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Well, this is my first topic, I guess. Who do you think in a battle between Xanatos, the first padawan of Qui-Gon Jinn, who turned to the Dark Side of the Force (from Jude watson's "Jedi Apprentice books" and Mara Jade from the "Thrawn" series by Timothy Zahn (not the NJO monster)?
I bet on Xanatos, he was a tough opponent and a cunning one.

Xanatos? Sounds like the dude who was the very fist Dark Jedi to exsist. What was his name? Xrenon or something?

Hey, ya know what I would do, I would kill Mara, and feed her to Xanatos, and then I would rob him becasue he sux.






(coughs) Or something like that, Brooke Shields did it once.

I don't think anyone cares what you would do.

Least of all Xanatos He might even send his Hutt servants after you

What was Jude Watson thinking. And to think I have most of those books and loved them just a few years ago.

Why, they are very cool, IMO.

The only EU I have ever read was the Tales of The Jedi Comics and the Sith War stuff about Marka Ragnos and Exar Kun and all those dudes before Revan came along.

The Hutts thought they were the ultimate species. I don't think they would serve a human.

Well, he was not commanding them, he was just a president of a company, in which many Hutts worked...

Originally posted by Rand al'Thor
The only EU I have ever read was the Tales of The Jedi Comics and the Sith War stuff about Marka Ragnos and Exar Kun and all those dudes before Revan came along. Read the Thrawn Trilogy, pretty b*tchin. Don't go any further though.

NJo books, you might dislike them, but they are well written. ASome great authors worked on them.

Originally posted by Darth Sparhawk
NJo books, you might dislike them, but they are well written. ASome great authors worked on them.

Great author's? Tell that to Janus.

It's done by multiple authors and some of them are really good - like RA Salvatore and Greg Keyes.

RA Salvatore -was- good, but his latest Drizzt Do'Urden trilogy really really left me hanging, and wishing I hadn't paid full price for the hardbacks, either.

I think Salvatore is a bit deluded with his fame that he's enjoyed since longer then most of the forum members here could spell 'plot twist'. And while he's definately a good writer, NJo is a pile of shit. Even James Luceno, who I like very much as a SW writer, can't make NJo very good.

Try Salvatore's "Demon Wars" books, they are really, really good.

Well, he'd put everything into good perspective. Even in Labyrinth of Evil, he showed the skill, power, and character of every being in the book to perfect measure, without overpowering or underpowering any one being. I though that was pretty damn good, arguably the best Star Wars book to date. Trust me; if anyone could make NJO good, it's Luceno.

Originally posted by Darth Sparhawk
NJo books, you might dislike them, but they are well written. ASome great authors worked on them. They're decent enough authors that can write well sure. It's just the storyline's and some of the dialogue they come up with. It's just like something's missing. If Timothy Zahn wrote the NJO series, then it would be the best there is--------maybe.

Writing skill aside, Leia and Han getting divorced was the biggest **** I've ever seen, and that includes Chewie's death.

No, according to Glentract, The Crystal Star is the worst EU novel ever written.

they get divorced?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!? i guess they do

Originally posted by Darth Faunus
Writing skill aside, Leia and Han getting divorced was the biggest **** I've ever seen, and that includes Chewie's death.
You are not serious.

Originally posted by Lord Janus
No, according to Glentract, The Crystal Star is the worst EU novel ever written.

It seriously is. Imagine Star Trek writers trying to make a Star Wars book. These are the reviews from theforce.net. I think these are very lenient.




The Crystal Star
by Vonda N. McIntyre


Published by Bantam Publishing





Scott's Rating: 2 out of 4
Helen's Rating: 1 out of 4




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Leia's children, Jacen and Jaina, are kidnapped by a twisted former Imperial officer named Hethrir. He is talented in the Force and plans to create evil Jedi out of the twins and other children he has kidnapped. Meanwhile, Leia, Chewie, and the gang attempt to track the kids down.

Meanwhile, Luke and Han follow clues about a colony of hidden Jedi to a space station near a dying star that is turning into a crystal, thus the title, THE CRYSTAL STAR. This crystal is disrupting communications and the Force which causes trouble for Luke. The trail leads them to a strange cult which worships a strange blob being from another dimension called Waru.




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Scott:

I really liked the cover! Drew Struzan is the master when it comes to painting the SW Universe. As far as the story goes, I liked seeing the twins personalities develop. That was the highlight of this book for me. This was the first SW novel I can recall that dealt with the kids.


Helen:

The ideas of Han and Luke having an adventure while Leia takes off on one of her own sounded good. I also liked the image of a brindled Chewie - for some reason I found that humorous. The plot moved on at a quick enough pace so the novel didn't take long to read.




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Scott:

So, Waru is a being from another dimension being worshipped by a cult. Is it just me or does this sound more like a plot to Star Trek than Star Wars? This is debatable, but I feel that Star Wars always followed certain rules. Sometimes it would stray from being technically correct with sounds in space and movements of space ships, but it always stayed within certain bounds. I feel that a Crystal Star and beings from another dimension both fall outside of the boundaries that the SW Universe covers. This really turned me off to the story. That is not to say it was a bad story, but I felt it wasn't a good STAR WARS STORY. I also felt that Hethrir was not a good character. He was bad, but he didn't strike me as dangerously evil, which he was supposed to be. I also thought Luke's falling in with the cult was not really interesting or believable.


Helen:

I mean no offense to the well meaning efforts of Ms. McIntyre, but this novel failed on several levels. The protagonists were one-dimensional, the crisis faced by the main characters not completely explored, and the conclusion predictable. In the Crystal Star, once again the Solo children in jeopardy at the hands of Imperial loyalists is used as a plot device. Hethrir was no different from characters in other novels who wanted to revive the old ways and grab power for themselves, yet there was an unfulfilled story potential in that Hethrir was non-human. It was never clear why he served the Empire. I never bought into the idea that Vader trained Rillao or Hethrir in secret, yet gave Hethrir a position within the Empire. The re-introduction of Xaverri from Han Solo's past could have been wonderful, but I never managed to summon compassion for her or her plight. Additionally, I would have liked to see a fuller treatment of the slavery plot line. For example, how did it manage to flourish for so long after the fall of the Empire? Finally, there never was a real tension involved in the conclusion of the story. The outcome never seemed in doubt.

The Ugly:

Scott:

Definitely Waru, that big blob of pus from the Star Trek world. Shatner can have him back, for all I care!


Helen:

On this I agree with Scott. Waru.

That was lenient.

Not for them.

TUF:
Scott's Rating: 3.5 out of 4
Mike's Rating: 3.8 out of 4
Nick's Rating: 4 out of 4

Traitor:
Scott's Rating: 3 out of 4
Nick's Rating: 4 out of 4
Mike's Rating: 4 out of 4

Destiny's Way:
Nick's Rating: 4 out of 4
Chris's Rating: 4 out of 4
Scott's Rating: 3.5 out of 4
Mike's Rating: 3.8 out of 4

Heh!

For those of you who don't know, Xanatos is a Dark Jedi, and Qui-Gon's first apprentice before Obi-Wan.

Your half correct Rex. Xanatos was Qui-gons second apprentice(or so I have heard.)

Yea one unnamed one became a knight and QUI-gon became a master for that.

atlant it right.

Oh, yeah, forgot about that one. Well, he is unnnamed. *shrug*