New Canon Discussion (Books, TV, Comics, and more)

[Tailsgod 641]

Okay so I just finished the Ahsoka novel and it was SOOOOOO good

Probably my second favorite new Star Wars canon book next to bloodline tbh.

The new canon is really good thus far.

Rebels and Clone Wars are amazing fun

I loved episode 7

I've heard good things about the comics

And while the video games still have yet to actually have any break out stars I look forward to all the games coming in the future.

Overall while taste is definitely subjective I have to say that at the very least the new canon is much more consistent than the old eu. You can really see the threads that link all the books together and the ammount of thought given to keeping out contradicting information is truly amazing.

But hey this thread isn't being made to just blindly celebrate the new canon, it obviously has plenty of problems too.

Every entry besides the cartoons seem hesitant to be adventurous in what they add into the Galaxy, and that makes the whole thing feel far less expansive than the eu.

There is also just a lot less to go read/watch/play which makes the bad ones really stand out

And don't get me wrong there are a couple bad books and they do drag the rest of them down.

Whatever your feelings are on the new canon I decided to make this thread to discuss all the different aspects of the new canon, good and bad. Now that Thrawn has officially joined the canon it's a wonderful time to get into it.

I just personally hope that the new non-episode movies don't go the route that the mcu tends to follow and that all of these things remain completely optional to watch/read. The episodes should be able to stand separate from the rest. You shouldn't need to read three books, watch a show, and see rogue one to understand 8... But that's personal taste lol.

finally at the end I'm going to list all the books I have read in the order from best to worst. I haven't read all of the books yet but I will update it as I read more to reflect what I think is the good and the bad of the new canon books

Bloodline (FANTASTIC! Absolutely amazing and rivals the old Thrawn books in terms of quality, if not surpassing them)

Ahsoka (I loved this book, but to be fair Ahsoka is one of my favorite characters)

Lost Stars (Great, adds depth to the Galaxy)

New Dawn (Really liked)

Aftermath: Life Debt (Surprisingly alright)

Lords of the Sith (alright, liked the parts with Cham most)

Dark Deciple (meh)

Tarkin (meh)

Aftermath (the only "bad" one)

[Rogue Dakotan 5,213]

I like your thoughts on this although i'll disagree with some of your takes on the books lol. 

 

Saying Aftermath is the only bad one means you've never read Heir to the Jedi which is the only book i've ever read that was so bad it was amusing. Seriously. We ripped it apart in an episode of our show. 

 

Avoid HttJ at all costs. Although I do really appreciate it giving me awesome new phrases to use like "Chobb's Knob!" and "Noodle Scooter!" or "A mouthful of nut butter."

 

Also while Life Debt was much better than Aftermath, I still had issues with it. 

 

I haven't read Ahsoka yet since the wife got to read this one first. 

 

Other than that I'm pretty much on the same page as you about all that. 

 

The comics are hit or miss for me. The Kanan comics were fantastic. The Leia comic was lame. All of the other ones bounce around somewhere in between those two on the quality scale. 

 

 

Something else to consider are some of the young reader novels. 

 

Before the Awakening, 

Smuggler's Run

Weapon of a Jedi

Moving Target

 

Were all pretty good reads. 

As well as the short stories about some of the background characters in TFA, especially the one about the Crimson Corsair. It was essentially Mad Max + Pirates + Star Wars. And had some neat tie-ins with The Clone Wars. 

 

There was also an ok short story about Bazine, that spy chick in Maz's castle. 

 

 

Also worth noting is that all of the short stories in Star Wars Insider are canon, though I stopped subscribing to that magazine since the short stories were really the only reason I was getting it... 

 

 

 

My current ranking of the adult novels (plus Lost Stars):

 

Lost Stars

Bloodline

Battlefront: Twilight Company

A New Dawn

Lords of the Sith

Dark Disciple

Tarkin

Aftermath: Life Debt

Aftermath

Heir to the Jedi

Edited October 19, 2016 by RogueLieutenant

[Ironlord 933]

I liked Heir to the Jedi - it was a little weird, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

 

I fine myself far more commonly rereading Heir than Aftermath, at least.

Edited October 19, 2016 by Ironlord

[Timathius 2,152]

I really liked bloodlines and Lost stars. I actually just downloaded Ahsoka today and am about to start listening to the audio book (which is apparently narrated by the voice actress fro mthe shows) which has amazing reviews. 

 

It seems like Ahsoka is really fleshing out a lot of world building stuff as well so I am excited to see what all happens.

[Tailsgod 641]

Yeah I haven't read heir to the Jedi because I've heard such bad things about it

And I've been meaning to pick up the younger stories and such as well as well as the short ones

If I was into comic books I would probably read all those too but sadly not yet

I have to admit life debt got points simply because it had more wedge and wasn't as bad as I expected it to be

I'm probably going to read heir too soon because I have this goal to read all of the new canon but I think I will agree with you.

Also in surprised lost stars is so high on your list too

I love it but that's because I'm a sucker for any type of love story lol

[Crabbok 9,869]

Finished Ahsoka today and it was meh...  Not a BAD book, but the entire first half was just so slow, and boring.   I don't care about all these farm kids.   The second half got better and more exciting, but still as a whole it was very "middle of the road" for me. Nice to have Ashley Eckstein reading it though!

 

Chapter 9 has a mistake though, (Chapter 10 on audible, since they do their own numbering system digitally)

Ahsoka tells her new friends to be quiet at a bar, because ethey are being loud and talking about the stormtroopers, and one of them says "Ahsoka is right..." , but she hadn't revealed her name to anyone yet, she was still "Ashla", so dude couldn't possibly have known her name, much less revealed it to everyone else.   Only did the audio book though, so I'm unsure if this same error exists in the physical book 

 

My favorite book so far was easily Lost Stars.   Not only the best Star Wars book of the new canon, but in my top 5 books ever.  I also really liked Life Debt.   Life Debt might only be awesome though, due to the contrast to Aftermath - it's SO much better than Aftermath that maybe it just SEEMS better?   Either way I really liked that.  And Aftermath was a travesty. 

 

Bloodline was ok.   I had some minor issues with it, but I don't remember them honestly.  

 

Just started New Dawn today and so far it's cool as ever!   Any book read by Marc Thompson is going to be really enjoyable though - that dude is awesome!  Next on my list is Tarkin.   After that I'll take inventory of what new canon books I still have left. 

[Tailsgod 641]

In short I think it's safe to say that Claudia Gray is probably the best of the new authors in the canon

I always feel like her books at the most to the lore and actually change things up

She also has the strongest grasp on characters over the other authors

Ek Johnston also did a phenomenal job

Chuck Wendig is an obvious weak link which is a shame because I can see strong ideas in the aftermath books

He just needs to figure out how to convey the narrative better

[Rogue Dakotan 5,213]

Yeah I haven't read heir to the Jedi because I've heard such bad things about it

And I've been meaning to pick up the younger stories and such as well as well as the short ones

If I was into comic books I would probably read all those too but sadly not yet

I have to admit life debt got points simply because it had more wedge and wasn't as bad as I expected it to be

I'm probably going to read heir too soon because I have this goal to read all of the new canon but I think I will agree with you.

Also in surprised lost stars is so high on your list too

I love it but that's because I'm a sucker for any type of love story lol

 

 

My issue with Life Debt was I found myself super bored when all of Wendig's original characters were the focus. I liked when we had characters that Wendig didn't create, but the "main characters" of his story I didn't care for. 

 

Also the "twist" if you wanna call it that didn't make a lot of sense to me. Those people were captured forever ago but they were set up that whole time to be rescued (which almost didn't happen because the prison had good defenses) and then just assume they'd be close to Mon Mothma? 

 

Also each Aftermath book I get more and more worried that Boba Fett is going to stay dead in the sarlacc in the new canon lol. I will be super sad if that's the case. 

[Tailsgod 641]

Yeah I haven't read heir to the Jedi because I've heard such bad things about it

And I've been meaning to pick up the younger stories and such as well as well as the short ones

If I was into comic books I would probably read all those too but sadly not yet

I have to admit life debt got points simply because it had more wedge and wasn't as bad as I expected it to be

I'm probably going to read heir too soon because I have this goal to read all of the new canon but I think I will agree with you.

Also in surprised lost stars is so high on your list too

I love it but that's because I'm a sucker for any type of love story lol

 

 

My issue with Life Debt was I found myself super bored when all of Wendig's original characters were the focus. I liked when we had characters that Wendig didn't create, but the "main characters" of his story I didn't care for. 

 

Also the "twist" if you wanna call it that didn't make a lot of sense to me. Those people were captured forever ago but they were set up that whole time to be rescued (which almost didn't happen because the prison had good defenses) and then just assume they'd be close to Mon Mothma? 

 

Also each Aftermath book I get more and more worried that Boba Fett is going to stay dead in the sarlacc in the new canon lol. I will be super sad if that's the case.

Only thing I disagree with you on lol

#KeepBobaDead

[markcsoul 2,135]

I should really get into the new canon books one of these days.  I've read (and own) a vast majority of the "legends" books.  Some were certainly better than others.  The x-wing series was probably my favorite being a big fan of the pc games.

 

But yea a lot of stuff was silly and/or reduntant.  Like all the new warlords and super weapons that kept popping up, and probably the craziest moment of all when all the jedi on yavin concentrated together to push the approaching imperial fleet into another system.  Say what you want about the star destroyer moment in TFU (which was mean to be an over the top use of force powers), but this was waaaay worse.

 

As for the TV shows, both are good, though technically clone wars ended with the disney buyout, so disney really never affected that show.  I think as long as Filoni is involved in any future tv shows, they should be in good hands.  He really understands lucas, and uses concepts from ALL the movies, as well as respecting the EU and bringing some legends material back into canon.

[Crabbok 9,869]

 Only problem I have with Dave Filoni is his hat.   Does everyone at Lucasfilm have to have some type of visual accessory or schtick? 

 

Dave Filoni always wears that Hat.   Pablo Hidalgo always has a cup of coffee in hand.   Peter Townley always has a long-sleeve t-shirt underneath his shirt (can see sleeves beneath), and Andi Gutierrez is always super beautiful, has that color streak in her hair, and always wears a sleeveless shirt. 

 

  They planning on getting their own action figures?

[VanorDM 11,599]

Only thing I disagree with you on lol

#KeepBobaDead

Yes please, let's keep the single most overhyped for no good reason character dead. The whole universe will be better off for it.

[Forresto 2,200]

I love that we have a new canon. I have all my old EU books and guides and treat those as an alternate universe to the new canon. In fact i've been buying the old EU books I really wanted such as the Thrawn Trilogy recently before they're all bought up.

 

Here's my only problem with the current canon however. The franchise is most likely only moving forward at this point. I think Rebels is the earliest we're going to get for a long time with hints to the Clone Wars in books such as Tarkin and in Rebels but not that much. So why did they nuke all of the prequel books out of the canon, an era we aren't going back to? There are books such as the first Republic Commando book that do an incredible job framing the universe and the Clone Wars as this massive conflict, that doesn't interfere with the current canon.

 

I guess what I feel the new canon is missing, and these are early days so the future is exciting, is the lack of galactic scope. Aftermath does this to some extent but only as tasters, i'm taking full  books. SW isnt about science but I hope we get books written by more hardcore writers such as Timothy Zahn or Karen Traviss that bring a mature realism to SW. Zahn is writing a new Thrawn book and James Luceno seems to be given lots of books to write now with the upcoming Catalyst. 

 

I won't read it until after Rogue One but Catalyst should be really good. My two favorite Luceno books are Labyrinth of Evil, which is the best lead up to Revenge of the Sith (better then what TCW changed it to) and actually made Grievous an interesting character, and a sequel to Revenge that I forget the name of now. He's really good at these conspiracy/prequel books that can get somewhat complex which is exactly what a movie about the construction of the Death Star needs. PLUS he wrote Tarkin which most likely intersects with Catalyst quite a bit so I imagine both books will have lots of synergy. 

Edited October 20, 2016 by Forresto

[Ironlord 933]

 why did they nuke all of the prequel books out of the canon, an era we aren't going back to? There are books such as the first Republic Commando book that do an incredible job framing the universe and the Clone Wars as this massive conflict, that doesn't interfere with the current canon.

 

 

Actually Republic Commando did not fit very well with TCW - indeed, it was at least partly the disconnect between the two that led to that author, Karen Traviss, ceasing to write further novels in that setting, instead stopping at Imperial Commando Book 1.

 

That's probably one of the reasons so much of the Clone Wars fiction ended up becoming Legends and not carrying over - they would have had to recanonize on a case by case basis, with lots of little retcons - it was simpler and easier just to leave the whole lot as Legends.

 

 

 My two favorite Luceno books are Labyrinth of Evil, which is the best lead up to Revenge of the Sith (better then what TCW changed it to) and actually made Grievous an interesting character, and a sequel to Revenge that I forget the name of now. He's really good at these conspiracy/prequel books that can get somewhat complex which is exactly what a movie about the construction of the Death Star needs. PLUS he wrote Tarkin which most likely intersects with Catalyst quite a bit so I imagine both books will have lots of synergy. 

 

He did draw a little on his ROTS sequel, Dark Lord The Rise of Darth Vader, for Tarkin data - but only a little.

 

 

 

Here's my only problem with the current canon however. The franchise is most likely only moving forward at this point. I think Rebels is the earliest we're going to get for a long time with hints to the Clone Wars in books such as Tarkin and in Rebels but not that much. 

I'm told the just-released Ahsoka novel will provide a certain amount of context for the first year or so of Palpatine's reign.

[Forresto 2,200]

Fair enough on the Clone Wars stuff. I guess why i'm disappointed by how the Clone Wars is in the new canon is that while the show is great because it focused so much on certain characters the war feels so much smaller now. In the old EU you always got this sense of how immense the Clone War was and why the galaxy by the time of the OT is still largely scarred by the devastation they caused. The reason technology seems less advanced in the OT is in part due to the Empire's rule but also because of the huge drain on resources used to fuel both factions war efforts during the CW that is still effecting future generations. 

 

Again that's why in the first Aftermath book it irritated me when they ragged on prequel stuff. We can all agree the prequels aren't necessarily as good as the OT but there are better and cooler ways to tie both trilogies together. 

[Ironlord 933]

Taking shots at the quality of battle droids was a thing in the oldcanon as well as the newcanon, at least.

[heychadwick 11,357]

I am listening to Bloodlines now and I like it.  I'm at Chapter 20 of 32 or so.  

 

I haven't read Ashoka or the 2nd Aftermath book.  

 

Aftermath wasn't so bad for me.  I listened to audio book with my son as a bed time story.  Yeah, it wasn't great, but it was better than "Heir of the Jedi".  It was better than some EU books I've tried reading.  

 

I did really like A New Dawn.  

 

I find I want to learn more about the new stuff as TFA was just so scant in background info.  I want to learn as much as I can.  

 

 

As well as the short stories about some of the background characters in TFA, especially the one about the Crimson Corsair. It was essentially Mad Max + Pirates + Star Wars. And had some neat tie-ins with The Clone Wars. 

 

There was also an ok short story about Bazine, that spy chick in Maz's castle. 

 

Wait....which book had the short stories in it?  Is that the one about the aliens?  I would like to read that.  

[Rogue Dakotan 5,213]

I am listening to Bloodlines now and I like it.  I'm at Chapter 20 of 32 or so.  

 

I haven't read Ashoka or the 2nd Aftermath book.  

 

Aftermath wasn't so bad for me.  I listened to audio book with my son as a bed time story.  Yeah, it wasn't great, but it was better than "Heir of the Jedi".  It was better than some EU books I've tried reading.  

 

I did really like A New Dawn.  

 

I find I want to learn more about the new stuff as TFA was just so scant in background info.  I want to learn as much as I can.  

 

 

As well as the short stories about some of the background characters in TFA, especially the one about the Crimson Corsair. It was essentially Mad Max + Pirates + Star Wars. And had some neat tie-ins with The Clone Wars. 

 

There was also an ok short story about Bazine, that spy chick in Maz's castle. 

 

Wait....which book had the short stories in it?  Is that the one about the aliens?  I would like to read that.  

That one pictured in my above post. 

 

Short stories also come in each issue of Star Wars insider. 

 

The book about Bazine Netal is called 'The Perfect Weapon' and is not in that collection pictured above. 

 

 

I'm probably attached to Boba getting out because those were the very first Star Wars books I ever read as a kid and I loved them. 

 

I'd rather him stay dead though than some of the other theories I've heard proposed. 

 

In Aftermath there's this guy buying Boba's corroded armor off some Jawas (which implies at least his dead body made it out.)

 

The theory is that someone will put on the armor and be like "I am Boba Fett" even though he **** well isn't. And the name Boba Fett will become this title that's passed on with the armor. This would let them keep using the character forever in the timeline. 

 

I don't like this idea at all. UNLESS Boba himself was cool with it. 

 

If they're just snagging a dead dude's armor and taking his name that's garbage. If Boba was like yeah I'm done with this sh*t. You go on ahead. That's a different story. 

[Timathius 2,152]

Finished Ahsoka and just wanted to report back. I really liked it. It was slow in the beginning, but I think that is intentional as Ahsoka herself is still reeling from the purge. The more she regains of herself, the more she begins to do, the more she begins to fight back. And as someone who probably wont watch rebels, this book is a great way to see the board being set for rogue one and the OT. 

[Forresto 2,200]

I think it's kind've cool if Boba Fett just becomes the armor. Boba Fett for all extents is the armor. We don't know anything about his character besides that he's a badass with badass armor.

 

So I heard this in a podcast (Star Wars the New Canon Book Club by Jesse Cox) and I thought it was a fantastic idea. Imagine a story where we follow the path of Boba Fett's armor as it is traded from person to person or taken off of their dead body and we get this rich history of various people owning it and losing it for various reasons. This could be written in a similar vein to the Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina where different writers are in charge of a chapter. 

 

Years pass. Then at the end of the book the last person to own it gets shot and it's revealed that a much older Boba Fett, who has been searching for his armor, is alive and reclaims his birthright. He becomes Boba Fett again except this time changed by age and experience without the armor or being recognized as a Mandolorian. Boom that would be a far more interesting story then Boba Fett escapes sarlacc and returns to just being Boba Fett. 

Edited October 21, 2016 by Forresto

[VanorDM 11,599]

Boba Fett for all extents is the armor.

That's true, I think if he were just a human bounty hunter like say Dengar, he would've just been forgotten.

We don't know anything about his character besides that he's a badass with badass armor.

Actually he's not, and really his armor is while cool looking is not that impressive. I mean in terms of the movies he does really jack, other than being beat by a blind Han Solo. In one of the SW comics from Marvel he tries to hunt down Luke who also beats him even though Luke can't see due to a flash grenade. It's like Boba has reverse blind fighting or something.

[Forresto 2,200]

 

Boba Fett for all extents is the armor.

That's true, I think if he were just a human bounty hunter like say Dengar, he would've just been forgotten.

We don't know anything about his character besides that he's a badass with badass armor.

Actually he's not, and really his armor is while cool looking is not that impressive. I mean in terms of the movies he does really jack, other than being beat by a blind Han Solo. In one of the SW comics from Marvel he tries to hunt down Luke who also beats him even though Luke can't see due to a flash grenade. It's like Boba has reverse blind fighting or something.

 

 

Definitely. I've never really seen him as a badass although for whatever reason many people do.

 

Haha that's right, his kryptonite is blind people. 

[VanorDM 11,599]

I've never really seen him as a badass although for whatever reason many people do.

I remember turning in proofs of purchase from Star Wars figures and getting a Boba Fett figure before ESB was released. No one knew anything about him at the time other then he'd be in ESB.

I think the mystery plus what was really cool looking armor is what did it. But quite frankly people took it way too far. They took what was really a disposable character, and turned him into the greatest bounty hunter in the universe... Even though he got beat by a blind Han Solo.

 

I'll be honest, and I'll also admit it may be a bit childish on my part, but I hope he stays dead because any character so massively overhyped as Boba Fett, and turned into a virtual demigod in the EU simply deserves to day dead when the canon was reset.

 

Bring in a new Mando, or even one with his armor, but make him/her a reasonable character who may be very good at what they do, but never approaches the "over 9,000!" power level they gave to Boba.

Edited October 21, 2016 by VanorDM

[Forresto 2,200]

Boba Fett of the old EU was close to being a Mary Sue if he wasn't already one. 

 

yeah i'd be okay with him staying dead. I definitely don't think he should have his own movie unless they can seriously make him an interesting character. 

Edited October 21, 2016 by Forresto

[OneKelvin 1,724]

 

I am listening to Bloodlines now and I like it.  I'm at Chapter 20 of 32 or so.  

 

I haven't read Ashoka or the 2nd Aftermath book.  

 

Aftermath wasn't so bad for me.  I listened to audio book with my son as a bed time story.  Yeah, it wasn't great, but it was better than "Heir of the Jedi".  It was better than some EU books I've tried reading.  

 

I did really like A New Dawn.  

 

I find I want to learn more about the new stuff as TFA was just so scant in background info.  I want to learn as much as I can.  

 

 

As well as the short stories about some of the background characters in TFA, especially the one about the Crimson Corsair. It was essentially Mad Max + Pirates + Star Wars. And had some neat tie-ins with The Clone Wars. 

 

There was also an ok short story about Bazine, that spy chick in Maz's castle. 

 

Wait....which book had the short stories in it?  Is that the one about the aliens?  I would like to read that.  

 

The theory is that someone will put on the armor and be like "I am Boba Fett" even though he **** well isn't. And the name Boba Fett will become this title that's passed on with the armor. This would let them keep using the character forever in the timeline. 

 

I don't like this idea at all. UNLESS Boba himself was cool with it. 

 

If they're just snagging a dead dude's armor and taking his name that's garbage. If Boba was like yeah I'm done with this sh*t. You go on ahead. That's a different story. 

 

 

 

Spoiler - He is not the Dread Hunter Boba.