not even 300 pages long is expensive.   It is even more so for our friends in Canada and in Europe.   Del Rey must feel that if they raise the prices, SW fans will STILL pay them, no matter what.   I hope this isn't the start of a bad trend...

- Length.   I felt the book could have been expanded by another 50 pages - but I guess Onslaught's brevity was so Ruin has a chance to exist.

- Some of the characters, like Danni Quee and Lando, were somewhat enigmatic to me.   Danni was kind of aloof, while Lando...well, I didn't know WHAT to think with Lando.   Though he was the same character, his personality didn't match those in VP and in previous books.   I would have put it down to the fact that he is really back on Cloud City, being responsible for a lot of people and trying to save them before the threat destroys them - but something is still missing, and I can't put my finger on it.   Oh well :-)

As for those who think the age of the heroes is too young for them to be portrayed as tired and weak, remember this: they have been safeguarding the galaxy nearly non-stop for about 20 years (or more).   If YOU tried to do that starting at age 20, YOU'D be pretty tired after that as well.

Final comment: Onslaught was exactly what I expected from an NJO book - giving more ammunition for my opinion that Stackpole should have written Vector Prime.   Well, you can't have your cake and eat it too, so the situation we have now is satisfactory...

---

Now, as for the stats...

Well, we seem to have several new revelations as far as Yuuzhan Vong starships go.   There are four different types - the worldcraft (colony ships seen in VP), warships (seen in Onslaught and probably at Helska 4 in VP), coralskippers ("skips"; seen in VP and Onslaught), and landing craft (used to deploy troops and other assault forces).   In addition to the starships, we see two examples of ground assault craft - one wil dovin basals and plasma weapons, and one without dovin basals, as well as a command craft carrying a yammosk war coordinator.   Interestingly, when the yammosk is destroyed, the reptoid soldiers go berserk.

We also have new views on the dovin basals.   In Onslaught, they are much more versatile than originally shown - not only can they rip shields off of craft and propel things, they can also form controlled black holes to suck in enemy weaponry.   Of course, this doesn't make them invincible - NR ships have combatted the shield problem by expanding their inertial compensator like a bubble around the ship.   It negates the gravitic influence of the dovil basals - and is explained quite cleverly :-)   The other problem of weapons being sucked into the black holes is harder to deal with - the NR fighters have powered down their lasers so they can fire many more shots, called "flickers".   They don't cause as much damage, but they can oftentimes overwhelm the dovin basal and strike the unshielded cockpit or engines.   Other strategies were developed to enable torpedoes and other projectiles to get through, as well.   Updated stats for coralskippers, dovin basals, and modification and play rules for X-wings with "flickers" and inertial compensation mods will follow.

For the NR, a neat new starship is the Bothan Assault Cruiser.   It was originally thought of as a prelude to a Bothan power play, and was condemned as such, but has proven to be a versatile ship. It is 890 meters long; has 60 double turbolasers, 40 ion cannons, 60 concussion missile launchers, and 10 tractor beams; has 50% more shields and armor; and can carry fighters and release them into a battle quickly and efficiently.   Stats are to follow.

Stackpole also avoided using the T-65XJ X-wing - maybe because he saw it as munchkinized, but probably because it wasn't critical to the plot.   Instead, he sticks with VotF-era tried and true T-65s and T-65Rs.

And, of course, Onslaught features the obligatory squadrons of uglies.   Xceptors and X-TIEs are prevalent.

---

Onto the characters...

Because most of them have been done, and little time has passed since VP, there isn't much need to change their stats.   I will add the Yuuzhan Vong biotechnology skill to a few of them (Luke, the Agamarian researchers, etc.), though.   As for NEW characters, Colonel Gavin Darklighter will debut, as will Major Inyri Forge, Major Alinn Varth (daughter of Commander Varth, the oft-mentioned training wing commander), Jedi Knight Corran Horn, Jedi Knight Ganner, Dr. Anki Pace & her staff, and the reptoids.

---

Other things: I'll add some information about how Vong technology is literally grown, and how they appear to use and control captured beings for slave labor.   I can easily see the Embrace of Pain being used by an evil GM :-)

- Armage Bedar
The STATS Man http://ims.terrandesigns.com http://www.terrandesigns.com/holonet ims@t...


  Replies Author Date
946     Re: SPOILERS: Observations in NJO - Dark Tide I: Christopher Coulter Sun 2/6/2000
949     Re: SPOILERS: Observations in NJO - Dark Tide I: Armage Bedar Tue 2/6/2001

  Message 940 of 2629    


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