Nothing new or groundbreaking; just looking for some discussion. I have all the books (well, I think I missed one) and read them all when they came out. I’m totally up to speed on the whole of the SW galaxy.
But … the NJO has some issues that I conveniently overlook because I like SW. My friends, however much they like it, do not have the same blinders.
Just what is the general consensus on on the NJO series? My pals think (despite their having not read the books - they’re that in disfavor) it’s too over-the-top and not really “pure” SW. One who is actually familiar with it thinks - and I’m forced to agree - that it’s a complete rip-off from BattleTech. The Vong invasion is absolutely identical to the Clan invasion of 3049. I know why the SW people decided to go the route they did, but the fact that it looks like Mike Stackpole just changed names from Davion and Liao to Skywalker and Solo.
I know there are people out there who, like me, have read and enjoyed the series (Del, you still on the boards?), but I’d like to find out what we’re really thinking about it.
So please, take my above comments and run with it. I wanna talk about this.
I’ve heard the theory before, but I don’t see it. NJO is considerably more personal drama than BT is, but i’m a total Stackpole fanboy so i’m possibly biased.
I’m not really a fan of it, though. I think it’d tend to agree with the “not pure SW” handle though. I’m not entirely sure what the problem is, but it just doesn’t feel like it to me. At a guess I think i’d probably have to blame the Vong too; they seem far too different a genre of scifi than fits in with the rest of the universe. I mean, I assume to an extent that’s the point, to make them seem more alien, but still.
Also the multitude of writers really could have worked together a bit more. It’s never been the most cohesive of universes, but still.
The writers did work together, but there were still both character and stylistic problems from book to book.
I wonder if they really felt it was necessary to throw such a vastly different event into the galaxy to make a big storyline. They’ve just done it again with the Legacy series and I think that was brilliant. But the Vong war comes off as a little … forced [ahem].
An issue I’m going to have to deal with is I’ve been running a SW RPG for a good number of years and sooner or later this is going to happen. I mean, I could simply say it doesn’t because it’s my game, but I like sticking to cannon - makes my job a little easier.
But I know none of my players like the idea.