You are further along in the EU books than I am, a...

2009-08-25T19:28:08.431-04:00

You are further along in the EU books than I am, and I gather from your comment that my unhappiness with the way Luke is presented will continue for a while. Oh well, maybe I will just focus on Han or Leia or Chewie for a while. Or maybe R2. I have always thought highly of R2.

Thanks for the comment.

Unfortunately when you're dealing with heroes ...

2009-08-24T21:57:29.961-04:00

Unfortunately when you're dealing with heroes who have fairly incredible powers you really have two options a) hamstring them completely either mentally or physically or b) introduce tough new opponents who are invulnerable to the heroes previous powers.

We can quite clearly see in the new jedi order the second route (and to a lesser extent the introduction of yslamiri and cortosis) but unfortunately the EU made a habit during a lot of the books that rather than come up with credible plots they simply reduced Luke to essentially a whiny idiot who is totally unable to react for himself. This is probably due to trauma in some part but most of the time it is simply down to poor writing and coming up with a reason why the bloke who took down Darth Vader and the Death Star can't handle much simpler situations.

It's very rare to see Luke in full swing in the EU books- particularly as we get further on and see him arguing consistently with the other Jedi's about pacifism. Whilst we can usually see his viewpoint from what I recall I increasingly found myself going along with whoever was arguing with him at the time be it Corran, Kyp Durron or the Solo twins.

Leia on the otherhand blossoms with the challenges of statehood (even the most talented hero struggles with politics!) and her force powers. Han becomes less important I feel but you can still occasionally see him struggling to come to terms with now being a respectable member of society and occasional general.

That's why I find the novels with mostly EU characters superior in some ways- it actually lets them develop their own characters rather than play down the skills of the original ones.

Luke really suffers in the EU and it's a pity as well crafted stories could have taken him down a very different path.

Comments on Rancors Love to Read: Star Wars Book Reviews: David: What Ever Happened to Luke Skywalker?

You are further along in the EU books than I am, a...

Unfortunately when you're dealing with heroes ...