What novels are unmemorable and just plain bad

AK_Jedi · Post by **AK_Jedi** » 2006-01-17 04:40pm

Sharp-kun wrote:
AK_Jedi wrote: The X-Wing books have some good clean fun, but they have way too much rebel pilot wanking in them. especially the wraith squadron books.
I actually found the Wraith Squadron ones to be the better of the X-Wing novels. No Corran Horn for one thing.

I loved the characters in the books, but they had way too much pilot wanking. Seriously, the Wraith squadron pilots are meant to be almost washouts, but they still have huge kill counts vs. the tie fighters.

This is a problem in all the x-wing books. They are frequently outnumbered, but they only lose between 1-3 pilots per book. That, and Corran Horn is just ridiculous.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2006-01-17 04:53pm

StarWarsJunkie89 wrote:Avoid anything by Robert J Anderson

That's basically it

His name is Kevin J. Anderson.

Darksaber for me was more of a stupid letdown than outright terrible.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2006-01-17 05:05pm

Too many to list.

But for personally toppers, Darksaber and Young Jedi Knights series, with a special note to Courtship of Princess Leia and Crystal Star.

Constant drek and piss poor storylines, with characters that seem just put there, to go "I'm Bad/Good/mysterious!!!!"

Noble Ire · Post by **Noble Ire** » 2006-01-17 05:21pm

General_Soontir_Fel wrote:Republic Commando: Hard Contact is also very stupid.

Personally, I thought it was one of the best of the CW books. Very interesting prespective, and well executed.

To add, yeah, pretty much anything by KJA (save perhaps the Jedi Academy Trilogy) can be ignored, although i did like his IG-88 tale, even if no one else did.

Coriolis · Post by **Coriolis** » 2006-01-17 05:44pm

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:His name is Kevin J. Anderson.

Aww dammit. Wasn't thinking

LongVin · Post by **LongVin** » 2006-01-17 05:53pm

Alright. Im currently compiling a list of what books I am going to order within the next few weeks.

On my reading list now is "Rogue Planet" so far it seems good I'm about a quarter of the way in and I hope the story picks up soon because it seems to be going rather slow. I do however like the stuff about Tarkin so far.

I already read both Phantom Menace and AOTC, Cloak of Deception and Darth Maul-Shadow Hunter. I thought they were all pretty good my only complaint with Shadow Hunter is Reaves insists of on constantly putting in "Soon. Very soon" every damn time he mentions Sidious or Maul plotting something.

Anyone have any advice on the Clone Wars series stuff? Specifically the Medstar series. Books about doctors just seem out of place in the SWvervse. I know I-Five comes back but does it shed any light on anything with Lorn Paven or his son? Or is I-Five just a filler character.

Noble Ire · Post by **Noble Ire** » 2006-01-17 05:59pm

Anyone have any advice on the Clone Wars series stuff? Specifically the Medstar series. Books about doctors just seem out of place in the SWvervse. I know I-Five comes back but does it shed any light on anything with Lorn Paven or his son? Or is I-Five just a filler character.

I seem to recall that he does expand upon them, to a fair extent.
As for the books, I would recommend:

Shatterpoint
Republic Commando: Hard Contact
Medstar 1&2
Yoda: Dark Rendevous
Labyrinth of Evil

On top of those, Approaching Storm and Dark Lord make good bookends, especially the latter.

General Soontir Fel · Post by **General Soontir Fel** » 2006-01-17 06:12pm

LongVin wrote:Anyone have any advice on the Clone Wars series stuff? Specifically the Medstar series. Books about doctors just seem out of place in the SWvervse. I know I-Five comes back but does it shed any light on anything with Lorn Paven or his son? Or is I-Five just a filler character.

I liked Medstar, because getting things from the perspective of non-major characters is always enjoyable. And I found it hilarious that there are holodramas about Yoda.

Avoid The Cestus Deception. Doesn't really add anything to the saga, and boring as hell.

Jedi Trial is a mixed back. It got tons of negative reviews, but I liked it. Maybe something's wrong with me...

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2006-01-17 06:39pm

Ender wrote:Swarm War is skipable, so is most of the NJO, the CotJ, DS, PoT trilogy is forgetable witht he exception of the important plotpoint of the ned of the Empire's factionalism.

Your analysis is poorly founded. Post-Imperial elements continued to exist distinct from Pelleaon's "Imperial Remnant", both in the Core (according to TEC) and in disparate Rimworld movements.

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 2006-01-18 12:43am

Any thoughts on the (vintage) Han Solo Adventures or Lando Calrissian Adventures? I had a friend who said he just couldn't get into them, but otherwise nobody seems to talk about them anymore...

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2006-01-18 01:01am

I've only read the Han Solo ones. They're good light reads.

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2006-01-18 03:50am

Coyote wrote:I must say that Vonda McIntyre's Crystal Star is beyond abyssmal. I quit reading Star Wars novels for a long time after that one, because it was just heartbreaking to see the beloved characters used as little more than puppets to fulfill a plotline that would have been a below-average Star Trek fan novel.

I haven't read Crystal Star, but I'm not surprised to hear you say that because her Trek novels ranged from pretty good to absymal.
She is a very nice lady (I had breakfast with her at a Con years ago), but her books are either very good or just plain stink.

Post by **K. A. Pital** » 2006-01-18 04:49am

Most of the EU stinks, if you ask me.

Stover's prequel books, Luceno's "Cloak of Deception" and Thrawn Trilogy with off-shoots by Zahn are probably the most readable out of the EU, which is basically a big trash heap where few things of some value are mixed with a ton of absolute garbage.

mjn6172 · Post by **mjn6172** » 2006-01-18 08:48am

Kurgan wrote:Any thoughts on the (vintage) Han Solo Adventures or Lando Calrissian Adventures? I had a friend who said he just couldn't get into them, but otherwise nobody seems to talk about them anymore...

I was never able to get into the Han Solo series, but I remember really liking the Lando Calrissian set. Mind you, I haven't read either one for about 10 years, but what I remember was pretty entertaining. I particularly liked the bizarre shapeshifter villain and Lando's ultra-pacifist robot copilot.

Post by **Kuja** » 2006-01-18 01:10pm

The New Rebellion is easily the worst SW book I've ever read.

As for the X-wing series...

Rogue Squadron (Stackpole) - Take the starfighter combat with a big grain of salt and it's a decent book
Wedge's Gamble (Stackpole) - Also decent, less starfighter wank.
The Kytos Trap (Stackpole) - My personal favorite of the Stackpole half.
The Bacta War (Stackpole) - Decent thematically, horrific mechanincally.
Wraith Squadron (Allston) - Less starfighter wank, better personalities, uber-commandos.
Iron Fist (Allston) - It gets a bit leery on the mechanics, but a really fun and touching book to read.
Solo Command (Allston) - Little starfighter wank, really shakes up the scene thematically.
Isard's Revenge (Stackpole) - The worst book in the series. Skip it and check a summary.
Starfighters of Adumar (Allston) - Fun factor of 10. I love this book.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2006-01-18 01:22pm

Starfighters of Adumar can also be summed up as the funniest SW book.

Darth Yoshi · Post by **Darth Yoshi** » 2006-01-18 01:32pm

To be fair, the three Wraith Squadron books are all pretty funny. But the sheer ridiculousness of Janson wielding a blastsword combined with the imagery of Red Flight in drag wins out.

Incidentally, Starfighters of Adumar is told entirely from Wedge's perspective.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2006-01-18 01:39pm

mjn6172 wrote:
Kurgan wrote:Any thoughts on the (vintage) Han Solo Adventures or Lando Calrissian Adventures? I had a friend who said he just couldn't get into them, but otherwise nobody seems to talk about them anymore...
I was never able to get into the Han Solo series, but I remember really liking the Lando Calrissian set. Mind you, I haven't read either one for about 10 years, but what I remember was pretty entertaining. I particularly liked the bizarre shapeshifter villain and Lando's ultra-pacifist robot copilot.

Don't forget Big Bird!!

Funny, most peoples' opinions of the Solo and Calrissian books are the exact opposite.

scythewielder · Post by **scythewielder** » 2006-01-18 02:24pm

The Mandalorian Armor, by K. W. Jeter.

Now, it's not that bad per se, and some of the chapters were rather well written, but the subject matter and setting really didn't do much for me, except induce a bit of boredom at times. Perhaps the sequel was better, but can't tell yet. Admittedly, I've never been much of a Boba Fett fan either (beyond the aesthetic, for the most part), so that probably doesn't help.

Doctor Doom · Post by **Doctor Doom** » 2006-01-18 02:56pm

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Davids' Jedi Prince series, yet. *shudder*

Noble Ire · Post by **Noble Ire** » 2006-01-18 03:27pm

Blackjack Simmons wrote:I'm surprised no one has mentioned Davids' Jedi Prince series, yet. *shudder*

That's a series I tend to want to forget entirely. Besides, I'm not even sure if its continuity (there seems to be some dispute about that.)

Ender · Post by **Ender** » 2006-01-18 09:13pm

Illuminatus Primus wrote:
Ender wrote:Swarm War is skipable, so is most of the NJO, the CotJ, DS, PoT trilogy is forgetable witht he exception of the important plotpoint of the ned of the Empire's factionalism.
Your analysis is poorly founded. Post-Imperial elements continued to exist distinct from Pelleaon's "Imperial Remnant", both in the Core (according to TEC) and in disparate Rimworld movements.

Aside from Daala's meeting and coup, did anything of importance take place in those novels? No? Then I'd say my analysis is well founded.

Ender · Post by **Ender** » 2006-01-18 09:13pm

Darth Yoshi wrote:To be fair, the three Wraith Squadron books are all pretty funny. But the sheer ridiculousness of Janson wielding a blastsword combined with the imagery of Red Flight in drag wins out.

Incidentally, Starfighters of Adumar is told entirely from Wedge's perspective.

It is also the only book to completely lack any force sensitive characters.

General Soontir Fel · Post by **General Soontir Fel** » 2006-01-19 12:02pm

scythewielder wrote:The Mandalorian Armor, by K. W. Jeter.

Now, it's not that bad per se, and some of the chapters were rather well written, but the subject matter and setting really didn't do much for me, except induce a bit of boredom at times. Perhaps the sequel was better, but can't tell yet. Admittedly, I've never been much of a Boba Fett fan either (beyond the aesthetic, for the most part), so that probably doesn't help.

Oh, I remember that. The trilogy can be summarized as "One massive Boba Fett wank-fest."

Not that it wasn't entertaining at times. But if you think Zahn has gone overboard with Thrawn's ability to predict his enemies', Jeter has gone a magnitude higher with Fett.

I am rather sensitive to such abilities, because in the SW context, they stand so far out of the major themes of the saga. One major theme is:

Yoda wrote:Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future.

Yes, there is a difference. I can accept some reading of the enemy to predict the actions. Jeter's Fett just does too much of it.

Guardsman Bass · Post by **Guardsman Bass** » 2006-01-19 05:09pm

Crystal Star is the only one of the many SW novels I've read where the plot was so pathetic that I didn't even bother to remember it. I remember just about every other novel.