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Welcome
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Nathaniel Reed's
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| :: A trilogy of fan-fic set after Episode VI Return of the Jedi, and inspired by George Lucas' historical draft concepts :: |
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| December 2011 |
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Inside a Star Destroyer's cargo bay
30th December 2011 |
| In Episode VII : Plague of Doom, our story reveals some of the cargo bays found along the dorsal spine on the underside of a Star Destroyer. |
| Firstly, General Lando Calrissian leads the escaping prisoners, including the Huttlet hostages, to a near-empty Star Destroyer parked out on the salt flats near the Kessel mining complex. Using a relay of general purpose transport carriers, the prisoners escape the complex whilst the Imperials' attention is diverted by Luke's audacious rescue of King Oxus and his niece Princess Alana Seren. In this image, Lando carries the last of the Huttlets into one of the cargo bays. |
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| Shortly afterwards, the Imperials have finished loading the gas droids into the first of the remaining Star Destroyers. Commander Kane, keen to subdue Ondos with the full might of the aura gas commandeers the vessel, and orders the ship to be ready for lift-off ! |
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| Much later, the stowed gas droids, loaded with subduing aura gas, are activated. Their single red eyes wink into life, and they hum with malicious anticipation ! |
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| You can see the VE artwork in the 'Kessel' art gallery and the 'Ondos' art gallery as well as in the online illustrated story, and you can discuss this in the forum here ! |
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At the end of the year, I thought it might be timely to offer a few reviews of some Star Wars books I have received in 2011 (all are co-published by LFL licencing unless otherwise indicated).
The Sounds of Star Wars : Rinzler and Burtt give a fascinating insight into the aural production of the Saga, focuasing mainly on the pioneering sound effects. The playable sound clips really add to the enjoyment of the book, and are a very necessary component to a history of specialised sound effects. Frustratingly, not every sound effect is represented, partly due to content space, partly due to the repetitive nature of in-lore sounds, partly, I believe, to the continuing secrecy over certain proprietary effects. Also, sometimes the text became less about wry anecdote, and focused more on the drier technical aspects, which, for a non-soundtech-geek, were a little tiring at times. Implied was the double-edged sword of digital technology, the greater storage and creativity opportunities weighing against the naturally rough-sounding effects recorded on older field equipment - an aspect that really did give the Original Trilogy a 'colour'.
Swordfighting in the Star Wars Universe : fan and martial arts fencer Nick Jamilla criticially reviews the sword play styles across the Saga, both from an in-lore point of view as well as a choreographical and duelling regard. In support of this, he takes the reader through an exhaustively researched political, social, and cultural near-global history of all things sword and warrior. It's densely written and very dry at times, only 'lightening' when he talks about Lucas' characters, but for a non-licenced product, it's clearly a labour of love and a comprehensive tome.
The 3D Owner's Guide of the Millennium Falcon : A fun and novel presentation of the Falcon's official floorplan, it 'slices' horizontally through the hull over several 'board' pages that build up - or reveal - the famous ship of riddles. With photos and illustrations, fictional(!) manufacturer's text and clips from the pilot's log, it's a colourful overview of the ship. It does not give any vertical views or technical cross-sections, which can be frustrating when trying to enjoy the ship as a whole, and so the sense of vertical scale really only comes from deducing the space 'between' the boards. Also, personally speaking, I find some discrepancies with what is proposed and what we saw in the films, namely the apparently-fixed sloping ceiling of the starboard boarding ramp, the nature of the top hatch elevator and possible cubicle, and the location of the single chamber for the medi-cot seen in TESB.
The Haynes Manual of the Millennium Falcon : Written and illustrated by the same team who created the 3D Guide - and so, from my point of view, inclusive of possible canonical discrepancies - this is inspired by the (?)British publisher of vehicle maintenance manuals. It allows them to go into much greater detail with many more photos and illustrations than the previous Guide, as well as providing a sense of fictional(!) history on this 'YT' type of Corellian freighter. Fun and colourful like its accompanying 3D board book, and very comprehensive, but unsurprisingly lays itself vulnerable to fan criticism.
The Jedi Path : Another 'fictional' in-lore tome, a very immersive 'lost' teaching manual for students of the Jedi Order. Recently re-published as just the book, the original product included 'artefacts' such as Qui-Gon Jinn's padawan braid and a secure sound-n-light effects vault within which the book is stored. It describes in detailed text and beautiful sketch illustrations the processes undertaken by the students, from their Youngling status to Knight and to Master. One wonders how far the author has scoured the EU material to justify all the Force skills listed, or if many are a product of his imagination ; I know Lucas has always said thay a Jedi - any narrative Hero - should never be 'invincible' otherwise the plot loses its momentum as you end up with an ineffectual villain. The number and variety of skills aside, it remains a fun, comprehensive, and, above all, immersive book. A Manual for Sith Apprentices is scheduled for release in 2012 !
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| Finally, I wish you a peaceful New Year for 2012 ! |
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| Nathaniel Reed, 30th December 2011 |
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