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jtashoff's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
delliomellidom's review
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I debated between 3.5 and 4 stars for this collection due to the fact not all stories take place during the New Republic, which is what I expected with its title. Ultimately, however, I enjoyed the stories enough that I chose the four star rating. It was fun to see new and familiar characters alike. There are good moments of character development for later works, some of which I've already read. The standalone short stories caught my attention just as much. This was a solid anthology; I'd probably have given it a different title though.
futuregazer's review against another edition
3.0
Good anthology. Especially enjoyed "Simple Tricks".
tmarso's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
relaxing
4.0
Last stories made this book better than other Tales of but cements they're okay overall
jwilker's review against another edition
Not very engaging stories. I really liked the Certain Point of View collections. This predates those and just isn’t well executed.
anonblueberry's review against another edition
3.0
I've been reading this on and off which is why it's taken over a year
a reread, there are some gems in here, and some which fall short.
a reread, there are some gems in here, and some which fall short.
srreid's review against another edition
3.0
A good mix of stories, slightly better than the previous mos eisley cantina/jabbas palace short story collections which all featured the same overlapping story elements, the stories in this collection are a lot more spread out, and focus less on the main characters we are all used to. Finely anchored with a longer story from Timothy Zahn, i also enjoyed the one featuring Boba Fett, and another with Mara Jade. There are a few weaker ones towards the end though.
blancwene's review against another edition
2.0
For 2020, I decided to reread (in publication order) all the Bantam-era Star Wars books that were released between 1991 and 1999; that shakes out to 38 adult novels and 5 anthologies of short stories & novellas.
This week’s focus: the fifth Tales collection, Tales from the New Republic, edited by Peter Schweighofer and Craig Carey.
SOME HISTORY:
The Star Wars Adventure Journal was published by West End Games between 1994 and 1997, and ran for fifteen volumes until financial problems forced West End Games to give up the license to publish further Star Wars material. The weird thing behind West End Games’ bankruptcy is that the owner's poor choice to siphon money from West End Games into his failing shoe company led to both of the companies declaring bankruptcy. Tales from the New Republic features eleven stories that either appeared in past issues of the Adventure Journal, were meant to appear in volumes sixteen or seventeen, or were created especially for this collection. And like in the previous volume, the authors are a combination of Star Wars regulars and fan writers.
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:
As with the previous volume, I don’t believe I ever read this Tales collection. Most of the stories were unfamiliar to me, and while I did know some details of the others, I suspect that it’s just leftover knowledge from Wookieepedia rabbit holes.
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
If you’ve never read an issue of the Star Wars Adventure Journal, this collection serves as a glimpse into what it was like: a combination of pro and fan writers, writing about original characters and new planets that originated in roleplaying supplements. And it begins with another novella by Zahn and Stackpole, written specifically for this collection.
THE STORIES:
Interlude at Darknell by Timothy Zahn (Parts One and Four) and Michael A. Stackpole (Parts Two and Three)
Explains many things: why people thought that Garm Bel Iblis was dead, how the Rebels first became aware of the Death Star, and how Ysanne Isard eliminated her father. That's a lot to tackle in four chapters, but I thought that Zahn and Stackpole did a pretty good job. I liked seeing Moranda Savich and Hal Horn again, but the standout character for me was Bel Iblis. He loses his entire family in an assassination attempt, before he can hash things out with his wife. He's now completely enmeshed with the Rebel Alliance, like it or not.
"Jade Solitaire" by Timothy Zahn
This story was supposed to appear in volume 17 of the Star Wars Adventure Journal. Zahn gives us the backstory behind the acquisition of Mara’s ship, the Jade’s Fire, which clearly places this before the Corellian trilogy. Mara has come a long way since the Thrawn trilogy, and it was nice to see her complete loyalty to Karrde and his people as well as her slowly-improving Force skills.
"Gathering Shadows" by Kathy Burdette
This story was meant to appear in volume 16 of the Adventure Journal. There’s a lot going on here (zombies, secret Imperial bases), but I liked Burdette’s portrayal of our two main characters, Jai and Harkness. I was confused at first about where this fell in the timeline: the Battle of Endor happened two months ago, and the Alliance has already become the New Republic? But that change happened one month after Endor so it works.
"Hutt and Seek" by Chris Cassidy and Tish Pahl
This story was also meant to appear in volume 16 of the Adventure Journal. I enjoyed getting to see Shada D’ukal again, and Fen Nabon was an interesting viewpoint character. Ghitsa’s obsession with tabloid news also lets you pinpoint this story precisely to during [b:The Courtship of Princess Leia|161540|The Courtship of Princess Leia (Star Wars)|Dave Wolverton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1326717007l/161540._SY75_.jpg|806845]. (One quibble: Coruscantan? I thought it was Coruscanti, but maybe that’s just the accepted fanfic term.)
"The Longest Fall" by Patricia A. Jackson
My main criticism here is that Jackson’s writing style is absurdly overwrought. At least this one was short!
"Conflict of Interest" by Laurie Burns
I liked Selby’s realization that the people on Verkuyl were noticeably worse off before the arrival of the Empire (predatory company stores), and that the New Republic does have ulterior motives in trying to gain control of that world. This is the kind of moral/ethical nuance I like to consider in Star Wars.
"No Disintegrations, Please" by Paul Danner
The writing style was a little adjective-heavy (not as bad as Jackson, though), but I enjoyed both Boba Fett decimating an Imperial base as well as the Storyteller outsmarting Fett and earning his respect.
"Day of the Sepulchral Night" by Jean Rabe
Basically just Weequays on vacation.
"Uhl Eharl Khoehng" by Patricia A. Jackson
Jackson and I just don’t click. I have a soft spot for purple prose, but her writing is more like blazing neon purple. It’s way too dramatic and adjective-heavy and needlessly verbose. (Also, we have THREE separate Jedi--light or dark or otherwise--running around in this story, which strains the suspension of my disbelief.)
“The Last Hand” by Paul Danner
A young man wants to buy a lightsaber, falls in with an old gambler who’s miraculously still alive, and gets promised training from a ghost Jedi Master at the end. Eh, OK?
“Simple Tricks” by Chris Cassidy and Tish Pahl
Another story with Fen and her partner Ghitsa. I loved the cameo appearance of Kyp Durron, and how Cassidy and Pahl dealt with him. Fen is really upset that Kyp committed genocide and got away with it; Kyp himself is struggling with his role as a Jedi and how he can atone for his actions.
ISSUES:
Once again, I’m left wondering why this collection was titled Tales from the New Republic? “Interlude at Darkknell” was set before the Battle of Yavin; Jackson’s stories seemed to be set during some amorphous period during the original trilogy; but other stories (like Zahn’s and Cassidy and Pahl’s) were very clearly set after the Battle of Endor. The title seemed to be chosen for its similarity to the previous collection’s naming convention rather than because of any unifying theme. (Compared to the first three Tales collections, this does make it harder to place these stories within the timeline.)
There are far too many Jedi running through these stories: this is especially noticeable with Jackson, but there also was inexplicable Jedi activity in Paul Danner’s “The Last Hand” as well. I know these were written before the prequel trilogy, but Jedi aren’t abundant in the original trilogy either..
Quality was variable; completely understandable when most of the authors are amateurs rather than professionals. As I said in my review of [b:Tales from the Empire|221993|Tales from the Empire (Star Wars)|Peter Schweighofer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388489351l/221993._SY75_.jpg|214981], I loved that the writers here were professors or lawyers or students, and solely writing from a love of Star Wars.
IN CONCLUSION:
Zahn and Stackpole’s novella, Zahn’s story about Mara Jade, and Chris Cassidy & Tish Pahl’s two stories are worth seeking out. The others feel less important. But if you are also interested in diving into more of the Star Wars Adventure Journal (volume 14 features a short story by Barbara Hambly about Callista solving a murder mystery on Gamorr), you’ll be glad to hear that pretty much everything West End Games produced is now available online.
I hope you have a happy holiday season! I’ll hopefully be jumping back into this reread in February with the first of the New Jedi Order books, [b:Vector Prime|192214|Vector Prime (Star Wars The New Jedi Order, #1)|R.A. Salvatore|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1412181316l/192214._SX50_.jpg|2799032] by R.A. Salvatore.
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/5Or4FNcRt48
This week’s focus: the fifth Tales collection, Tales from the New Republic, edited by Peter Schweighofer and Craig Carey.
SOME HISTORY:
The Star Wars Adventure Journal was published by West End Games between 1994 and 1997, and ran for fifteen volumes until financial problems forced West End Games to give up the license to publish further Star Wars material. The weird thing behind West End Games’ bankruptcy is that the owner's poor choice to siphon money from West End Games into his failing shoe company led to both of the companies declaring bankruptcy. Tales from the New Republic features eleven stories that either appeared in past issues of the Adventure Journal, were meant to appear in volumes sixteen or seventeen, or were created especially for this collection. And like in the previous volume, the authors are a combination of Star Wars regulars and fan writers.
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:
As with the previous volume, I don’t believe I ever read this Tales collection. Most of the stories were unfamiliar to me, and while I did know some details of the others, I suspect that it’s just leftover knowledge from Wookieepedia rabbit holes.
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
If you’ve never read an issue of the Star Wars Adventure Journal, this collection serves as a glimpse into what it was like: a combination of pro and fan writers, writing about original characters and new planets that originated in roleplaying supplements. And it begins with another novella by Zahn and Stackpole, written specifically for this collection.
THE STORIES:
Interlude at Darknell by Timothy Zahn (Parts One and Four) and Michael A. Stackpole (Parts Two and Three)
Explains many things: why people thought that Garm Bel Iblis was dead, how the Rebels first became aware of the Death Star, and how Ysanne Isard eliminated her father. That's a lot to tackle in four chapters, but I thought that Zahn and Stackpole did a pretty good job. I liked seeing Moranda Savich and Hal Horn again, but the standout character for me was Bel Iblis. He loses his entire family in an assassination attempt, before he can hash things out with his wife. He's now completely enmeshed with the Rebel Alliance, like it or not.
"Jade Solitaire" by Timothy Zahn
This story was supposed to appear in volume 17 of the Star Wars Adventure Journal. Zahn gives us the backstory behind the acquisition of Mara’s ship, the Jade’s Fire, which clearly places this before the Corellian trilogy. Mara has come a long way since the Thrawn trilogy, and it was nice to see her complete loyalty to Karrde and his people as well as her slowly-improving Force skills.
"Gathering Shadows" by Kathy Burdette
This story was meant to appear in volume 16 of the Adventure Journal. There’s a lot going on here (zombies, secret Imperial bases), but I liked Burdette’s portrayal of our two main characters, Jai and Harkness. I was confused at first about where this fell in the timeline: the Battle of Endor happened two months ago, and the Alliance has already become the New Republic? But that change happened one month after Endor so it works.
"Hutt and Seek" by Chris Cassidy and Tish Pahl
This story was also meant to appear in volume 16 of the Adventure Journal. I enjoyed getting to see Shada D’ukal again, and Fen Nabon was an interesting viewpoint character. Ghitsa’s obsession with tabloid news also lets you pinpoint this story precisely to during [b:The Courtship of Princess Leia|161540|The Courtship of Princess Leia (Star Wars)|Dave Wolverton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1326717007l/161540._SY75_.jpg|806845]. (One quibble: Coruscantan? I thought it was Coruscanti, but maybe that’s just the accepted fanfic term.)
"The Longest Fall" by Patricia A. Jackson
My main criticism here is that Jackson’s writing style is absurdly overwrought. At least this one was short!
"Conflict of Interest" by Laurie Burns
I liked Selby’s realization that the people on Verkuyl were noticeably worse off before the arrival of the Empire (predatory company stores), and that the New Republic does have ulterior motives in trying to gain control of that world. This is the kind of moral/ethical nuance I like to consider in Star Wars.
"No Disintegrations, Please" by Paul Danner
The writing style was a little adjective-heavy (not as bad as Jackson, though), but I enjoyed both Boba Fett decimating an Imperial base as well as the Storyteller outsmarting Fett and earning his respect.
"Day of the Sepulchral Night" by Jean Rabe
Basically just Weequays on vacation.
"Uhl Eharl Khoehng" by Patricia A. Jackson
Jackson and I just don’t click. I have a soft spot for purple prose, but her writing is more like blazing neon purple. It’s way too dramatic and adjective-heavy and needlessly verbose. (Also, we have THREE separate Jedi--light or dark or otherwise--running around in this story, which strains the suspension of my disbelief.)
“The Last Hand” by Paul Danner
A young man wants to buy a lightsaber, falls in with an old gambler who’s miraculously still alive, and gets promised training from a ghost Jedi Master at the end. Eh, OK?
“Simple Tricks” by Chris Cassidy and Tish Pahl
Another story with Fen and her partner Ghitsa. I loved the cameo appearance of Kyp Durron, and how Cassidy and Pahl dealt with him. Fen is really upset that Kyp committed genocide and got away with it; Kyp himself is struggling with his role as a Jedi and how he can atone for his actions.
ISSUES:
Once again, I’m left wondering why this collection was titled Tales from the New Republic? “Interlude at Darkknell” was set before the Battle of Yavin; Jackson’s stories seemed to be set during some amorphous period during the original trilogy; but other stories (like Zahn’s and Cassidy and Pahl’s) were very clearly set after the Battle of Endor. The title seemed to be chosen for its similarity to the previous collection’s naming convention rather than because of any unifying theme. (Compared to the first three Tales collections, this does make it harder to place these stories within the timeline.)
There are far too many Jedi running through these stories: this is especially noticeable with Jackson, but there also was inexplicable Jedi activity in Paul Danner’s “The Last Hand” as well. I know these were written before the prequel trilogy, but Jedi aren’t abundant in the original trilogy either..
Quality was variable; completely understandable when most of the authors are amateurs rather than professionals. As I said in my review of [b:Tales from the Empire|221993|Tales from the Empire (Star Wars)|Peter Schweighofer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388489351l/221993._SY75_.jpg|214981], I loved that the writers here were professors or lawyers or students, and solely writing from a love of Star Wars.
IN CONCLUSION:
Zahn and Stackpole’s novella, Zahn’s story about Mara Jade, and Chris Cassidy & Tish Pahl’s two stories are worth seeking out. The others feel less important. But if you are also interested in diving into more of the Star Wars Adventure Journal (volume 14 features a short story by Barbara Hambly about Callista solving a murder mystery on Gamorr), you’ll be glad to hear that pretty much everything West End Games produced is now available online.
I hope you have a happy holiday season! I’ll hopefully be jumping back into this reread in February with the first of the New Jedi Order books, [b:Vector Prime|192214|Vector Prime (Star Wars The New Jedi Order, #1)|R.A. Salvatore|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1412181316l/192214._SX50_.jpg|2799032] by R.A. Salvatore.
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/5Or4FNcRt48
verkisto's review against another edition
2.0
Short story collections are always mixed bags, but when you mix in the Star Wars universe, it gets even ... mixier? Maybe it's just worse. It's a rare thing for me to find a book in the EU that is written with emotion and character. They usually focus more on ideas, and these collections have stories that never get going enough to pull them together. They all feel very obvious and amateurish. Even the Zahn stories here were plodding and barely engaging. In one of the stories, the main character has his entire family die, and he treats it like it was no more worrisome than stepping in dog doo.
On the bright side, this is the last of the collections in the old canon. At least now I can focus on the novels again.
On the bright side, this is the last of the collections in the old canon. At least now I can focus on the novels again.
timwales's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0