This week I read the first 3 Wraith Squadron books, - Wraith Squadron, Iron Fist, and Solo Command. I liked them quite a bit. The characters are interesting, being misfits who are brilliant when they are not screwing up because of their psychological baggage or other self-defeating behaviors. Part of it really felt like Black Sheep Squadron in space. And who better to fill in the shoes of Pappy Boyington than Wedge Antilles? Yes, I am one of those fangirls who loved him since the first time I saw A New Hope back in '77.

I really liked how much the books draw from the X-Wing and Tie Fighter computer games. It is subtle, but the dogfights are written the way those games played. Effective laser range being just under 2 kilometers, transferring power from lasers to shields, angling shields forward and aft, etc... If you have played the games, you will see what I mean when you read the books. The only real change is that proton torpedoes are a lot faster and more accurate in the books than in the game, where they almost never can hit starfighters.

I also loved Zsinj. He is so very different from the 'standard' Star Wars villain. Physically he is practically a caricature - an overweight, balding man with a ridiculously Prussian handlebar mustache. But he is pure brilliance in strategy and tactics. He is always thinking of not just Plan A and Plan B, but Plans C, D, E, and F if those fail. He knows to fight on a battlefield of his own choosing, and not to fight the battles the Republic wants him to. He literally retreats and takes his fleet out intact when things don't look right to him. Leading to a long, Byzantine game of cat and mouse between him and Wedge/Han. He also has a sense of humor. He's loyal to his subordinates, at least until it is time to send them to their deaths for the greater good. He is a very cool character in a sea of one-dimensional evil.

For example, after losing a Dreadnaught to a well-laid trap of Han and Wedge, we see this:



Of all the Imperial commanders I have seen in the films or read about in books, only Thrawn had the discipline to override his own ego and bug out when it was clear a battle was lost. All the others throw good money after the bad.

I still have one more book to go in the Zinsj saga - The Courtship of Princess Leia. I read that back when it was new, but do not remember much anymore, except that it was on Dathomir (Yay Witches!). Back then I had not read any of the Wraith books, so I went in not knowing anything about Zinsj. I am looking forward to it this time, to see how it all plays out.

Yeah, those old X-Wing books were great, though I always preferred Rogue Squadron to Wraith Squadron. And it really was great the way they kept as close as they could to the games when writing the dogfights. It was the games that got me into the books, so seeing that just drew me into them even more.

And I agree with you about Zsinj, though what I liked about him most was that his brilliance wasn't restricted to the battlefield, making him a far deeper and more interesting villain. And the way he and some of the Wraiths were entangled to a degree really made things more interesting.

I wasn't so much a fan of The Courtship of Princess Leia, personally, from what I recall. Then again, it's been a long time since I read it. *Shrugs*

I'm going to see Star Wars this afternoon. I'll give my two cents after I see it.

Just finished watching the last jedi and I loved it. There's some areas that need polishing but overall a good Star Wars movie.

Look at’em go! Lol

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Just got back from Last Jedi. Honestly not sure what to think. It was long, probably too long. Khajiit must’ve been entertained though, because he was able to sit through the whole thing sipping a medium sized Coca Cola (which is bigger than most fast food restaurants large size) without thinking about having to go to the bathroom. There were many things that annoyed this one and if you care to know what exactly, PM us and we’ll discuss it. So in conclusion, as others have said, Khajiit agrees that it wasn’t great. The action sequences were entertaining, for the most part, but Khajiit is left a little bewildered by some of the decisions made storywise.

I think we could all discuss in depth here, so long as we keep in all in

Khajiit really wants to discuss, so, we can try it.


That isn’t to say that Khajiit didn’t like anything about the movie. It was entertaining for the most part.


This post has been edited by TheCheshireKhajiit: Dec 26 2017, 06:13 AM

Wow, looking through that spoilered list, that film sounds pretty bad, not that that surprises me

Its not that bad, it could use some polish in some scenes but overall it was worth seeing. Even the Nostalgia Critic liked it.

I get what you are saying Khajiit. I felt some of that myself when I first saw the film. But in retrospect, I had some other thoughts. So to play Sith's Advocate:

(If anyone is having trouble with spoilers displaying, don't use any emoticons in your text. I spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out they were what was preventing mine from working.)



So in the end I felt the same way about many things. But some are not as bad as my first gut reaction made me feel. I would say it is a good movie, just not a great one. I really did like that Kylo becomes a better villain by the end. For the first time he felt menacing.

I think Rei's parents was introduced in battlefront 2, a character mentioned having a daughter and knows Jakku so it possible it could be them.

Iden and Del’s daughter is named Zay. It’s a different character.

Khajiit may have been a little hard on it.

Well...

IRL, tyrants do not like having people in their own military who are too good at what they do. People like that earn respect, a reputation, and the next thing you know they are trying to overthrow you. So dictators tend to murder their best men, and keep around the plodding yes men instead. After the Parthians defeated the Romans at Carrhae, the Parthian king had his victorious general murdered for that reason. Saddam Hussien did the same with his best after the Iran-Iraq war.

That is why Tie Fighters have no shields. If a pilot were to survive for too long he or she would learn and become good at it. Then they would become a hero, and the next thing you know they decide they want a bigger seat at the table and try to overthrow you. Likewise Ties do not have hyperspace engines. Otherwise any Imperial pilot could desert or defect with just the push of a button. So I do not mind the Empire and First Order not being the quality of IRL Navy Seals, or even necessarily armed with the best ships or weapons. They are meant to be mediocre, because otherwise they would be too dangerous to the Emperor or Leader.






I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head Uleni. Though Grandmaster Rey might be a bit of a stretch!

Actually Ties have a hyperdrive though its mostly short ranged. Remember a Tie jumped out of lightspeed when the falcon entered the Aldaraan system in a New Hope.

No, remember Han said it couldn’t have gotten out there all by itself, that there must’ve been a base some where nearby. That’s when they noticed that it was “headed for that small moon”. Then Obi said the famous line, “That’s no moon. It’s a space station.”.

Played the X-Wing VR game in the first Battlefront game on the PS4. They need to make more of that.

This post has been edited by Dark Reaper: Jan 1 2018, 08:28 AM