Star Wars Megathread

[HisMajestyBOB]

I started watching the despecialized original trilogy movies with my boys. They're really enjoying it so far.

[Duque de Bragança]

First original movie should be re-released theatrically next year.

In the mean time, I'll cling to the 4K77 project and co.

[Syt]

Heh, this touches so many of my nerd kinks that I think I'll get it. Is the Empire history book any good?

I started it and liked it, but I didn't finish. Saying more about my reading discipline than the book, tbf. Kindle edition is not too expensive; not sure what Amazon's return policy is, though.

[garbon]

Heh, this touches so many of my nerd kinks that I think I'll get it. Is the Empire history book any good?

I enjoyed it but I think it is important to go into knowing it is a fictional history written by a historian. So it has much more of an academic sort of bent to it than say GRR Martin's fake history.

[The Minsky Moment]

Nobody told me in the 80s/90s that becoming a Star Wars/WW1/Video Games historian was a career option, and I feel betrayed.

It takes a very specialized skill set because of the dangers of mixing it up. One aspiring WWI-Star Wars dual historian derailed his career when his dissertation discussed how the Somme offensive stalled when British reconnaissance planes were shot down by the newly deployed German Tie Defenders.  Of course, there is also the notorious example of how the historical advisor to Rian Johnson accidentally transposed the 1918 bombing of Kaiserslautern into the opening space battle of The Last Jedi, to the outrage of physicists everywhere.

[Syt]

 

[Crazy_Ivan80]

Glorious 

[crazy canuck]

Glorious 

[celedhring]

Heh, this touches so many of my nerd kinks that I think I'll get it. Is the Empire history book any good?

I enjoyed it but I think it is important to go into knowing it is a fictional history written by a historian. So it has much more of an academic sort of bent to it than say GRR Martin's fake history.

Yeah, that's what draws me in. Reading academic history books is one of those kinks 

A fake oral history from Star Wars starfighter vets is also another great concept. Goddamn, back in the time I read the mini-novels from the Star Wars flight sims from cover to cover several times.

[garbon]

Heh, this touches so many of my nerd kinks that I think I'll get it. Is the Empire history book any good?

I enjoyed it but I think it is important to go into knowing it is a fictional history written by a historian. So it has much more of an academic sort of bent to it than say GRR Martin's fake history.

Yeah, that's what draws me in. Reading academic history books is one of those kinks 

Perfect, then it should suit. As I'd gone to his academic talk, I knew what I was getting is what I wanted but I know some more just Star Wars fans online had been a little disappointed.

[Syt]

There were in-universe non-fiction books of Star Wars in the past, so I'm fine with this. The "lore" books that came with X-Wing and TIE-Fighter come to mind, or the "phrase book" by Ben Burtt that was written as one of those travel phrase books (mostly Huttese, obvs), released between Ep. 1 and 2, I think.

I'm sure there were other examples (including from other franchises) but I'm drawing a blank. I think there was an "autobiography" of Janeway, maybe? And of course one of Lucas's original ideas for Star Wars was that it was a story told by the Whills.

When I was still thinking of writing, one of the concepts I was really into for a while was a travelogue that also told the history of the visited towns and countries.

Star Wars is always in a weird cross-section. On the one hand it started as a modern day sci-fi myth with Hero's Journey, big archetypes, good vs evil etc. (and where the "small galaxy" syndrome is more excusable), but it's also attempting to be grounded (Andor, the "used universe" look ...) or at times explain itself in a scientific way (midichlorians, gazillions of technical manuals ... ). Personally I like this tension (and it lets me handwave inconsistencies or convenient coincidences), but I think it can also lead to a lot of frustration if you prefer more one or the other.