I wanted to write this to express my dissent from the norm of Star Wars fans with regard to the New Jedi Order series of books. Many fans (and by many, I mean 99% of what I've found) are very critical of the series, saying that the Yuuzhan Vong don't belong in Star Wars, saying that the dark tone is wrong, and expressing outrage over the death of a beloved main character (I will not say the character's name, to avoid spoilers.)
I, however, feel that the dark tone of the novels was a nice change in the increasingly childish tone of the Star Wars canon. Not to say that I dislike any of the childish content, on the contrary, much of the cartoon and young adult literature is well-written and enjoyable. I just think that a dark, adult-oriented story-line provides a nice change of pace for fans of the Star Wars world. And it is clear from reading the novels that this is not "darkness for darkness's sake," but a very detailed, gripping series of stories that happen to take place at truly dark times.
Many critics of the series claim that the Yuuzhan Vong are "out of place" in the Star Wars universe, and don't belong there. Personally, I find this ridiculous, given that so much of the Star Wars canon, including EU content, is strictly Jedi-vs-Sith. Sure, there are many creative and original stories of the Jedi-vs-Sith nature, but this pairing does begin to feel old after a while. Having a brand new enemy who could challenge the Jedi, and wasn't the Sith, was a refreshing change that I welcomed. Furthermore, much of what made the Yuuzhan Vong more frightening (and what made some of the books feel more like Thrillers, than just Science Fiction) was that they WERE out of place, and like nothing anyone in the galaxy had ever seen. It seems to me that people tried to create something truly new in the Star Wars EU, and were punished by fans who reacted poorly to change.
Finally, I would like to address the death of a beloved Star Wars character that took place in the first book of the series, Vector Prime. Many Star Wars fans were taken aback that anyone would have the audacity to kill off this important character. To me, this anger seems to stem from not thinking things through. Logically, if you want to ever go far into the future of a fiction series, (like Star eventually did with the Legacy comics) your main characters from the past will have to be killed, whether the story is told, or not. To me, it only makes sense to write some of these deaths, to give the character a bad-ass or interesting send-off. Maybe I have a bias, as a fan of Joss Whedon, but I actually like to see a tough character getting a heroic end, as a sort of love-letter to the character's life.
In short, I think that the New Jedi Order books, and the Yuuzhan Vong, as villains, get a bad rap, and are far better than what they get credit for. I know that I am in the minority with this opinion, but if anyone is out there who hasn't read the New Jedi Order series, and is looking to do some reading, I would like you to not be discouraged by what you hear from an overwhelming number of people on the internet. If you would like to read interesting and thrilling new stories in the Star Wars EU, I would recommend this series.
thank you for hearing me out.
-Chuck
I, however, feel that the dark tone of the novels was a nice change in the increasingly childish tone of the Star Wars canon. Not to say that I dislike any of the childish content, on the contrary, much of the cartoon and young adult literature is well-written and enjoyable. I just think that a dark, adult-oriented story-line provides a nice change of pace for fans of the Star Wars world. And it is clear from reading the novels that this is not "darkness for darkness's sake," but a very detailed, gripping series of stories that happen to take place at truly dark times.
Many critics of the series claim that the Yuuzhan Vong are "out of place" in the Star Wars universe, and don't belong there. Personally, I find this ridiculous, given that so much of the Star Wars canon, including EU content, is strictly Jedi-vs-Sith. Sure, there are many creative and original stories of the Jedi-vs-Sith nature, but this pairing does begin to feel old after a while. Having a brand new enemy who could challenge the Jedi, and wasn't the Sith, was a refreshing change that I welcomed. Furthermore, much of what made the Yuuzhan Vong more frightening (and what made some of the books feel more like Thrillers, than just Science Fiction) was that they WERE out of place, and like nothing anyone in the galaxy had ever seen. It seems to me that people tried to create something truly new in the Star Wars EU, and were punished by fans who reacted poorly to change.
Finally, I would like to address the death of a beloved Star Wars character that took place in the first book of the series, Vector Prime. Many Star Wars fans were taken aback that anyone would have the audacity to kill off this important character. To me, this anger seems to stem from not thinking things through. Logically, if you want to ever go far into the future of a fiction series, (like Star eventually did with the Legacy comics) your main characters from the past will have to be killed, whether the story is told, or not. To me, it only makes sense to write some of these deaths, to give the character a bad-ass or interesting send-off. Maybe I have a bias, as a fan of Joss Whedon, but I actually like to see a tough character getting a heroic end, as a sort of love-letter to the character's life.
In short, I think that the New Jedi Order books, and the Yuuzhan Vong, as villains, get a bad rap, and are far better than what they get credit for. I know that I am in the minority with this opinion, but if anyone is out there who hasn't read the New Jedi Order series, and is looking to do some reading, I would like you to not be discouraged by what you hear from an overwhelming number of people on the internet. If you would like to read interesting and thrilling new stories in the Star Wars EU, I would recommend this series.
thank you for hearing me out.
-Chuck
