Traitor

[Jedieb]

This should be hitting bookstores tomorrow. I got my Preferred Reader discount coupon ready to go so the book should cost around a buck. Although I may wait until I finish the book I just started before I begin reading Traitor.

[JMK]

New EU book or something else?

[Jedieb]

I went to the book store over the weekend and picked up Animal Farm and A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Right now I'm basically in the mood to read "why communism sucks" books. I'm reading Animal Farm right now. I could finish it today, but I just don't know if I'll have the time.

[ReaperFett]

np, and I'll deleted the posts that were here about it Eb :)


Im not overly looking forward with it, to be honest

[Jedi Master Carr]

Well I am looking foward to it, I read somewhere a character who has not been in the books in a long time is going to make an appearance, I am hoping it might be Boba Fett.

[Jedieb]

I got it today and I'm about 70 pages into it. It might take me awhile because I went to the library today and checked out a few books. One of them I'll be reading concurrently with Traitor so it'll set me back a bit. The book is okay so far, but it's the most narrowly focused of any EU book so far. If it keeps on like this, and I think it may, I might end up wishing they would have merged it with another story and gone back and forth.

They seem to have picked up the story thread that started with Anakin being able to sense the Vong in the Force once he used that lambent crystal. It looks like the Vong really are part of the Force. They're just a part that the Jedi don't know how to use. Vergere seems to be steering Jacen towards something. It's hard to see if she's aiding him because she knows she can't escape the Vong, or because she really is a villian. I keep thinking that if she's against the Vong, then why did she return to them when she could have made a run for it after she gave Mara the tears? It may be that the Vong have implanted something in her that she can't escape. They're certainly capable of it. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

[Jedi Master Carr]

I picked it up today too, I am only 30 pages in and and it is very narrow in terms of scope, but I kind of like that because I think it helps to explain certain things. Also did you understand now why everybody thought Jacen was dead? Though it is not completely clear yet, I thought it was the Vong did it so they won't come and rescue him or did Verege do it, maybe I am just confused there

[Jedi Master Carr]

Okay I finished it, overall I liked it, I thought it was better than Dark Journeys, though I liked the Enemy Lines duology better, okay here is more what I really liked, seeing Anakin's spirt I thought that was an interesting touch; I wonder if he will come back in future books to help Jacen along, Ganner's last stand; I thought his death was noble and very heroic and was it just me or did it remind anybody else of Gandalf in FOTR, "None Shall Pass." Okay then there is Verege' I loved the way she got Nom Amor I liked how she took his ship and left his standing there so dumbfounded, it doesn't look good for him in the next novel. Okay the bad, again they teased us with the darkside and Jacen, I really thought that he had fallen, like he had force lighting coming out of his hands and crushed those Vong warriors with the side of the cliff and he seemed to be enjoying it all. They did the same with Jaina unless one of them is not completely back from the light? It does make me wonder why they both look like they have fallen and both came back unless its going to be a big plot point in a future novel. Overall I liked the novel and it really gets me pumped for Destiny's Way.

[Jedieb]

I finished it while on vacation. Before I start, does anyone else think this novel may have been intended for Anakin at one point? Describing Jacen as powerful enough to rival Luke or Kyp makes me believe this was suppose to have been Anakin's story. But, marketing killed off one of my favorite characters and I'm left with Jacen...

The book was very limited in scope and characters, but not a bad read. Despite looking like he was toast, I'm sure Nom Anor will be back. I wish they would have just killed him off, but that's being saved for.

You know JMC, that may not have been Anakin at the dinning room table, it could have been Vergere. I also think she was the one who closed off Jacen to the Force. I think she believed the only way to save Jacen AND hurt the Vong was to guide him while he suffered his trials. Once Jacen regained the Force, he kept the link between him and Jaina closed.

The use of Force lightning by characters so young really bugs me. But it's been done before so we're stuck with it. I really think that should be a power that comes to those with EXPERIENCE and POWER, not just a common Dark Side trick that anyone who dabbles in the DS can pick up.

Jacen's return should be interesting. I wonder how a different author is going to portray a character that's gone through so many changes. I wonder what Vergere's role will be now? She's an ally, but she doesn't seem like someone who's ready to go all out to save the New Republic.

[Admiral Lebron]

Finished Traitor today. I really liked how Jacen coaxed all the creaters into doing his bidding. I also liked Ganner's last stand. He was very heroic and very LOTRish. Thats sad he died... :cry. Oh well. I want Nom Anor live...but I would have loved to see Vergere sliced off his head with a lightsaber.

[Jedi Master Carr]

I think Nom Anor is going to meet his end in Destiny Way, just a feeling there.

[ReaperFett]

Kyp and Paellon

[Admiral Lebron]

Carr, would Ganner come back as Ganner the White?

[ReaperFett]

Lebron, I'd class that as a spoiler

[Jedi Master Carr]

Lebron, I personally doubt it since he has no more role to play unlike Gandalf still does in LOTR

[Admiral Lebron]

Oh to Carr and Oh to Fett. . I always like ganner...:cry

[ReaperFett]

ditto

[Jedi Master Carr]

Well at least he had a heroic death

[JediBoricua]

I'm done with Part One.

I approached this book with caution, I really hated Dark Journey. I was expecting the same. This author is excellent, I love his writing style and how he is handling Jacen. Finnally the Vong are starting to make sense, force-wise, and I like his repetitions of phrases: there is no life without the force, etcetera.

If it keeps up like this Traitor will join my select group of great EU.

[ReaperFett]

WHile I loved DJ, and am hating this book so far, and struggling to read it :)

[JediBoricua]

Finished it and loved it.

Great book, great ending, good thing that jacen did not kill the world brain, just programmed it to bug the vong. The approach to the darkside makes some sense, that the dark side does not exist in the force only inside those who wield it, although some may argue that this theory trashes teh whole balance of the force prophecy because if there is no darkside in the force, how can it be unbalanced? Anyway I am eager to keep on reading and finding out more vong secrets and reasons why they are that way? Why they began their intergalactic voyage, etc. Great Book and the preview to Destiny's Way was intriguing.

[Verse Dawnstrider]

My Thoughts on the Book
I kinda liked the idea of no good/no evil in teh Force. Only those who wield it. I can see a balance where the Jedi must keep evil people from using the power. IMO there never was a balance. You had Vader and Palpitine in the classic trilogy, plus all those hidden Jedi. They said that Vader and Palpitine made it unbalanced. Only with them gone could it be balanced. I see no balance because there is only good. Just my thoughts

I loved the thing with Ganner. I wished he would have lived though. The vision Vel had makes me believe the war will end with the Vong still there. Liek a truce. Maybe the World Brain will keep the people from being fanitics like Jacen hoped for. Anyone else notice how all teh Jedi are being seen as Gods? Maybe that is what will stop the Vong.

[JediBoricua]

Hey Verse.

Anyway, I believe the demise of the Vong will come from the Shamed Ones rebelling, perhaps and Yuzzhan Vong Rebel Alliance of some sort. Maybe a secret weapon employed by the NR that disrupts yorik coral or something. And yes the Jedi as god will play some part of it.

I really like the direction the NJO is taking now, I was really loosing my enthusiasism, but the last three books have been really awesome.

[Admiral Lebron]

Dark Journey nearly turned me off but I held faith. I am happy I did. I am waiting for the Vong to capture the two Avatars and to see what happens,

[Jedieb]

It's wrapping up next year. I just wonder how things will end. I'm not too crazy with everything ending with the Vong maintaining some kind of presense in the galaxy. It's been going on for so long now I don't see a quick end to it.

[Verse Dawnstrider]

I agree. SW is so advanced that one would think they know how to nuke something.......

[JediBoricua]

LOL, well they can make a star go Nova, or destroy complete worlds, so I guess they CAN nuke some pesky aliens.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Well according to one of the authors the Unifying Force will rap it the Vong story up thought there could be some Vong left overs in the galaxy. As far as using a big weapon a few people argued that they thought about buidling a Death Star type weapon, also Nom Amor told the others in Traitor that is why they could beat the Empire because of the stregnth of there army, I think he was right Palpatine would have used either the Death Star or the Sun Crusher on them and destroyed there forces.

[Verse Dawnstrider]

No lie. Nothing says 'Got ya you bastards' like a Sun Crusher. Meet Mr. Super Nova. Have a nice day and don't let the door hit ya on the way out.

[Admiral Lebron]

lol. I wanna see the Empire knock the snot out of the Vong from behind while a Mon Calamari fleet, Hapes fleet, and NR fleets knock 'em from infront.

[Doc Milo]

I haven't read Traitor yet, but I heard about the No dark side thing. And I think that is just a plain stupid idea. About balance, Verse Dawnstrider, you have the wrong idea of what balance means. It has nothing to do with how many numbers there are on either side, or if there is good and bad present. Balance merely means that there is an existence of a fulcrum point. Balance means there is a clear distinct line between good and evil -- no moral ambiguity, no relative morality. Black and white, no shades of gray. Imbalance means that the line between good and evil is blurred. There is moral ambiguity, there is only gray, no black and whites, everything is relative, with no moral absolutes. In this way of thinking, a Jedi would believe that it is possible to use the Dark Side of the Force for good purposes. This notion of the meaning of balance is not mine. It is what George Lucas himself has said regarding the matter. The notion that there is no dark side, to me, represents total imbalance. If there is no light and no dark side, then all powers of the Force are equal and depend only upon the user's intent. This flies in the face of what we see in the movies, and George Lucas' definition of what balance means. Just my two cents on the matter. I still have to read Rebel Dream and Rebel Stand before I get to Traitor, so....

[Jedieb]

Now you're getting into two different worlds Doc. There's the 'EU Force' and the 'movie Force.' Because the mediums are so different (films V. novels) concepts such as the nature of the Force have been handled differently. You've got around 10 hours of film directed and produced by one man far versus THOUSANDS of pages of text written by dozens of different authors. From what I took from Traitor you basically have Vergere leading Jacen to a very unique interpretation of the Force and the Vong's existence within it. There's nothing to say that she's right about every thing she's taught Jacen. For several reasons she abandoned the ways of the Jedi and pursued who own beliefs and interpretations. Some of them could be right on the mark, some way off. But these are characters and situations that are written and developed outside of the films and Lucas' direct involvement, so there's going to be some major stylistic differences.

[Jedi Master Carr]

I think that was Vergere's opinion also she has been captured by the Vong for so many years so I am sure here opinion has been altered by that experience but also maybe it is this opinion that will better help fight the Vong, of course we won't know until the next two hard covers what will happen. Also I am curious who do you guys think will die in the next two hard covers here is my opinions

Admiral Ackbar he has said to be really sick in Destiny's Way
Nom Amor he has to go soon.
Tas Lavong he will die when the Vong are defeated
Lando, I think he will meet his end in the Unifying Force
and one major Jedi character either Mara, Kyp or Corran will meet there end.

Of course they could shock us and kill someboey out of the blue now, I pray its not one of the big 3.

One more thing I read that Luke is going to find an unexpected anti-hero in the next Paperback (Force Heretic) could this be our old friend Boba Fett, I am hoping so.

[ReaperFett]

I hope he doesnt, I prefer him to stay retired

[Doc Milo]

Good point on comparing two worlds, Jedieb. The only reason I did that is because the poster I was responding to said something about there not having been balance. Balance is from the movie-world of Star Wars. So that poster was comparing two different worlds as well. If that is going to be the comparison, the movie rules have to take precedent, IMO.

Now, I would look at it in a similar way as to say that Vergere's understanding of the Force is corrupted by her years with the Vong. And that maybe, just maybe, her corruption may corrupt Jacen, too.... And that, as the NJO comes to a close, perhaps this way of thinking will be the set-up for a new series of EU books?

[Jedi Master Carr]

I think that is possible Doc and Reaper I want to see Fett return I would like to see his story concluded better than he just retired, I think that would be a lame way to get rid of his character. I also heard he had a son so maybe once Boba dies his son will take his place that way there will always be a Fett in the SW universe.

[ReaperFett]

The retiring story was a thing of beauty though :)

[Admiral Lebron]

I bet its Fett cos of the whole Jango thing but personally, I hope its Wicket! :D Yub Yub!

[ReaperFett]

lol! :)

[JediBoricua]

Nah no returns, no Anakin coming back, no Boba coming back. Please. I just think thinks like that hurt more than they help, they should have kept Boba inside the Sarlacc's pit IMO. Just my two cents.

[ReaperFett]

Lucas should have done a good Boba death in the first place IMO ;)

[Admiral Lebron]

He didn't expect Fett to be so cool.

[ReaperFett]

Tsk!

[Jedi Master Carr]

It was Fett's popularity that has kept him around, I am certain that he will return soon, especially since we now know his full origin.