SOCL

Oh, so I was mistaken about the Holocron. Still, I think it was a reaction to the complaints of a lack of continuity. Probably also to help the numerous NJO authors previously not in the Star Wars ring. Well, as long as the SSDs are explainable, I don't have too much problem with them aside from the same complaints you mentioned, Tofu. The one we saw destroyed, though, I still hold is likely the one seen in Destiny's Way over Bastion when Han and Leia go to petition Pellaeon to bring the Imperial Remnant into the war. The Magador was in the Dark Nest trilogy and was being used as the flagship of the GA starfleet, but it appears to have been heavily modified with an inordinate amount of hangar-bays and ion engines. But I agree with you wholeheartedly, Tofu: SSDs are expensive and useless in modern warfare, in the same way battleships are obsolete in modern navies. Their roll is better filled with numerous, smaller warships, which can swarm larger ships (look at the historic Battle of Actium in 31 BCE for a great example of this) rather than having this ponderous thing pulling along side another ship. Heck, one good shot from the enemy and your giant beauty is out, but if you lose a small cruiser or destroyer, regrettable as that is, you still have more to keep pounding away at the enemy.

Not being on the ticket as VP would probably split the Democratic Party rather severely, especially when a contingent of disgruntled Clinton supports saying they will vote for McCain before the vote for Obama--an unfortunate development for the Democratic Party, but I suppose quite good for the McCain campaign and the GOP. This isn't to say Clinton would be the right choice for the VP ticket--she has powerful friends and delegates--and the alternatives are weak politically, including John Edwards. I have the feeling that the ticket will be Obama and Clinton, but I think this "she is evil" bit Rob is saying is a little over the top, in the same way I don't buy this Bush and Cheney are intentionally evil bit. I wouldn't put it past one of these disgruntled Clinton supporters, though, going fanatic and maybe trying something stupid, but I have my doubts anything serious will happen. For that matter, I also wouldn't put it past one of these racists that I find in my face every day at work trying or at least wanting to do something, but again, I don't see this seriously happening, even just to the point of planning. Too much conspiracy theory and speculation surrounding all of this. I'll tell you, though, there was an article in last weeks Newsweek magazine talking about blatant racism in the Secret Service. Now, personally, I don't trust any organization which has an abbreviation of SS for its name, but beyond that, this I find disturbing with the prospect of a having a Black/African-American President. That's a true threat.

Krytos, my hat is off to you! A very BEAK-y post, if I do say so myself, worthy of mention in the BEAK Archives! I agree with you a 100% on all of this, but I suspected as much with regard to the matter of Destiny's Way, likely symptomatic of what has happened. I think that because of that they developed the "holocron" at LucasFilm (or whatever they call it) with Leeland Chee at its helm. It was probably a reaction to the sort of negative continuity feedback they received during the NJO. For the most part, it seems to be fixed, taking into account the retcons, of course. Then again, when we saw Daala appear on the scene with the what-the-hell Maw Installation Fleet, a Ventator-class included among them, that throws a lot of this progress through a loop, at least in my view. I can see what you're saying about the fighters and bombers, Tofu. It's similar to the way the Air Force and Navy transitioned from having a fleet of devoted fighters and a fleet of devoted bombers (F-14 Tomcats & S-3 Vikings for the Navy; F-15/F-16s and B-1/-2/-52s for the Air Force) to multirole aircraft, like the F/A-18 Hornet and the F-22 Raptor, as well as the up-and-coming F-35 Lightning II. These aircraft are designed to fill the role of fighter-bomber, but without the sort of odd result we got with the F-117 Stealth Fighter, which turned out to be more a bomber than a fighter. Thus I think the Y-wing is comparable to the aged and decommissioned F-111 and the B-wing to the A-10. You're right, Tofu, the E-wing and the newer models of X-wing easily fill the roles of fighter-bomber with superior abilities to devoted bombers. Then again, you still need devoted fighter-interceptors, like the A-wing, and devoted bombers like the K-wing (seen briefly in Fury), they just happen to be less necessary than the venerable Es and X/XJs. What do you guys think of the continued use of SSDs?

Well said, Tofu! I also agree that Zekk ought to have died in that brief re-touch with the Dark Side he had just before Alema Rar's death. In truth, her character, though creepy and at times cool, was mostly a nuisance that should have stayed in the dark depths of the Dark Nest trilogy and left to rot. Lumiya was a very, very nice touch, but I still feel like they didn't make enough use of her, someone who very easily could have had much more face-time and played a much larger role in the events of the series. The fact her death meant nothing to me--and not a bitter nothing, like "It's time for you to die" nothing, but nothing nothing--is telling of a lack of development. Here, I can't blame Traviss completely, even if Lumiya (along with Mara!) died in the same book and with the same lack of emotion. I do blame Traviss for the lack of art of their death and just how utterly matter-of-fact it seemed (rather like the rest of her writing, in my view), but Lumiya really wasn't being used to the full extent of her character from the start, so when her death happened, it kind of happened at me and not to me, if you catch my meaning. Well, he did mention he admired Anakin Skywalker--I think that was in either Bloodlines or Tempest--so I wouldn't quite associate the lack of a mechanical arm to that. Rather, to me it seemed to echo of the whole "pain is strength" bit of the Sith, something Jacen took very seriously, though not phrasing or thinking of it precisely as I worded it. Since the entire series has sacrifice as a central theme, the loss of an arm and then the denial of new one fits eloquently. The lightsaber thing didn't bother me terribly expect for the fact it's become so stereotyped and so incredibly predictable. I agree; he ought to have stuck with his green blade. And now something that has been grinding at the back of my mind: I couldn't agree with you more, Krytos, at least, initially. I got the thinking, though, and then I developed what you might call an "explanation" for this use of apparently old technology. As it goes, in the real world the basic design of say warships has hardly changed from the time of the HMS Dreadnought; granted, they're run differently and have vastly superior technology now, but cosmetically, little truly has changed in comparison with, say, the ships Columbus used to cross the Atlantic or Sir Francis Drake used in his day. Why? Simply put, at a certain point you max the effective design and, in many ways, hit a "perfection" point where the design is the best and can be changed very little. Just compare destroyers from the U.S. Navy and the Australian Navy, or the Royal Navy, or just about any other modern navy, and you'll see what I mean. Designs change little, but new technology is added, so the evolution of warships is very, very slow. The same goes for aircraft. Yes, we have advanced from what can be summarized as paper-and-sticks with an engine during the First World War to jet engines in the modern day, but what has really changed? Two wings, give-or-take two tail wings, a nose, engines, wheels or skids... Not much. The design is upgraded, but not changed. Aren't convinced? The best example, I think, lies with the venerable B-52, the U.S. Air Force's long-range strategic bomber, which was designed in the late 1940s and has been in service since the mid-50s. And you know what's going to happen? The Air Force is going to continue using them well into this century until there are aircraft which are flying on 90+ year-old airframes, and are considered fully functional. So where's the change? Oh, it's everywhere, but it's still the 1950s B-52. The insides are stripped, the aeronautical equipment is changed for the "glass cockpit" bit, computers instead of gauges, GPS--all of the luxuries of today, but it's still a B-52 Stratofortress. And then there's the actually new stuff. Look at the U.S. Navy's newest line of aircraft carrier, the Gerald Ford-class: it looks almost exactly like the Nimitz-class before it, which look almost exactly like the classes before that. The fact is, the "perfected" design has been struck and thus it's kept. But this also has a great deal to do with the nature of the conflict being fought. Since the end of the Second World War, the United States has been prepared to fight with offensive capabilities, thus requiring a large number of aircraft carriers to initiate "force projection", as well as the capability to move and transport equipment and personnel across the globe between 36 and 48 hours. That is all reflected in the way the military of the United States is designed, and it's the reason the U.S. Army is sending everyone in circles as they change the design of the Army to reflect the way it fights now and not the way it wants to fight or the way it used to or is used to fight, thus were borne the Brigade Combat Teams as the central "building-block" fighting formation of the U.S. Army, downsized from the division as the central fighting level (and relegating the division level to a more administrative structure with the characteristics of an adaptable task force formation rather than an organic, static one). Now look at the Galactic Empire. What sort of war were they fighting? A war of conquest? Well, maybe it would appear to be so, but who are they conquering? No one. The Rebel Alliance does not amount to conquests; it's internal strife that is being fought using anti-insurgency tactics. What does this require? An ability to send heavy, modular forces to a location with the capabilities to remain on-site for a lengthy period of time, but still be capable of withdrawing at a moment's notice. This means you need air superiority (i.e. fighters), ground forces, and space forces. What's ideal for this? The Star Destroyer! The ISD and the VSD, specifically. For all intents and purposes, the Empire is fighting a defensive-style war against the Rebel Alliance, while the rest of the time it patrols its systems. With the treaty between the New Republic and the Imperial Remnant, nothing changed--the Imperial military was tasked with patrolling its space. So, when the time comes to act offensively, the Empire is going to be using the weapons and equipment it had for those purposes, and the best those are ISDs, VSDs, etc. The ships we saw used in the Clone Wars were very blatant offensive-capable vessels, the Venator-class with its inordinate carrier capabilities, the Accalamator-class spewing personnel on the battlefield--these are offensive weapons. ISDs, on the other hand, carry the troops necessary to subjugate or control certain locations with firepower both in the air and in space to back that--a wing of TIE fighters and the turbolaser batteries on the ship itself. The VSD is merely a reflection of the changing times from the Clones Wars to High Empire, showing a warship that is still oriented towards fleet engagements (reflected by its armaments and lack of ground troops on-board), while still capable of acting in a modular, autonomous role (i.e. troops, fighters, and "shore support"). I'll admit, though, I'd like to see a change in the technology, but I can see why its remained static for so long. Only the Yuuzhan Vong War changed this, reflected in the design of "pocket" Star Destroyers like the Bloodfin (in Revelation), but that war was unique in its disasterous character, going from a defensive to an offensive war in a relatively short period of time, leaving little room for technology to catch up and thus requiring the use of "everything ya got". If one examines the Legacy comics, though, one sees an Empire that is also transitioning from the offensive role to the defensive one, again, reflected in the design of the Pellaeon-class of Star Destroyer. One thing that really irritated me, though, was this "Maw Installation Fleet" Daala brought out of nowhere. Where the hell they been hiding this whole time? The Empire no longer controls that particular facility--that was made clear in Champions of the Force and in mentions throughout the NJO. I sometimes think Traviss, being a "late player" to the Star Wars game, wants to "re-explore" and "rediscover" the parts of the EU she missed out on before joining on. Well, personally, she can shove it and keep her fetish fantasies to herself. And last, a Super Star Destroyer? An Imperial Super Star Destroyer, no less! What the hell? The Imperial Remnant's supposed to be small--very small. In Vision of the Future, before the Vong War, they counted only eight full sectors, each guarded by only 13 Star Destroyers as part of Sector Defense Fleets, with 200 total Star Destroyers, placing only 96 Star Destroyers in the service of the centralized High Command under Pellaeon. I'm sure the Empire gained land here and there after the Vong War, areas they had liberated similar to the land the Soviets gained after the Second World War, but I have my doubts it was that much. The only in-universe explanation I can come up with is that the Dominator (the one Imperial SSD mentioned) is the same SSD Leia and Han noticed over Bastion in Destiny's Way. The Megador, for her part, seems to be highly modified and I suspect doesn't actually belong to the Empire, but may be a Galactic Alliance bastard with the forces that joined Jacen with the Empire. So suspect that as the novels begin to approach the Legacy comics, we'll see a change in technology under the Empire, especially with Chiss-trained and reared Jagged Fel at the reins... SOCL: Putting the BE in BEAK. Boring Explanations And Korrections. Consider yourselves BEAKed.

Well, I didn't realize he was the one who wrote KOTOR. That being the case, I suppose I'll read Path of Destruction after I finish Tim Zahn's Allegiance, which is not that great...

I rather like that. It would be nice to see some social democracy, or democracy at all, instated after the "fascist shift" (to use the words of Naomi Wolfe) this country took under the current Administration. That's also just my opinion, Tex. To be quite honest, I can't wait until this is all over. Hopefully come December, when the matter is over with and all the dust has settled, all this political in-fighting and bitterness will go away, or more likely decrease. The tension is a primary reason I don't hang around these boards quite as much as I used to, so when this election is all over, I'll be very happy.

Page 102... Sorry, folks, but I'm actually supposed to cut these sorts of threads (if not all) at the 100-page mark.

I'll basically read any Star Wars novels that continue into the future. As long as Sue Rostoni and James Luceno are on the planning committees, then they're bound to be good. I would really like to see a return of Tim Zahn, Aaron Allston, and Stover, but at the same time I also really, really want new blood. And like you, Tofu, I don't necessarily want to see more work by Denning, but more so, I don't want to see more Traviss--none. I'm only going to read her Order 66, the last of the Republic Commando novels, only because I've read the rest of the series. It's not great and only went downhill from Hard Contact, the first novel in the series. Her obsession with Mandalorians and a constant need to include them, in some form or another, just drags her work. I think Tofu's dislike of Denning is about equal to my dislike of Traviss. There's a new Karen coming on board who will be writing the second novel of Clone Wars novels based on the coming TV series, Traviss will be writing the first (uck!). Hopefully she'll be good, and it's a nice sign to see another female in the mix. Anyone have any thoughts on the author of the Darth Bane novels? I've heard he's quite good.

I think that was the idea, Tofu, but whereas you took it to mean the Dark Side wasn't evil, I took it all to show just how evil the Dark Side is, capable of more than just the blatant evil of Force lightning and planet-destroying superweapons, but rather is more devious and manipulative than shown by Palpatine and Vader, who I took to be "honest Sith", if you will--Sith who are open about their apparent evil. SPOILERS FOLLOW I actually believed Exile was the series' high point, while Sacrifice was, despite it's importance, the worst of the books. And the way the series ended... Well, it made sense: the final battle between Jacen and Jaina, but...well, what the hell? The political situation was far from resolved, and what about Niathal? And Daala as GA Chief of State? If ever these three letters have been appropriate, it's now: WTF? Still, I enjoyed it. I would certainly like to see an eBook or two that concentrates more on the political settlement, maybe using Niathal as a perspective character, or Daala, but as it stands, it was still a very strong series--the strongest of its kind in the EU, I believe. Oh, and was anyone else bothered by the lack of mention of Turr Phennir, Supreme Commander of Confederation forces, by anyone other than Allston? I understand that each author uses his or her own favorite characters (Allston: Wedge, Corran, Tycho, Syal; Traviss: Fett & the Mandalorians; Denning: Tenel Ka & the Hapans), but I think this sort of dragged down the series, most of all with Traviss and her Mandalorian/Fett irrelevant-and-inappropriate subplot. I think they should have agreed on a greater limitation of characters, providing only for cameos for the favorites rather than centralizing them. In truth, I think Allston served this cause best; yes, he used his favorites, but it never felt like they were driving in a different or awkward direction than the central part of the cast. I have more to say, but recently I've more and more lost interest in being articulate over much--write it off as laziness. I might be interested in a LOTF fanfiction/RPG, but I won't be available for much of anything for most of the summer, except for weekends--I'll be on sabbatical at the University of Virginia studying Latin. I hope to actually contribute more, though delayed entries to the Resistors RPG this summer...

Sounds like my life, Tofu. HAHAHA! My thoughts exact!

I don't buy this "experience is everything" bit. The two commanders-in-chief (i.e. Presidents) of the United States generally considered the "best" (and I don't want to get into an argument about this--it's a consensus bit) are Abraham Lincoln who led the USA through the Civil War and Franklin D. Roosevelt who led the USA through the Second World War. Neither one of them had any military experience. Then we have President Kennedy who handled the Cuban Missile Crisis with grace bordering on genius, never letting it escalate to the catastrophe of warfare, and he had about as much experience as Barack Obama. Or what about Ronald Reagan, a man who has acquired near-deity status in the USA, especially among the more conservative elements of this country: he was an actor. Yes, he may have been Governor of California, but I have serious doubts the current conservative elements of this country would even think of nominating someone with that same background. Sometimes new blood is necessary.

I'll admit, this series is not quite my original vision of Star Wars back when I first truly became a Star Wars fan, but it still looks like a lot of fun to watch! I'll be out to watch it at midnight.

I bought and started playing KOTOR II the other day. I think it's much better (so far) than reviews have been, but then again, most of the negative feedback revolves around the the ending of the game and its somewhat brusque manner, so we'll see how that goes... I heard something about a "completion mod", but it's for the PC and I have the XBox version. I may get the PC version when the mod is a confirmed release. I also purchased Jedi Knights II: Jedi Academy, but I'm not too sure about that one... Anyone else played it? Can anyone give me any feedback on it?

Well, I finally saw the original Dawn of the Dead and must say I was actually very pleased. Granted, the film shows its age, and not just in the last 70's fashion and style, but just the direction and production itself, I still believe it stands the test of time and is well-worth the watch. What makes it superior to most of the zombie flicks, and especially those recent ones, is that it deals first with the "enemy within" (the human condition, especially in the mist of crisis) and then the zombies, resulting in zombies being something closer to a backdrop and stimulus for the crisis of the human struggle.

Well put, Tofu. All in all, it was a great series, and, I believe, the best in the EU to date. I have been more-or-less keeping up with the Legacy comic series and we get a lot of allusion in that direction. It seems rather certain that Jagged is either the emperor Fel I (perhaps not acknowledged as such until after his death) or the father of said individual. Then again, Fel I, II, and III need not be the father-sons and such and may in fact be uncles/cousins/the like. I doubt this'll be the case, but I have the sneaking suspicion Sue Rostoni and her mad-cap wizards of the EU already have the basics of what will happen from now until then mapped out, if only roughly. The appearance of Force-sensitivity in the Fel bloodline is very likely caused by some sort of coupling by Jaina and Jagged, though this isn't to say she ends up some sort of consort or empress--that just doesn't strike me as Jaina. In fact, the Force sensitivity may not enter the bloodline at all. In the case of Roan Fel, we may have a man adopted or not at all a blood-descendant of Jagged--perhaps the blood being adopted in to the family or brought in by some other means. Yeah, lots of speculation, I know, but what else is there to do until the next series comes out? Besides, not having a direct line of descendants from Jagged to Roan is far more interesting than saying "so-and-so is the father of so-and-so, who gave birth to so-and-so, who became emperor..." That's terribly, terribly dull. I hope this next book, Millennium Falcon, doesn't turn into this author-feels-nostalgic rubbish where they try to make it too upbeat, happy, and silly. I say, keep the dark and the dreary!

Naw, it's cool. I'll just wait.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jedi_Order I think it's parrot behavior, something that happens far too often on Wookieepedia (I'm sure whoever edited the Wikipedia article was an ardent member of Wookieepedia). Someone says they think this might be it, someone else takes it to mean they heard it said somewhere that it was so, and the next person asserts that it's fact. It's called Wiki-ality, isn't it? Reality by consensus (and not fact).

Most characters, if not through the prequels then through retcons, have lost their luster, mystique, and general coolness... Still, Thrawn has yet to be made to be an idiot. Also: Daala Pellaeon Tschel Voss Parck Ardiff Never heard of the last three? Not surprising since they're extremely minor characters, which just goes to show how cynical I've become about the larger-name characters. Of the really big names, though, Luke remains my favorite.

That file is huge. I don't think I'll download it and just wait until someone puts it on YouTube.

Yeah, I know, a double post... This was also posted in the Legacy of the Force thread: For anyone who hasn't read any of the Legacy of the Force books and is interested, if you're just cheap and want a free book, Del Rey is offering Betrayal as a free download, as a PDF file, audiofile, Sony e-reader file. Even though I own the book, I'm downloading the audiobook for those long stays at airports. Here's the site: http://www.randomhouse.com/delrey/starwars/sw_legacy.html

For anyone who hasn't read any of the Legacy books and is interested, if you're just cheap and want a free book, Del Rey is offering Betrayal as a free download, as a PDF file, audiofile, Sony e-reader file. Even though I own the book, I'm downloading the audiobook for those long stays at airports. Here's the site: http://www.randomhouse.com/delrey/starwars/sw_legacy.html

Robert Downey, Jr. is, in my opinion, one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood. I'll go see any movie he plays in.

You didn't enjoy the Matrix? Granted, the second sucked, and the third should never have been made, but the first one was an incredible movie. Maybe if I'd seen it without everyone screaming in my face about how great it was. Hell, I watched it when the world was supposed to end, on Y2K!! The way people made it out to be, I expected to see new colors and have thoughts like, "How did I live before this moment?" If you want numbers, while most people went in with expectations ranging between 5 and 10 on a 1 to 10 scale, mine were at 1,698,378.03! And did it live up to the hype? Of course not! So that was my view immediately after and for a long time I wondered whether it was just my expectations and not the movie itself. So I went back and reexamined the movie. On the first occasion, I fell asleep from boredom. The second time I drank coffee and watched the whole thing...and still thought it was a load of nonsense, not to mention I was a little annoyed with the sometimes subtle, but mostly blatant ripoffs of one of my favorite shows of all time, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and its predecessor manga/novels and movies (just called Ghost in the Shell). Besides, I didn't see a point. It just...well, to put it lightly, sucked. It sucked a great deal. The movie was just a mess of action and science fiction/fantasy with a vague idea of direction that, like the Star Wars prequels, gets changed as the concept develops, which makes somethings more confusing than when they started. Then there was all the "there is a hidden meaning about Christianity" bullshit, which made the movie all the more annoying. So I decided, a few years later, to reexamine it again, this time with fresh eyes, not having seen or heard anything about it since the release of the third movie, now years and years dead... Yeah, it still sucked.

Everyone does realize he is not a Muslim, right? Why do you suppose this Rev. Wright controversy is so prominent, much less exists?

Sacrifice is out in mass-market paperback now (ahem, TOFU), and Invincible comes out next week!