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Star Wars Prequels Media Movies

Major Star Wars Character To Die in Next Books 198

Posted by Hemos from the r.a.-slavatore-the-killer dept.
Brandon Phillips wrote to us about a recent USAToday story concerning the next set of Lucas-approved post-TRJ books. R.A Salvatore is writing the new books (great author) and one of the major characters dies. Warning: by clicking through you will know who dies. Or just buy the book.
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Major Star Wars Character To Die in Next Books More

Major Star Wars Character To Die in Next Books

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  • got any Amazon links? forget cryptonomicon, or that new Iduru sequel from william gibson... I *have* to read that book...
    "Subtle mind control? Why do all these HTML buttons say 'Submit' ?"
  • I hope that everyone who reads this knows, that if you continue reading, you will know who died. So if you don't want to know, don't read any farther.
  • My life is over. I have no point of living! Why..? Why did it have to be ________? Take me instead! and Why does it cost $15 + shipping at amazon?

    david
  • The Dragonlance movie that is. Death knights are cool and kender are what hobbits should have been (taunting little thieves)

  • Whaaa...? (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    How in the world, on a thread like this, can anything be labeled "flamebait". If anything, the post was damn funny. What moderator has such a man-crush on on Skywalker that he's willing to burn a point on this?
  • Did you notice that Leia came out of the Ewok's apartment wearing her nightgown? What had been going on in there, anyway?

    I think the Skywalkers are fond of intermingling the blood. Indeed, I suspect that Chewie was a half-brother to Luke and Leia -- he got the fur from an Ewok and the height from his father, Darth.

    And then there's the machines. Upon disassembly, it shows that Darth himself was half machine. Thus his mother must have mated with droids. No wonder Annikin didn't have a father. (Nod, nod, wink, wink. It's always the same when there's a droid in the family, isn't it!) So is C3P0 actually Annakin's half brother, posing as his creation to save appearences for the family?

    Ah, indeed! Much will be revealed in episodes 2 and 3.

    --
    It's October 6th. Where's W2K? Over the horizon again, eh?
  • > Or perhaps he should be poached for his pelt, and the whole Jedi crew can go on an anti-fur crusade...

    No -- anti-fur crusaders killed him, mistakenly thinking he was a human dressed in Wookie fur.

    --
    It's October 6th. Where's W2K? Over the horizon again, eh?
  • All of the Timothy Zahn books have been really good. Especially his latest "duology", the second part of which came out a month ago.

    I usually ignore the glut of lower-quality SW books by other authors, but I was so psyched after reading Zahn's book that I picked up Salvatore's new one. Man, was it dissappointing... It felt like he had a laundry list of things that he was supposed to do (get Luke and Mara married, kill Chewie, introduce the new nemesis, create a love interest for Jacen,) and he just stitched those elements together without actually putting any story around them.

  • I saw the first Star Wars (Star Wars, The First Fscking Episode, before the grand renumbering) in 1977


    Errrr, watch it again, about 15 seconds into the movie you see the words, Episode IV, go by...

  • The best Star Wars books I have read have been by Timothy Zahn. His Heir to the Empire trilogy reignited the whole Star Wars book "scene," if you will, back in 1991. They were always a level above the typical Star Wars book. In end, it was "characters get in sticky sitation, characters narrowly escape." But aren't most books like that anyway? His stories were always deep, quite character developed, and multi-threaded. With all the individuals threads that never seem to have anything in common, coming explosively together in the end. I was really impressed by the Heir trilogy. This month I picked up Specter of the Past and Vision of the Future. Wow, was I surprised. They even outdid his first trilogy, even though it was only two books. I strongly recommend (I bet I spelt that wrong.) that anyone who likes good Star Wars books pick up the Heir trilogy, which consists of: Heir to the Empire The Last Command Dark Force Rising and his two new ones: Specter of the Past Vision of the Future Zahn has always proved himself worthy as a good Star Wars writer, I've never been disappointed. I'll also suggest you read any of the X-Wing series books, the first few are pretty good, Micheal A. Stackpole's that deal with Isard. But once Aaron Allston starts writing the next few, they get damn good. I was really impressed. To my recollection, Allston's books were: Wraith Squadron, #5 Solo Command, #6 Iron Fist, #7 Starfighters of Adumar, #9 Check it out. I think you'll like them.
    kaniff -- Ralph Hart Jr
  • I think cut in half by a Sith is right. That way GL can license each half as a separate action figure, and rake in more money than otherwise.

    --
    It's October 6th. Where's W2K? Over the horizon again, eh?
  • The best Star Wars books I have read have been by Timothy Zahn. His Heir to the Empire
    trilogy reignited the whole Star Wars book "scene," if you will, back in 1991. They
    were always a level above the typical Star Wars book. In end, it was "characters get in
    sticky sitation, characters narrowly escape." But aren't most books like that anyway? His
    stories were always deep, quite character developed, and multi-threaded. With all the
    individuals threads that never seem to have anything in common, coming explosively together in
    the end. I was really impressed by the Heir trilogy. This month I picked up
    Specter of the Past and Vision of the Future. Wow, was I surprised. They even
    outdid his first trilogy, even though it was only two books.

    I strongly recommend (I bet I spelt that wrong.) that anyone who likes good Star Wars books pick up
    the Heir trilogy, which consists of:

    Heir to the Empire
    The Last Command
    Dark Force Rising
    and his two new ones:

    Specter of the Past
    Vision of the Future
    Zahn has always proved himself worthy as a good Star Wars writer, I've never been disappointed.
    I'll also suggest you read any of the X-Wing series books, the first few are pretty good,
    Micheal A. Stackpole's that deal with Isard. But once Aaron Allston starts writing the next
    few, they get damn good. I was really impressed.
    To my recollection, Allston's books were:

    Wraith Squadron, #5
    Solo Command, #6
    Iron Fist, #7
    Starfighters of Adumar, #9
    Check it out. I think you'll like them.
    Sorry for the double post. I hit Submit instead of Preview before I formatted it. My bad :)
    kaniff -- Ralph Hart Jr

  • what about william gibson, he just relised a new book. Its sort of like a sequal to Iduro and some other book he wrote. I've read Iduro and it was great.

    and then there's Neil Stephonson's Cryptonomicon

    don't know if that fits under you're definition of 'sci-fi' though...
    "Subtle mind control? Why do all these HTML buttons say 'Submit' ?"
  • Go to the sci-fi section of any bookstore and find me an *original* *well-written* *non-preaching* *non-formula* *untrite* piece of contemporary science fiction. Written in the past year.

    Let's see:
    "Plan B" Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
    "Earthweb" Marc Stiegler
    "1632" Eric Flint
    "The Fata Morgana" Leo Frankoski
    "A Boy and His Tank" Leo Frankoski

    They're there, they're just not as common as they used to be.
  • Lynx users would never see the spoiler, and poeople over modems would be verypissed
    "Subtle mind control? Why do all these HTML buttons say 'Submit' ?"
  • Chewbacca's dead? About time. What the hell was a wookie anyway? A big hairy thing that had so little control over his appetites that he would ill-advisedly clutch at any hanging piece of rotting carcass, no matter what the surrounding dangers or likelihood that it was bait for a trap? Come on guys. The Ewoks(!) got the better of Chewbacca with nothing more than bloody meat and a net. Seems like wookies are the stupidest things walking.

    And we're supposed to believe that this digusting, stinky beast, that can do little more than open its mouth and let loose a primal yawp of sorts -- even though seemingly every other race in the Star Wars milieu has acquired the capability of advanced communications and technology -- has left its forested home to become a navigator/co-pilot on a faster-than-light smuggling ship? Suuuure.

    And there's that whole scene with C3PO and Chewie playing the quasi-chess game in Star Wars, where C3PO is warned that wookies pull the arms out of their opponents if that particular wookie is angered. Screw wookies, screw their arrogance, screw their propensity to physical violence, screw their stupidity and their inability to do anything other than yawn loudly, and screw Chewbacca. I'm glad he's dead. I hope he suffers first. I hope it's because he can't control his filthy self and reaches for a rotting piece of meat hanging from a trap on an alien world while the rest of them is conducting a highly secret, crucial mission.

    Wookies suck.

  • Da Man (Score:4)

    by Raindog ( 13847 ) on Friday October 15, 1999 @08:50AM (#1610757)
    This is just another example of "The Man" keeping the wookie down. Do the annoying, lilly-white non-furry people get it? No, they run around screwing each other. But what happens to the wookie....Thats right...killed off in a vague attempt to save a dying series....

    Damn the Man!!!!!Save the wookie!!!!

  • The death (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Warning:Spoiler I agree dealing with the loss of one of the greatest heroes of the Star Wars universe will be hard on fans. But everyone dies. Only the force users and droids really have potential for any sort of eternal life. Chewbacca has to die eventually. All the characters do. If some don't the whole series will lose credibility. The article says that Chewbacca dies bravely, which is the way the main cast should go. Dying a warriors death, helping to save the galaxy even with their death. If you whine it shows how shallow your understanding of what a hero is. Heroes are not gods. They are men and women, like any of us, who through a combination of good and bad luck, run into a situation where only they can save the day. Their personal will overcomes the fear, and they carry on to victory. They don't always come back, because, they are still mortal. But they never give up. Go read some stories about Medal of Honr winners, and other great war heroes like LtGen Lewis B. Puller USMC and see what really makes a hero. It isn't immortality, which some of the whining comments seem to think.
  • One thing I've seen on another website is that they didn't "hide" the text, rather they made it the same color as the background -- this way you had to highlight the text to read it.

    I thought it was a simple, clever solution to displaying spoiler information.
  • Please, please meesa, let it be Jar Jar.
  • this is a post RTJ book

  • ... (Score:3)

    by Signal 11 ( 7608 ) on Friday October 15, 1999 @08:12AM (#1610763)
    All I gotta say is if when I click this link, I don't see that Jar Jar has died, I'm writing SW:JJD (SW: Jar Jar Dies) and releasing it on videocassette for $9.95 plus s&h.

    --
  • I already have the book, and finished it... It is a good addition to the Star Wars series of books with a new enemy to contend with... the Empire is hardly mentioned in the book..

    Before I say anything else, anyone interested in knowing who dies?

    I don't want to give it away just yet... just in case someone wants to learn about it on their own...

  • Back in 1977, "Episode IV" was not in the opening credits. "The Empire Strikes Back" did have "Episode V" in it when it came out back in 1980.
  • This is pretty f*cked up right here.

    Oh well. The books pretty much sucked rocks anyhow. 99% of all sci-fi books suck anymore. They're like bad romance novels or something, coming out about twice a week. At least KJ Anderson's not writing it.

    I completely gave up hope on the validity or integrity of any contemporary sci-fi novel when I saw a 'Star Trek: Voyager' and 'X-Men' crossover novel.

    I couldn't stop laughing.
  • You're equating franchise pseudoliterature with 'Contemporary SF'?

  • Y not off the Ewoks too?

    You think they survived having the Death Star blown up over the planet while it was in low orbit? They're toast [theforce.net], and Endor is a desolate, ash covered radioactive hell hole, or at least it should be.

    Unless, just maybe, it was a Potemkin Death Star, built to lure Skywalker, built out of tin foil and sticks. Yeah, we can rationalize that.

    George
  • I predict large fuzzy giggling bunnies from outer space will dominate the next movie

    As annoying as large furry creatures can be, I am secretly hoping that some Giant Space Hamsters show up in the D&D movie. Alas, I may have to wait for a Dragonlance movie if one ever materializes....
  • I don't know about you guys, but star wars has played itself out in my book.

    A new hope was OK. Empire Strikes back was good. Return of the Jedi kinda sucked. Episode 1 was horrible. Episode II will be worse b/c Jar Jar and his gungan friends will be in it. Episode III hopefully won't come to existence.

    I'm all burnt out on starwars. Mabye they should spread out the release dates a little more so all the people who were dissapointed with the last installment will have forgotten about it totally. That is how they caught people like my father. He was real excited about Episode I because he rememebered all the good things about starwars, and when he walked out he felt about as ripped off as he did when he walked out of Return of the Jedi.

    Note to Lucas: Teach your kids how to make crummy movies so they can mooch off the pleasant memories of days past by making new starwars movies.
  • If you have seen all the starwars movies than you know who is going to die. DUH! The only question is that of timing, is it in II or III, and this just confirms that it must be in II.

    There is one nano-leap you need to make to figure it out [ that wasn't given away in any movie, but is SOOOO obvious to anyone that payed attention to episode I]

    P.S. I wish it was Jar-Jar, but it isn't.
  • I think it is about time one of the major characters dies. I quit reading the books a long time ago because it was simply:

    Our characters get into a sticky bind.
    Our characters narrowly escape.

    That gets really really boring after a while.
  • oh yeah -- Asimov's Foundation series is one hell of a read. One of the best sci-fi series's I've read in my life.

    If your a Sci-Fi Fan, you MUST read these series:
    o 2001 Series (Clarke) o Foundation Series (Asimov) o Robot Series (Asimov) o Lord of the Rings Series (Asimov)
  • its only a book! its not a film is it? maybe in 100 years time when the virtual image of george lucas makes this star wars film, then my virtual image of myself will think - what a shame!
  • heh. Time to go watch the movies again for me... I remember them saying it was bigger, but not twice the size...

    KdL

  • uh, to convert matter to energy, you need an atomic reaction. Particles falling into the atmosphere will not create such a reaction. And if the death star did fall into the atmosphere, the sheer act of burning it would not make it less massive. Sure the matter would change form chemically, but it would still be the same amount of matter. It's difficult to say what the global impact of this matter might be, but it's conceivable that it would create enough of a blanket to cause a little global cooling (not warming).
  • You Said:
    And there's that whole scene with C3PO and Chewie playing the quasi-chess game in Star Wars, where C3PO is warned that wookies pull the arms out of their opponents if that particular wookie is angered. Screw wookies, screw their arrogance, screw their propensity to physical violence, screw their stupidity and their inability to do anything other than yawn loudly, and screw Chewbacca. I'm glad he's dead. I hope he suffers first. I hope it's because he can't control his filthy self and reaches for a rotting piece of meat hanging from a trap on an alien world while the rest of them is conducting a highly secret, crucial mission.

    And I replied:

    You sound a little overly sensitive here, did one of the special ed wookie children beat you up when you were little?
  • What's really funny is if you see the video of the people who waited in line for several weeks to see the first showing. They must be so proud of themselves. :)

    I bet that's one they won't be telling any grandchildren about, eh?
  • Okay, everyone get of Lucas,s case! How much did YOUR last sci-fi movie make? If you don't like it, then do better.
  • Stephen R. Donaldson's the GAP cycle is freakin' good SF. Bleak SF, but that's just Donaldson's style.

    It is a bit formulaic in that it is based upon Norse legend in its story structure, but, still very entertaining.

  • ep 3 (Score:1)

    by Pope ( 17780 )
    Episode III hopefully won't come to existence.

    I hope you're not right, because according to Lucas, Ep. III will be the fall of Annakin and the rise of Darth Vader.
    That fact alone will keep me interested until I see the damn thing in 2021 or whenever it comes out.

    Personally, I think Lucas should step aside as director for 2 and 3 and get someone suitable for each style of story.
    I drool at the thought of Episode 3 directed by David Fincher.
    Ooh.... there's a nice dark story for ya!

    PPPoE
  • ...he always had the worst lines anyway.

  • I got one thing to say to you buddy. Watch your back. Chewie might bite the big one, but that doesn't mean a big posse of pissed of Wookie's won't come looking for you and rip your arms off. And while they're at it, I hope they hang you on a hook so more wookies can come by and grab you for no reason other than wookie hunger.

    We all know Chewie was one Bad Mother-Shut your mouth!

    Bad Mojo
  • I think I broke my wookiee
  • I enjoyed the Rogue Squadron Books by Michael A Stackpole, but I'm a pretty big fan of his...
  • except a sausage - which has two.
  • I have heard rumors that Episode 7 will have strong WCW/NWO tie-ins, and that Episode 8 will be mostly hard core porn. (When 900 years old you become, get laid you will not, mmm!) And it gets worse from there. I have heard that Episode 9 will be directed by Joel Schumaker, the same guy who ruined the last Batman movies. But I have also heard rumors that Episode's 7-9 will be a series of Fox reality shows. (The Galaxies Stupidest Jedi, When Ewoks Attack, and Psychic Inter-racial Gay Droids- A Jerry Springer Special) If any one has any information about the possible truth's of these rumors, please let me know.
  • I think a spoiler moderation would be quite hard to implement, because it shouldn't really add or subtract points from a message. A spoiler isn't necessarily good or bad.

    Perhaps there could be a "show spoilers" and "hide spoilers" option in your preferences, and some way to flag messages as being spoilers. Whether the original poster would do this, or moderators, i'm not sure.
    On the other hand, it could just introduce unnecessary complication into what is on the whole, an excellent message system.


    hummer
  • what we need now is teenage mutant ninja turtles
    in the mix and we got ourselves a book!


    carnage

    "hoffa gud tay? lunboks"

    -calvin and hobbes
  • The "Heir to the Empire" series by Roger Zelazny, was quite good. Great villains, good usage of the established characters, and a bit more backgroud from the "null period" of pre-episode 4 that Lucas has staked out for himself... Several of the new "Rogue Sqaudron" books, about Wedge Antilles and Rogue Squadron, were written by Aaron Allston, one of my favorite authors.

  • Really?

    My copy of A New Hope on VHS has "Episode IV" going by at the beginning. (Not the SE, just the normal release). Did they change it from when it first hit the screen?

  • ralph
    -i beat the smart kids, i beat the smart kids... owww. i think i bent my wookie.
    some smart girl
    -c'mon to our house ralph. we can play anagrams.
    lisa
    -yes, we arrange proper names to fit a description of that person.
    ralph
    -my cat's breath smells like cat food.

    that had ot be one of the greats...

    carnage

    "lunboks. hoffa gud tay?"
    -calvin and hobbes
  • Lucas' motives for killing a character will not make the story better or worse. It's entertainment, for god's sake! Take it at face value.

    You clearly don't enjoy many movies. I (for one) am far more interested in a strong storyline combined with quality cinematography and talent than how much the movie costs and whom it caters to.

    r

    P.S. It's funny how long, antagonistic articles are better at eliciting karma, isn't it?
  • Personally I was very disappointed in the Brooks book.
    I liked the movie, but felt that the book didn't particularly add anything to it.
    There were a grand total of two lines that I thought were different enough to be worthwhile;
    otherwise it was a flat rewrite of the movie, with no life or merit of its own.

    If you want Star Wars books worth reading, pick up anything by Timothy Zahn. And if you want
    non-SW books worth reading, read Zahn's Conqueror's Trilogy.
    A little hard to find, but worth it.

    KdL

  • Good (Score:1)

    by Gregg M ( 2076 )
    Wookies can go back to Endor as far as I'm concerned.

    Bwwaaaaaaawwwwwaaaaaawaaaaaaaaaaaaaa



  • Um, isn't this the one where Luke and Leia get hot and heavy together?

    Yikes!

  • I'm a big fan of R.A.'s other books.. in fact the only reason I havn't started Vector Prime is because I'm in the middle of re-reading some of his earlier works. I wouldn't fret too much over him killing off one of the major characters. He's well known for killing off his own major characters and then bringing them back in the next book, or the next series.
  • Did Gibson put out a sequel to Idoru already?
    Link?
    Joseph Elwell.
  • On the contrary, Lucas said he never had a clear idea of what he wanted to do in episodes 7, 8, and 9.
    Furthermore, Lucas has deifinitively stated that he will never make those three movies. They were part of his original vision when he was a much younger man, but he now has no desire to do them. The reason he started making episodes 1, 2, and 3 was his lasting disappointment with his inability to bring his dream for 4, 5, and 6 onto the screen the way he wanted to. Hence, the Special Editions and then a new trilogy with all the cool aliens that he always wanted but couldn't create, because the technology wasn't there.

    Also note that Lucas has said that he will never let anyone else make episodes 7, 8, and 9, either.

    Lucas has presumably set up general guidelines for the direction he wants the SW universe to go, but the majority of the work Lucasfilm does with the authors is make sure they don't contradict each other. They do a pretty good job, too.

    KdL

  • Hmm.. A late series Star Wars musical. The scene: Han gets into an argument with Leia over some missing money after Chewies death...

    Han [singing to Limp Bizkit]: 'I did it all for the wookie. The wookie. I paid off his bookie, so stick it up your ..."

    [ducking] Sorry, couldn't help myself. I do love the SW series, and while it's sad that a loved character had to die, it's way overdue.

    Ender

  • Better yet, Chewie could be mistaken for a colony of tribbles and accidentally blown away.
  • I can see it now, some hooded jedi, two curved lightsabers, mowing through a group of orcs...er, stormtroopers. Just kidding.

    As you said, he's a great sci-fi/fantasy author. Nice guy, too...we see him around out in the sticks where I live. I hope he doesn't get too much flak from rabid fans over a decision that wasn't his. If you want to read a good primer for his work, his early novel The Crystal Shard is one of his most entertaining.

    Jason

  • Dr. Who

    His species is capable of coming back from death, and there is a limit to how many times they can. 11 I think. If you recall he never returned exactly the same.



    Random Facts about Timelords

    1.They can return from the dead 13 times, however even if they do not get killed after a certain amount of time they change and use up 1 of those times.

    2. They have 2 Hearts.

    3. Dr Who is actually a Renegade Timelord who stops the other Timelords as well as 'The Master' from screwing around in everyones business.

    4. There was a Dr. Who movie that was surprisingly good, but I have yet to be able to find it on VHS.

    Anyone who knows of a good Dr. Who site point me to it.

    Kintanon
  • that all of my favorite sci-fi authors from my childhood (with the exception of JRR Tolkein, but he's dead) writing books for the dark side ala Lucas?!?!

    I loved Terry Brooks's series of Shannara, and I still have my collection of R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt DO'urden and Canticle's series. Why are they all selling out? Is the publishing business that depressed that they have to all latch onto one of the most poorly written movies to make a buck these days?

    I'm sure the newest star wars rejeuventated Terry Brooks's book sales, and I'm sure this will have the same effect on RA Salvatore, but isn't that kind of sad? Do parents show their kids the jobs of reading books like JRR Tolkein's Hobbit and Lord of the Rings? It's a sad day when the fantasy world sells out.

    "One ring to rule them, one ring to find them. One ring to bring them all together and in the darkness bind them."
  • Next time you watch "Return of the Jedi," watch it really carefully. Note who does what and when, and exactly what events lead up to the successful destruction of the second Death Star.

    Luke had nothing to do with it. He played out a private drama while the actual crucial events took place.

    The two folks mostly directly responsible for the destruction of the Death Star and the defeat of the empire: Lando and Chewie.

  • Don't take it too hard -- we still have Jar Jar to hang on to. :-)
  • -sigh- No, I didn't read the link. I actually glanced at it this time, but hell if I'm reading all that. They've done a lot more thinking on this point than I have, that's obvious.

    There are still a couple places where I'm right, though.

    Remember what the second DS looked like over Endor? It wasn't nearly finished. Sure, the core systems were in, and the thing was "operational" by the end, but huge pieces of it were either completely missing or little more than skeleton frameworks. Compared to the fully completed, albeit somewhat smaller (half the size? where the hell did you find that? I don't buy it) first DS, this thing was a lightweight.

    The DS didn't burn to pieces on entry (can't be re-entry; it was never under an atmosphere). It was already in really fine pieces. So yes, I say that they converted straight to energy. I already considered the problem this creates for the planet, but ecosystems are fairly resilient things. I call it a little global warming, maybe not even enough to notice.

    KdL

  • You're wrong. For every point you're moderated upwards, you gain a karma point, and for every point downwards, you loose one. As you pass certain karma barriers, your posts appear at different default values (+2, say, or maybe 0). Meta-moderation also affects karma, AFAIK. And you are a canidate for moderator point as long as your karma's on the site.

    All of this crap is on the site somewhere. I just lack a life enough to read it all. ;)
  • hey, at least some people respect wookies. you've heard Limp Bizkit's song, havent you?

    "I did it all for the wookie! The wookie! ... "
  • I repeat, its not real.

    Once again, its not real. Its a not so interesting fantasy universe.

  • I have thoroughly enjoyed many of his books without requiring the assistance of marijuana, though it couldnt hurt. I think Salvatore is a fine author.
  • He is a great author, and I am pleased to see him granted this oppurtunity. That would have been great, Drizzt movies!

  • maybe (Score:1)

    by / ( 33804 )
    this one [imdb.com] or this one [imdb.com]?
  • Forgive my ignorance but which books are "official" books or does all books have to be approved by Lucas?
  • Is it true that when R2-D2 dies it is reincarnated as a kitchen trash can? Or is that what it's reincarnated from?

    I get so cornfused in these Star Trek threads.
  • > It's not true. It was an X-Men/Star Trek:The
    > Next Generation crossover. Picard and Storm
    > had the hots for each over.....

    I actually read that (I got the feeling there was more than one). I found it while looking for new Star Trek books for a friend of mine.

    I figured putting X-Men in a Trek book has GOT to be funny.

    It was a pretty decent X-Men story, too bad about the whole Star Trek universe getting in the way (disclaimer: I like Trek)
  • a) The Death Star was not in low orbit.

    b) There's no particular reason to think that the explosion released a significant amount of radiation.

    c) On a sheer mass scale, the Death Star wasn't nearly big enough to cover Endor in ash even if it had blown inside the atmosphere. It massed maybe half what the first one did, if it was lucky. Besides which, the thing broke into small enough pieces that it would have all burned up on entry into the atmosphere.

    KdL

  • Uhh... considering that this book had to have been written *before* TPM came out and people registered their disappointment, I doubt it was a reaction to that.

    I am curious as to how much involvement Lucas has in these books. Although, it does sound like the author was handed a plot... perhaps The Man does at least plot these suckers out.

    I've never been really interested in the books. After looking at the official Star Wars timeline at the Official Star Wars web site, I see that in the books set after episode 6, the emperor comes back a bunch of times as a clone. Oh please. We've killed him off once, isn't that enough?

    And from what this story said, it looks like now that Luke &co. kicked the emperor's butt a bunch of times, they now have to rumble with extra-galatic baddies. Reminds me of Star Trek (the Dominion) and the Wing Commander games. We've wiped out the bad guys... so here comes some badder ones.

    Sometimes, you should realize when you come to the end of the story, and simply stop telling it.
  • First off, it's George Lucas-approved; that doesn't mean he made the call, or wrote the idea for the novel, or even came up with the idea of offing one of the main characters. It just means he feels like giving that novel a push and call it legit.

    Second: why is it a big deal that a main character dies? They're, like, living in a dangerous universe, you know. They're heroes and bandits, and if anything, the death toll should be higher, not lower.

    That it becomes a major news event when a character bites the bullet just goes to show that the series has turned into a narcissic exercise where the main characters face dangers, but never truly in real danger.

    And that's fine, really... It works for Batman, and it works for every Star Trek crewman as long as he doesn't wear a red shirt.

    However:

    I wish it wasn't such a big deal. Even when the publisher/producer comes around and decides to off someone, it has to be a big deal, well-publicised in advance. Just think of the death of Superman... Anyone else was fed up with the media hype?

    Babylon 5 came somewhat close to doing this right. A few characters died, even though main characters rarely did. (No, Z'ha'Dum doesn't count.) They were still lovable secondary characters and seeing them die set you on the edge of your seat, made the story more tangible and real. I wish I could read one Star Wars novel when I could turn a page and find out Han Solo has just died a horrible death. That'd make me jump and yelp in surprise. It'd hook me to the books forever.

    But no. Notice how they all have to die heroic deaths? It's as if they're sorry for killing a character so they have to be nice about it. Even heroes die in freak accidents, you know. I'd love to see R2 try to fix the Millennium Falcon's toilets and fry a circuit. Well, alright, maybe that's just cruel. I'd love to believe in the possibility of it, though.

    Final point: doesn't the "menace from outside the Galaxy" sound lame? It sounds like Wing Commander: Prophecy to me: a lame way to inject new energy in a story that has extended beyond its natural and satisfactory ending.

    For me, Star Wars begins with Leia's ship trying to outrun a Star Destroyer, and ends with the ghosts of Anakin, Yoda and Obi-Wan looking at everyone getting drunk out of their minds.

    "There is no surer way to ruin a good discussion than to contaminate it with the facts."

  • It's not just Wookies that suffer:

    http://www.uexpress.com/ups/comics/bo/pages/bo99 0704.html

    http://www.uexpress.com/ups/comics/bo/pages/bo99 0926.html
  • Lynx users could download and view the image, or set up lynx to launch an external viewer. As for modem users, just keep the image small.
  • Spares [amazon.com]
    by Michael Marshall Smith.


    The best book I've read for a very long time. It's not quite as good as his previous book ('Only Forward') but not very many books are.


    Read it.

  • >:( (Score:1)

    by jdube ( 101986 )
    Look, Chewie was one of my favorite characters. I grew up on Star Wars. I loved Episode one. Why did I like it? Purely for nostolgic reasons. If it bore any other name it would be pure drivel. I don't know what kind of crack George Lucas is smoking, maybe one of his kids (probably the source of Jar Jar) gets nightmares from Chewie's roar. I don't know. All I do know is that George Lucas is a god damned sell out bastard. Lando should have died, even Luke, but nut Chewie. I can only hope Lucas comes up with some lame ass cheesy shit to reincarnate him, as we all know he is gonna do for Darth Maul, the only redeeming factor of Episode One that was shot to hell by his death. A cheesy death at that. Lay off the China White, Lucas.


    If you think you know what the hell is really going on you're probably full of shit.
  • well there goes the chewbacca song...
  • If he dies gruesomely (killed with a fingernail clipper over the course of several days, for example), then makes a suprise re-appearance at the end (a genetic clone made from the clippings, presumably), in the middle of the climactic fight between good and evil, and both sides stop fighting to beat him to death with their bare hands, then I would pay $99.95 plus s&h.

  • I don't get it... Why didn't Chewbacca just save himself by using the Chewbacca defense?

    It does not make sense!

  • When I saw the headline "Major Star Wars Character to Die in Next Book" I instantly got suspicious about who it would be, and my fears were quickly confirmed. They kill off Chewbacca. Gee, what a surprise. The trusty (half-breed, black, clownish, whatever) sidekick dies to save the hero. *SIGH*

    After the debacle of "The Phantom Picture" they made a marketing decision to heighten interest in the series by killing someone off. It couldn't be any of the really important (human) characters, so that left the droids and Chewie.

    Nothing like letting plot and character development in a series be driven primarily by what spin agents and marketers think will sell to turn said series into crap. You always wind up the same flavor of regurgitated pap.

  • I vaguely remember that there might have been something between Luke and Leia in this book. In any case, it was one of my favorite books as a kid. Highly recommend it if its still possible to find a copy somewhere. (I'm too lazy to check Amazon right now.)
  • In the next book, they have Chewie's funeral and Han cries like a little girl.


    Then four different versions of Chewie appear and all claim to be the real Chewie.


    It's all a very confusing (not to mention stupid) plot, but in the end, the real Chewie comes back from the dead and he has a sporty new hairstyle.

  • I know that everyone's going to start jumping into a hissy fit because a beloved character is dying, but take a moment to consider a few things. First of all, death is a natural occurance, and while few things in the Star Wars universe are completely natural, we cannot expect for death to be avoidable. If authors are going to continue the saga that Lucas began, then eventually we are going to have to come to terms with the fact that all of our favorite characters are going to die. Remember: Yoda only lived to be 900.

    One day, even Luke and Han may pass on, so we should be prepared for it. Come to terms with it before it happens and then it won't be so hard to cope with. I know that we all love the series and would like for it to last forever, but it can't. Eventually, every story comes to an end.

    Maybe there will eventually be new characters that can take the place of those that we have already come to know and love. Perhaps Lucas will sit down one day and write the rest of the story for us to read. I think that would be a treat. Maybe someone other than Lucas will want to continue the theatrical series. The future of Star Wars has unlimited possibilities.

    I, too, wish that Jar Jar would be the one to bite the bullet, but consider this: he doesn't appear in episode IV, so maybe we will be afforded the chance to actually see it happen! That will be a fine day in the galaxy for sure!


    Brad Johnson
    Advisory Editor
  • The reviews of this book on Amazon were often less than complementary. Anyone care to offer up any books written in the Star Wars universe that are top quality?
  • It's like R2-D2 dying you just don't do it. Sometimes I feel like i could take on the whole (publishing) empire myself! (I wish i was R2 so i could get chicks!)
  • This is a smart move for several reasons.

    1) Chewie is popular, so people are interested in the notion of him getting killed. (Who would have cared if Lando bit the big one?)

    2) Chewie never spoke a word of English and didn't have anything of a human face in the movies, so he doesn't seem so totally real that people will be seriously bummed out by his passing. (If Solo, for example, was killed, I'd more or less give up on the continuing adventures of the Star Wars universe).

    3) Everyone loves Han Solo. This will put Solo in a very prominent position in this book, as well as in future books. He will surely feel the need to avenge Chewie, and there'll probably a lot of head-stuff going on with him for next couple books.

    Marlboro

  • Re:Aw, to hell with the hairy animal. (Score:3)

    by pspeed ( 12169 ) on Friday October 15, 1999 @10:16AM (#1610888)
    Master of Puppets said, "Screw wookies..."

    Talk about getting your arms ripped off...
  • The reviews of this book on Amazon were often less than complementary. Anyone care to offer up any books written in the Star Wars universe that are top quality?


    Try the Dark Force Rising series. I found them to be pretty well written, but only the first 3 ( I THINK they kept spinning off even though it was only a 3 book set in reality). They honestly followed some interesting tangents of the SW universe and read about like the original movies were written.

    Kintanon
  • You didn't read the link, did you? Here it is again. [theforce.net]

    a) The Death Star was not in low orbit.

    2000 km is a pretty low orbit for something as massive as the Death Star.

    b) There's no particular reason to think that the explosion released a significant amount of radiation.

    What's your hypothesis for the Death Star's powerplant?

    c) On a sheer mass scale, the Death Star wasn't nearly big enough to cover Endor in ash even if it had blown inside the atmosphere. It massed maybe half what the first one did, if it was lucky. Besides which, the thing broke into small enough pieces that it would have all burned up on entry into the atmosphere.

    What do you mean it massed half what the first one did? It's twice the size, whatever that means, and has a diameter [theforce.net] of 800-960 km.

    So, it burns up into pieces upon rentry? Where do the dust sized pieces of the Death Star go? If the Ewoks are lucky, they precipitate straight down, otherwise they suffer a severe overcast sky for a decade. Unless those pieces of dust "burn" all the way into energy, hmm, e=mc^2, you figure out the joules released into the atmosphere.

    Follow the link and get back to me.

    George

  • Lucas disappoints me again (Score:4)

    by konstant ( 63560 ) on Friday October 15, 1999 @08:31AM (#1610910)
    After the massive disenchantment expressed by long-time SW fans over The Phantom Menace, this move by Lucas is upsetting, but not surprising. He's heard the frequent complaints that TPM was too trivial and candied, and despite his incessant protestations that this was just a "children's movie, for children", you know he's gotta be feeling the criticism.

    After being idolized by so many of us for so long, how could he not be disturbed by our sudden loss of faith?

    So Lucas is trying to prove he is not namby-pamby, and that the Ewoks and Jar Jar really aren't his notion of "pivotal characters". He wants to demonstrate to us that hey can be dark and brooding, and that terror still exists in the Star Wars universe.

    But what a cheap means to do it! Kill off an old favorite (and notably, one who added more color than content to the series) and suddenly you gain both the attention and the approbation of people who have grown out of comical pratfalls. All it takes is a call to a popular author - you don't even have to invest your creative labor!

    Sad. I suspect we will see increasing amounts of this as Lucas marches towards his next multi-million dollar flop. I predict large fuzzy giggling bunnies from outer space will dominate the next movie, and in the books Leia will get gang raped.

    -konstant
  • Oops.

    I guess you guys now know it's not Leia.

    Sorry for the inadvertent spoiler.

  • It's still a cop-out (Score:3)

    by Mr T ( 21709 ) on Friday October 15, 1999 @11:56AM (#1610918) Homepage
    Chewbacca is a great character, one of my favorites, but it's still weak. He was never a central character. They are trying to mix things up by killing someone but they don't want to really mix things up. They should kill Luke or Han Solo or something. They killed Spock in Startrek (they kind of brought him back, of course) they didn't kill Uhura or Sulu, they killed Spock one of the 3 main characters.

    They killed Superman (brought him back too, but he was different) but it was superman, it wasn't Lois Lane or one of his superfriend sidekicks, the main character died. Never killed Batman but came close a few times, they probably don't need to kill him because they are willing to change the batman comics, they've killed Robin about 6 times though, Robin never comes back because they really kill him. Batman is just too badass anyways.

  • Spoilers and conferencing software. (Score:3)

    by ucblockhead ( 63650 ) on Friday October 15, 1999 @08:37AM (#1610929) Homepage Journal
    Which reminds me. One thing that I've seen elsewhere that /. lacks is the ability to deliberately "hide" your own posts. This is useful both for spoilers and for offtopic posts. The reader can decide whether or not to read based on the title.

    In addition, a "Spoiler" moderation option might be nice.

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