[Whisperzzzzzzz]

About 300 pages into The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and I'm enjoying it, though I find some of the interludes to be pretty confusing (but I'm assuming they'll be explained later on).

EDIT: Nevermind, I've figured out the interludes.

This post has been edited by Whisperzzzzzzz: 07 September 2015 - 07:24 PM

[QuickTidal]

About 40 pages into STAR WARS: AFTERMATH by Chuck Wendig (sidebar: someone with Wendig's talent taking on a Star Wars book was already a plus in my book, but this book literally jumps off the page more so than MOST of the latter old EU)

A few official NewCanon aspects of the galaxy post-ROTJ for those that are curious. Spoilered for anyone wanting to remain fresh.

Spoiler

Appears to take place not TOO long after ROTJ...probably a year later TOPS.

Prologue is the scene from the special editions where they pull down Palpatine's statue on Coruscant...except it uses that scene to show that the Empire didn't just fall to pieces without its head and enforcer....as Imperial police go after all those that pulled the statue down to tamp down on them hard.

One main character is Wedge Antilles who post-Battle of Endor has been sent off on a bunch of spy missions to check on the remnants of the Empire, and their hold on what parts of the Galaxy and what they plan.

The other main character is Norra Wexley, who flew one of the Y-wings that followed the Millenium Falcon into the second Death Star and blew up the core and escaped....a battle she still has nightmares about.

The Alliance / Rebellion has reformed into a New Republic officially and Mon Mothma is the head of the now reformed Galactic Senate, which is now headquartered on Chandrila (her home world).

Princess Leia has sent a holo net around the outer rim to assure those that live out there that the New Republic is there for them and about the Galactic Senate reforming.

[polishgenius]

You're one of the very very few people who actually seems to like the styling and prose of Aftermath. It's been absolutely battered almost universally on the actual-writing front in the reviews I've seen, even by people who enjoyed the plot.

[QuickTidal]

polishgenius, on 07 September 2015 - 09:23 PM, said:

You're one of the very very few people who actually seems to like the styling and prose of Aftermath. It's been absolutely battered almost universally on the actual-writing front in the reviews I've seen, even by people who enjoyed the plot.

Whot?

Really? Maybe by Star Wars fans used to pedestrian prose by the likes of Christie Golden in the old EU?

I like Wendig's non-SW books, and the prose here seems more of the same, so I've got zero problem with it. I think he actively divides up
the narrative in a clean, concise way and focuses on the various characters for just enough time.

I'm quite enjoying this.

[polishgenius]

QuickTidal, on 07 September 2015 - 10:57 PM, said:

Whot?

Really? Maybe by Star Wars fans used to pedestrian prose by the likes of Christie Golden in the old EU?

The main problem seems to be that he has a tendency to ridiculously short sentences which people aren't liking. This is coming from a fair few people who's opinion I tend to respect, including Werthead.

I'm not judging it myself yet until I see some of it but it's made me wary.

And bear in mind that while the old EU had some very average writers it also had Matt Stover.

[worry]

Cool. Sounds good. Go for it.

[Serenity]

Currently halfway through Leckie's Ancillary Justice. Solid but unspectacular so far.

[QuickTidal]

polishgenius, on 08 September 2015 - 04:43 AM, said:

QuickTidal, on 07 September 2015 - 10:57 PM, said:

Whot?

Really? Maybe by Star Wars fans used to pedestrian prose by the likes of Christie Golden in the old EU?

The main problem seems to be that he has a tendency to ridiculously short sentences which people aren't liking. This is coming from a fair few people who's opinion I tend to respect, including Werthead.

I'm not judging it myself yet until I see some of it but it's made me wary.

And bear in mind that while the old EU had some very average writers it also had Matt Stover.

There is also this...which seems offsides

At any rate, I'm enjoying it and have found no issues with the writing style. Not at all sure where the "short sentence" complaint comes from (was that Wert?). I've not found many of those myself and I'm just over 100 pages in. I WILL note that it is written in the present tense...which seems to rub some people the wrong way...though I've never had much of a problem with it. I think Wendig just wanted things to feel immediate.

I should also point out that the book strives for not only gender balance (with MANY female characters in lead roles), but for equality in general with multiple LGBT main characters. Which feels good for the Star Wars universe in general.

I'll chime back in when I'm done.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 08 September 2015 - 01:24 PM

[QuickTidal]

Briar King, on 08 September 2015 - 12:51 AM, said:

How long after Jedi does it take place?

Got an in story time note at around the 80pg mark. It's been "a few months" since the Battle Of Endor.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 08 September 2015 - 01:28 PM

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Book two of Jemisin's Inheritance Trilogy, The Broken Kingdoms is a lot better than book one. Everything about it pulls me in more than anything in the first book did, and I'm tearing through it.

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 08 September 2015 - 01:21 PM, said:

Briar King, on 08 September 2015 - 12:51 AM, said:

How long after Jedi does it take place?

Got an in story time note at around the 80pg mark. It's been "a few months" since the Battle Of Endor.

Have the Ewoks stopped singing yet? Have they run out of Stormtrooper carcasses to devour?

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 08 September 2015 - 03:01 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 08 September 2015 - 01:21 PM, said:

Briar King, on 08 September 2015 - 12:51 AM, said:

How long after Jedi does it take place?

Got an in story time note at around the 80pg mark. It's been "a few months" since the Battle Of Endor.

Have the Ewoks stopped singing yet? Have they run out of Stormtrooper carcasses to devour?

Funnily enough, the Ewoks have been mentioned once so far...by the Imperial remnant...as "rate-faced little bears".

So there's that.

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 08 September 2015 - 03:16 PM, said:

Abyss, on 08 September 2015 - 03:01 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 08 September 2015 - 01:21 PM, said:

Briar King, on 08 September 2015 - 12:51 AM, said:

How long after Jedi does it take place?

Got an in story time note at around the 80pg mark. It's been "a few months" since the Battle Of Endor.

Have the Ewoks stopped singing yet? Have they run out of Stormtrooper carcasses to devour?

Funnily enough, the Ewoks have been mentioned once so far...by the Imperial remnant...as "rate-faced little bears".

So there's that.

So they're totally still eating the corpses. Love those furry little carnivorous dudes.

[Baco Xtath]

Listening to John Dies at the End again. I fucking love this book.

[QuickTidal]

Just over the halfway mark of STAR WARS: AFTERMATH and I'm ready to call this into my top five BEST Star Wars books of all time. No joke.

Wendig's shorter passages early on with a multitude of characters, draw together slowly (like Zahn's original Star Wars books) into a more cohesive whole later on to GREAT effect. I never felt like the disparate characters meeting up or interacting felt forced or contrived. This book is simply amazingly hard to put down. I get to work and don't want to stop reading it when I get off the transit.

Also, there is a mad, re-purposed, B1 Battledroid (the ones from the prequels that look like skeletons and sucked at mass battles) painted matte black and red, equipped with multiple upgrades who is the muscle of one main characters. His name is Mr. Bones...and he's effing AWE-SOME.

Oh, and Wendig does bunch of GREAT Interludes between chapters that blow open events in the wider galaxy to help fill in gaps about what is going on that doesn't exclusively fit within the narrative of the events around the planet Akiva.

I don't get the complaints about this book...it's arguably sidestepping ALL the stuff that bothered me about the writing and editing of the latter old EU books. It feels fresh, and exciting.

Oh, and one slightly spoilery mystery character guess:

Spoiler

The Empire has only one Super Star Destroyer left in its dwindling fleet. Called The Ravager it is hidden somewhere nearby, and only Admiral Rae Sloane knows where it is...and it is apparently commanded by someone above her head simply called "Fleet Admiral". Wendig is purposely obtuse about who this is, and only barely describes him...and rumour has it that this is the New Canon version of Thrawn.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and something I noticed today that I hadn't noticed when I started it. This isn't a standalone. It's the beginning of "The Aftermath Trilogy" according to the title page.

Update: Finished. All of the above applies. This was a GREAT Star Wars book!

Now back to KNIGHT'S SHADOW or TWELVE KINGS IN SHARAKHAI.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 10 September 2015 - 09:29 AM

[JPK]

I forgot to mention I finished Dance Dance Dance by Murakami a couple days ago. This is one of my favorites by him so far. Much less sex (and pretty much none of it explicit) and while maintaining the weird it doesn't jump straight into the deep end (I'm looking at you Wind-up Bird and 1Q84.).

For now I'm chewing through Thirteen Years Later by Jasper Kent. It's the second book of five dealing with vampires in 1800's Russia. He first one was set during Napoleon's failed invasion, and this one has the revolution looming in the background. So, start with a cool time period and then throw in monster vamps and I'm all in. (There has been too much humanizing them in recent literature if you ask me...) Hell, even the name he uses for them is awesome VOORDALAK. It makes me want to look up some old Russian vampire myth and see how scary these things are really supposed to be.

[acesn8s]

The Forever War by Haldeman.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Finished the whole Inheritance Trilogy by Jemisin. Wow, what a great set of books. Jemisin is an extremely talented author who surfaces engaging ideas. I highly recommend this series!

[amphibian]

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 11 September 2015 - 01:08 PM, said:

Finished the whole Inheritance Trilogy by Jemisin. Wow, what a great set of books. Jemisin is an extremely talented author who surfaces engaging ideas. I highly recommend this series!

Yup! I have the Fifth Season arriving soon and I gave a friend my giant tome of the Inheritance Trilogy to read.

[worry]

Inheritance has a short story, a novella, and a triptych (ie three short stories collection) all available too, and all worthwhile.