Outcast at last!
May. 5th, 2009 10:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jainaYAAAAAAAY, Aaron is on the mend! To celebrate, I'm finally posting my Outcast review. I'd been holding off because-- I dunno, it just felt weird and not-right to be doing it while he was still in the hospital. So here it is now.
OMG I FREAKING LOVED THIS BOOK YOU GUYS.
In the first place, Jaina is awesome, hilarious, and kickass, which would be enough on its own. But because it's Aaron, we got an avalanche of other awesomeness too. Even the plotlines I wasn't terribly interested in at first ended up completely sucking me in. Ben and Luke were in some sort of amazing buddy cop movie and I would gladly read an entire book just about their wacky adventures. (For you Avatar fans, I keep hearing Aang whenever I read Ben. Not sure what that's about, especially since Ben's a bit older now, but there it is.)
Random notes I made as I read:
- Page 9 and we're already at the sexytimes! First an OT3, and now this? Aaron, I think I love you...
- The crack about Jedi not worrying much about amputation was hilarious, but then I loved how it turned into a serious point a little bit later. Because, well, *yeah.* See, I can get behind a sensible, well-reasoned argument about why the Jedi shouldn't necessarily be given carte blanche for whatever they think is best. As opposed to, say, a crazyperson screed about the evils of the Jedi (pause for a pointed look at Karen Traviss).
- Loved Lando's wardrobe-- first a sparkly black cloak, then logo PJs. It's the little things that make me happy. XD
- Jag = best not!Emperor ever: "I let my advisers and advocates do [all the boring crap], and at the end of the day I veto every decision they've made. Thus is the balance between ruler and bureaucrat maintained." Also, "I really am redundant and stuffy, aren't I?" "Yes, but you're pretty." So true! Jag is such a tough character to get a handle on-- when he was initially introduced, his background basically ensured that he had zero personality. Getting ping-ponged around a bunch of different authors in NJO didn't help, because they each had their own take on him and those didn't always overlap. Then there was the Dark Nest mess which I still refuse to read, and then LOTF almost rebooted him, in a way. Anyway, I really liked him in Outcast, and I really hope this characterization sticks throughout FOTJ.
- Tahiri! Tahiri being normal(ish) and mature and THANK YOU for bringing up how messed-up the whole becoming-a-Sith-cause-she-was-still-hung-up-on-her-dead-teenage-boyfriend thing was. Girlfriend is stronger than that.
- The convo between Jaina and Kenth Hamner on p105-106 is *golden* in its absurdity. I could completely picture the whole thing playing out onscreen. Well done Jaina: "Jaina sensed that somewhere beneath his Jedi calm, he was resisting the urge to throttle her."
- "You could always resign from the Order, come away with me to the Empire, and set up that rival Jedi school." DOOOOOOO IIIIIIIIT JAINA. YAY for Legacy!!! (Take Tahiri with you!) I really love Jaina and Jag interacting. It's fun and banter-y without being a carbon copy of, say, Han and Leia.
- That said, the "Where's my blaster"/"Under your pillow" exchange from both couples was GENIUS.
- "I'm not getting my presents?" LOLOLOLOL because that is *exactly* how I would react.
- Yay, crotchety retirees! (If you'll forgive me another Avatar reference: "Welcome to Old People Camp.") I know we can always expect to see some Rogues or Wraiths when Aaron's writing, but in addition to Wedge and Hobbie, it was lovely to see Nawara and Inyri and Rhysati and CHERISS! Yay Cheriss! Also, Inyri's "Homegirl" callsign-- I know what he meant, but LOL!
- Also, HELL TO THE YES for Jaina's Darkmeld team-- a bunch of kickass ladies, including Winter and Mirax (recognize!) with the lone guy as the funds behind the operation. "Here's to crazy women, and the pilots who pursue them." Damn straight!
- Ahahaha, Jag blowing a kiss specifically to be un-Jag-like! And his constantly correcting "Imperial Remnant" to "Galactic Empire." And "That's strange. Your boyfriend's strange." GLEE.
- "This isn't the armed forces, it's more like a heavily armed bachelor party." This line fills me with joy.
- The purpose of Jedi is to serve as models for attractive lines of boots! Shout-out to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dm_lunsford!
- Oh. my. god. Ben and the helium Ewok singing. When I realized what he was doing, I almost fell over.
Now. Fingers crossed for Christie Golden.
OMG I FREAKING LOVED THIS BOOK YOU GUYS.
In the first place, Jaina is awesome, hilarious, and kickass, which would be enough on its own. But because it's Aaron, we got an avalanche of other awesomeness too. Even the plotlines I wasn't terribly interested in at first ended up completely sucking me in. Ben and Luke were in some sort of amazing buddy cop movie and I would gladly read an entire book just about their wacky adventures. (For you Avatar fans, I keep hearing Aang whenever I read Ben. Not sure what that's about, especially since Ben's a bit older now, but there it is.)
Random notes I made as I read:
- Page 9 and we're already at the sexytimes! First an OT3, and now this? Aaron, I think I love you...
- The crack about Jedi not worrying much about amputation was hilarious, but then I loved how it turned into a serious point a little bit later. Because, well, *yeah.* See, I can get behind a sensible, well-reasoned argument about why the Jedi shouldn't necessarily be given carte blanche for whatever they think is best. As opposed to, say, a crazyperson screed about the evils of the Jedi (pause for a pointed look at Karen Traviss).
- Loved Lando's wardrobe-- first a sparkly black cloak, then logo PJs. It's the little things that make me happy. XD
- Jag = best not!Emperor ever: "I let my advisers and advocates do [all the boring crap], and at the end of the day I veto every decision they've made. Thus is the balance between ruler and bureaucrat maintained." Also, "I really am redundant and stuffy, aren't I?" "Yes, but you're pretty." So true! Jag is such a tough character to get a handle on-- when he was initially introduced, his background basically ensured that he had zero personality. Getting ping-ponged around a bunch of different authors in NJO didn't help, because they each had their own take on him and those didn't always overlap. Then there was the Dark Nest mess which I still refuse to read, and then LOTF almost rebooted him, in a way. Anyway, I really liked him in Outcast, and I really hope this characterization sticks throughout FOTJ.
- Tahiri! Tahiri being normal(ish) and mature and THANK YOU for bringing up how messed-up the whole becoming-a-Sith-cause-she-was-still-hung-up-on-her-dead-teenage-boyfriend thing was. Girlfriend is stronger than that.
- The convo between Jaina and Kenth Hamner on p105-106 is *golden* in its absurdity. I could completely picture the whole thing playing out onscreen. Well done Jaina: "Jaina sensed that somewhere beneath his Jedi calm, he was resisting the urge to throttle her."
- "You could always resign from the Order, come away with me to the Empire, and set up that rival Jedi school." DOOOOOOO IIIIIIIIT JAINA. YAY for Legacy!!! (Take Tahiri with you!) I really love Jaina and Jag interacting. It's fun and banter-y without being a carbon copy of, say, Han and Leia.
- That said, the "Where's my blaster"/"Under your pillow" exchange from both couples was GENIUS.
- "I'm not getting my presents?" LOLOLOLOL because that is *exactly* how I would react.
- Yay, crotchety retirees! (If you'll forgive me another Avatar reference: "Welcome to Old People Camp.") I know we can always expect to see some Rogues or Wraiths when Aaron's writing, but in addition to Wedge and Hobbie, it was lovely to see Nawara and Inyri and Rhysati and CHERISS! Yay Cheriss! Also, Inyri's "Homegirl" callsign-- I know what he meant, but LOL!
- Also, HELL TO THE YES for Jaina's Darkmeld team-- a bunch of kickass ladies, including Winter and Mirax (recognize!) with the lone guy as the funds behind the operation. "Here's to crazy women, and the pilots who pursue them." Damn straight!
- Ahahaha, Jag blowing a kiss specifically to be un-Jag-like! And his constantly correcting "Imperial Remnant" to "Galactic Empire." And "That's strange. Your boyfriend's strange." GLEE.
- "This isn't the armed forces, it's more like a heavily armed bachelor party." This line fills me with joy.
- The purpose of Jedi is to serve as models for attractive lines of boots! Shout-out to
dm_lunsford!- Oh. my. god. Ben and the helium Ewok singing. When I realized what he was doing, I almost fell over.
Now. Fingers crossed for Christie Golden.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-05-06 10:33 am (UTC)As for Aaron, Yay!!!!
no subject
Date: 2009-05-06 02:27 pm (UTC)Okay, okay, I'll do it. That sounds like far too much Jaina/Jag awesomeness to pass up. Anticipatory squee!
no subject
Date: 2009-05-06 03:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-06 04:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-06 06:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-06 08:27 pm (UTC)And I will NEVER stop grinning about Ben's line about Jedi and boots. Hee!
no subject
Date: 2009-05-07 05:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-07 05:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-07 03:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-07 04:01 pm (UTC)I agree, so much to love about this book. I have loved Jag from his introduction, and there is so much more to love about him now. Let's all flush Zekk out of an airlock. Sorry, too much BG lately. :-)
no subject
Date: 2009-05-13 04:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-13 04:33 am (UTC)ETA: Also:
Girlfriend is stronger than that.
Good god, for serious. I just about cried, I was so glad to see a Tahiri I freaking recognized again.
DOOOOOOO IIIIIIIIT JAINA. YAY for Legacy!!! (Take Tahiri with you!)
. . . um. Is there a petition I can sign for this? Because hello, WANT.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-15 06:35 am (UTC)That seems to happen a lot with Denning-- I'll read what he wrote and think, "Okay, I see where you were trying to go with that, I guess, but your execution of it is not really working for me." Getting through his books is hard for me. :-/
I think I might pass out from happiness if both Jaina and Tahiri join the Empire/Imperial Knights. (It makes sense, though, amirite? Because Tahiri's got Issues with the Jedi?)
no subject
Date: 2009-05-15 12:30 pm (UTC)It really does seem like they're setting up for that, almost, with her being so reluctant to come back and the way a lot of the other Jedi don't exactly talk about her very positively. (Seff's comments for one, and Cilghal really doesn't seem thrilled with her these days either.)
And really -- when you consider the fact that by Legacy era the Jedi consider the Imperial Knights a gray Order, it would completely make sense that they would have issues with an order with an ex-Sith founding member.
I would probably faint from glee myself. I WANT THAT NOW. SO MUCH.
no subject
Date: 2009-06-01 03:18 am (UTC)OK, also this Then there was the Dark Nest mess which I still refuse to read, STAY AWAY!!
And FYI, I got my hands on an advanced copy of Omen, and I LOVED IT. ZOMG, the Jagged/Jaina stuff alone was FTW! Golden doesn't have Aaron's humour, but she's fit in well with the Star Wars universe I think. :)
no subject
Date: 2009-06-01 03:19 am (UTC)Also, all the future Emperor Fel's are force sensative, so um, yeah.... ;)
no subject
Date: 2009-06-01 03:20 am (UTC)AMEN!
no subject
Date: 2009-06-02 04:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-05 02:25 am (UTC)