Star Wars Megathread

[Sophie Scholl]

I've found this edit to be absolutely amazing and well worth downloading and watching over anything Disney or Lucas have released since the early VHS era:
https://swrevisited.wordpress.com/

[Syt]

Great costume, Sophie.

[Sophie Scholl]

Great costume, Sophie.

Thank you! I was going for a bit of an Evaan Verlaine look. Any suggestions on modern Star Wars things to check out? If memory serves, you're one of the big fans here. 

[Syt]

I'm not keeping up much anymore. Every once in a while I look into the comics or books, but then I give up because there's just so much. I love Dr Aphra, though I'm nowhere near up to date on her stories.

On the books I have read, I've enjoyed a lot (you mentioned some of them above, not sure if you read them?):
- Twilight Company (a military fiction book about a Rebel unit following the retreat from Hoth)

- The Aftermath Trilogy has a VERY divisive writing style - its the strongest in the first book and calms down a bit in book 2 and 3. It looks at, well, the Aftermath of the Battle of Endor up to the Battle of Jakku. It's focused on new characters, mostly, but a few familiar faces have cameos. It has some "cut away" scenes where it details short scenes across the galaxy of how people deal with the change, some of which introduced a guy called Cobb Vanth. It also added some of my favorite characters in the expanded universe: Sinjir Rath Velus (a former Imperial Commissar Loyalty Officer who throws in with the New Republic), Jas Emari (a female Zabrak bounty hunter), Mr Bones (a B1 battle droid turned into a like singing, dancing murder machine with the personality of a loyal puppy), and features Grand Admiral Rae Sloane as one of the main characters on the Imperial side.

- Catalyst: the Rogue One prequel novel. Gives a lot of backstory to Galen Erso and Orson Krennic and leads nicely into their animosity at the start of the movie and Krennic's hatred for Galen's wife.

- Lost Stars: story about star crossed lovers of different social backgrounds from a backwater planet joining the Rebellion. One of them then defects to the Rebels. They're (a bit implausibly ) involved in all major turning points of the original trilogy, but tells a quite good story from the "ground level" of both Rebels and Empire and one character torn between loyalty and morality. It also tries to give a face to the Imperials and how some of them rationalize their being part of the regime.

- Dark Disciple: a story between Quinlan Vos and Asajj Ventress who are tasked with assassinating Count Dooku during the Clone Wars. Was supposed to be a Clone Wars arc to giev them a conclusion within the show, but was then turned into a novel after series cancelation.

- The High Republic. I've only read the first two books (and some comics), but mean to go back to it, as it reviews very well. Set about 200 years before the original trilogy, it shows the old Jedi Order dealing with threats. I've read Light of the Jedi (Jeremy Soule) and Into the Dark (Claudia Gray) and enjoyed both a lot. The former is a fast paced action adventure showing the Jedi being faced with what's basically a 9/11 style disaster that threatens multiple worlds and their immediate response and trying to find the culprits (it's across multiple books). Into the Dark has a few Jedi and a motley crew of characters (Geode being a standout ). Bit spooky, bit light hearted. And some comics that dealt with some Lovecraftian plant horror on a remote planet. Overall enjoyed what I read of it, and it introduces a whole host of characters. Fan reaction is quite positive, there's twists and turns and the setting gets a lot of praise for its diverse range of characters, including good queer representation that's still not quite there in live action (the Aftermath books also were quite good on that ... in this cis white male's opinion, at least ).

I only read the first Thrawn book, but haven't read the others. I don't think it was a bad story, but I can't stand Zahn's style of writing (but I liked Aftermath which many hate for its style, so your mileage may vary A LOT).

I really enjoyed the first "From a Certain Point of View" book, a book with short stories (mostly) about the secondary/background characters in A New Hope. It has some hilarious stories, some really weird ones (e.g. if you ever wanted to know what was going through the Dianoga's "head" when she met Luke in the trash compactor), some very emotional ones. "Of MSE-6 and Men" is *chef's kiss* There's the same for Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, but I haven't read those yet. The canon status of these stories is ... shaky. I suppose they are the truth ... from a certain point of view.

Haven't read too many comics. It does the Marvel thing where you will have plenty crossover events, or series re-starting at #1 after a few years. The initial Darth Vader run was quite good, though. I really liked what I've read of Doctor Aphra.

As for authors - I've read two books by Claudia Gray and enjoyed both a lot (Lost Stars, Into the Dark). Her books are labeled "Young Adult" but don't let that put you off. I haven't read her other books, but based on those two I wouldn't hesitate giving them a try.

[Sophie Scholl]

Thank you so much! 

Twilight Company is in my stack I nabbed from the library and I'm excited to dive into it. I love Hoth and ground level/non-primary characters stories.

Aftermath sounds amazing! I saw the ratings were all over the map, but it definitely sounds like something I'd love.

I'm sad I missed Catalyst in my reading efforts as I recall a friend of mine liking it when he told me about it when it first released. Maybe I'll try to sneak it in soon.

Lost Stars sounds interesting... minus the being shoehorned into all of the major events. That type of thing has always kind of annoyed me.

I've read a lot of the first phase of High Republic books of every reading level and love them all. They really helped to breath new life into my love of Star Wars after years spent struggling to find enjoyment in the universe with all of the negativity, disappointment, and horribly toxic fanboys. I plan on finishing things off at some point, though the Age of Rebellion has kind of jumped into the hotseat of my interest at the moment.

I've never really cared for Zahn or Thrawn outside of when the books first released. I was a kid who was starved for Star Wars content and didn't mind his plots. Now? Eh... last time I tried to read Heir to the Empire I couldn't finish it due to annoyance with things.

From a Certain Point of View sounds a lot like the "Tales from..." books in the, now, Legends/EU era. I recall loving the Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina book in particular.

Dr. Aphra is amazing! I read the first run of her series and definitely plan on reading the ensuing ones as well. I have a total crush on Magna Tolvan. Sloppy! 

Thank you again for the rundowns and recommendations! 

[Syt]

Thank you so much! 

No worries.

From a Certain Point of View sounds a lot like the "Tales from..." books in the, now, Legends/EU era. I recall loving the Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina book in particular.

Those were by far my favorite EU books. I've always been more interested in new characters in the setting and less in the strong focus on the main trio of Han/Luke/Leia (which is understandable commercially, but I preferred the setting to become wider).

I haven't read the Alphabet Squadron books yet - they're set after ROTJ, but they're supposedly also really good.

[Threviel]

So, my kid made me watch episode 1. That is a horrible movie. It has not in any sense of the word aged well. The effects are horrible and the acting and story atrocious.

The original movies have all aged well, except the modern digital additions, but this crap fest is horrible in every way. If it wasn't a Star Wars movie it would be a laughing stock like Battlefield Earth, but that movie at least had some qualities so perhaps it would just be forgotten.

[Barrister]

So, my kid made me watch episode 1. That is a horrible movie. It has not in any sense of the word aged well. The effects are horrible and the acting and story atrocious.

The original movies have all aged well, except the modern digital additions, but this crap fest is horrible in every way. If it wasn't a Star Wars movie it would be a laughing stock like Battlefield Earth, but that movie at least had some qualities so perhaps it would just be forgotten.

I mean I will agree that the digital effects of the late 90s have aged more poorly than the practical effects of the late 70s.

It's also not a great movie for sure.

But it is an interesting movie.

The problem is slapping an "Episode I" title on it.  This movie should absolutely not be your first introduction to Star Wars.  You're much better watching in the order of release.  Because if that's what you're doing you already know the characters of Anakin Skywalker, of Obi-Wan, and C-3PO and R2-D2.  And it's interesting then to see these much younger characters in such a different position of their life.

Most of the action set-pieces are lame, although kids might like the pod-racing. The Qui-Gon / Obi-Wan /Darth Maul battle however (together with the excellent Dual of the Fates song) is very well done.

[HVC]

As a first appearance villain (without subsequent revamping and recharacterization) Maul is a better/cooler villain than Vader. Come at me!

[Syt]

Are you guys saying we need a Prequel Trilogy Special Edition?

[celedhring]

If you think Phantom Menace's computer effects aged badly, don't watch Attack of the Clones... 

[Syt]

If you think Phantom Menace's computer effects aged badly, don't watch Attack of the Clones... 

I think it's mostly the Battle of Geonosis and the final shot of the clones boarding the ships etc. I think later seasons of Clone Wars and episodes of Bad Batch look a lot better.

[celedhring]

Is Ahsoka the first time we got actual live action clone troopers in an action scene? I'm not rewatching Revenge of the Sith to clear it up

[Syt]

I think it is. I believe in ROTS they were still CGI/mo-capped

[Threviel]

If you think Phantom Menace's computer effects aged badly, don't watch Attack of the Clones... 

The kid will be watching the rest of the prequels alone... They truly deeply suck.

I will join back in when we jump to episode 7 after 3. Perhaps I can finally watch 8 and 9.