Jeff Diamond’s Comments (group member since Jan 27, 2010)

Jeff Diamond’s comments from the The Expanded Universe group.

Same here. I think it's kind of interesting to see how the web comes together.

Not a problem. Didn't want to kill the conversation, though. You were talking about the Essential Readers Companion...my question about it is that if you can get all the big plot points from it, why wouldn't most people just pick it up instead of the 250+ books out there?

Moderator's Note: The last two comments have been removed. Doesn't anybody read up on the rules? I've been helpful and included a link to the specific rule here. Everybody read it, please. It worries me that I've had to address this three times now in as many months.

And yes, I realize that half that paragraph was a link. I did it on purpose so you'd click on it.

I personally have a hard time identifying with this sentiment. My wife had read further than me, and I wanted to catch up on the books, and she was able to tell me that such and such is important to read. I wanted to read Legacy, and she said I should read Dark Nest. And that if I wanted to read that, I might want to consider NJO. Well, I haven't moved onto Dark Nest, but I've caught up as far as that storyline goes.

Hang in there. That's one reason we're all here--to give advice to people who are coming at these books fresh on where to start and what is vital to read.

Well, there we go.

Unfortunately, Becky and I haven't seen anything from seasons four or five, but I am personally really excited to see them--listening to the Forcecast gets me in the mood.

However, I am not broken up at all that Star Wars: Detours is going down. Seth Green is funny, but seeing the previews made me scratch my head and ask myself Is this supposed to be funny? They did a good job with the Robot Chicken parodies. I think they should keep them there.

Let's wait to grieve for The Clone Wars until we hear something official from the Diz. Besides, I heard that since they already have a lot of work already done on a few episodes of season 6, they might finish them and do a direct-to-DVD thing for them. I want the show to wrap up nicely, too. But when it comes down to it, I'd rather see a fracking awesome set of films and be sad over the show than have Clone Wars continue and the movies are lackluster.

Audiobooks are really the only way Becky and I can get new books here in Japan, so we've really grown to love them. The newer ones like Scoundrels are fantastic--they add music, sounds and everything to make it more Star Wars-ey. Don't know about the Thrawn Trilogy, though.

Moderator's Note: Again, several comments have been sent into Wild Space where they belong. We're all friends here. Play nice, and think of ysalamiri.

Put it on the top of the stack, my friend. You won't regret it.

Derrick wrote: "Just be aware, it is pretty BAD..."

That doesn't even begin to describe it. We found a copy on ebay about eight or nine years ago, and torture ourselves with it whenever a masochistic urge strikes us.

Moderator's Note: Several comments have been deleted for rule bending and general irritation. Glad I could be here to catch it. Play nice, everybody. Think of puppies.

I contend that the worst is "Stir, whip, stir, whip, whip, whip, stir..."

Treezzy wrote: "hmmmm its still very confusing..why are so many authors writing just one book its freaking annoying..ok ok lets say i have never heard about star wars before which book do you guys think i shud rea..."

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

You really are new here, aren't you? First things first. Make sure you've seen all the movies in the correct order. (4,5,6,1,2,3) If you've done that, then move on to the books, in the same order. That book, Star Wars Trilogy takes care of the original three films. Then move on to Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Then go to the EU For Beginners thread. That should get you off to a good start.

Take two pints of blue milk and call me in the morning.

So, I read a comment in the Chronological Read section that might warrant some more discussion on its own. Here's the comment.

Robert wrote: "I think you're right in that. But I think there's still a gulf between "archetype" and "caricature.""

We were discussing how, since Star Wars falls into the Space Opera sub-genre, caricatures are usually okay, but that some authors raise the storytelling bar and bring certain characters (like droids) out of the realm of caricature and develop them.

I wonder how much difference there really is between caricature and archetype in Star Wars. It could be said that the droids aren't caracitures at all. They're just used as story elements--like talking furniture. Farbeit from me to compare R2-D2 to a rolling mini-fridge, but it seems ot me that some characters--like droids--are generally there to further the plot. Therefore, they don't fall into either category, and are just used as plot devices. A caricature to me is a character like the "funny drunk" or "rebellious youth." Or, if we want to be politically incorrect, the math-wiz Japanese kid. A literary stereotype that has one feature exaggerated. On the other hand, an archetype is an established trope for a character--the Christ/King Arthur figure, the scoundrel, the damsel in distress...to me, these are totally distinct from caricatures in the strictest sense.

Anyway, that's my thinking on it. What do all y'all think?

Robert wrote: "I think you're right in that. But I think there's still a gulf between "archetype" and "caricature.""

...And I think this is a good place to start a new discussion topic so this thread can stay on target...so to speak.

That being said, Star Wars has traditionally been part of the Space Opera sub-genre, so caricatures are generally accepted as par for the course. I think it's more a case that Hambley and Zahn (and some authors in NJO) take the Wars beyond Space Opera and more into the realm of mainstream sci-fi, where questions like that are more apt to come up. But that's just my outlook on it from a literary standpoint.

Just remember that once you get past the Hambley books, you've got the New Jedi Order to contend with. I've never read hers, but I have a hard time believing that they can be harder to slog through than the middle books in NJO.

Derrick wrote: "Treezzy- you're looking for this trilogy:
Star Wars Trilogy

Good luck!"

Even in that, the three stories are by Lucas, Glut and KAAAAAAHN!! respectively. But it's true that if you're looking for a jumping-in point for Star Wars lit, Trezzy, this is a good place to, well...jump in.

(Sorry. How could I resist the urge with his name being...KAAAAAAAAHN!!!)

There's only one book by Lucas, and that's Star Wars. Shouldn't be too hard to find. Beyond that, it depends on what you mean by "original." Browse around in some of the topics go familiarize yourself with some of them and try to figure out which ones your like to start with. There's also a thread called something like "Where should I start?" That's a good resource.

Alli wrote: "I may have to get that app! Actually I'll probably grab it right now..."

It's a good app. It only gets updated once in a blue moon, but worth having nonetheless.


Anyway, back on topic. Just finished Scoundrels. Fantastic!