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Post by finarvyn on Jul 13, 2018 19:00:41 GMT -6
As soon as I finish reading Jurassic Park, my plan is to re-read the Jedi Academy trilogy. My quick thoughts, as they pop into my head: 1) I read it back in the day, and have fond memories of the books. 2) I'm uncertain about Kevin J. Anderson books in general. 3) There is a "Jedi Academy Sourcebook" for the WEG Star Wars RPG, which I assume is based on these books. 4) My copies are in paperback (with smaller font size) but I just found a copy of the hardback, cheap. 5) I seem to recall some decent characters, and some super-duper Death Star stuff. So I'm hoping that these books are as good as I remember. My count above is 3 positive, one negative, one neutral. That has to be a good thing, right? Has anyone read them recently? Am I going to be disappointed?
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Post by Falconer on Jul 13, 2018 20:24:55 GMT -6
I haven’t read it. Michael Stackpole sorta rewrote it (I, Jedi), and, that was pretty good.
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Post by boot on Jul 13, 2018 21:55:44 GMT -6
Personally, I think the Jedi Academy trilogy is some of the worst dreck ever written. Kevin J. Anderson should be dragged through a mound of gundark poo-doo.
I gave KJA one more shot with the new Dune novels, and I swore I would never read anything with his name on them again (although I did like some of the Tales of the Jedi comics for Dark Horse).
I think he's a horrible writer. Back in the day, I bought the entire Jedi Academy trilogy, and I couldn't make it past the first book.
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Post by Falconer on Jul 13, 2018 22:54:12 GMT -6
Haha, excellent!
What made you choose this series, Finarvyn?
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Post by rafael on Jul 14, 2018 0:06:15 GMT -6
There was one particularly funny scene, though, when Han confronts an alien scientist (no spoilers) about how the names the Empire uses for their ships and projects (Executor, Death Star, etc.) are actually the names an evil empire would use.
Outside of that, and the generally neat premise to set the academy on Yavin 4, and to connect "Tales of the Jedi" to the main canon this way, the books have not much to offer.
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Post by finarvyn on Jul 14, 2018 4:45:27 GMT -6
Haha, excellent! What made you choose this series, Finarvyn? Well, it was part of the first wave after the original Zahn trilogy and I'm still hoping to follow the "earlier the better" concept. From your "book organization" thread I quote this..... I thought that Truce of Bakura was one of the worst scifi books I have ever read, Star Wars or not. Bad enough that I didn't keep it when I purged my non-Zahn SW books and I won't buy it again. I still own Courtship of Princess Leia and had forgotten that it was written so early. I remember it as okay but not great, but felt that the events were important enough that I kept the book (I think, I would have to check to be certain). It's a possible read. Thus, I was led to the Jedi Academy trilogy. Since I had good memories about it 20 years later, and found a hardback copy with decent font size for $10 in really good shape, I figured it would be a great next-read. I will confess that, like Rafe, I have had bad experiences with KJA. Most of his Dune books are only so-so. I think he also did Last Son of Krypton, which should have been a great book but instead was only so-so. I had hoped (am hoping?) that the Jedi books are better.
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Post by Falconer on Jul 14, 2018 8:34:24 GMT -6
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Yora
Lieutenant
Posts: 51
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Post by Yora on Jul 14, 2018 10:55:55 GMT -6
I think I've read about anything that was written before the New Jedi Order series came out. However, the one book I have absolutely no memory about, and which I've seen described as the worst Star Wars book ever, was The Crystal Star.
The Jedi Academy series was mediocre, from what I remember. Some good things, but overall not really exciting.
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Post by Zenopus on Jul 14, 2018 11:17:53 GMT -6
After reading the Zahn trilogy, I read Bakura, Courtship and the Jedi Academy trilogy in order as they came out. The starting time for Bakura is a bit hard to accept at first (day after ROTJ) but other than that I enjoyed it. And Courtship. The Jedi Academy trilogy had some memorable names and scenes, but there were some goofy parts I wasn't as fond of.
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Post by finarvyn on Jul 14, 2018 14:19:50 GMT -6
I do remember something about there being a bunch of rancor monsters in Courtship. That's about it at the moment. I'm tempted to read it before the Jedi Academy trilogy, but I'm afraid I'll get tired of SW and move onto something else before I finish the trilogy. (I'm notorious for hopping from one interest to another with little warning or lead time. That's part of why I have so much stuff in my den.)
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Post by Falconer on Jul 14, 2018 15:43:21 GMT -6
I hear ya, man.
Though SW obsession hasn’t fled me for two and a half years!
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Post by boot on Jul 15, 2018 0:04:56 GMT -6
(I'm notorious for hopping from one interest to another with little warning or lead time. That's part of why I have so much stuff in my den.) Me too. I follow the mood. Life too short to keep plugging through something after your interest has waned. I'll read a half or a quarter of a book, put it down, and come back once the mood strikes me. Heck, I just finished Blade Runner II, but Jeter, and I had read 90% of the book several months back!
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Yora
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Posts: 51
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Post by Yora on Jul 15, 2018 1:43:11 GMT -6
Yet here we are, 35 years later...
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Post by finarvyn on Jul 16, 2018 18:37:45 GMT -6
So I'm a few chapters into the book. Not so bad, but I had forgotten that Luke was spending all this time trying to figure out how to detect jedi.
KJA keeps "name dropping" events from the movies and previous books in the series. Not sure if that is a good thing (ties together a consistent timeline) or annoying (yeah, we know that stuff so move along). Interesting to note that the Dark Empire graphic novels are clearly considered canon at this time.
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Post by boot on Jul 17, 2018 7:49:01 GMT -6
So I'm a few chapters into the book. Not so bad, but I had forgotten that Luke was spending all this time trying to figure out how to detect jedi. KJA keeps "name dropping" events from the movies and previous books in the series. Not sure if that is a good thing (ties together a consistent timeline) or annoying (yeah, we know that stuff so move along). Interesting to note that the Dark Empire graphic novels are clearly considered canon at this time. As I said above, I remember hating the books. But, keep your reports coming. I like reading your take on them.
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