Due to a number of conflicting, real-world setbacks, I haven't had a lot of time for reading as of late. But now that things have simmered down, I've had a chance to sit down and read through the first of the Del Ray era of
Star Wars novels, as well as the first of the longest and most ambitious story arc in the history of the EU: The
New Jedi Order, with its first entry,
Vector Prime. I'll be honest, I heard a
lot of polarizing opinions regarding this arc, but after clearing the book, all I can say is this:
THIS is the next generation of
Star Wars adventures we
SHOULD'VE gotten.
This arc has it all: the new, non-Empire, non-
Force threat that is the Yuzhaan Vong are the complete opposite of the new canon's Worst Order and their soyboys Crylo Ren and Genral Husk: menacing, competent, calculating, and most importantly, ENTIRELY original to the point where they're completely foreign to everything in the
SW universe. Their culture and design is so Giger-esque and estranging that I'm desperate to see more of them. The new protagonists in the form of the Solo children are all likable and unique, and steal the best moments in the story. The duel of philosophies between Jacen and Anakin, Jaina's waning bond with her mom, the trio's Force Telepathic starfighter battle, and that shocking scene with Anakin that simultaneously proves the benefit of a well-wrtten subversion (one that Rian Johnson should take note of before he pinches out another cinematic turd) AND the fact that you can have a dooming, apocalyptic threat without it being
another tiresome Imperial Superweapon.
But the best scene by far is the duel between Mara Jade and Yomin Karr, as the first proper duel between the Jedi Order and the Vong. My favorite EU belle steals the show, yet again.
Tied with
Vision of the Future as my favorite EU novel. If the rest of the
New Jedi Order Arc is as good as this, then I'm in for literary bliss.
I am fangirling so, so bad right now. <3 I feel like I've been waiting for this book for an eternity. :inlove:
@WolfOD64 Have you had the opportunity to get your hands on this yet?
As much as a Thrawn fanatic as I am, my milage for the Disney Canon's
Star Wars books is quite short. Even with top-tier writers like Timothy Zahn and James Luceno, the New Canon is constrained by the suffocating grip of the Lucasfilm Story Group, essentially relegating anything that isn't in the movies as uneventful one-offs that don't offer a whole lot in the way of impactful storylines or interesting revelations.
So I think I'll pass. I'm sure it'll be a fine read since Zahn is penning it, even if it won't be an eventful one, thanks to his creative constraints.
Moving on to the Thrawn Trilogy, now. I've read these books at least 4 times before, the last time being...gods, probably 7 years ago, or so?
Returning to them gives me the warm fuzzies. :inlove:
I made a massive mistake putting off reading this trilogy for so long. It took
The Farce Awakens' outright dismantling of my investment in Disney's canon to properly give them a chance, and I'm so happy I did. Thrawn is one of the best
Star Wars villains hands down, and Mara Jade may be my favorite character in the Expanded Universe period.
I still have to get hardcovers for each of these. I see them every now and then at my local Half-Price Books, but never scoop them up for whatever reason.
