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Post by Turkish Van Cat on Apr 11, 2007 20:18:45 GMT -5
A couple nights ago, my grandparents were visiting so they got my bedroom. I got to sleep on the couch-that-transforms-into-a-bed in the family room. I was a bit late going to bed since my parents like to watch TV until pretty late. So a few minutes after Midnight, when everyone else had gone to bed, I decided that I felt like doing some Star Wars stuff. I decided to watch Star Wars Episode III, Return of the Jedi. It was a great movie, and I really enjoyed it, but I didn't get to sleep until after 3am! It was loads of fun though. Also the other day I decided to do some duels with my younger brother. I studied up my lightsaber forms online, and had several "lightpillow" fights with my brother. It was loads of fun. Once, I threw my lightsaber, erm.. lightpillow, at him, but he managed to block it, so he had two lightpillows. Using my Jedi reflexes though, I was able to dodge his swings and tackle him to the ground. In the process he dropped one of the lightpillows and I snagged it, and then I dealt the winning blow (we played one hit to the head or chest kills you, and if you get hit in a limb, you can't use that limb for the rest of the battle). I don't know whether I won because my midichlorian count is so high, or because my opponent was laughing so hard. It was great exercise actually, since my lightpillow was particularly heavy for a pillow. I think Djem So worked the best for me, but mostly because those aggressive swings were often able to knock his lightpillow right out of his hand. I also liked Soresu, and I'd use Ataru, except that I haven't learned how to influence the force like that thus far in my training ;D. It was still loads of fun. I only read about the first five forms though; I'm going to read the other two main ones right now. Oh, and I was just wondering whether anyone could give any suggestions as far as reading EU is concerned. After I finish Uncle Tom's Cabin and some stuff by Lewis Carol, I'm thinking of reading at least a little of the EU. I'm mostly interested in books and novels, so I'd appreciate any suggestions. I don't exactly know where to begin, since there's so much EU out there (and the fact that I have only a modicum of knowledge pertaining to EU). Thanks!
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Post by grievous on Apr 11, 2007 21:16:49 GMT -5
Sounds like you had some fun! On the EU note, I'd highly recommend starting off with "The Thrawn Trilogy" AKA "Heir to the Empire Trilogy" by Timothy Zahn. It consists of three books "Heir to the Empire", "Dark Force Rising", and "The Last Command". Those three are easily among the best SW books ever written. From there it depends on your preference in trilogies and characters. "Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter" and "Yoda: Dark Rendevous" are good PT novels based on two specific characters while "Labyrinth of Evil" is a good all-around book. Lastly, I've heard "Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader" is exceptionally good. For good OT novels, I'd recommend "Star Wars: Allegiance" in a heartbeat which is another book by Timothy Zahn that shows what happens between Ep. IV and Ep. V. Other than that, there isn't much written during the actual OT. There IS, however, quite a bit written about Original Trilogy characers AFTER the OT but I'll get to that in a second. Pre-PT I would recommend "Darth Bane: Path of Destruction" which chronicles the rise of one of the most evil Sith in history. Post-OT is dominated by one series and that is the New Jedi Order. There's something like eighteen books and I never made it past the second one but it is supposed to be very good. Once you're done with that, or even before it, I'd also recommend the Dark Nest Trilogy. You kind of have to know the characters of EU (like the Solo twins) in order to get into that one, though, so I'd highly recommend reading NJO first or the below. Before NJO, however, are a string of decent books just after Episode VI. Out of these, the Jedi Academy trilogy is best and the others you can pretty much ignore since you won't miss much but they don't hurt being read. If you're looking for easier reads to get started with, go with the Young Jedi Knights series. They're fairly good for YA books and get you introduced to characters in the post-OT, pre-NJO era books so you know about them before moving up to the big time with the NJO. I think I covered all the bases and it may look intimidating but it really isn't. Like I said, start with Thrawn, then maybe the Jedi Academy trilogy, and then move on to what ever you feel you're most comfortable with. Good luck and may the Force be with you in your reading journeys!
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Post by YodaBreaker on Apr 11, 2007 23:51:37 GMT -5
To answer the title question: yes, and welcome to the club "Shadows of the Empire" was also written during the OT era, this time between EpV and EpVI. I might also recommend the "Tales " short story compendia (e.g., "Tales of the Bounty Hunters," "Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina," "Tales from Jabba's Palace") as giving back story for lots of minor characters.
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Post by malform on Apr 12, 2007 6:50:11 GMT -5
Wow.... Staying up till 3:00 to watch a star wars movie, reading about lightsaber forms, having "lightpillow" fights.... I think the title of the topic suggests that you already know your a geek. That or your in complete denial and are looking for someone to help convince yourself that your really not.
The biggest sign that your a geek is that you are on a forum, telling all the rest of us geeks about your geeky habits. ;D
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Post by Turkish Van Cat on Apr 12, 2007 14:14:02 GMT -5
Well, thanks for all the advice everyone! I'll definitely have a lot of reading to do this Summer ;D; the books I'm reading right now will take me a while to get through, so I probably will have to wait until about then . I've always loved Star Wars. I suppose you guys are right and I really am a bit of a geek. I had a three-way lightpillow fight earlier today. It's really tough to fight two people at once, even if you have a greater mastery of the lightsaber forms than them! I only managed to beat the two of them ganged up on me once. I might be able to have a rematch with them after math class today.
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Post by turbomagnus on Apr 12, 2007 18:24:05 GMT -5
Eh, don't look at me for reading advice, I just read the Thrawn and Jedi Academy trilogies and the X-Wing novels mostly. (*Grumbles about the local bookstores having "Starfighters of Adumar" but not "Isard's Revenge"*)
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Post by greyelephant on Apr 12, 2007 18:48:55 GMT -5
Grievous is right, the Thrawn and Jedi Academy trilogies are great reads.
If you wanted a good start you can begin with Truce at Bakura (Bakara?). This is kinda the begining book of the whole EU.
I got bored with most of the books after ROTJ and after a while stopped reading them. That was until they came out with the NJO. These books are just outstanding. Star by Star is one of the best books I have ever read.
On a diffrent note. Has anyone ever read the Forgotten Realms books? I am so into The Legend of Drizzt.
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Megazarak
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Post by Megazarak on Apr 12, 2007 19:05:32 GMT -5
On a diffrent note. Has anyone ever read the Forgotten Realms books? I am so into The Legend of Drizzt. The Forgotten Realm books are great and I've read a few. Also, The Legend of Drizzt trilogy is a very good series of books, I'd definately recommend them to anyone. It would seem that you have very good taste in books
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devestator
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Post by devestator on Apr 22, 2007 17:23:16 GMT -5
Eh, don't look at me for reading advice, I just read the Thrawn and Jedi Academy trilogies and the X-Wing novels mostly. (*Grumbles about the local bookstores having "Starfighters of Adumar" but not "Isard's Revenge"*) Get a library card ;D If your in to graphic-novels, you might wanna try those "rogue squadron" ones, and the Tales series (seperate from Tales from Jabba's place, etc.)
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Nick Vader
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Post by Nick Vader on May 2, 2007 10:14:22 GMT -5
I'm more into comic books then actual books so I'll give you comic advice. If you want to know how everything started (and I mean everything) there are three series you should read: Knights of the old republic, Jedi vs. Sith and the Sith War (I think?).
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commandercody
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Post by commandercody on May 2, 2007 11:52:13 GMT -5
Me, I think you already know you are a geek, that is, in star wars, since i thenk there are diferent types of geeks.
On another note, basically grievous covers everything, so all hail grievous. Other book? well i am reading laberinth of evil, though grivous mentioned it, and also finished republic commando: hard contact. Its a good war/ clone book. Fi is my favorite commando. Can't wait to check out the newer one, triple zero.
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Ataru
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Post by Ataru on May 3, 2007 12:29:44 GMT -5
Sounds like you had fun, Turkish! Thanks, I had fun reading this thread, too. Yeah, Grievous has summed it up. And CommanderCody is right in saying there are different sorts of geeks... for instance, there are geeks who are very intelligent, there are geeks who like Star Wars a little too much, (that's us) there are geeks who play with these little plastic figures called Attacktix, even though they're way too old for that stuff (us again), there are geeks who are just plain strange (they dress like gangstas with rings in their noses and stuff) and think they're really cool, and there are geeks who are completely normal in every respect. So basically, everyone is a geek in one way or another. ;D
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Post by Turkish Van Cat on May 4, 2007 22:33:37 GMT -5
Well, I'm gonna do some more lightpillow combat form training with my brother, only with an emphasis on speed and physical strength and in the dark. It should be lots of fun. The lightpillows will hopefully prepare us to play with those cheap $6 lightsabers at Target. After practicing with those, um....., well I ultimately plan on buying those lightsabers on thinkgeek, but I think I'd be paranoid with playing with them, even though they're so dang durable. Does anyone else have lightsabers like those and tell me what they're like? $100 lightsabers are pretty pricey, and I would never be able to afford them for years. Maybe I'll get one after college and I'm in my career. Before that I think I'd rather spend my extra money on attacktix ;D.
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devestator
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Post by devestator on May 5, 2007 9:23:18 GMT -5
I only have the $100 master replica's FX (mace).
Its funny...they keep reminding you not to use them to fight, then there's a movie on their site of these two guys fighting with them...
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Post by Turkish Van Cat on May 5, 2007 11:36:38 GMT -5
They're supposed to be super durable and they have realistic sounds depending on how you swing them, but they are technically replicas and not toys. But with them being so durable, I don't see why not to play them. It's just that if I ever got my hands on one of 'em I would be very scared too use it simply because they cost so much. www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/warfare/69de/
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