Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor: Thoughts?

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2008-07-05 05:41pm

Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor wookiee blurb

Check out the blurb and front and back cover art. I don't want to state my reactions, I'd rather hear what others have to say first.

Havok · Post by **Havok** » 2008-07-05 05:56pm

So Thrwanatine is returning from the Outer Rim in the biggest battle of the Galactic Civil war since it ended? Darth Culator... Calculator.

Wow.

Crazedwraith · Post by **Crazedwraith** » 2008-07-05 05:58pm

Shadowspawn is such a cheesy name.

But its Matthew Stover and I think he'll make it quite awesome. Sounds like a fun fluff tale.

Havok · Post by **Havok** » 2008-07-05 06:01pm

havokeff wrote: Darth Culator... Calculator. Wow.

LOL Oops. I think that is the screen name of a Wiki contributor.

Noble Ire · Post by **Noble Ire** » 2008-07-05 07:06pm

Crazedwraith wrote:Shadowspawn is such a cheesy name.

But its Matthew Stover and I think he'll make it quite awesome. Sounds like a fun fluff tale.

Quite. I've been cooling towards the EU of late, but Stover has demonstrated himself to be far above the level of most of the current crop of Lucasfilm's authors. If this book even approaches the quality of Traitor, Shatterpoint, or the ROTS novelization, it'll be well worth the purchase price.

TC Pilot · Post by **TC Pilot** » 2008-07-05 07:50pm

I've been looking forward to this since it was first announced. Not only is Stover a brilliant writer who has written some of the absolute best Star Wars books out there, this is one of those parts of the Galactic Civil War, up there with the Orinda campaign, that's been just screaming for its own novel since it was first mentioned in passing.

Yeah, "Lord Shadowspawn" is a silly name, but hell if I care.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2008-07-05 07:57pm

They should just make Shadowspawn some nickname so namely planet or race gave him after he genocided them for Palpatine or something, and it just stuck.

Anguirus · Post by **Anguirus** » 2008-07-06 12:37am

Stover.

Yeah, I'll check it out.

Where does the battle of Mindor come from, anyway? I presume it's a reference to something?

Connor MacLeod · Post by **Connor MacLeod** » 2008-07-06 01:47am

Looks like it might be deliberately a pulp-esque kinda novel, ,which I don't mind in the least. Sometimes the EU takes itself too seriously (and sometimes some people take SW too seriously.

)

Then again I kinda got used to some fo the pre-EU Comic book Star Wars, whcih could be as goofy or MUCH more so.

Edit: And a return to Daley would be quite interesting. Daley was a great writer, even if alot of his shit was downright pulpy as well (the whole Xim the Despot storyline..

)

Drooling Iguana · Post by **Drooling Iguana** » 2008-07-06 02:23am

Connor MacLeod wrote:Looks like it might be deliberately a pulp-esque kinda novel, ,which I don't mind in the least.

It has a "Main Character and the Cental MacGuffin" title. Of course it's going to be pulpy.

Pelranius · Post by **Pelranius** » 2008-07-06 02:40am

Interesting. I must say that I thought there wasn't any space left in the post Endor-pre Thrawn Campaign for them to fit in a story of this magnitude, though.

Tiriol · Post by **Tiriol** » 2008-07-06 02:49am

Pelranius wrote:Interesting. I must say that I thought there wasn't any space left in the post Endor-pre Thrawn Campaign for them to fit in a story of this magnitude, though.

They don't have to, it's already there; The New Essential Chronology mentions this Lord Shadowspawn and even features him in one of the pictures. Apparently he hails from old Marvel-era comics.

Questor · Post by **Questor** » 2008-07-06 02:53am

It sounds pretty good, If I'm not reading anything else, I may pick it up.

Connor MacLeod · Post by **Connor MacLeod** » 2008-07-06 03:26am

Tiriol wrote:They don't have to, it's already there; The New Essential Chronology mentions this Lord Shadowspawn and even features him in one of the pictures. Apparently he hails from old Marvel-era comics.

Dark Empire Sourcebook actually, at least thats the only source I can recall seeing it in aside from the Chronologies.

Darth Hoth · Post by **Darth Hoth** » 2008-07-06 06:36am

Connor MacLeod wrote:
Tiriol wrote:They don't have to, it's already there; The New Essential Chronology mentions this Lord Shadowspawn and even features him in one of the pictures. Apparently he hails from old Marvel-era comics.
Dark Empire Sourcebook actually, at least thats the only source I can recall seeing it in aside from the Chronologies.

I collect the Marvel run, and I am pretty sure he does not appear there. So that would most likely be it.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2008-07-06 10:07am

Actually, we really don't have Luke doing much of anything after the post-ROTJ Marvel period where he faces down Lumiya and some extragalactics for the interim Alliance of Free Planets until the Courtship of Princess Leia. Basically all that we have in between is Luke advising Kyle Katarn during his quest a year and a half after Endor and unsuccessfully recruiting him, and him trying to recruit Horn two and a half - three years after Endor after the fall of Coruscant. Well, we have him fighting the Legitimists during the uh Glove of Darth Vader series, for what that's worth.

Tiriol · Post by **Tiriol** » 2008-07-06 04:39pm

Darth Hoth wrote:
Connor MacLeod wrote:
Tiriol wrote:They don't have to, it's already there; The New Essential Chronology mentions this Lord Shadowspawn and even features him in one of the pictures. Apparently he hails from old Marvel-era comics.
Dark Empire Sourcebook actually, at least thats the only source I can recall seeing it in aside from the Chronologies.
I collect the Marvel run, and I am pretty sure he does not appear there. So that would most likely be it.

Ah. My mistake, then. I had gotten the impression that Lord Shadowspawn would have appeared in the same run of comics as Flint and Lumiya.

The Original Nex · Post by **The Original Nex** » 2008-07-06 06:39pm

You may be confusing Shadowspawn with Blackhole/Lord Cronal who appears in the old Marvel, has a similar helmet and at one point was considered the same as Shadowspawn, an idea that obviously was nixed.

TC Pilot · Post by **TC Pilot** » 2008-07-06 07:01pm

Now I'm curious what your opinions are, IP.

It seems to me that in spite of the generally terrible LOTF series (at least 1/3 of it being absolute dreck), DR has been coming out with lot of really good stand-alone hardcovers recently (Death Star, Coruscant Nights), so the author and subject just seems like added insurance. Stover's already demonstrated the ability to expertly write stories we already know the ending to (ROTS), and write a story with a truly gritty and brutal atmosphere (Shatterpoint and Traitor).

I feel Stover almost had to intentionally try to mess this up.

Ender · Post by **Ender** » 2008-07-06 10:17pm

The schedule shift is absolute 100% "oh crap" damage control. Invincible in particular and Legacy overall were about as well received as an unnecessary root canal without Novocaine. Bumping this for Millennium Falcon to fix the things that people hated about the end of Invincible is damage control from LFL, nothing more.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2008-07-06 11:00pm

What are you talking about? Can you explain?

The Original Nex · Post by **The Original Nex** » 2008-07-06 11:07pm

The shift has to do with Del Rey knocking this book back from Feb. to Nov. and then AGAIN to Dec. to make way for the Millennium Falcon novel in Oct.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2008-07-06 11:12pm

And its speculated the Millennium Falcon novel is going to what, clean up some of what was done to the franchise in the Del Rey LOTF arc, and they felt the need to get it out first to save the post-ROTJ franchise?

The Original Nex · Post by **The Original Nex** » 2008-07-06 11:19pm

I suppose that Ender is suggesting that Del Rey is pinning their post-LOTF clean-up on Millennium Falcon which appears to be a segway between LOTF and the rise of the New Empire seen in the Legacy comics. Honestly I don't think it looks to be a good premise for a book at all (Leia and Co. go on adventures while searching the back story of the Falcon and uncover a new threat -presumably Darth Krayt's ilk), but it seems, as Ender suggests, that Del Rey wants to stave off the damage done by LOTF for the future of the franchise before releasing an unrelated cover.

That's what I gathered from it at least.

Connor MacLeod · Post by **Connor MacLeod** » 2008-07-06 11:19pm

Isnt that the one with Luceno?

Mind you, I gave up hope only on the post NJO mainly. IF Stover can deliver on his promise of a "Brian Daley" like book, I'll be a happy camper. (I disliked Traitor, I liked Shatterpoint and the ROTS novelization style he used.. but we have been burned before.)

LOTF smacked of being a very weak-ass attempt at a franchise reboot without really caling it a reboot.