It's FINALLY Here - GrogCast Season 4!

[mirth]

There was a novel. Steve Perry wrote it I think.

[mirth]

The Zahn books are okay and I give Zahn a lot of credit for carrying the franchise through a moribund period. It's hard to believe today, but after Return of the Jedi the SW franchise was pretty much dead for almost a decade. Lucas was done with it, no one knew if there'd ever be another movie and little else was going on with it. Zahn's books changed all that and renewed interest in SW in a big way. I'm just not a huge fan of the stories, but I will acknowledge what he did for SW.

So did Lucas want to jump back in and do more films directly because of the Timothy zahn books ? I love the movies , but I've never really delved much into the background of the whole thing . What's the relationship between zahn and Lucas ?

Zahn was hired by Lucas to write the official follow-up after Return of the Jedi, and Lucasfilm had deemed them "canonical".

Whether or not Lucas was 'inspired' by Zahn to go back to the first 3 movies is unknown, but I doubt it, since they were 8 years or so apart.

When Disney bought the Star Wars franchise, they jettisoned all of the "official" continuity from the post-Jedi Lucasfilm efforts (several book series and several graphic novels - Dark Empire was incredible) and completely rebooted everything, and that gave us The Force Awakens.  It also deprived us of ever seeing Thrawn on the big screen as he was written in the Heir to the Empire series, where he was a serious bad-ass.

They put Thrawn back into canon through Rebels, so it's not impossible for him to show up in a future film.

[bayonetbrant]

^^^^^
I know, but no one expects him to be the HBAIC the way he was in Heir to the Empire.

[Staggerwing]

So it's basically the "Spock Must Die!" of the Star Wars universe?

Heh. I haven't read that one, but I read pretty much every Star Trek novel written through 1989 and 90% of those books were drek.

Hah! Spock Must Die! is actually the only ST novel I've ever read. Some day...

[mirth]

^^^^^
I know, but no one expects him to be the HBAIC the way he was in Heir to the Empire.

They made Vader a badass again with Rogue One. They could do it with Thrawn. The period between ROTJ and Force Awakens is open territory.

[bayonetbrant]

They're not great books (yes I'll get shit for saying it). Don't spend a lot on them.

The Zahn books were fantastic.  The ones after that were kind of 'meh'.

The best Star Wars Expanded Universe stories can be found in the Dark Horse comics.

Mostly true. 
Dark Empire I was fantastic.
Dark Empire II was a steaming pile of poached goat balls.

The ongoing series were uneven, but more good than bad. 
The advantage that they had was that they were significantly better than the old Marvel ongoing Star Wars series from the mid-80s, which was targeted at 10-year-old boys whose lunch money never made it from the bus to the classroom*.  Dark Horse realized those 10-year-olds had all grown up some where along the way and treated them as adults when writing for their audience.










* so basically, Mirth.

[Emeraldlis]

So in both your opinions mirth and Brant , has Disney buying the Star Wars franchise completely ruined what Lucas was trying to do with it ? I definately need to read this stuff to understand what's gone on , but I loved rogue one because it explained how they got what they needed to destroy the Death Star . The whole story of stardust was really enjoyable

And I'd sooner talk to real people than google any day , lol , I hate/love google , it's always a last resort for me ....I'm weird !!!!

[bayonetbrant]

Nah, I think Lucas had lost his way.  I don't know that Disney was the right move, but Lucas hanging onto it wasn't doing the franchise any favors any more.

[Staggerwing]

^^^^^
I know, but no one expects him to be the HBAIC the way he was in Heir to the Empire.

HBAIC? Heap Bad-ass in charge?

[Emeraldlis]

Nah, I think Lucas had lost his way.  I don't know that Disney was the right move, but Lucas hanging onto it wasn't doing the franchise any favors any more.

That's good to know , that it was rescued as a strory , rather than lost or locked away in a vault somewhere 

^^^^^
I know, but no one expects him to be the HBAIC the way he was in Heir to the Empire.

HBAIC? Heap Bad-ass in charge?

That's what I was wondering , lol

[Emeraldlis]

They're not great books (yes I'll get shit for saying it). Don't spend a lot on them.

The Zahn books were fantastic.  The ones after that were kind of 'meh'.

The best Star Wars Expanded Universe stories can be found in the Dark Horse comics.

Mostly true. 
Dark Empire I was fantastic.
Dark Empire II was a steaming pile of poached goat balls.

The ongoing series were uneven, but more good than bad. 
The advantage that they had was that they were significantly better than the old Marvel ongoing Star Wars series from the mid-80s, which was targeted at 10-year-old boys whose lunch money never made it from the bus to the classroom*.  Dark Horse realized those 10-year-olds had all grown up some where along the way and treated them as adults when writing for their audience.










* so basically, Mirth.

Which should be read first then ? The book or the comic ?

[bayonetbrant]

Heir to the Empire takes place before Dark Empire I and II

[Emeraldlis]

Cool  the book it is then is this book the very beginning of the whole Star Wars thing then ? Please tell me there's no prequel to that ......or prequel to that , lol , because although I loved rogue one , I NEED that to be the beginning !!!!!! I'm getting all prequeled out     

[mirth]

10-year-old boys whose lunch money never made it from the bus to the classroom*. 










* so basically, Mirth.

I learned to walk to school. Lots of a-holes on the bus.

[mirth]

Cool  the book it is then is this book the very beginning of the whole Star Wars thing then ? Please tell me there's no prequel to that ......or prequel to that , lol , because although I loved rogue one , I NEED that to be the beginning !!!!!! I'm getting all prequeled out     

Well, Brian Daley wrote a series of Han Solo books set before the first Star Wars film. Those were pretty good for back in the day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Han_Solo_Adventures

Then there's Splinter of the Mind's Eye by Alan Dean Foster. That takes place immediately after the first SW movie and was written as a sequel in case the first movie bombed and Lucas couldn't do a big budget second movie. That book isn't great, but a it's worth a read for nostalgia purposes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splinter_of_the_Mind's_Eye

Under no circumstances, should you subject yourself to Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu. It was basically unreadable.