Star Wars - the new canon

[Darren]

It's great! You should enjoy it even more than I did if you watched the Clone Wars all the way to the end.

 

I've just remembered I read Canto Bight the other day (now I have a Kindle I'm ploughing though books in the evenings when I previously would have been mindlessly messing on my phone). I must do a proper write-up but the short version is: it's OK. Not a must-read but entertaining enough.

[Boothjan]

Yeah, I loved Ahsoka by the end of Clone Wars which is quite something because I thought she was REALLY annoying to begin with!

[Darren]

 

Bit of a strange one, this. It's a collection of four very loosely connected stories set in the casino city of Canto Bight, a place which is of course famed as being the setting for what is widely regarded as the low point of The Last Jedi. So it's got the deck stacked against it from the start, but on the other hand there's no reason why this shouldn't be an excellent book in its own right. And I'm a fan of this format generally - I've said before I'd stopped reading the old EU by the time Episode I came out, but my favourites of the 90s novels were the Tales From series, and Tales From The Mos Eisley Cantina in particular (which I still maintain is the Pulp Fiction of the Star Wars universe). So I went into this hoping for something along those lines.

 

And I sort of got it, but only sort of. The key difference between this and those old books is that this only has four stories, so whereas back then none of the tales were long enough to outstay their welcome, each of these four novellas are plenty long enough to drag. And they all do, to a greater or lesser extent. None of the stories are terrible but none of them are particularly gripping either. They all focus on different aspects of the city's corrupt society, whether that's hit-men, bar-owners, politicians or card-counting gamblers. I've no doubt most of the characters in these stories make blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearances in the film. But another problem this book has compared to its 90s predecessors is that they came out 20 years after the films they riffed on, by which time we'd all seen the videos countless times so we knew exactly which aliens each story was about. But even the most enthusiastic of us won't have seen the new film more than a few times so far, which for me at least just isn't enough to be able to recognise any of these characters from their brief time on screen. And sadly none of them leap out of the page, either.

 

And there's another way this suffers by comparison - although these stories loosely link with each other, they don't link with the events of the film. In every case I was waiting for a huge kerfuffle to kick off with Fathiers running through the streets and causing chaos, especially in the last story which features the Fathier races as a major plot point, but it never came. All these stories happened and wrapped up before Finn and Rose showed up, or possibly long after they left. Whereas Tales from the Cantina had all the characters in place and reacting in their different ways when that crazy old man started swinging his lightsaber around. I'm probably being unfair with this comparison but it feels like a missed open goal to me.

 

So it ends up as a collection of not particularly interesting and ultimately inconsequential stories about characters I don't recognise or care about, in a setting which isn't very Star Wars-y even in the film - it's not terrible, but it's far from great. One for completists only, I'm afraid.

[Boothjan]

That one didn't appeal to me anyway but after that review, I'll definitely give it a miss!

 

Ahsoka is excellent BTW - your review is spot on. 

[Darren]

 

Now this was quite a disappointment. You might be thinking, what do you expect from the book of the sequel of the game of the film? And in truth, this is perfectly decent: it's a fairly exciting tale of espionage told from the point of view of the Empire's newly-formed special spy squad, on a mission to infiltrate and bring down the surviving remainder of Saw Gerrera's Partisans after the core of the group was destroyed with Saw on Jedha. It doesn't go smoothly, of course, and along the way they are forced to confront the reality of their war and the people they are fighting against. And it all ties in very well with both A New Hope (the climactic dogfight is this book's opening) and Rogue One, and I presume with the story in the game Battlefront II, to which this is a prequel, but which I haven't played. So far so good. Taken purely on these terms, this is a totally fine Star Wars book.

 

But! I can't take it purely on those terms, because for me this book came pre-loaded with expectations. It's written by Christie Golden, whose excellent Dark Disciple was the first new canon novel I reviewed (and raved about) at the beginning of this thread. And it's a spiritual successor (although not a sequel, nor related in any other way) to the equally excellent Twilight Company, the Battlefront 1 spin-off that I reviewed (and raved about) here:

 

 

Unfortunately, Inferno Squad fails to live up to the standards set by its illustrious forebears. It does share some qualities with Twilight Company, in that it doesn't shy away from the brutality of the war or its participants, although it never evokes the same feelings of bleakness and hopelessness, despite some of the ex-Partisans being very nasty pieces of work indeed. (Although some of them are presented as jolly nice and cheerful, which is a bit strange for members of what is basically a terrorist cell.) But where this really failed for me was in the emotional journey of the protagonists - or rather, the lack of one! The story kept throwing situations, dilemmas and experiences at the four members of Inferno Squad, repeatedly bringing each of them to the brink of questioning their loyalties, tactics and ethics, from which brink they all repeatedly stepped back. Now, it may be that the intention is to show how well conditioned the Imperial machine leaves the products of its Academies, but a story in which nobody learns anything from their experiences, and those who survive to the end reach it in the same frame of mind as they began, makes for an unsatisfying read. And the book may be hamstrung by the need to deliver these characters to the game as loyal, unconflicted servants of the Empire (and it may be that these conflicts pay off in the game's narrative), but as a reader that's the book's problem to overcome, and I don't think it does.

 

This is particularly surprising given that in Dark Disciple, Christie Golden presented not one but two intertwined emotional journeys, with dual protagonists starting at opposite ends of the moral spectrum (in that case the light and dark sides of the Force) and each confronting, learning from and ultimately assimilating if not outright embracing the lessons of the other. I wasn't looking for this to be a rehash of that story, but I was hoping for some of its emotional depth. There was plenty of room in the tale for one of the squad to go native and renounce the Empire, and for another to break cover and try to destroy these brutal, cruel and heartless insurgents before their undercover mission's objectives were achieved, but every time the open goal was presented (as it was, again and again), the player didn't so much miss the target as turn around and saunter off in the opposite direction.

 

I'm probably being unfair. Taken purely on its own merits this is, as I said, perfectly decent. It's far from the best of the new canon but it's equally far from the worst. But its two antecedents are among the best of the new canon, and so this feels like a missed opportunity.

 

 

 

 

 

[Boothjan]

 

I loved this.  Whereas a lot of the new canon novels can skirt around key aspects of Star Wars and feel a bit light on content, Ahsoka delves a bit deeper, connecting some pretty key events whilst telling an exciting tale about what happens to the protagonist between The Clone Wars and Rebels series.  As a result, this book perfectly links the two animated series together.

 

I'm a fan of both series, though I preferred the storytelling in The Clone Wars better, and Ahsoka is one of the best characters in it.  This book does a superb job of bridging the gap between a young, wronged padawan and a wiser rogue who is strong with the force.  I hate the term 'coming of age' but it's exactly that and in many ways it's not dissimilar to Rebel Rising, the story of Jyn Erso's upbringing with Saw Gerrera.  I reckon Jyn and Ahsoka would have got on like a house on fire.

 

The main plot of this isn't the most original, but I don't really think it needs to be.  It makes sense, there's plenty of action, it captures the sense of a young Jedi on the run following Order 66 who can't draw attention to herself yet still wants to help others, and it brings other better known characters from the franchise into the story via flashbacks - and the conclusion is perfect.

 

Like the wonderful Leia: Princess of Alderaan, the last couple of sentences are fantastic.  Star Wars Rebels and Ahsoka spoiler:

 

Spoiler

When she says 'you can call me Fulcrum' I could have done a fist pump.  Awesome moment - and I liked the way the name is explained.  Alderaan is yet again the very centre of what happens in this galaxy - the name fits perfectly

 

Criticisms?  I do think that some of the supporting characters are a bit weak.  That's not a fault exclusive to Ahsoka, as other novels in this range suffer the same issue.  It doesn't detract too much from the plot, but in this instance, I think there were too many supporting characters, too few of whom are fleshed out so as a result, they feel a bit one dimensional.

 

It didn't take me long to get through this and that speaks volumes - it's a good read, it's an exciting read and it's another I'd recommend.

 

8/10

 

I really should rank all the new canon novels I've read from best to worst!

[mrsnrub]

Guys what is a good starting off point on the new canon novels. I loved the old canon up to a point and then felt it veered sharply off what I consider star wars to be, which probably only applies to myself but hey.

 

I had been reading the marvel comics, they started off promising but I have lost interest as Im not keen on the direction they are taking. I particularly dont care for Doctor Aphra or whatever shes called as she just seems a bit pointless. Shes unlikely to show up in a movie or show and seems redundant, I suppose shes there to give Marvel a character they can have more leeway with than the main characters but even so, not for me Im afraid. Im sure some people love the character but I just cant get into it. Some of the Kieran Gillen ones were very well written though, particularly vader.

[Boothjan]

It depends what time frame you want to start from TBH.

 

Between episodes III-IV?

 

After Episode VI?

 

A specific character? 

 

An alternative viewpoint spanning across various time frames?

 

My main recommendation would be Lost Stars by Claudia Gray which is just amazing and my favourite of the New Canon novels.  You won't need any prior knowledge of characters away from the films as the protagonists are all original.

 

The Aftermath Trilogy by Chuck Wendig takes place right after Episode VI and are supposed to be the main books that link the original and sequel trilogies together, but they're not the best IMO, especially the first instalment.

[mrsnrub]

Thanks Boothjan, yeah I had listened to part of an audiobook of the first aftermath and wasnt impressed. I kind of want to read more based on the sequel era.

 

 

[Boothjan]

Okay - I'd probably recommend the following in that case:

 

Phasma is excellent and will make you feel a bit angry with how criminally underused she's been in TFA and TLJ.

 

Leia: Princess of Alderaan is set before Episode IV, but it actually ties into TLJ quite well - it features Admiral Holdo when she and Leia were teenagers.  That's also excellent. 

 

Bloodline is set after the Aftermath trilogy but before TFA - that's by the same author as Leia: Princess of Alderaan and Lost Stars and is also very good. 

[Darren]

Yes, yes, to Boothjan listen!

 

The sequel era's been a bit under-represented so far in the novels. Apart from the excellent Phasma though, there is Before the Awakening, which is written for kids (at about a Harry Potter level I'd say) but is a good read with three short stories introducing Rey, Finn and Poe and what they were up to immediately before The Force Awakens.

 

There's also the novelisation of The Last Jedi which is supposed to be excellent but I haven't read it yet so can't confirm it. But avoid the Force Awakens novel as it's terrible.

 

Other than that you can't go wrong with anything by Claudia Gray. DEFINITELY read Lost Stars - there's a reason we keep raving about it. Then just browse this thread to see what we all thought of everything else so far.

[Boothjan]

1 minute ago, Darren said:

Yes, yes, to Boothjan listen!

 

[Darren]

 

I finally got round to reading this last week. I've had it for ages but kept putting it off because - and I feel I should probably hand in my Star Wars nerd badge for admitting this - I never thought the old Heir to the Empire trilogy was much good. I was glad that they reignited the fandom after the fallow late 80s, but I wasn't really a fan of the actual stories. Of course, it turned out they were much better than a lot of the novels that followed in their wake *shudders remembering The Courtship Of Princess Leia* but at the time I enjoyed them more for the novelty of being New Star Wars Stuff than for the actual content. So I went into this lukewarm at best.

 

What a fool I am. This is Very Good Indeed, and miles better than I remember the original Thrawn books being. Thrawn is utterly alien, not in the usual Star Wars sense of having tentacles or a funny shaped head, but in being from outside the known galaxy, and thus from a totally different and unknown culture. There's a lot about humans in general, and the Empire in particular, that he struggles to understand, but at the same time he's mysterious, inscrutable and unpredictable to every single person he encounters, up to and including the Emperor himself. Even by the end of the book we're still not entirely sure where his loyalties truly lie, which is exactly how Thrawn himself wants it. This otherness makes him, and this book, unique in the Star Wars canon.

 

It's not perfect, of course. The book spends too long charting the rise of Governor Arihnda Pryce, which is only tangentially linked to Thrawn's story, and nowhere near as interesting. And I often found myself getting the various ships and smuggling plots Thrawn foils mixed up in my mind, although that's probably at least as much down to my mushy brain as it is a lack of distinctiveness in the writing. But these are small faults when set against the quality of the whole.

 

This is another top-tier Star Wars novel and one I'd be happy to recommend wholeheartedly, if there was anyone else in this thread who hasn't read it already! But I suspect everyone else dived in at the earliest opportunity, with just me holding out. It's a mistake I won't make again. Roll on Thrawn Alliances...

[Boothjan]

I've not read it yet but it's on my kindle, I'll start it this week. I've never read any Heir to the Empire stuff and the only Thrawn material I know is from Star Wars Rebels. 

[Darren]

Blimey, I felt sure I would be the only one here who hadn't read it yet!

 

It's excellent, as GlasgowChivas said in his review it's basically Sherlock In Space which is just another plus point really.

[Hexx]

The Heir to the Empire trilogy is pretty odd.

 

On one hand you've got the military/political stuff between New Republic and Empire. Thrawn being Thrawn etc - tactics and surprise. His interactions with the crew (the two different responses to tractor operators)

 

On the other hand you've got nonsense about clones, force blocking creatures, magical lost fleets, more clones, MarySues, more clones etc.

 

Stripping out the later stuff and focusing on Thrawn sounds like a winner.

 

Annoyingly Thrawn the book isn't on Audible (although you can pre-order the sequel :()

 

 

 

 

[Darren]

Yes, looking back Thrawn was definitely the best thing about his original trilogy. All that other stuff with Joruuuuus C'Boath etc. was why I didn't really like them all that much.

[Hexx]

I like the Noghri (and the games Thrawn played with their loyality)

And the spy stuff with "Who is the secret leak"...To Thrawn

 

Yep. I liked me some Thrawn.

 

I remember not like Mara (which is odd because later on I really liked her). And Karde felt a bit too Tryhard.

 

 

[Glasgowchivas]

I will fistfight anyone trash talking the original 'Thrawn' trilogy - they're great! (imo)

[Darren]

I will agree that they were great compared to a lot of the books that came along in the next few years. What was that one about Crystal something or other? It was so bad I think I've almost completely erased it from my memory.

 

Aha - I just looked it up: The Crystal Star. Now that was a bad book. Although even that was better than The Courtship of Princess Leia.

 

The quality control was all over the place in the mid-90s, it was like they were just desperate to pump out any old stuff. It's why I gave up reading the EU until the recent reboot. (Not that there haven't been one or two stinkers since.)

[Hexx]

47 minutes ago, Darren said:

I will agree that they were great compared to a lot of the books that came along in the next few years. What was that one about Crystal something or other? It was so bad I think I've almost completely erased it from my memory.

 

Aha - I just looked it up: The Crystal Star. Now that was a bad book. Although even that was better than The Courtship of Princess Leia.

 

The quality control was all over the place in the mid-90s, it was like they were just desperate to pump out any old stuff. It's why I gave up reading the EU until the recent reboot. (Not that there haven't been one or two stinkers since.)

 

Ahh that was part of a series from the same author wasn't it? About Callista (not Flockheart)

I had such high hopes for COPL. I came to it late, after the Wraith Squadron series...I was really looking forward to the end of Admiral Zinj after he was the enemy of that series.  

 

Oh god I've just looked through the Legends series of books and I think they might all have been pap looking back. TeenageMe thought they were so cool...ish.

 

Oh New Jedi Order was ok. :shifty:

 

[Matt Defis]

I still love I Jedi, my son is named Corran.

 

Wasn't crystal star the one with luke, robot man and ghost Jedi lady stuck on a flying lasagne?

 

Edit: turns out crystal star was the one with the space spider from another dimension.

 

The flying lasagne one was the children of the Jedi, written by the single worst author ever to write a star wars story, Babara Hambly. Children of the Jedi and planet of twilight were just truly fucking awful. 

[Darren]

I'd totally forgotten (or forced myself to forget) about Children of the Jedi, which must have been one of the very last EU books I read before giving them up in despair. So many of those mid-90s books were just terrible.

[Darren]

 

Let's stop talking about terrible Star Wars novels of the past, and talk about fantastic Star Wars novels of the present instead. In particular, let's talk about the novelisation of The Last Jedi, which might just possibly be the most fantastic Star Wars novel of all time.

 

I'm not normally much of a fan of novelisations. I only read The Force Awakens because someone bought it for me, and I found it a very disappointing and rather dull trudge through the events of the film. As a result I didn't bother with Rogue One and had no plans to read this either. But there was an unmistakable buzz about this that was absent from its predecessors, with reports of both the beginning and end, and quite a lot in between, being not just superlative fiction but emotionally resonant and deeply connected with the whole of Star Wars lore. Well, as they say, it's true. All of it.

 

From the astounding opening sentence which I absolutely will not spoil, and through the prologue that follows, it's immediately clear that this is not a book that simply transposes a story from film to page. Instead it tells the story of The Last Jedi from all points of view, including those of characters when they're not on screen. This is particularly effective for the "Force triangle" of Kylo/Ben, Rey and especially Luke, whose inner feelings are laid bare and give the lie to the idea that "he would never do that." But it also helps to clarify the motivations of other maligned characters such as Finn and Rose, Holdo and Poe, Leia and even Snoke (writing that list makes me realise that basically every significant character is maligned by the film's detractors). Of course it's fine to criticise the film for leaving these things ambiguous, but that's absolutely not a charge that can be levelled against this book.

 

Furthermore the book earns its Expanded Edition splash by including whole new scenes not shown in the film. If we are to take this novelisation as canon (and I think we are - see the next paragraph) then the book is essentially the "director's cut," which makes canon not just several deleted scenes from The Last Jedi but also one from A New Hope. Nothing here contradicts the film, but everything complements and enhances it. Expands it, if you will.

 

It would be enough if only the above were true. This would still be an excellent novelisation of a divisive film, which addresses most if not all of its source's weaknesses and adds a few extras on top. And it would still have that astounding opening. But it has another trick up its dust sleeve for us canon nerds, and it's this: The Last Jedi is nothing less than the the central hub of the entire new canon. And by that I don't mean that it's liberally sprinkled with references to most of the other new canon novels* and even some of the comics - although it absolutely is - but that each of these links are apposite and add both to this story and retrospectively to the others. For example, we finally get an answer - from a certain point of view - to what happened to the Imperial remnant that fled to the Unknown Regions at the end of the Aftermath trilogy, and with it an answer - of sorts - as to who Snoke is and how he relates to them. And that is just the tip of the iceberg, making this an utterly essential read for anyone following the new canon. Or anyone who enjoyed The Last Jedi. Or anyone who likes Star Wars but was disappointed by The Last Jedi. Or anyone else, really. As I said, this might just possibly be the most fantastic Star Wars novel of all time.

 

*Most of the good ones, at least. From memory, a few days after finishing it, I can recall links to Aftermath, Phasma, Cobalt Squadron, Before the Awakening, Bloodline, Leia: Princess of Alderaan, at least one of the Rogue One spin-offs and the Poe Dameron comic. There are probably others. The only notable exception is Lost Stars and that's only because it was about things happening to people who weren't at the centre of anything - so their story is unknown to The Last Jedi's characters.

[Boothjan]

Wow!!

 

I've not read any novelisations of any of the films before but this sounds like essential reading for me.  Really enjoyed that review mate - nicely done!

[Darren]

It really is essential reading. It’s properly good and I guarantee it will blow your R2-D2 socks off.

 

I’ve remembered something else - not only does it address practically every criticism aimed at The Last Jedi, it even goes back and has a crack at The Force Awakens for an encore. It explains - naturally, poetically, I could even say beautifully - how Rey was able to tap into the Force so quickly and effectively and so hold her own against him in their duel. She is not a Mary Sue, but the nemesis  of Kylo’s hubris. He basically gave her the tools she needed (I won’t say how) and brought it on himself.

[Hexx]

PM my the scene you won't spoil?  

I'll never buy this

[Darren]

No! Buy it! Buy it now!

 

(which one, the opening sentence or how Rey got her groove back?  )

[c-cat114]

Um. Not wanting to double kick Darren in two threads on the subject of TLJ book but I've had a similar reaction to it in the opposite direction. I'm finding it dull, overlong, overly descriptive and annoying. Definitely wish I'd gone into it with lowered expectations or tryed before buying. 90 mins into audiobook have just got past bombing run. Well sprint. Well. Slow, lazy meander. Well. Slug like crawl. Well. Comatose slipping into zombified state of boredom. 

 

Shame. But just to put alternative pov. 

 

For the good stuff don't think anything will ever beat Cam Kennedy's lovely Shadows of the Empire artwork and seem to remember the story was ace too. Must find my copies of that comic

[Darren]

It’s fine, all opinions are equally valid, even those that are clearly and categorically wrong

 

Of course it may well be that the reason I loved it so much is precisely because I’ve read all the other books that this one links to, so all the way through it felt like the final piece clicking into place in a jigsaw. If you’ve not read any of the other books then I can see that every passage tying in to the wider canon might seem like inconsequential fluff, and at the very least wouldn’t light up your synapses like they did mine.