Hey, all.

Not sure where to post this question, but the F&D board seemed most appropriate as Quinlan Vos and Asajj Ventress are both Force users... So here we are. Ha.

Anyway, as the subject line reads, "anyone read the new Quinlan Vos / Asajj Ventress book" titled "Dark Disciple?"

I only ask because I consider myself a pretty huge Quinlan Vos fan and I still love watching the Filoni Clone Wars series. But... I can see having a rough time dealing with a Quinlan Vos story that's not from the mind of John Ostrander, as his comics tales (along with excellent artwork by Jan Duursema) were so unbelievably good ... well, I don't see how they can be topped.

In fact, from the info I've gleaned thus far, it seems the novelist Golden just straight-up ripped some of the plotlines from Ostrander's books for "Dark Disciple." Yet she and Katie Lucas don't even give Ostrander any credit!

Plus, I've heard the romance between Quinlan Vos and Asajj Ventress is pretty juvenile, with smarmy dialogue and only-a-teen-could-identify swooning over every little thing.

*sigh*

I'd planned on picking this book up when it shifted to paperback. However, now, I am really concerned.

So I would certainly welcome others' feedback. Especially from those of you who consider yourselves fans of the characters in question.

Thoughts? Reviews? Anyone?

The simplicity of the story is likely due to it being based on a series of unproduced Clone Wars episodes. The author clearly had the tone of the series in mind when she wrote the novel.

I've never read the comics, but the plot did seem pretty similar. I'm not sure of the legalities involved in producing the book similar to the the comics, so I have no comment on any lack of acknowledgements.

I'm afraid I can't help you other than to say my two brief looks at recent Star Wars fiction - Lords of the Sith and Heir to the Jedi - ranged from poor to painful. LotS has serviceable (though very predictable plot) and by the book psychology for its characters, but little in the way of writing talent. HtoJ reads like a badly written adventure module with even poorer writing ability and the romantic sub-plot is excrutiatingly painful in its awkwardness and self-indulgence. It reads like an unpopular thirteen year old's romantic fantasy. Juvenile is the word I would describe both books, though the former is certainly not nearly as bad as the latter in that regard.

I've never heard of this book before now but just the notion of romance between those two characters sounds contrived to a degree I'm not willing to countenance. If you read it, report back and let us know what it's actually like - maybe it'll turn out to be good.

But I wouldn't get your hopes up.

EDIT: I did kind of like the character of the planetary governor of Ryloth in LotS, but sadly she wasn't in it much.

Depending on how much credence you give them, both Amazon and Goodreads give it 4/5 stars. Just going off the fact that it is based from Clone Wars unused scripts I would say it is right up your alley.

It was OK. The overall feel was that this book was aimed at younger readers, or at least socially immature ones, but that's likely an extension of using the Clone Wars characterizations as a starting point.

Here's my review:

https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/182516-dark-disciple-spoilers/

It went on too long and some of the character motivations started to become unbelievable. I'm not positive on the exact chapters, but if it had the same basic ending but during the "Saving Vos Pt. 2" episode I would have liked it a lot better.

Basically throw out the traitor and Christophsis portions.

Completely missed that thread, whafrog... Thanks for the link.

Anyway, based on what all of you are saying - as well as the harsh criticism from whafrog's thread - I'm going to give this book a pass.

It's a shame, but I'd much rather just reread the Ostrander/Duursema Quinlan Vos storylines.

For what it's worth? I do heartily recommend checking out the "Quinlan Vos: Jedi in Darkness" and three "Clone Wars" omnibus editions from Dark Horse Comics. (I believe they're still available.) The majority of the work is by the aforementioned creators, and it is fantastic stuff. In fact, Lucas himself liked the material so much that he snagged Vos' padawan Aayla Secura for "Attack of the Clones" and even gave Quinlan Vos a mention in "Revenge of the Sith." Plus, the Devaronian smuggler who becomes Vos' unwanted ally is easily one of the richest EU characters ever put to print.

[side note: And why not go ahead and also recommend Ostrander's career-defining creation that was the modern-day Suicide Squad? "Suicide Squad" was a DC Comics series from the late 80s/early 90s featuring C- and D-list 'supervillains' that were engaged by the US government for black ops missions in exchange for pardons. Truly A+ comics.]

Thanks, everyone, for your feedback.

It went on too long and some of the character motivations started to become unbelievable. I'm not positive on the exact chapters, but if it had the same basic ending but during the "Saving Vos Pt. 2" episode I would have liked it a lot better.

Basically throw out the traitor and Christophsis portions.

This right here.

There's some really quality interactions between Vos and Ventress that lay out the Nightsister philosophy, which is a well-done "dark but not Dark Side" ideology that doesn't try and negate the Dark Side=Bad idea that sort of underpins the whole franchise, unlike parts of the old EU.

The lightsaber combat is generally well-narrated, with some good material for GMs looking for ways to explain the effects of Strain beyond the purely mechanical.

Basically, read up until

and then skip ahead to the last chapter when

and fill in the gaps with whatever story you would prefer to see.