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what is the overall opinion of them here?

Kill.

Enforcer Talen wrote:what is the overall opinion of them here?

I thought they were better than most people do, which is to say that I thought they sucked. Although, when compared to the other kids' series, it's like being given a Kurt Vonnegut book when you'd been listening to ranting kindergarteners, before. Seriously, have any of you guys ever tried to read some of the REALLY kiddy books, like the Junior Jedi Knights and the Jedi Quest series? I have. In fact, I've read them all. And I HATED every sentence of them. I'd read a YJK book over any of those in a heartbeat.

Ahem. KJA. No further elaboration needed.

Eh, not bad. Far better than shit like The Glove of Vader and it's series.
At least most Star Wars books are good, or at least readable, 'cause Trekkie books (mostly the Voyager ones) SUCKED.

Master of Ossus wrote:

Enforcer Talen wrote:what is the overall opinion of them here?

I thought they were better than most people do, which is to say that I thought they sucked. Although, when compared to the other kids' series, it's like being given a Kurt Vonnegut book when you'd been listening to ranting kindergarteners, before. Seriously, have any of you guys ever tried to read some of the REALLY kiddy books, like the Junior Jedi Knights and the Jedi Quest series? I have. In fact, I've read them all. And I HATED every sentence of them. I'd read a YJK book over any of those in a heartbeat.

Did you think KJA did better with YJK than he did with the JEdi Academy Trilogy? The sugary kiddy-nature aside, it just seemed more coherent and even interesting than the Jedi Academy series did.

Connor MacLeod wrote:Did you think KJA did better with YJK than he did with the JEdi Academy Trilogy? The sugary kiddy-nature aside, it just seemed more coherent and even interesting than the Jedi Academy series did.

Actually, I did. I found the Shadow Academy to be more compelling enemies than Admiral Daala ([cough] Thrawn wannabe [end cough]). It did have the unfair advantage of taking place over a long time, but it was enjoyable at times. I kind of liked the characters, and while I can't say it would have been a particularly difficult piece of fiction to write, it was done fairly well for what it was, and it never pretended to be more than that.

I also thought that even the JJK were better than some of the absolute GARBAGE being written about the young Anakin Skywalker and the young Obi-Wan Kenobi. Those books are absolutely HORRIBLE. They are not only boring and poorly written, but also ill-conceived. Instead of focusing on the characters (and how they get to know each other, building up the relationships between Obi and Qui-Gon and Anakin and Obi), they focus on events that seem to happen to the characters for no apparent reason. In fact, I found the first one in the series (coincidentally, the only one written by a real author) to be far more engrossing than any of the later ones, even though almost nothing happened in it.

Incidentally, in the YJK, KJA also had the advantage of almost inventing all of the characters. In the Jedi Academy series, he had to focus on Luke and Han and Leia, and I don't think he quite got them right. His characterization of the characters in the YJK, while simplistic, got the message across and was consistent. Plus I was never bothered because Jacen or Jaina wasn't acting like they had in the movies.

Ive never read them, they arent intended for someone my age and thats fine....

BUt WHY IN THE FUCK DO tHEY HAVE TO BE INCLUDED IN THE EU!

Technically one of those books is just as official as the Thrawn Trilogy. That plus a lot of these characters are bent used in the NJO....thats disturbing.

I've heard however, that the galaxy of fear series was better.

Master of Ossus wrote: Actually, I did. I found the Shadow Academy to be more compelling enemies than Admiral Daala ([cough] Thrawn wannabe [end cough]). It did have the unfair advantage of taking place over a long time, but it was enjoyable at times. I kind of liked the characters, and while I can't say it would have been a particularly difficult piece of fiction to write, it was done fairly well for what it was, and it never pretended to be more than that.

Yes. Everything up until the last three (the one with GAllandro's brat and that spice addiction crap) was rather good.. the Emperor's plague, Brakiss, etc...

A few things did annoy me - like the fact the only ships Ackbar could toss against the rebuilt Star Destroyers in the sixth book (where they assault Yavin before getting nuked) were Corellian Corvettes (what is Ackbar doing commanding a Corvette, anyhow?)

Anotehr thing that annoyed me was with the relationships between the characters (not so much Zekk and Jaina, but more of Tenel Ka and Jacen) - I found myself screaming at the book (not literally) "Fucking kiss her already!" and such. There were a few other annoying tidbits (Tenel Ka's repetitive phrases, for example.) but nevertheless, well done compared to his earlier work.

I also thought that even the JJK were better than some of the absolute GARBAGE being written about the young Anakin Skywalker and the young Obi-Wan Kenobi. Those books are absolutely HORRIBLE. They are not only boring and poorly written, but also ill-conceived. Instead of focusing on the characters (and how they get to know each other, building up the relationships between Obi and Qui-Gon and Anakin and Obi), they focus on events that seem to happen to the characters for no apparent reason. In fact, I found the first one in the series (coincidentally, the only one written by a real author) to be far more engrossing than any of the later ones, even though almost nothing happened in it.

Never read those. I only read the YJK because therre was a distinct lack of SW novels at that point in time (this was prior to the Hand of Thrawn duology and the NJO stuff) - This was far before my "vs" debate times, and I pretty much read anything Star Wars at that point

What I've found interesting is that some of the early STar Wars comic books were far more enjoyabel than some of the novels - Dark Empire (Except for Empire's End - what a crappy ending to an otherwise promising series arc!) is among m first favorites - followed close by Crimson Empire. Stackpole's "Rogue Squadron" comics aren't bad - but I didnt like them as much as say, Dark Empire.

Have you seen The "tales of the Jedi" stuff as well? I believe that was KJA work as well - which again was better than the Jedi Academy swill he made - but its STILL no Dark Empire

Master of Ossus wrote:Incidentally, in the YJK, KJA also had the advantage of almost inventing all of the characters. In the Jedi Academy series, he had to focus on Luke and Han and Leia, and I don't think he quite got them right. His characterization of the characters in the YJK, while simplistic, got the message across and was consistent. Plus I was never bothered because Jacen or Jaina wasn't acting like they had in the movies.

Yeah.. that is one of the few things I like about the NJO series - they aren't afraid to kill people off. (I'm just praying they don't pull a "I'm not really dead!" Stackpole manuver - I'd prefer Chewbacca and Anakin STAYING dead.... especially since I liked Anakin's death scene - then again, what isn't there to like about Star by Star? )

Captain tycho wrote:Eh, not bad. Far better than shit like The Glove of Vader and it's series.
At least most Star Wars books are good, or at least readable, 'cause Trekkie books (mostly the Voyager ones) SUCKED.

God, I remember that kiddie series. Just atrocious. It's been wiped from continuity though, I think.

Darth Fanboy wrote:Ive never read them, they arent intended for someone my age and thats fine....

I've heard however, that the galaxy of fear series was better.

I glanced at a Galaxy of Fear book, once. It sucked unbelievably badly. To be honest, those are the only SW books that I have not read, and I confess that I had decided not to read them even before they were deemed "apocryphal." While it gave me a good excuse on why not to read them, my mind had already been made.

Connor MacLeod wrote: Everything up until the last three (the one with GAllandro's brat and that spice addiction crap) was rather good.. the Emperor's plague, Brakiss, etc...

I actually liked the conclusion of the final book of the series, as I felt it wrapped things up in a satisfactory manner that I found somewhat enjoyable. However, I felt that the final three books were, as a whole, FAR weaker than the rest of the series.

A few things did annoy me - like the fact the only ships Ackbar could toss against the rebuilt Star Destroyers in the sixth book (where they assault Yavin before getting nuked) were Corellian Corvettes (what is Ackbar doing commanding a Corvette, anyhow?)

Yes, generally I find such errors forgivable if the book is of sufficient quality, and in this case I was willing to forgive him because I felt that the rest of the work was fairly good.

Anotehr thing that annoyed me was with the relationships between the characters (not so much Zekk and Jaina, but more of Tenel Ka and Jacen) - I found myself screaming at the book (not literally) "Fucking kiss her already!" and such. There were a few other annoying tidbits (Tenel Ka's repetitive phrases, for example.) but nevertheless, well done compared to his earlier work.

Apparently, that didn't bother me nearly as much as it bothered you. I liked the twins, for the most part. The part of the relationship between Jacen and Tenel Ka that bothered me was not so much the romance portion of it, but their reactions after he lopped off her arm. She basically said, "whatever," and he was totally devastated by it. Now, I've never chopped off anyone's arm, but I imagine that they would be more upset about it than I would be, and I thought that the completely different reactions that they exhibited were a bit unrealistic. The other thing I didn't like was that Tenel Ka never really changed over the course of the series. Jacen, Jaina, Zekk, and Rainar all developed considerably over the course of the series in a reasonable manner, but Tenel Ka was... Tenel Ka throughout.

The relationship that bugged me the most was the one between Em-Teedee and Lowie. I didn't find the droid to be a particularly compelling character, and I thought that Lowie was kind of a screwy character who didn't have much of a personality throughout the series.

Never read those. I only read the YJK because therre was a distinct lack of SW novels at that point in time (this was prior to the Hand of Thrawn duology and the NJO stuff) - This was far before my "vs" debate times, and I pretty much read anything Star Wars at that point

You shouldn't read those. They SUCK. I have been known to encourage people to read YJK when they were looking for fun, very light reading set in the SW universe, but I could NEVER recommend those pieces of crap that they're selling now.

What I've found interesting is that some of the early STar Wars comic books were far more enjoyabel than some of the novels - Dark Empire (Except for Empire's End - what a crappy ending to an otherwise promising series arc!) is among m first favorites - followed close by Crimson Empire. Stackpole's "Rogue Squadron" comics aren't bad - but I didnt like them as much as say, Dark Empire.

I don't read the comics, though I have some friends who always give me the synopses of them so I know what happens.

That's a shame Ossus. Dark Empire (the first one anyway) is better than most of the novels, as is Crimson Empire I and II. I was pissed as hell when I found out Crimson Empire III was put on indefinite limbo. I believe it was finally cancelled.

Also, for meaningless non-continuity fun, SW Tales has some truly great comics (Vader vs. Dark Woman, for one, a lot of their comedies, and when Jabba's Swoop Gang accidently find a Phase III Dark Trooper in a junk heap ).

Some of Marvel's original material was closer to Lucas' ideas and payed better respect to the GFFA's scope then a lot of the Bantam series did.

I actually thought the Gallaxy of Fear books were good. Some of them were stupid, but it was fun reading the one most enjoyable for me was the second one, City of the Dead(?).

SW Tales kicks ass. Mace Windu and Yoda sitting in the cafe ordering breakfast (ala Vince and Jules) when the cafe gets robbed. Yoda's line "When Bantha's fly my friend" then the theives busting through the glass on a transport shaped like a bantha. Truly great.

The YJK books weren't/aren't all that bad. I stopped reading them a few years back, but, from what I can remember, they were pretty good. As stated, they were a heckuva lot better than the other 'kids' SW books out.