Blowing off "Outcast"
Mar. 25th, 2009 06:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lazypadawanGuys and gals, I've decided I'm done.
The first post-ROTJ novel in the new Fate of the Jedi series is out and while I kind of like the groovy cover art, I blew off buying it. Why torture myself and pay twenty bucks for the privilege? They practically decimated the generation after Luke, Leia, Han, etc. and while our geezerly heroes are still unrealistically running like well-oiled machines, they've become remarkably DUMB. How could they hand over the galaxy to Daala and be totally surprised when she starts going after the Jedi?
I was a fan who wholeheartedly supported the expanded universe for a long time. I got an early taste of the reactionary nature of SW fandom because of it. The books over the years weren't always good but they generally weren't any worse than much of the fan fiction out there either. I even stuck it out with the New Jedi Order, which overall wasn't bad although I still take strong exception to their decision to kill off Anakin Solo.
The problem was that after the NJO, I don't think they knew what the hell to do. So they took the easy way out: make it darker and dopier. I grew up believing in Luke and Co. as heroes and instead of creating a new generation of heroes in Jacen, Jaina, and so forth, the folks at Del Rey and Lucas Books made them villains and victims. Who the hell wants to read that? Even the prequels had its heroes!
I stuck it out this long partially out of habit (seventeen years) and partially out of some naive hope things will change. But as long as the books continue to sell well, things won't change. Maybe I'm in the minority, but the only way to convince Del Rey and Lucas Licensing it needs to correct course is to stop feeding the beast. I'll keep buying Clone Wars and PT-era books, books that take place during Eps IV-VI, and books that take place prior to the NJO. If they ever reboot the post-ROTJ continuity, I may come back.
But otherwise, sayonara.
The first post-ROTJ novel in the new Fate of the Jedi series is out and while I kind of like the groovy cover art, I blew off buying it. Why torture myself and pay twenty bucks for the privilege? They practically decimated the generation after Luke, Leia, Han, etc. and while our geezerly heroes are still unrealistically running like well-oiled machines, they've become remarkably DUMB. How could they hand over the galaxy to Daala and be totally surprised when she starts going after the Jedi?
I was a fan who wholeheartedly supported the expanded universe for a long time. I got an early taste of the reactionary nature of SW fandom because of it. The books over the years weren't always good but they generally weren't any worse than much of the fan fiction out there either. I even stuck it out with the New Jedi Order, which overall wasn't bad although I still take strong exception to their decision to kill off Anakin Solo.
The problem was that after the NJO, I don't think they knew what the hell to do. So they took the easy way out: make it darker and dopier. I grew up believing in Luke and Co. as heroes and instead of creating a new generation of heroes in Jacen, Jaina, and so forth, the folks at Del Rey and Lucas Books made them villains and victims. Who the hell wants to read that? Even the prequels had its heroes!
I stuck it out this long partially out of habit (seventeen years) and partially out of some naive hope things will change. But as long as the books continue to sell well, things won't change. Maybe I'm in the minority, but the only way to convince Del Rey and Lucas Licensing it needs to correct course is to stop feeding the beast. I'll keep buying Clone Wars and PT-era books, books that take place during Eps IV-VI, and books that take place prior to the NJO. If they ever reboot the post-ROTJ continuity, I may come back.
But otherwise, sayonara.
