Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor discussion thread

[Ender]

Hm, that got me thinking - does their appearance here imply that Blackhole was Lord Shadowspawn after all?

The book will answer that question.Spoiler

Yes

Spoiler

And at the same time no.

[Ender]

Reading through this. It was solid up until the middle, where they started going into the BBEGs nihilism Darkside philosophy (which is ok if you are contrasting how he viewed it and how the Sith viewed it) and the whole Melter thing. That started to lose me.

Solid read with some interesting tidbits and arcane throwbacks. Some nice confirmations about the Imperial Court like Publius hypothesized, with slight differences. Instead of being the "Imperial State" it is the "Imperial Executive". We get mockery of the stupider bits like "Sith Alchemy" and the lame cursing they use in the series. Amusingly enough the "sith Alchemy" is nothing but technology, which in my mind is what it should be.

Some techie details, apparently 5 CC-7700/E interdictor cruisers, plus a planet, can throw up an interdiction field 7 light minutes across. That scales up to some massive power, using inverse square law something like 10^20 gs at the source. Also, we found out an upper limit on volume of both the 7700s and the Bulwark, so if someone had Rebellion and did ratio scaling or someone made a 3D model like EvileJedi does we could get some size stats. We also learned more about troop capacity and such.

And Han ripping on Mandos for being stupid, bloodthirsty, and buying their own propaganda was great. Also, the repeated shitting on "Mando'a" as a language pleased me.

[Imperial Overlord]

Some techie details, apparently 5 CC-7700/E interdictor cruisers, plus a planet, can throw up an interdiction field 7 light minutes across. That scales up to some massive power, using inverse square law something like 10^20 gs at the source.

There were also a shit load of gravity well projectors in the asteroid field.

And Han ripping on Mandos for being stupid, bloodthirsty, and buying their own propaganda was great. Also, the repeated shitting on "Mando'a" as a language pleased me.

It was excellent.

[Ender]

Some techie details, apparently 5 CC-7700/E interdictor cruisers, plus a planet, can throw up an interdiction field 7 light minutes across. That scales up to some massive power, using inverse square law something like 10^20 gs at the source.

There were also a shit load of gravity well projectors in the asteroid field.

Those came up after - the 7 light minute bit comes from before the trap was sprung. Those extended the field out a lot further (for some reason my brain says 20 lightdays was stated, but I'm cruising on zero sleep so don't quote me). But the seven light-minutes is on page 43, right before he starts talking tech details.

[Imperial Overlord]

I agree that the Melters were the weakest part of the book.

[JME2]

Bloody hell, this book sounds cool enough that I damn well might break my promise of NEVER buying another EU book after the trash that was 'Swarm War'...

Damn it...

Well, it might be worth a buy when it comes out in softcover...

Same here; barring Luceno's stuff, I'm done with the EU, but this definitely looks worth taking a look at in the near-future.

[Vympel]

Someone post some quotes!

[Ender]

Someone post some quotes!

This is Stover, typing up the awesome entails typing up whole chapters.

But I'll try to get to it tomorrow.

[Imperial Overlord]

here's a few:

Han Solo

Further, in some screwed-up sense of honor or ethnic pride or something had somehow made these particular Mandalorians unwilling to speak Basic during these talks. Which didn't stop them from yapping, of course. they just yapped in Mando'a, a language that, to Han's more that somewhat biased ear, made them sound like a pride of sand panthers trying to cough up hairballs bigger than his head. And this hairball-hacking then had to be dutifully translated into Basic for the convenience of the chief New Republic negotiator by the chief negotiator's high-strung, hypersensitive, relentlessly neurotic protocol droid, who somehow among his six million flippin' forms of communication had never managed to lose that snooty Corew Worlds accent that, after hearing it nonstop for a couple of days cooped up in this room with nothing better to do, made Han want to whop him so hard he'd land somewhere back on Tatooine.

Land Calrissian, unlike his old buddy Han, had hung on to his general's commission. He was currently the director of Special Operations, a fancy-sounding title that apparently involved, today, being a highly decorated chauffeur. He was on his way back from Mandalorian Space, where he had gone to corral the one guy in the galaxy Lando claimed could change the alleged minds of these commandos, the Big Boss of the Mandalorian Protectors and self-styled Lord Mandalore, Fenn Shysa himself.

Or, as Han usually thought of him, Fenn You-So-Much-as-Look-at-Leia-That-Way-One-More-Time-and-I-Swear-I'm-Gonna-Pop-Your-Mando-Skull-Like-a-Bladdergrape Shysa.

Shysa and his men had given up the mercenary life, and he'd organized his cadre into the kernel of the Protectors-kind of civic minded police and freelance do-gooders, more or less. Which that Shysa, on top of his born-and-bred MESFAC more-studly-than-thou thing, had piled on more-honorable-than-thou, more-self-sacrificing-than-thou, and more-all around-good-guy-than-thou.

If Hand were inclined to be entirely honest about such things-which he was not, on principle-he might have admitted that his problem with the Protector commandant had more to do with a sneaking suspicion that Fenn might also be better-looking-than-thou, and with how much attention this particular Hero of Mandalore paid to Leia. And how much Leia seemed to enjoy it.

This time, though, Had was actually grudgingly willing to let Shysa have the pleasure of spending time in a room with Leia-a conference room, with Han and a few dozen officers as chaperones-as long as it got this situation resolved. He figured this proved that he'd grown as a person. At little. Maybe.

Which was why it came as a substantial surprise to the flight leader when an asteroid roughly the size of a speeder bike suddenly made a sharp forty-five degree turn as though it had bounced off an invisible paatchi ball and slammed through his port engine, his hull, and his cockpit before continuing out the other side, taking his head with it.

. . .
The other little-known feature of the repulsorlift was that it did operate with reassuring respect for the laws of motion. It moved a ship because it was shoving against the gravitational field of the planet; the ship moved because the planet wouldn't. If, on the other hand, one directed one's repulsorlift towards a mass significantly smaller than that of one's ship-like, say, a metric ton of asteroid-it was the mass that moved. Often very, very swiftly indeed. Some pilots had come to refer to this maneuver as the Solo Slide.

Not because Han Solo invented it-the trick was far older than he was-but because no one in the galaxy had ever done it better.

Luke

"All kidding aside, Luke, think about it. If you and me both had ended up living the live we were expecting, we might still have flown at Yavin."

"You think?"

"Sure," Han said. "As TIE pilots. Working for Vader."

Luke looked away.

"Sometimes, things not going according to plan is a gift."

"Sure," Luke said. "This deal: You tell me everything I want to know, and do exactly as I say. In exchange, I'll try to forget that you stole my best friend's ship and abandoned him and my sister to die."

"Your sister? You sister is Princess Kissy-Face?"

"My sister is a princess. Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan," Luke said evenly. "And if you called her Princess Kissy-Face in person, I can guess who gave you that shiner."

The astonished Stormtrooper tried to yank his carbine free, but instead Luke tightened his grip and let the Force add strength to his arm; a twist of the wrist shattered the carbine's stock to plasite splinters. The other stormtrooper swore and triggered an autoburst from his carbine. Luke's other hand, the prosthetic hand that had replaced the one his father had taken, came up in an arc that precisely followed the motions of the carbine's muzzle and caught all five bolts squarely in its palm.

Lando:

Thrown over one shoulder he carried his custom belt-length uniform jacket-jet black, naturally, because black goes with everything-which he'd commissioned after being reliably informed that Ackbar and Republic Command would absolutely draw the line at an opera cape. At his side walked Fenn Shysa, wearing only his usual battered flight gear-which, Lando had to admit, suited him rather well.

When Lando had come into the shuttle's cabin for the first time wearing these dress blues, Shysa had snorted openly. "Don't recall ever seeing a holo of Madine in an outfit like that."

"That's because Crix can't pull it off," Lando had replied with a shrug, admiring the jacket's cut in a full-length mirror. "He carries a bit much in the middle, know what I mean?"

"And you're wonderin' why Mandalorian mercenaries don't seem to respect you."

Lando grinned. "I like being underestimated."

"I'm thinkin' it's mostly that you like your fancy clothes."

"If looking good ever becomes a crime, Fenn my friend, I'm ready to do life."

[Havok]

Awesome. I can hear the Billy Dee Williams oozing off the Lando quote.

[Connor MacLeod]

The Force inspired stuff is just more of Stover's Force philosophy.. it started in Traitor, carried through to Shatterpoint, and was involved a bit even in the ROTS novelization (but not so heavy) so its no suprrise it would show up in Shadows of Mindor. I've never been impressed with the Force-related philosohpy Stover inserts into his novels and I've generally regarded it as the weak points. It is, for him I think, his "pet subject" the way Mandos/Clones are for Traviss, with much the same (if less muted) results.

I suppose its a blessing though that in Stover's case it doesn't permeate every single facet of the novel, though.

[Old Plympto]

Sold! I usually don't reply with one-liners but those quotes there are pure win. It's been a while since we had a fun Star Wars novel instead of a overarching, emo-tastic, weight-of-the-galaxy-on-your-shoulders, oh-my-family-member-died-oblique-is-a-traitor Star Wars novel. Though I'll have to wait for the paperback, cause the hardback is out of my monthly budget.

[Connor MacLeod]

The book is one of the most purely enjoyable SW novels I have read in recent times. I dont think I enjoyed it this much since oh.. Star by Star and the two allston NJO novels, or the Medstar books, or Death Star.

[Darth Hoth]

I really need to buy this book. It will be my first post-Dark Nest, but from what I see here and elsewhere, it sounds worth it. Better wait for the paperback, though; importing books here costs a pound of flesh.

[JME2]

Nice quotes; this really looks awesome.

[TheSpaceman?]

Well, I finished it. Here are my thoughts, spoilered just in case I'm supposed to do that:

Spoiler

I enjoyed it quite a bit, with even the seemingly-stupid Sith Alchemy ending up pretty good by the end of things. But at the risk of sounding like the boorish producer's of Lorz Geptun's Skywalker story, I would've really liked some kind of saber duel for Luke. Not because I'm a fan of mindless action or anything, but because I loved the Force-user duels in the RotS novelization and I came into this book expecting something similar to that for Luke. Stover's writing when it comes to duels is usually so good, I felt as though it was a given he'd write one for Luke. I also felt Luke's role in the book should've had more to do with his actual experiences as a General, rather than "Luke runs around Shadowspawn's haunted house". That said, I enjoyed it quite a bit and I felt the characterization was pretty damn good most of the time.

[Ender]

stover, on the gravity bombs

I can be of some assistance here; this effect is a StarWarsification of actual science. As I understand it, matter crossing the event horizon of an actual black hole does several interesting things, one of which is releasing a huge burst of gamma radiation. This extremely high-energy radiation can have a variety of interesting effects, one of which is to ionize most forms of matter; the plasma produced can slow the gamma particles, producing what the giant brains call thermal Bremsstrahlung which, when it occurs inside a physical object (such as a ship), I have chosen to depict as a sort-of micro-mini-nuke, but without the initial blast wave, because the secondary blast-effect from the thermal energy thus produced is plenty dramatic, for my purposes -- it's the shockwave you're describing.

The "blue-white lines" in Mindor's atmosphere are a combination of this Bremsstrahlung with Cerenkov radiation (because the gamma particles released are traveling faster than the speed of light in the local medium -- that is, Mindor's atmosphere). The "voids" are a StarWarsification of the tidal effect of an extremely steep gravity gradient; the nearer part of any object in the gravity gradient is "pulled" much more strongly than the outer parts, ripping the object apart. Once the ripped-away pieces actually make it to the literal event horizon, things get really strange: a theoretical event called "spaghettification," which I'm pretty sure means "Stuff gets ripped into ever-tinier shreds by the noodly appendages of the Invisible Flying Spaghetti Monster."

Please remember that I am not a scientist, only a writer with an extremely sketchy education, and that all events in the book reflect Star Wars physics, rather than our own; the primary rule of physics in the GFFA is: "No matter what it actually does, it has to look cool."

None of this kinda-sorta science-ish stuff appears in the actual book (nor does any of my ruminations on the actual significance of repulsorlifts, nor any of the more detailed tactical considerations), because this is, after all, not SF so much as it is SWF.

[Darth Yoshi]

I have to know. Who called Leia Princess Kissy-Face?

[Imperial Overlord]

I have to know. Who called Leia Princess Kissy-Face?

An woman who is one of the new characters in the novel.

[The Original Nex]

I know they're a pain to type up...but any more good quotes out there for perusal??

[Imperial Overlord]

"Wow." She looked impressed. "I mean, the Han Solo who supposedly outdrew Gallandro in a fair fight?"

"Well, y'know . . ." His face was getting full-on hot all of a sudden. "It wasn't exactly a fair fight-and I didn't exactly outdraw him. You shouldn't believe everything you see on the HoloNet."

"I don't," she said. "I always figured you shot him in the back."

The reply came through, crackling with static. "Millennium Falcon, this is the RDGS Lancer. We copy. Confirm receipt of following message."

Han shot a frown at Chewie, shrugged, and replied. "Go ahead."

"Message reads: Where's my eight thousand credits, you thieving pirate?"

Han grinned. "Message confirmed. Reply: Regards to Captain Tirossk. How about I offer one duster grav projector on account?"

Chewbacca gave him a look. "Hooowerghrff?"

Han shrugged. "Who else do I owe that much money to?"

"Fregghrr. Khooherm. Flighwarr-"

"Yeah, yeah, all right, drop it."

[Illuminatus Primus]

What does "RDGS" stand for? Republic Defense Galactic Ship?

[Cal Wright]

It's Matt fucking Stover.

Didn't he write Shatterpoint? If so, pass.

[Imperial Overlord]

It's Matt fucking Stover.

Didn't he write Shatterpoint? If so, pass.

Yes he did.

[Cal Wright]

It's Matt fucking Stover.

Didn't he write Shatterpoint? If so, pass.

Yes he did.

That novel was horrible. Now that I remember, he wrote the EIII novel too. Holy shit did make a mess of it too. Then he shoe horned his damn Vapaad technique into the whole Windu/Sidious battle.

So what is this new one about? Does it involve a Jedi getting lost, touching the dark side and somehow winning at the end?