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Bloodline


Good God a Bear
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So I am about 85% done with this book.

 

I have to say, it felt kind of slow at first since it was dealing with politics but I have to say the back half of the book is really good.

 

There are a couple if things in this book that make me glad the previous EU is gone. I'll put them in spoiler tags, just in case...

 

 

 

I really like the fall out and reactions when everyone finds out Darth Vader is Leia's father. In the previous EU it didn't seem to matter to some and I remember there was some species who thought it was awesome and called her Lady Vader and Leia didn't seem to really mind. The galaxy is really taken aback and shocked and seeing how many turn their back on her is probably the action you would see if a real situation. And the fact that Leia is still aghast that Vader washer father seems to play better than in the previous EU books where it almost seemed like she accepted it and the man he had become in the last hour of his life.

 

I also like how it mentions several times and even has several paragraphs about how she researched Padme to find out more about her mother. That always bothered me in the EU. Even after it came out in the Prequels she would be their Mother it was like she wasn't even acknowledge.

 

 

 

Anyway, has anyone else read this? What are your thoughts? I think Claudia Gray has become my favorite EU writer after this and Lost Stars.

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Haven't read this (and am not going to), but your criticisms of the EU in this instance are 100% valid, even if you're elation over the EU being "gone" (which is a point of view unique to those whose idea of "canon" is based on Disney's dictates rather than one's own choices) is pointless since anyone is free to accept or ignore whatever they wish, and amounts to nothing more than taking pleasure in the misery of others.

 

At least that's how it comes off. I know you're a good guy and you probably didn't mean it like that.

I'll admit that this is one instance in which the Disney canon got a one-up on the EU as the "big revelation" was simply never covered, pretty much by coincidence. Pretty much everything else has been done before, which is the main reason why I have no interest in the new canon as it is too been-there-done-that. I would have been interested in Bloodline had it not been so Force Awakens-heavy.

 

I disagree that Luke and Leia being Vader's children was "no big deal" in the EU, however. Many stories showed how it indeed was a big deal to some, though we were obviously never shown the immediate reaction, so that is anyone's guess. It' very possible that it was never 100% proven to the public, only a very strong rumor that was never denied.

As for your point about Padme having never researched her mother previously, you can hardly blame the EU writers for that. The prequels had not been written yet and it was all off-limits territory, therefore the EU had to write itself around these inconveniences. For me, this is what's fun about the EU. I love how organically it grew and how it adapted information released decades later, sometimes seamlessly and sometimes not so seamlessly. It was like watching a garden grow on its own, or something to that effect. Some people appreciated this, others didn't, but I still feel that this is a feeling that the Disney canon can never hope to recapture.

 

 

And it is technically improper to refer to non-film Star Wars fiction within the Disney canon as EU since Disney and Lucasfilm have gone out of their way to expunge that term from their new universe. Which I don't begrudge them; I have no problem keeping it for ourselves.

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I really liked Bloodline. I think I like Aftermath more, just because of the era and characters, but Bloodline is probably the best written of the new canon. I really hope they keep using Claudia Gray.

 

 

Like you said, the revelation about Vader was so well done. I felt so terrible for Leia. I was dreading it the entire book and it ended up being way worse than I expected. I'm shocked I liked Casterfo as much as I did, even after that. Lady Carise can DIAF.

 

 

I'm also glad it seems like the Galaxy has had many years of peace by the time the First Order comes to power. It's a lot nicer than the old EU where they had a crisis every other day.

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I'm in the process of reading this book, and I am really impressed with the author's ability to capture Leia's voice--it has made reading even the politically-heavy content very enjoyable.

 

And it is written SO MUCH better than Aftermath. I was really looking forward to that book, but the resulting poor quality product was such a turn-off that I will very likely skip the rest of Wendig's trilogy.

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Wendig's style isn't for everyone, but I love the imagery he uses. It smacks me in the face. And I really enjoyed the book even more on my second read through. (I'm also biased because I did an interview last year with him at Dragon Con and he is super, super nice.)

 

But yeah, agreed with you about Leia - this is probably the best characterization I've seen of her.

 

Is anyone else desperate for the companion Luke novel set during this time period? (Preferably written by Jason Fry, my fave SW author right now?)

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I never really thought about the implications of the mass public finding out who Leia's father is but it's so obvious I can't believe it hasn't been done before. This would be like us suddenly finding out Hillary Clinton's real father is Adolf Hitler. Pretty much sinks your career

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I'd say it is more like finding out that Netanyahu's father is Hitler.

 

It would certainly hurt a US politician, likely to the point of destroying a career, but for a people who was actively persecuted? That would end you forever.

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I'd say it is more like finding out that Netanyahu's father is Hitler.

 

It would certainly hurt a US politician, likely to the point of destroying a career, but for a people who was actively persecuted? That would end you forever.

Alessandra Mussolini's political career seems to be doing just fine, for what it's worth.

 

Civil wars tend to divide families pretty much by definition. The Force Awakens is playing that up again and it looks like the spin-offs will continue it. I would think in the aftermath of such a war, what you did would be a whole lot more important to everyone than who's your daddy.

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Claudia Gray said she fancast Casterfo as Tom Hiddleston, so yeah, that pic is spot on. (Also hilarious is that Carrie Fisher went to the White House Correspondent's Dinner with - you guessed it - Tom Hiddleston. That was wild.)

 

I think that is supposed to be Leia. It's six years before TFA, so I can guess you can chalk her aging up to 1) what happens in Bloodline and 2) Kylo turning.

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