September 07, 2009
12-4 months BBY
You never know how much you miss something until it's gone. I was glad to get out of the realm of Han Solo and smuggling for a while. Taking a trip with Boba Fett and Darth Vader definitely widened the scope of this time period a bit more. But my adventures last week brought me back to the criminal roots of this time in GFFA history.
I started out with two really amazing short stories written in 1994 by Patricia A. Jackson. "Out of the Cradle" and "When the Domino Falls" follow the adventures of a young and budding Socorran smuggler named Drake Paulsen. The two stories themselves aren't much in terms of importance for the GFFA but there is something just plain interesting about them. For me, being an anthropology major in college, it's the language/culture theme of the stories. I did a bit of research on Patricia A. Jackson, and apparently she is the key developer of the "Old Corellian" language. She also includes some of the Coyn language. Whenever I see an author take this extra step, making the story that much more vivid and real, it touches a special part in my heart. To top it all off, she gets in depth with the cultural traditions and beliefs of the people of Socorro (Lando is a notable Socorran). For instance, Socorrans do not refer to those who have passed as "dead". Instead, they refer to them as "doing business offworld". There is also a heavy distinction between Socorrans and Corellians in terms of the value of honor and pride. If you have Star Wars Hyperspace (most of us obviously do), they're in the archive- check 'em out.
I also read one of the new Star Wars Adventures one-shot graphic novels, Han Solo and the Hollow Moon of Khorya". I'll be writing a review of this shortly, so stay tuned!
On a final note, I've been reading the Essential Atlas and The Art of The Clone Wars. Many of you are aware that The Art of The Clone Wars is the source of the recent "continuity crisis" surrounding Karen Traviss' departure from the GFFA. Apparently, people are mad because they changed Mandalore's capital (as stated in the Art book). There's also rumor that Mandalore is now desolate except for this giant cube city. First of all, though the city's concept art is definitely cubical in nature, it's not just a giant cube. Plus, it's only concept art. Second of all, where are people getting the idea that the rest of Mandalore is desolate/barren? It says nothing of the sort in the Art book, merely that Mandalore was ravaged by war, leading to the rise of the New Mandalorians. This does not have to equate with desolate/barren.
In lieu of this, it is my opinion that everything is rumor until I see it in Star Wars: Clone Wars Season 2. It can't be that bad. Feel free to discuss and share your opinion on this blog!
No comments:
Post a Comment