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jedibuttercup) wrote2004-10-24 11:35 pm
jedibuttercup) wrote2004-10-24 11:35 pm
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Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
Finished Shadows of the Empire. I found it a good read, but also a lot funnier than I think the author intended it to be.
My first thought? Ooh, the eeevil Prince Sheeezor. *laughing* I'm sorry, but I found it difficult to take the man seriously. He came off like a shoe-horned-in Gary Sue type character in this book. I'm sure I'll feel differently when I get to the later EU books, if he turns up again ... heck, I was even intrigued by his social position in the young Han Solo trilogy and found him a properly menacing figure there ... but here? *smirking* Not quite.
Maybe it was just the fact that the story opens with Prince Xizor standing in the background of an important scene from ESB, which would be a candidate for a stock Mary/Gary Sue plot point if this were fan fiction. Or it could have been the hysterical, deadly serious manly-man plotting Xizor and Vader did the whole book long regarding how to make each other look inferior in their Master's eyes, with the Emperor perfectly aware of it and cackling to himself the entire time.
Points for Leia's Force sensitivity making a showing, though -- because I can think of no other reason why Chewie's quiet conversation with her in Xizor's lair, during which she realized something was affecting her reactions to Xizor, suddenly made her able to turn her nose up at the prince's Certifiably Irresistable Falleen Pheromones and Perfect Muscular Body when she'd been panting and practically stripping for him just moments before. That scene made me snicker in disbelief.
Speaking of the Force, Vader actually picked up on the echo effect created when both children were on the planet at the same time and contacting each other empathically. Guess that's another very good reason why Obi-Wan would have insisted on separating them at birth. I wonder just how powerful they would have been as a Jedi pair had they actually been allowed to grow up together, with Obi-Wan training them from toddler-hood.
Luke's adventures in light-saber building made for an interesting interlude, though it did poke a hole in a pet theory of mine about what happened to Qui-Gon's lightsaber. And I was in absolute stitches at a couple of things he thought or said during the novel, including numerous repetitions of "I have a plan" (immediately followed by lunacy) and this statement: "It bothered Luke that in order for you to smell a thing, tiny and invisible particles of it had to be inhaled and sampled by your olfactory system. Whatever was causing that awful, rotting, fetid odor, he didn't like the idea of microscopic bits of it going up his nose" (286).
It was nice to see the action with the Bothans capturing the second Death Star's plans, as I'd been mildly curious for quite some time about Mon Mothma's quote regarding that in "Return of the Jedi". Much of the other serious plotting needed work, though. OH NO, they had to sneak onto Coruscant to rescue Leia right out from under the Empire's nose! And GASP, the Falcon only made it out of orbit because their enemies, who vastly outnumbered them on both sides, turned on each other and they were able to sneak through in the confusion! Negative points for lack of creativity there.
Not to mention this quote from late in the rescue: "Thix, what is going on down there? Thix? Come in, sector one-one-three-eight, come in ..." (336). *groan* I mean, I didn't mind the THX-1138 reference in A New Hope as Lucas wrote the thing himself, but this kind of in-joke gets old fast, and there's no chance it was coincidental.
Unlike the 9-11 imagery. This book was published, what, 1996? Five years ahead of time. And yet, near the end we have Luke Skywalker, holding a Class-A Thermal Detonator whose use would vaporize a few stories in the middle of a very tall skyscraper, and a few feet from him there is Xizor, imagining how the destruction would not only kill them all, but also destroy the girders and bring all the upper stories telescoping down on them to pancake his entire castle and everyone in it. *shiver* And then Lando went ahead and used the bomb, albiet after giving a five minute warning. The Alliance as Fanatical Terrorists? Hard not to imagine, for a moment, what the average citizen would be reading in the press about that later, or about the destruction of the Death Stars ... collateral damage, indeed.
My biggest issue with the book, though, was Leia trying to contact Black Sun in the first place. And then lounging around in that pit of a casino for a couple of weeks waiting for a representative to arrive when she could have been doing far more important things for the Alliance. And then not taking proper precautions in regards to meeting that representative. Once Guri walked in that door, she had no choice but to go with the HRD to Coruscant one way or another, and that should never have happened. Horribly irresponsible of her. Especially as everyone but her in the galaxy seemed well aware that the Bothans, whose loyalty is to the Alliance, have a better spynet than either Black Sun or the Empire; she could have just asked her question of them, and then she would never have needed rescuing in the first place.
Still. I will forever remember the scene with Luke diving through an access door to face the guards, followed immediately by Chewie ... who slipped and fell on sewage-wet feet ... followed by Lando, who tripped right over him in turn ... *laughing* And Threepio and Artoo having to fly the Falcon was priceless. Reminded me of a scene from the movie "Secondhand Lions". If you've seen it, you know the one. And the Luke-Lando team reasoning of "Nobody could possibly think we'd be stupid enough to do [X]; it fools them every time" immediately reminded me of Thor's reasons for calling the Tau'ri for help with their Replicator problems. Ahh. Good times.
Next: Return of the Jedi.
My first thought? Ooh, the eeevil Prince Sheeezor. *laughing* I'm sorry, but I found it difficult to take the man seriously. He came off like a shoe-horned-in Gary Sue type character in this book. I'm sure I'll feel differently when I get to the later EU books, if he turns up again ... heck, I was even intrigued by his social position in the young Han Solo trilogy and found him a properly menacing figure there ... but here? *smirking* Not quite.
Maybe it was just the fact that the story opens with Prince Xizor standing in the background of an important scene from ESB, which would be a candidate for a stock Mary/Gary Sue plot point if this were fan fiction. Or it could have been the hysterical, deadly serious manly-man plotting Xizor and Vader did the whole book long regarding how to make each other look inferior in their Master's eyes, with the Emperor perfectly aware of it and cackling to himself the entire time.
Points for Leia's Force sensitivity making a showing, though -- because I can think of no other reason why Chewie's quiet conversation with her in Xizor's lair, during which she realized something was affecting her reactions to Xizor, suddenly made her able to turn her nose up at the prince's Certifiably Irresistable Falleen Pheromones and Perfect Muscular Body when she'd been panting and practically stripping for him just moments before. That scene made me snicker in disbelief.
Speaking of the Force, Vader actually picked up on the echo effect created when both children were on the planet at the same time and contacting each other empathically. Guess that's another very good reason why Obi-Wan would have insisted on separating them at birth. I wonder just how powerful they would have been as a Jedi pair had they actually been allowed to grow up together, with Obi-Wan training them from toddler-hood.
Luke's adventures in light-saber building made for an interesting interlude, though it did poke a hole in a pet theory of mine about what happened to Qui-Gon's lightsaber. And I was in absolute stitches at a couple of things he thought or said during the novel, including numerous repetitions of "I have a plan" (immediately followed by lunacy) and this statement: "It bothered Luke that in order for you to smell a thing, tiny and invisible particles of it had to be inhaled and sampled by your olfactory system. Whatever was causing that awful, rotting, fetid odor, he didn't like the idea of microscopic bits of it going up his nose" (286).
It was nice to see the action with the Bothans capturing the second Death Star's plans, as I'd been mildly curious for quite some time about Mon Mothma's quote regarding that in "Return of the Jedi". Much of the other serious plotting needed work, though. OH NO, they had to sneak onto Coruscant to rescue Leia right out from under the Empire's nose! And GASP, the Falcon only made it out of orbit because their enemies, who vastly outnumbered them on both sides, turned on each other and they were able to sneak through in the confusion! Negative points for lack of creativity there.
Not to mention this quote from late in the rescue: "Thix, what is going on down there? Thix? Come in, sector one-one-three-eight, come in ..." (336). *groan* I mean, I didn't mind the THX-1138 reference in A New Hope as Lucas wrote the thing himself, but this kind of in-joke gets old fast, and there's no chance it was coincidental.
Unlike the 9-11 imagery. This book was published, what, 1996? Five years ahead of time. And yet, near the end we have Luke Skywalker, holding a Class-A Thermal Detonator whose use would vaporize a few stories in the middle of a very tall skyscraper, and a few feet from him there is Xizor, imagining how the destruction would not only kill them all, but also destroy the girders and bring all the upper stories telescoping down on them to pancake his entire castle and everyone in it. *shiver* And then Lando went ahead and used the bomb, albiet after giving a five minute warning. The Alliance as Fanatical Terrorists? Hard not to imagine, for a moment, what the average citizen would be reading in the press about that later, or about the destruction of the Death Stars ... collateral damage, indeed.
My biggest issue with the book, though, was Leia trying to contact Black Sun in the first place. And then lounging around in that pit of a casino for a couple of weeks waiting for a representative to arrive when she could have been doing far more important things for the Alliance. And then not taking proper precautions in regards to meeting that representative. Once Guri walked in that door, she had no choice but to go with the HRD to Coruscant one way or another, and that should never have happened. Horribly irresponsible of her. Especially as everyone but her in the galaxy seemed well aware that the Bothans, whose loyalty is to the Alliance, have a better spynet than either Black Sun or the Empire; she could have just asked her question of them, and then she would never have needed rescuing in the first place.
Still. I will forever remember the scene with Luke diving through an access door to face the guards, followed immediately by Chewie ... who slipped and fell on sewage-wet feet ... followed by Lando, who tripped right over him in turn ... *laughing* And Threepio and Artoo having to fly the Falcon was priceless. Reminded me of a scene from the movie "Secondhand Lions". If you've seen it, you know the one. And the Luke-Lando team reasoning of "Nobody could possibly think we'd be stupid enough to do [X]; it fools them every time" immediately reminded me of Thor's reasons for calling the Tau'ri for help with their Replicator problems. Ahh. Good times.
Next: Return of the Jedi.
No Such Thing
Ha, ha! Funny...
I found it a good read, but also a lot funnier than I think the author intended it to be.
Yeah, Perry isn't quite the caliber of Zahn or Anderson. He did a decent job, though, and I don't envy him the job of trying to fill in gaps between the movies. We observed how well that worked with Splinter! He does seem to be a bit more "slapstick," if you will.
Vader actually picked up on the echo effect created when both children were on the planet at the same time and contacting each other empathically.
This was interesting, and it does make more sense why they were separated. I guess they figure you can get an idea of their potential through the powers of the next generation of twins, Jaina and Jacen.
"It bothered Luke that in order for you to smell a thing, tiny and invisible particles of it had to be inhaled and sampled by your olfactory system. Whatever was causing that awful, rotting, fetid odor, he didn't like the idea of microscopic bits of it going up his nose" (286).
Hee, hee! This recently came to mind when I was in a men's restroom, and I couldn't help thinking, "Darn Shadows of the Empire!" *grin*
Negative points for lack of creativity there.
I concur. Have you read Wedge's Gamble (Star Wars: X-Wing Series, Book 2)? Much more involved intrusion/insertion is discussed, along with extraction techniques. More interesting portrayal of reaching and escaping Imperial Center, if you ask me.
Hard not to imagine, for a moment, what the average citizen would be reading in the press about that later, or about the destruction of the Death Stars ... collateral damage, indeed.
Yeah, it's an interesting perspective that did indeed come after 9/11. Though Wedge's Gamble also talks about Imperial propoganda efforts, and mentions how the Rebels are portrayed as merciless terrorists in the official media (and the Emperor as a saint).
"Nobody could possibly think we'd be stupid enough to do [X]; it fools them every time"
This make me think of one of my favorite scenes in ROTJ, inside Jabba's place as they're being hustled out to the air skiff:
HAN: How're we doing?
LUKE: Same as always.
HAN: That bad, huh?
Ha, ha! That cracks me up everytime, it's exactly what I would say. Your comparison to the Asgaard calling on humans to help them is a good cross-comparison.
Next: Return of the Jedi
Have fun! :)
Re: No Such Thing
I suppose. Since I haven't read NJO yet, and I don't think I read the Correllian trilogy either, most of my opinion of the Solo children is based on the cluster of books set 12-15 years after ROTJ -- namely, Children of the Jedi, Darksaber, Planet of Twilight, and Crystal Star. None of which were much good. I don't recall being nearly as fond of them as I was of Luke and Leia, though I did like little Anakin; maybe I'll revise my opinion this read-through.
I concur. Have you read Wedge's Gamble (Star Wars: X-Wing Series, Book 2)? Much more involved intrusion/insertion is discussed, along with extraction techniques. More interesting portrayal of reaching and escaping Imperial Center, if you ask me.
I own it, and the spine is creased, but it's been six or eight years and hundreds of other books since I last picked it up. I do remember liking that series, and that there was a buried Star Destroyer involved somewhere in there, but I'll have to read them again to refresh my memory on the details.