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Star Wars Books Released As Ebooks
An anonymous reader writes "Tomorrow all of the Star Wars books that have not previously been released as ebooks are being released. This includes the Zahn books that started the Star Wars book explosion, as well as older books such as Alan Dean Foster's Splinter of the Mind's Eye, which was written prior to certain revelations in The Empire Strikes Back."
They're being SOLD as ebooks - so you can buy them, AGAIN. What would be truly interesting news is if they GAVE AWAY the ebooks.
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
Because it is in fact TODAY that the release happened. At around midnight in the US Amazon released the books to Kindles, and I'd presume other ebook services were similar.
Note to editors: Edit you lazy bastards. Either get on actually approving things in the Q so they go out when they make sense or take the time to update the language to match the release. That is, after all, the job of an editor. The job is not "Sit around and click "approve sometimes".
Will be cracked and on Pirate bay 32 seconds later....
Here is a question.. What is the difference between me scanning a book I own and turning it into an ebook or instead, downloading a pirate copy of an ebook that I own in paper form?
I think it's legal, But, I am sure the companies lawyers think I am bin-laden level of evil...
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
can anyone explain the last table of TFA? I could understand zero as a marketing event but a negative price seems rather unusual...
At last we'll have these in the EBook format that George Lucas always intended
Yay, I can digitize my Star Wars X-Wing collection... in a couple years when the prices are actually lower then when I first bought the books... um.
What a guy! He wrote the first book based on a computer game (Shadowkeep), lots of movie 'novelizations' (including Star Trek in 2009), but also a lot of original work. I really loved the Spellsinger series, though I think the Commonwealth books are best known. He seems to have a really relaxed relationship with his work, but at the same time the joy of writing really shines through in his books. In this he reminds me of Neal Stephenson.
Are these the ones where Greedo shoots first?
Never read the book, might try the e-book. :)
Electronic Cigarette Reviews
I actually own a copy of Splinter of the Mind's Eye that I got for free. Even for Star Wars books it is campy, but that may have been it doesn't fit with the movies. I mostly keep it because I like odd, old, or significant books and this was definitely one of the odder ones I have come across. It is actually in pretty good shape. If you haven't read Splinter of the Mind's Eye it might be worth reading but if you can get a free copy I would suggest it because it doesn't really fit with the rest of the Star Wars universe (even worse than Episodes 1-3).
Time to offend someone
There are a few Star Wars books I really like:
The first three Zahn books (Heir to the Empire more or less got me started reading "adult" science fiction.) Zahn's ability to create atmosphere and well crafted plots/characters never fails to delight. The next two aren't bad and I enjoyed reading them, but it was hard for them to have the same punch. After that I have less interest because prequels generally don't interest me.
The Han Solo books - Star's End, Revenge, and Lost Legacy. I love these for the atmosphere they create and the energy - they really capture what is fun about Star Wars. I read Zahn for the punch and Daley for the fun of Star Wars.
Splinter of the Mind's Eye, despite it "not quite fitting", is a good book and I find myself able to overlook it's oddball status to enjoy the story. Again it does a good job of putting you into an exotic Star Wars world.
For whatever reason, with the exception of Zahn I haven't been able to get into the modern Star Wars books - it's almost like there was some sort of cultural vibe that the contemporary authors picked up and most modern ones just lack. In some sense the juice has been "squeezed out" of the Star Wars universe from my standpoint - it was a product of its times and works best when written by people with that ever so subtle but tellingly felt frame of reference.
I would actually buy them but they are DRM encumbered. I like the Zahn books, but borrowed them from the library when I read them. It just isn't worth paying for something that I can't use in a convenient way and can be taken away from me at the whims of some execs and lawyers.
The Han Solo books were the only ones I liked (maybe it was because I was a kid when I read them). Every one that I've tried to read since just seemed silly and juvenile to me. One had snakes that could block the Force. That all had carbon-copy bad guys with those stupid, over-the-top Lucas-esque names like "Darth Evilus," "Darth Nastious," and shit like that. The movies were hokey enough without dumbing them down even more.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
I've read about 10 or 15 Star Wars books and enjoyed them to varying degrees.
The first one I read was Allegiance by Timothy Zahn. It was about the "Emperor's Hand" and "Hand of Justice" and I liked it. It takes place just after Episode 4. Some other books I've read that happen around the time of the original trilogy I didn't like as much. For example, Shadows of the Empire by Steve Perry (not the lead singer of Journey) takes place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi and it was decent. There was no suspense if you know what happens in Jedi--Luke, Vader, and Leia will be alive, their attempt to rescue Han won't work, etc. However, it was neat to see how Luke grew as a Jedi.
For some reason, I can't get into books that happen after Jedi, like Heir to the Empire. There's just too much of the same stuff: someone on the light side goes to the dark side, someone on the dark side goes to the light side, over and over again.
I absolutely loved the first two Darth Bane books (Path of Destruction and Rule of Two by Drew Karpyshyn) and the third was OK. I also totally loved Death Star (by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry) which takes place during the construction of the original Death Star (i.e., just before Episode 4.) It had surprising depth.
Death Troopers and The Force Unleashed both read like video games (run, fight, run, fight) and for good reason--they were both based on/in support of games. Unleashed was OK, Troopers right out sucked. It's a Stephen King-ish horror novel that just happens to be set in the Star Wars universe--no Force, no Sith, nothing, just some familiar settings and characters.
What does everyone else like?
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
The first few chapters of the Zahn books were rewritten to include an improbable story about an eight-year old boy building his own robot, racing pods, and seducing a twenty-something queen. Its the vision Lucas always had from the beginning.
IF only Lucas had decided to make a bunch of offshoot movies based around this... oh well. They're a great read. Aaron Allston and Timothy Zhan are great writers.
Yes Francis, the world has gone crazy.
...unless special blu-e-book edition comes along.
Star Wars Fans can't read! This is silly...
had copyright been kept at 20 yrs, they would've all been in public domain by now.
ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?
I hope they don't go down in value because of this!
Hopefully our Ebooks are safe from Lucas' revisions.
Never let a lack of data get in the way of a good rant.
Etrap!
...as far as I can see. There are only a handful of Zahn book in the UK Kindle store. Hey ho.