Hair Paula Style Zahn
Joseph
>Okay Zahn lovers, flame me if you want, but I'm just being honest.
>
>Star Wars is too good a trilogy to be corrupted by half-ass crap like
>Heir to the Empire. Please, does anyone share my opinion?
>
Well, I indeed share your opinion that the writing was atrocious in
Zahn's books, but I DID like the story. It just seemed to me that
his books were no more than rough drafts. His prose was terrible,
and his phrase selection was awfully repetitive (you all know what
I'm talking about, or you will in a handful of heartbeats after
letting out a breath you didn't know you were holding). The
"kryptonite" ysalamiri may have been a crutch, but they didn't
particularly bother me.On the bright side, I enjoyed his villain, I liked the whirlwind
travel schedules, Delta Source intrigued me (though I figured it
out in a dream before the last book came out), I enjoyed the Mara/
Luke dynamic, and I really felt it had the "spirit" of Star Wars.
I've read the series at least three times now (this summer I read
ALL the books again in chronological order, from the silly Lando
stories to Anderson's last), and I still find it entertaining. So
while Timothy Zahn may not know how to get a good grade in an English
class, he still keeps me interested. If only he had decided to look
at his work instead of printing it right off the computer as soon as
it was finished...As far as writing goes, I put the Han Solo books first. Anyone who
hasn't read those definitely should. But skip the Landos. Man, what
the hell are those about?!?! I also didn't particularly care for
Truce at Bakura or The Crystal Star. IMHO, Kevin Anderson's weren't
that bad, and I thought Courtship of Princess Leia rocked, though I
have absolutely no idea why it had that Star Wars logo on the cover.
This book had as little to do with Star Wars as my senior thesis.
But it was a good read. Oh yeah, Star Wars (the novel) was EXCELLENT,
ESB sucked (straight from the movie-no new info), and RotJ was pretty
good. And Dark Empire was dumb.-platinum
While I agree that all of the new fiction is generally inferior to the
films, I think that the renewed uproar about Zahn is due to the other bad
material that followed.Zahn introduces new and interesting characters, he constructs a
well-thought-out plot, and he presents the SW universe in a logical way.
This is more than can be said for any other released fiction (with the
exception of "Ambush", that was a pretty well-constructed story. I just
wish they'd spell-checked it).A run-through of all the new fiction (that I've read):Zahn:
The Good......well thought out; new characters; good villians. It
also takes the "Overall SW story development" in a logical direction.
Mara Jade 8-)
The Bad.......some characterization problems with Han;
ysalamiri-as-plot-device.Dark Empire:
The Good......better characterization of Han; epic "rebels fighting
against hopeless odds" feeling; good Luke plot; Jedi spiritual fighting.
The Bad.......recycled villians; outrageous dialogue; poor flow from
Zahn trilogy (no outright contradictions, but ...Luke suddenly a Jedi
Master? Lando back in the military? Wedge promoted? [not bad, just not
what I would expect from Zahn's version of Wedge] Coruscant captured
AFTER Thrawn defeated? Omnipotent, vastly destructive Force storms? Get
the idea?)Dark Empire II:
The Good:
The Bad: Everything. Nuff said.Anderson Trilogy:
The Good: Luke finally gets his ass in gear and trains some more jedi.
The Bad: everything else."Ambush at Corellia":
The Good: Well-constructed; nothing that made me want to throw up;
good "Overall SW saga development" (I'll leave out spoilers); new
characters; no recycled villians; Mara Jade; characterization.
The Bad: ehh......proofreading 8-)"Truce at Bakura":
Boring and unrememberable. Although if you're desperate, it's worlds
better than Anderson.Haven't read any of the others, mostly because of bad word of mouth.Dave....who's gonna get midieval on your ass! (More Pulp sigs to come!)
You're also confusing entertainment with Lit. None of the books, or for
that matter the movies, were meant to be serious literature. They are
an easy read, simple plotlines and just fun. If you want to talk
corruption, talk 'Crystal Star' and parts of 'Courtship'.
-- Jeanne Mangum.......MANGUM@ix.netcom.com.....Aunt...@aol.com The door to your cage is open.
All you have to do is walk out....if you dare ...George Lucas
I don't. Zahn was the one who brought realism and sophistication
into SW universe. Aside from creating new heroes and villains, he also
made a good effort to explain some stuff that Lucas just threw into
the movies, without thinking much about it, such as:
1) How presence of dark side can shield a Jedi from detection
2) Details of cloning and reasons for clone madness
3) Reason, why Empire has lost battle of Endor after DS destruction
Andrew
--
I looked, and there before me was a pale horse. Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him...I heard a great voice saying "Go, pour out the wrath of God upon the earth"...and I saw Satan fall like lightning from Heaven!
: I don't. Zahn was the one who brought realism and sophistication
: into SW universe. Aside from creating new heroes and villains, he also
: made a good effort to explain some stuff that Lucas just threw into
: the movies, without thinking much about it, such as:
: 1) How presence of dark side can shield a Jedi from detection
: 2) Details of cloning and reasons for clone madness
: 3) Reason, why Empire has lost battle of Endor after DS destruction
: AndrewThese were all intresting, but as a story, it failed for me. None of the
charaters rang true, especially Han and Lando. They seemed... off. He
had a lot of good ideas (Thrawn, more details of force use, ect.) but a
lot of silly ones (yasmrai wern't so bad, but Wookiee with a SPEECH
IMPEDAMENT able to TALK??? Please.)
--
Quinn the Eskimo"You know, there are some people that just don't love their fellow human
beings, and I HATE people like that."
Tom Lehrer
It's a good point about Kenobi, but he had to hide SOMEWHERE while
the Empire was purging Jedi. And there is NO WAY Vader would
just forget about him - he's the one who put Vader in permanent
Life-Support. So he must have had some very clever spot. Vader
seems exactly the type to hound Kenobi unless he had no leads or
believed Kenobi was dead.
> When did Lucas ever say the Empire lost at *this* battle? I think
> everyone just conveniently assumed that, with the final defeat of the key
> figures, the war would be over. How interesting would the movie have been
In article ddmi...@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu (David Miller) writes:
>A run-through of all the new fiction (that I've read):
>
>Zahn:
> The Good......well thought out; new characters; good villians. It
>also takes the "Overall SW story development" in a logical direction.
>Mara Jade 8-)
> The Bad.......some characterization problems with Han;
>ysalamiri-as-plot-device.
>
>Dark Empire:
> The Good......better characterization of Han; epic "rebels fighting
>against hopeless odds" feeling; good Luke plot; Jedi spiritual fighting.
> The Bad.......recycled villians; outrageous dialogue; poor flow from
>Zahn trilogy (no outright contradictions, but ...Luke suddenly a Jedi
>Master? Lando back in the military? Wedge promoted? [not bad, just not
>what I would expect from Zahn's version of Wedge] Coruscant captured
>AFTER Thrawn defeated? Omnipotent, vastly destructive Force storms? Get
>the idea?)
>
>Dark Empire II:
> The Good:
> The Bad: Everything. Nuff said.
Has anybody else been really disappointed with the art of Dark Empire and
Dark Empire II? The pencil and ink work is fine, but the coloring is awful,
in my opinion. There are big pictures of space battles where _everything_
is just splashed over indiscriminantly with blues and greens. The artist
seems to go overboard with that whole "cinematic effect" with long obscuring
shadows and no color detail--I've never seen green hair or green skin, but
there's plenty of it in these comics. Not to mention that the story itself
is just awful--very contrived and very ridiculous.Now the Tales of the Jedi Series is a different matter. I am very impressed
by the art in this series, especially the archaic look of the ships and the
clothing and the weapons that really makes it feel like something out of the
old days of the Republic. I really like the story as well--it's refreshing
to read a Star Wars story that doesn't deal with Luke, Han, and all the
other regulars. I mean, I like Han and Luke and the others, but there is so
much more that can be written about in the Star Wars universe.
The main thing that I didn't like about the Anderson trilogy was the
preponderance of super-gizmos like the Sun Crusher. I'm getting tired of
plots that center around the appearance of ultra-high-tech weaponry:
World Devastators and Ultra-huge-whammo-gigantic Star Destroyers in
Dark Empire, the Sun Crusher in the Anderson Trilogy, and now the
Mega-Interdictor in Ambush at Corellia (I groaned when those stupid kids
discovered that cone-shaped alien thing. Oh boy, another mysterious
high-tech gizmo).
Actually, I rather liked Truce at Bakura. It's one of the only new books
that actually doesn't portray Luke as a limp-wristed, ineffectual milktoast.
And the business with Gaerial was interesting also. Luke really missed an
opportunity there. He just needs a chick, and then he'll be cool: with a babe
on one arm, and a lightsaber in the other, there's nothing he couldn't handle.
:).