Star Wars Fiction thread

[wawa]

Well i've been reading the new Fate of the Jedi series (3 books out right now) and it's pretty fantastic.  Luke Skywalker gets banished from leading the jedi and goes off to see if he can find out where his nephew Jacen Solo aka Darth Caedus turned to the dark side.


Just picked up today, Death Troopers, a story about zombie stormtroopers.  soo looking forward to this book

[Nymie the Pooh]

I've tried a few of the novels and never really got into them.  All I remember about them is that Han knocked up some princess and they had little brats that were trying to impersonate their uncle.  I did like that one book Salvatore wrote.  I'd probably enjoy more of the series if I looked into other parts of it.

[wawa]

I've tried a few of the novels and never really got into them.  All I remember about them is that Han knocked up some princess and they had little brats that were trying to impersonate their uncle.  I did like that one book Salvatore wrote.  I'd probably enjoy more of the series if I looked into other parts of it.

yeah i havent read any of the new jedi academy, i skipped forward to the Legacy series which is really good reading

[Listens to Wind]

I've read the first 3 in Fate of Jedi, and I like them.

Everything in New Jedi Order is good in my opinion.

[Robo]

i have yet to be disappointed by a star wars book although Children of the Jedi has been my least favorite so far.  once i finish harry potter i'm going to start Darksaber

[VengeanceG0D]

New Jedi Order was a fantastic series, especially Traitor. In fact, anything by Matthew Stover is good, like Shatterpoint.

But right after that they retconned the whole damn thing, made Vergere a sith and turned their most interesting character into their main villain, so I haven't read any of it since.

[Tricky Rkik]

I liked the Legacy stuff and that was the first SW fiction I've read in a long time.

Once I get back to reading again and finish up the Baroque Cycle I'll have to check the Fate stuff up because it sounds interesting.

[wawa]

New Jedi Order was a fantastic series, especially Traitor. In fact, anything by Matthew Stover is good, like Shatterpoint.

But right after that they retconned the whole damn thing, made Vergere a sith and turned their most interesting character into their main villain, so I haven't read any of it since.

Yeah i havent read any of NJO but i'm familiar with many of the characters.  This is the series containing centerpoint station where anakin solo dies yeah?  is this also the series where chewie dies?

[Nymie the Pooh]

New Jedi Order was a fantastic series, especially Traitor. In fact, anything by Matthew Stover is good, like Shatterpoint.

But right after that they retconned the whole damn thing, made Vergere a sith and turned their most interesting character into their main villain, so I haven't read any of it since.

Yeah i havent read any of NJO but i'm familiar with many of the characters.  This is the series containing centerpoint station where anakin solo dies yeah?  is this also the series where chewie dies?

Chewie's death was the Salvatore book I mentioned.  I was sad to see him go, but it was a great way to kill off a true hero.

[ULTRA]

Just curious...
I'm not too familiar with the Star Wars Expanded Universe stuff but is everything published supposed to follow the same EU canon or do the different books diverge off into their own paths like most of the Trek books do.
For instance, all of Shatner's books tie into the same continuity together but not with other books.
Is the SW stuff the same with different branches of this new history or are they all within the same big story?

Also, is the Force Unleashed story supposed to be EU or main continuity?
I heard they may bring back Sam Witwer to play Starkiller in the new live-action series so that makes me think it is within the main timeline.

[Robo]

most of the books are canon and follow one linear timeline going over 4000 years.  lucas keeps pretty tight control over it.  there is some noncanon stuff but its the minority.  to my knowledge, direct contradictions and disregard for previous or future story points aren't allowed in the official star wars books.

[BellaStrega]

The books must stick to canon, but anything Lucasfilm produces can run roughshod over the books.

I think they've done a mostly good job keeping a consistent timeline from the end of Return of the Jedi until the current series. The writing has been highly variable (with so many writers, it has to be).

ISTR the Yuuzhan Vong were pretty controversial at the time. A lot of people felt their appearance, technology, and "deadness" to the Force was contrary to the universe's feel.

I don't think that Jacen's heel turn was all that out of line from what he was doing in the NJO books, though.

[NewEden]

Ive been wanting to start getting into some of these books, and found all the Jedi Prince arc for like $18 for all 6 books.

[fnkndr01ds]

I'm finishing up the third of the Bane series.  These books to set a few things straight, not really retcons, but, justification for things that were mentioned in the movies and other books.  I have enjoyed them so far.  The canon-ness of some of the novels are questionable, but, most major discrepancies get fixed somehow.

[ULTRA]

I heard there's going to be a new Force Unleashed II game coming out soon.
Does that mean they're gonna have another TPB to follow the story?
I loved the last one and I hope they include Starkiller in the new live-action series when they eventually do it.

[fdbryant3]

Canon in Star Wars is pretty well maintained but there are varying degrees of it.  They track it in a database called the Holocron and basically their are 5 levels:

    G-canon is absolute canon; the movies (their most recent release), the scripts, the novelizations of the movies, the radio plays, and any statements by George Lucas himself. G-canon overrides the lower levels of canon when there is a contradiction. Within G-canon, many fans follow an unofficial progression of canonicity where the movies are the highest canon, followed by the scripts, the novelizations, and then the radio plays.

    T-canon[1] refers to the canon level comprising only the two television shows: Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the Star Wars live-action TV series. Its precedence over C-Level canon was confirmed by Chee.[2]

    C-canon is primarily composed of elements from the Expanded Universe including books, comics, and games bearing the label of Star Wars. Games and RPG sourcebooks are a special case; the stories and general background information are themselves fully C-canon, but the other elements such as character/item statistics and gameplay are, with few exceptions, N-canon.

    S-canon is secondary canon; the story itself is considered non-continuity, but the non-contradicting elements are still a canon part of the Star Wars universe. This includes things like the online roleplaying game Star Wars: Galaxies and certain elements of a few N-canon stories.

    N-canon is non-canon. "What-if" stories (such as stories published under the Star Wars: Infinities label), crossover appearances (such as the Star Wars character appearances in Soulcalibur IV), game statistics, and anything else directly contradicted by higher canon ends up here. N-canon is the only level that is not considered official canon by Lucasfilm.

Somebody once described the various levels of Star Wars cannon like looking at the SW universe through a telescoping lens of camera.  At the wide angle you have a large view of possibilities that could happen but not much detail (ie you might tell that a speck on the frame is a person but you can't tell what they are wearing or even if they are male or female).  As you zoom you in get more detail till you get the "real" story (ie you zoom and you can identify your friend who really did lose a bet and wore a clown costume to work).  I actually find this analogy works well watching almost anything that is being adapted to a new media.

For the most part it works pretty well.  Right now though I'm a little annoyed the Star Wars:Clone War Mandalorian storyline completely irreconcilably retconning what was established about Mandalore in the excellent Clone Trooper book series (which was being followed up the Imperial Trooper series but is being abandoned by the author due to these changes).  Mandalorians were presented in a lot of ways up till now but never as pacifists - it ridiculous but they way it is now - ah well.

[Eliot AeroNess]

So where do the Ewok TV movies fall?

[fnkndr01ds]

So where do the Ewok TV movies fall?

They are canon.

[VengeanceG0D]

I don't think that Jacen's heel turn was all that out of line from what he was doing in the NJO books, though.

I hear that a lot, and I've never understood it. Haven spent NJO learning how to understand the Force in a new way, sure, and Vergere's methods were messed up, but he never really did anything Dark Side. And in the very last book, he became a more focused Jedi than even Luke.

Then a chick with a light-whip shows up, and he turns in two seconds with no real motivation.

[fdbryant3]

The problem I think was that Vergere presented a view of the Force which is much more nuanced (and thus realistic) by saying that the Force is neither light or dark, but a power which gives people options.  It is what is in Force Users heart that determines how it is used.  This of course wasn't really all that received and I suspect that basically either Lucasarts or the authors themselves decided to retcon it back to Light/Dark by giving Vergere Sith training and hence Sith philosophy.

As for Jacen the only future he saw where he didn't kill Luke and the galaxy didn't go down in flames was the one where he embraced the Sith.  He believed that was the only way to save everyone and everything he did was for the greater good.  Lumiya simply took advantage of that belief.