[QuickTidal]

Wow! Now, I like the film version of Sith ALMOST entirely (the love story is still crap....but not as crap as it was in Clones). It stands as my second favorite under Empire Strikes Back, but no way in hell did I think that the novelization of the film would not only be amazingly well written....but also has a virtual crapload of stuff that didn't make it into the final cut of the film. Stuff that, had it been shot and included in the film, MIGHT have given Empire a run for its money. Sadly it is only in the book, but MAN is it ever good. Wow. Stover's writing is amazing. So far I have read some very good Star Wars Expanded Universe fiction (Stackpole, Zahn), and some VERY bad (Kevin J. Anderson, Barbara Hambly), and I am going to be starting the Legacy of the Force series soon (which people are talking about as being a big deal because the authors writing it now have ALL SIX film stories at their disposal to write from, and I feel this will make for a better EU all around). Anyways, read this novelization. It's REALLY good, and I actually also have The Rise of Darth Vader by James Luceno on deck too as I hear it is a great book about Vader adjusting to his new body, and also his new post as Sith lord.

[polishgenius]

I'm interested in reading that, if only because I've read quite a lot of EU books and Stover's other books (Shatterpoint and Traitor) stand head and shoulders over everything else. Especially Traitor, the absolute highpoint of the NJO series (which is mostly good, if patchy), and establishes Jacen Solo as a fantastic character for the most recent books to totally ruin.
While Shatterpoint is something rather like Apocalypse Now with Jedi. And that Jedi is Mace Windu. If it was made into a film it would totally kick the arse of every actual Star Wars film.

Pity I can't find any of his other stuff in the UK.

[QuickTidal]

polishgenius;236903 said:

I'm interested in reading that, if only because I've read quite a lot of EU books and Stover's other books (Shatterpoint and Traitor) stand head and shoulders over everything else. Especially Traitor, the absolute highpoint of the NJO series (which is mostly good, if patchy), and establishes Jacen Solo as a fantastic character for the most recent books to totally ruin.
While Shatterpoint is something rather like Apocalypse Now with Jedi. And that Jedi is Mace Windu. If it was made into a film it would totally kick the arse of every actual Star Wars film.

Pity I can't find any of his other stuff in the UK.

Yeah, I read highlights from the NJO series (mostly the Stackpole ones Dark Tide I & II, and Star By Star by Denning), but I loathe the baddies. I thnk that the Yuzaan Vong are just pitifully poor villains. So I got the coles notes version of that whole series, and read the few books I wanted to.

[End of Disc One]

At the beginning of NJO, the YV seemed like a pretty damn serious threat to me. But every author brought inconsistencies to their race, and by the time Aaron Allston's books came along, the YV seemed pretty weak and not very interesting. Traitor is definitely the best book of the arch, though. I also loved Conquest.

[Mithfanion]

I read this book and it was terrible. Really really poor. Stover has a really annoying style here, which I hope he doesn't also use in Heroes Die.

[Aptorian]

You know, reading this thread gives me an impression of what it's like to look through this board the first time. All these abreviations and referrals to old stuff has me completely lost.

*Returns to the real book forums hugging his memories of ice*

[QuickTidal]

Mithfanion;236921 said:

I read this book and it was terrible. Really really poor. Stover has a really annoying style here, which I hope he doesn't also use in Heroes Die.

Really? Are you serious? Wow.

[polishgenius]

Aptorian;236922 said:

You know, reading this thread gives me an impression of what it's like to look through this board the first time. All these abreviations and referrals to old stuff has me completely lost.

*Returns to the real book forums hugging his memories of ice*

Surely the synopsis "Apocalypse Now. With Samuel L. mother****ing Jackson" is all you need to know?

Seriously, read Shatterpoint.


>_>
<_<
¬_¬

[QuickTidal]

polishgenius;236933 said:

Surely the synopsis "Apocalypse Now. With Samuel L. mother****ing Jackson" is all you need to know?

Seriously, read Shatterpoint.


>_>
<_<
¬_¬

Yeah, this one is on my list of SW:EU to read. I've heard this same description of it from others who have read it.

[Werthead]

Traitor is awesome and features the single greatest moment in Star Wars history that isn't in the Original Trilogy: Ganner Rhysode's last stand against the Vong. In any other author's hands it would have been pure cheesecorn but Stover made it work brilliantly.

[pat5150]

While I'll agree wholeheartedly that the novelization was better than the movie, I absolutely hated Stover's writing style. Made me want to never pick up anything by him again, to be honest. . .

Patrick

[QuickTidal]

It's weird that there is this severely polarized view of his style. I hear from half the people I talk to that his writing style is second only to Stackpole in the SW universe.....and then there seem to be people who hate his style. I personally really like it.

[acesn8s]

Mithfanion;236921 said:

I read this book and it was terrible. Really really poor. Stover has a really annoying style here, which I hope he doesn't also use in Heroes Die.

Heroes Die is a much better novel, IMO. I love the violence that follows in Caine's wake.

Shatterpoint was okay, but I guess I found myself thinking Mace shouldn't have had the trouble he did. I understand the difficulties a Jedi must present to an author, but I wanted more kicking ass and taking names, and less situations where Mace was stymied by one situation or another. :folken:

[polishgenius]

I'm going to have to get Heroes Die. Problem is, you can't get his non-SW books in shops, and what I believe is the American cover they've got on Amazon uk is really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really bad.

acesn8s;237197 said:

Shatterpoint was okay, but I guess I found myself thinking Mace shouldn't have had the trouble he did. I understand the difficulties a Jedi must present to an author, but I wanted more kicking ass and taking names, and less situations where Mace was stymied by one situation or another. :folken:

I thought there was a good amount of kicking ass and taking names... especially the ending.

Also, whatshisfaceIcan'tremember was badass.

[Reborn]

The only book I have read by Stover is Heroes Die and I was very impressed. It is well-written and the story is original and interesting with a few twists and turns along the way. Many nice and vivid actionscenes too, but this is far from just a run of the mill actionbook despite some violent and timeconsuming battles. I really recommend it.

I'd like too read Blade of Tyshalle (spelling?) but it seems to be a bit harder to find. I might check out some of his Star Wars-novels as well.