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I'm more or less done with Star Wars...BUT...for the Mark Hamill fans out there he did a pretty fun job on Knightfall, Season 2 (on Netflix). He's an absolutely miserable cuss and it's wonderful.

I believe Luke and Mara were the same age. So if Luke was alive she could be too.

I meant if you'd wanted that same story to have played out, where she was murdered.

But Insaniak is right, Legacy of the Force is way later than I'd remembered (apparently the NJO and Dark Nest books run over 11 years!). TFA and TLJ actually take place after the NJO is over but just before Dark Nest begins.

I was pretty out on the EU with the Vong, but Mara's death was definitely the point where I was done and didn't follow it further beyond the occasional wiki read.

Mara’s death bothered you and Chewie’s didn’t? Weird. For those not “in the know”, the Vong used gravitational pull to drop a moon on a planet. Cheeks rescued one of Han’s and Leia’s children and the moon collapsed on the planet, killing him. He was last seen raging at the moon as it barreled down right where he was standing.

 timetowaste85 wrote:
Mara’s death bothered you and Chewie’s didn’t? Weird. For those not “in the know”, the Vong used gravitational pull to drop a moon on a planet. Cheeks rescued one of Han’s and Leia’s children and the moon collapsed on the planet, killing him. He was last seen raging at the moon as it barreled down right where he was standing.

No, I was out as of the Vong. I might have read one book past Chewie's death, but by then I was fully aware that Star Wars has never been a story about evil invading aliens and they don't work in the setting. I just tried to get back into it after all the Vong nonsense was done and found Mara's death to kind of be the point where I realized Luke, Leia, and Hans' stories had gone on a little long and weren't going to benefit from additional material anymore. Finding out they'd killed off Anakin Jr to undo a bad retcon was definitely a bit of salt in the moon sized Chewie wound as well and made me realize I just needed a time skip. Unfortunately, that jump lead me straight to Darth Vongsuit and at that point I was well and truly done.

I bailed on the EU with the black fleet crisis, which was one of the first times even as a teenager I was able to spot a book going through the motions.

 LunarSol wrote:

No, I was out as of the Vong. I might have read one book past Chewie's death, but by then I was fully aware that Star Wars has never been a story about evil invading aliens and they don't work in the setting.

See, I actually loved the Vong arc, precisely because it was something different to the usual 'Ex-Imperial Warlord has the superweapon of the week' or 'Jedi [insert name here] goes bad' story lines that predominated the EU up to that point.

Dark Nest would have been a good continuation of that (was still 'Jedi go bad' in essence, but was at least different), if the books hadn't been awful.

Finding out they'd killed off Anakin Jr to undo a bad retcon...

Not sure what you're referring to here.

 Polonius wrote:
I bailed on the EU with the black fleet crisis, which was one of the first times even as a teenager I was able to spot a book going through the motions.

I actually liked the main part of the Black Fleet Crisis books, it was the first time the New Republic felt like a secure, settled entity.

I will admit that the Luke sidequest being tricked into finding his 'mother' and the Lando/R2/3P0 sidequest to track down a ghost treasure ship were a bit pants.

 Riquende wrote:

 Polonius wrote:
I bailed on the EU with the black fleet crisis, which was one of the first times even as a teenager I was able to spot a book going through the motions.

I actually liked the main part of the Black Fleet Crisis books, it was the first time the New Republic felt like a secure, settled entity.

I will admit that the Luke sidequest being tricked into finding his 'mother' and the Lando/R2/3P0 sidequest to track down a ghost treasure ship were a bit pants.

I did like that the New Republic was actually portrayed as a mature government, so I'll give you that. The military aspects of the actual crisis were good, and I remember enjoying some of the twists and turns of it. That said, that's half of one of three storylines... the level of political intrigue exceeded the authors ability, and as you said, the two side quests would have been fine short stories or novellas, but way too bloated. It's a shame, because after the thrawn trilogy (lost jedi/imperial remnant), Jedi Acadamy (lost imperial super weapon/fallen new jedi), and the restored palpatine story arcs, they should have focused less on the huge plot points, and told smaller stories. Look at a book like courtship of princess leia - it might not be anybody's favorite, but it's a good yarn. Ditto the x-wing series.

 insaniak wrote:

Finding out they'd killed off Anakin Jr to undo a bad retcon...

Not sure what you're referring to here.

Anakin Solo (who Chewie died throwing up to the Falcon before getting hit with the moon). I forget the specifics but I remember his death being tied up in weird attempts to get rid and then reestablish the Light/Dark Side of the Force. In any case, it didn't exactly endear me to either the Vong arc or the status quo that existed after.

Anakin was killed because Lucas wouldn't allow Del Rey to use him as the main protagonist for NJO, he felt it would be "too confusing to the fans" to have an Anakin Skywalker AND and Anakin Solo, despite the fact that NJO was almost complete and none of the fans had been the least confused between Anakin Solo and Skywalker at any point in the previous 10+ years that Anakin Solo had been in the EU. But this was right about the time that Revenge of the Sith was releasing and he was in Full Lucas Mode. So Del Rey killed off Anakin as a plot device to make Jacen Solo the main hero/antihero, leading into Jacen's fall into the Dark Side and becoming a Sith Lord in the Legacy of the Force novels. I never actually read them, I was kinda checked out of the EU because of how messy the prequels made it and how cavalierly Lucas tossed it all away.

I feel the same about the new EU: Disney tossed out EVERYTHING, so all the stuff I read in the '90 and '00s is just...gone. Ignored. Never happened. All the books, all the comics, all the video games. Gone.

The new movies have been hit & miss so far, I've mostly enjoyed them, but I just can't bring myself to get involved in a whole new EU when the last one that I cared so much about was just thrown away wholesale. There's no reason that Kylo Ren couldn't have simply been named Jacen Solo instead of Ben. No need to mention a twin sister or younger brother, no need to mention Yuuzahn Vong. But if they'd used the name Jacen it would have opened up the possibility of bringing any of it back. But nope, all gone. I still love Star Wars, but it's in a really weird limbo right now for me

 LunarSol wrote:

Anakin Solo (who Chewie died throwing up to the Falcon before getting hit with the moon). I forget the specifics but I remember his death being tied up in weird attempts to get rid and then reestablish the Light/Dark Side of the Force. In any case, it didn't exactly endear me to either the Vong arc or the status quo that existed after.

Yeah, I got that you were talking about Anakin Solo, I just still don't know what retcon you're talking about.

 Kalamadea wrote:
I feel the same about the new EU: Disney tossed out EVERYTHING, so all the stuff I read in the '90 and '00s is just...gone. Ignored. Never happened. All the books, all the comics, all the video games. Gone.

I just checked my bookshelves... Those books all still appear to be there. Yes, they're now a separate continuity to the ongoing stuff, but if you still like them, you can still read them.

 insaniak wrote:

 LunarSol wrote:

Anakin Solo (who Chewie died throwing up to the Falcon before getting hit with the moon). I forget the specifics but I remember his death being tied up in weird attempts to get rid and then reestablish the Light/Dark Side of the Force. In any case, it didn't exactly endear me to either the Vong arc or the status quo that existed after.

Yeah, I got that you were talking about Anakin Solo, I just still don't know what retcon you're talking about.

 Kalamadea wrote:
I feel the same about the new EU: Disney tossed out EVERYTHING, so all the stuff I read in the '90 and '00s is just...gone. Ignored. Never happened. All the books, all the comics, all the video games. Gone.

I just checked my bookshelves... Those books all still appear to be there. Yes, they're now a separate continuity to the ongoing stuff, but if you still like them, you can still read them.

I may have the details wrong. I really was pretty out at that point.

I got what he meant. The prequels were (or gave us) the "bad retcon" that cause Lucas to get rid of Anakin Solo like he was poetry that didn't rhyme.

Regardless of the reasons for him going, I was actually ok with them killing off Anakin, for the same reason as it was ok for them to kill off Chewie - after 40 years, all of the 'main' characters were starting to look a little too invincible, and really needed some thinning out. Having those 'untouchable' characters die occasionally adds some actual risk into the storyline.

My first dip into the EU was "I, Jedi", which was also my last. I've also instated a ban on anything Michael Stackpole writes because of it.

Seems a little extreme to judge an author's entire bibliography from one book... And also means that you would have missed out on the X-wing books, which are amongst the best of the EU range.

Not sure what people have against I,Jedi, honestly. It wasn't amazing, but wasn't terrible either.

Pacing, unlikable characters, mischaracterization of existing characters. Just the start. Not to mention the fact that the story is just dull.

Im surprised when anyone dislikes the Xwing series. Those are just great, fun books, and would have made an absolutely awesome movie trilogy, after Heir to the Empire.

 AegisGrimm wrote:
Im surprised when anyone dislikes the Xwing series. Those are just great, fun books, and would have made an absolutely awesome movie trilogy, after Heir to the Empire.

Moreso, I think. For all that I love Zahn's series, the X-wing books feel much more 'Star Wars' in tone.

Y'know, I just don't get the hate for Episode 2...




...race you!

If you like Zahn and Stackpole, you could do worse than checking out the 'collab' novella they wrote for West End Games - a Thrawn/Horn (both Hal and Corran) crossover, set before Endor - Side Trip.

It was published in a series of WEG adventure journals but was reprinted in full in the Tales from the Empire compendium which is probably easier to get hold of.

"Smugglers Haber Trell and Maranne Darmic and their freighter are captured while smuggling arms for the Rebels and threatened by the Galactic Empire into assisting a notorious bounty hunter, Jodo Kast, in catching his prey on Corellia. It is all part of a devious plan by Admiral Thrawn that includes the father-and-son team of CorSec investigators Hal and Corran Horn, who are working undercover to nail the infamous Corellian warlord Zekka Thyne. But one slipup can get them all killed."

Someone must still care as LEGO is releasing a 3'8"/1.16m long Star Destroyer that comes in at just under a thousand dollars ($999.99).



Yes, the little corvette, Tantive IV, can be docked inside it.

Jeez, just buy a scale model, already.

Also, that seems disproportionately pricy, unless that sucker isn't hollow.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Jeez, just buy a scale model, already.

Also, that seems disproportionately pricy, unless that sucker isn't hollow.

Been getting different information on the price but it is around $700 which is still cheaper than the $800 Millennium Falcon.

If I had the cash I’d buy two. One to build and one to sell on in a year or two. You’d get double the money back for sure. Damn I’d hate to think how much i could get for my Star Wars Lego collection.

Wish i had grabbed another ewok village when I bought my other one.

Went to a shop in Melbourne last week that is dedicated to SW toys/memorabilia got some pics that I thought might be of interest;

I used to have a shop like that in my hometown. It sold the old 1970s figures OOB for about $3-4/figure, had a TON of in cabinet figures (the rare ones) on a revolving display, and carried EVERYTHING! Was called “Galactic Toys” and it was owned by a local auction house. I still have a plaster R2 lamp from there. I loved that place.

I seriously wouldn’t worry about it.

There's been an overall coarsening of public discourse, certainly due in part to social media, but also to the increasingly polarized politics of our country.

That said... the right wing can shut up about the Mark Hamill thing. He didn't make fun of the kid, he made fun of the parents, who were trying to get some cheap heat by latching unto a popular fandom.

After seeing the internet call a high school girl a Nazi for essentially giving a glorified book report, I can't abide any pearl clutching at the moment.